Vaishno Devi Shrine tops the list of ‘Swachh Iconic Places’

1. The US and 10 ASEAN navies begin first joint military exercises in Southeast Asia

The United States and 10 Southeast Asian countries kicked off maritime drillsThe first ASEAN-US Maritime Exercise (AUMX) between the regional bloc and Washington will last for five days, starting September 2 at the Sattahip Naval Base in Thailand and ending in Singapore.The drills come at a time of stepped-up U.S. engagement in the region and tensions between Beijing and Southeast Asian nations over the South China Sea.

2. PM Modi arrives in Vladivostok to hold India-Russia Annual Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Vladivostok on a two-day visit to Russia.PM Modi will attend the 5th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) beginning in Vladivostok.Prime Minister will also hold the 20th India-Russia Annual Summit with Russian President Vladimir PutinPM Modi will the chief guest at the Eastern Economic Forum.

3. Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2019

As part of the ongoing Indo-US defence cooperation, a joint military training, Exercise Yudh Abhyas – 2019 is being conducted at Joint Base Lewis Mc Chord, Washington, the USA from 05-18 September 2019.Exercise Yudh Abhyas is one of the largest joint running military training and defence corporation endeavours between India and USA.This will be the 15th edition of the joint exercise hosted alternately between the two countries.Exercise Yudh Abhyas will provide an opportunity to the armed forces of both countries to train in an integrated manner at Battalion level with joint planning at Brigade level.

4. Asia’s only 5th Generation – VR based simulator centre launched at Chennai by AASI

Asia’s first 5th Generation Virtual Reality based Advanced Driver Training Simulator Centre was launched at the Automobile Association of Southern India Centre (AASI), Chennai.In the first 6 months, AASI will train 200 Ambulance drivers free of cost, under ‘Safe Drivers Campaign’.The patented simulator was ideated, designed and developed by Chennai based Red Chariots Technologies Pvt Ltd.The training session is a combination of level-based practical learning modules coupled with self-learning theory modules through an interactive e-learning quiz app built in-house.

5. ESIC Signs an Agreement with SBI for Payments To ESIC Beneficiaries on Real-Time Basis

A Memorandum of Agreement has been signed between the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) and State Bank of India.In accordance with the agreement, the SBI would provide e-payment services directly to the bank accounts of all ESIC beneficiaries and payees without any manual intervention as an integrated and automated process. The e-payment integration would affect statutory benefit payments to ESIC beneficiaries as well as other payees on a real-time basis.The new system will benefit all stakeholders of ESIC.

6.  Vaishno Devi Shrine tops the list of ‘Swachh Iconic Places’

Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Jammu and Kashmir has been adjudged as the Best Swachh Iconic place in the country in the ‘Swachh Iconic Places’.The list was released by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation.The Shrine has been adjudged on the basis of the overall improvement in sanitation.The Shrine was in direct competition with dozen other iconic places including Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Maharashtra), Taj Mahal (Uttar Pradesh), Tirupati Temple (Andhra Pradesh) Golden Temple (Punjab) Manikarnika Ghat (Varanasi), Ajmer Sharif Dargah (Rajasthan) among others.In 2018, the Shrine was also declared as the cleanest religious place by the IndiaToday Group.

7. Growth of eight core sectors slows to 2.1% in July

Growth of eight core industries dropped to 2.1 per cent in July mainly due to a contraction in coal, crude oil, natural gas and refinery products.The eight-core sector industries, coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity, had expanded by 7.3 per cent in July last year.The output of coal, crude oil, natural gas and refinery products recorded negative growth in July.During April-July, the eight sectors grew by 3 per cent compared to 5.9 per cent in the same period the previous year.

8. Cabinet approves recapitalisation of IDBI

The Central government approved Rs 9,300 crore capital infusion into IDBI Bank to increase the lender’s capital base.The Union Cabinet cleared the recapitalisation plan with a one-time infusion of funds by both the government and the LIC.LIC, which has a controlling stake in IDBI, will infuse Rs 4,743 crore.The government will provide Rs 4,557 crore as a one-time re-capitalisation.

9. CEC Sunil Arora assumes charge as AWEB Chairman

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora assumed Chairmanship of Association of World Election Bodies, AWEB for the term 2019-21 as India takes over the Chair from Romania.India was unanimously nominated to be the Vice-Chair of AWEB at the last General Assembly held at Bucharest in 2017.The AWEB Flag was handed over to the new Chairman, Sunil Arora and it will remain with Election Commission of India for the two-year term till 2021.

10. Mithali Raj announces retirement from T20Is

Indian women’s cricket great and ODI captain Mithali Raj announced her retirement from T20 Internationals.The 36-year-old said she wants to focus on her ODI career, keeping in mind the 2021 World Cup in New Zealand.Mithali ended her T20 career with 2,364 runs from 89 matches at an average of 37.5 and the highest score of 97 not out.She made her T20 International debut in 1999 and played her last match in March against England in Guwahati.Mithali is also the first Indian woman to reach the landmark of 2000 T20 runs.In 203 ODIs, she scored 6,720 runs at an average of 51.29, with seven hundred.She has also played in 10 Tests, with 663 runs including a hundred.