India to host SCO forum of Young Scientists and Innovators next year

NATIONAL NEWS

Union MSME ministry to help prisoners set up business

• The Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) will start a pilot project to help prisoners set up business.
• The pilot project would start in Nagpur Central Jail.
• There are about 4 lakh prisoners in India. When they come out of jail, their acceptance level in society is less in terms of employment.
• It will help them start new small-scale businesses. It will assist them in manufacturing agarbatti, garments, wood work, fabrication, making kulhads etc.

Bharat Petroleum launches geo fencing technology, digital payment systems

• In a bid to offer great transparency and to enhance customer experience, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) launched a slew of advance technology and digital initiatives.
• The new initiatives include state-of-the-art geo fencing technology which allows the tankers to be unlocked for decantation only when they reach the BPCL fuel station.
• The company also offers 100 per cent secured payments through an integrated digital payment system which provides automated billing exactly for the dispensed fuel quantity.

Urban jobless rate down to 9.3%, lowest in at least four quarters

• India's urban unemployment rate between January and March this year fell to 9.3 per cent, the lowest in at least four quarters.

• The numbers, recorded in the statistics ministry's quarterly jobs report and the estimates were arrived at using the so-called "current weekly status" method which gives an average picture of unemployment in a short period of seven days preceding the survey period.
• A person is considered as unemployed in a week if he did not work even for 1 hour during that week.

      Joblessness among the youth

• Those aged between 15-29 years and who account for roughly over a third of India’s 1.3 billion people – was also marginally lower at 22.5 per cent in the quarter ending March 2019, from 23.7 per cent in the preceding quarter.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India to host SCO forum of Young Scientists and Innovators next year

• The 5th Meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Member States Heads of Ministries and Departments of Science and Technology and Permanent Working Group on S&T Cooperation concluded in Moscow, Russia.
• India will host the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Forum of Young Scientists and Innovators in 2020, a proposal it had mooted in the grouping's meeting on cooperation in the field of science and technology

CONFERENCE

2-day Air Force Commanders' Conference to begin in New Delhi

• The two-day Air Force Commanders' Conference will begin in New Delhi. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the meet.
• Top commanders of Indian Air Force will participate in it and discuss the operational, maintenance and administrative matters related to Air Force.

ECONOMY

RBI enhances scope of non-resident rupee accounts

• Reserve Bank of India enhanced the scope of Special Non-resident Rupee'(SNRR) by allowing persons residing outside India to open such accounts for purposes like external commercial borrowing and trade credit in INR.
• The other purposes for allowing such a move are for export or import invoicing and business-related transactions outside the International Financial Service Centre, all in INR. The government decided to rationalize specific other provisions for SNRR Account, like removing the restriction on the tenure of the SNRR account for the purposes given above.
• The apart from Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) Account, permit the credit of amount due or payable to a non-resident nominee from the account of a deceased account holder to Non-Resident External (NRE) Account or direct remittance outside India through normal banking channels.

RANKING

Delhi’s Khan Market at Number 20 Among 448 Most Expensive Retail Location

• Delhi’s upscale Khan Market has moved up one position to become the world’s 20^th most expensive retail location, according to global property consultant Cushman & Wakefield.
• Its latest report ‘Main Streets Across the World 2019’, the consultant that Khan market is ranked 20^th in the list of the most expensive retail locations with an annual rent of USD 243 per sq ft.
• Last year, Khan market was at 21^st place with a rent of USD 237 per sq ft a year.
• The rankings are based on rentals during the second quarter of 2019 calendar year. The Cushman & Wakefield report tracked 448 locations across 68 countries.

       RANK ABOUT OTHER COUNTRY

• Causeway Bay in Hong Kong retains the number one ranking, commanding an annual rent of USD 2,745 per sq ft.
• New York’s Upper 5^th Avenue is at second position (USD 2,250 per sq ft), followed by London’s New Bond Street (USD 1,714 per sq ft) and Avenue des Champs Elysees in Paris (USD 1,478 per sq ft).
• Via Montenapoleone in Milan, Italy ranks fifth with an annual rent of USD 1,447 per sq ft.

AWARD

Floating school project in Bangladesh wins Aga Khan Architecture Award

• Renowned architect of Bangladesh Saif Ul Haque to design the school.
• He took up the project and came with a school which has won many prestigious awards including the Aga Khan award.
• It is a floating school named ‘The Arcadia Education Project’.

FESTIVAL

Sangai Festival 2019 begins in Manipur

• In Manipur, week-long Manipur Sangai Festival 2019 started. The festival is organized by the State Tourism Department and biggest festival held annually to promote tourism.
• The formal inaugural function of the festival was held at Hapta Kangjeibung at Imphal this evening.
• The festival is held at different parts of Manipur. During the festival, cultural programmes, traditional games, folk dance and classical music will be performed by different communities of the State as well as from other States.
•  The festival will conclude on the 30th of this month.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

NASA’s underwater robot will search for alien ocean life

• NASA scientists are dropping an upside-down underwater rover into the icy oceans of Antarctica.
• The robot, called the Buoyant Rover for Under-Ice Exploration (BRUIE), is a prototype of the rover that could search for life in frozen alien oceans.
• It's part of NASA's plans to explore the secret oceans of two distant icy moons, Europa and Enceladus. NASA plans to launch the next spacecraft to Europa in 2025.
• These moons and this underwater rover are our best shot at finding alien life in the solar system.

OBITUARY

Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kailash Joshi passes away

• Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kailash Joshi passed away on Sunday. He was 90.
• He was MLA for eight terms and also served as member of both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.

SPORTS

Lakshya Sen wins Scottish Open title

• In badminton, India's Lakshya Sen has won the Scottish Open men's single title, defeating Brazilian Ygor Coelho to seal his fourth title in three months.
• The 18-year-old Indian started his year with a silver medal at the Polish Open International Challenge in March. After a series of disappointing exits, Sen went on to win the Belgian International in September, his first title of the year.

        Trophy Names-Agarwal Cup, Chadha cup, Divan Cup, Narang Cup, Asian Cup

Rafael Nadal wins Davis Cup Title 2019

• Rafael Nadal, the year-end World No. 1, finished his season on a high by leading Spain to its sixth Davis Cup title.
• Nadal defeated Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 7-6(7) to clinch Spain’s 2-0 win against Canada.
• Nadal, who is now a four-time Davis Cup titlist, won all eight of his matches this week in Madrid, including five singles victories in which he did not drop a set.
• The 33-year-old has now won 29 consecutive Davis Cup singles matches, improving his singles record in the event to 29-1.

IMPORTANT DAY

NCC celebrates its 71st Raising Day

• The National Cadet Corps (NCC), the world's largest uniformed youth organization, is celebrating its 71st Raising Day.
• The celebrations began yesterday, with Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar and DG NCC Lt Gen Rajeev Chopra paying homage to the martyrs, who made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation, at the National War Memorial in New Delhi.
• The NCC Raising Day was also celebrated all over the country with the cadets participating in marches, cultural activities and social development programs.