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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 26 September 2019

::NATIONAL::

National leaders claim that PM will declare country as open defecation free on Gandhi Jayanti

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will declare the country open defecation-free on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2.
Mr. Modi will make the declaration in the presence of over 20,000 village heads at a function at the Sabarmati Riverfront here during his visit to Gujarat, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said.
“To spread the message of cleanliness to the masses, dignitaries from across the world have been invited to attend the event to be held at the Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad on October 2,” the BJP leader said.
People associated with Gandhian institutions, high court judges, Padma awardees, students, educationists and village-level sanitation workers have also been invited for the function, said Mr. Patel.
He said the 10,000 sarpanchs coming from other States would be taken to different places associated with the Father of the Nation such as Dandi Memorial and Mahatma Mandir.
The village heads will also visit the Statue of Unity built in dedication to Iron Man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Narmada district, the deputy chief Minister said.

Centre launches grievance redressal system for postal department

Minister for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension Dr Jitendra Singh launched Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System, CPGRAMS of Department of Posts in New Delhi today.
The launch of the system has marked the successful implementation of the 100 days' agenda of the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances.
CPGRAMS is an on-line web-enabled system developed by NIC, in association with Directorate of Public Grievance and Department of Reforms and Public Grievances. Based on web technology, the system primarily aims to enable submission of Grievances by citizens from anywhere and anytime.
Various government departments scrutinize it and take necessary action for speedy and favourable redressal of these grievances. Tracking grievances is also facilitated on this portal through the system generated unique registration number.
CPGRAMS has been reformed for Department of Posts on pilot basis and now the citizens have been empowered to select a service category through drop down lists to pinpoint a service for which grievance is lodged.
Terming this reform a historic milestone, the Minister said, through the grievance redressal, the intensity of citizen's participation has increased but more awareness is required among the people about the grievance redressal system.

::ECONOMY::

RBI rebuts rumours on closure of banks

Rebutting social media rumours swiftly, the Reserve Bank of India today said that no commercial banks are going to be shut.
The central bank said in a statement issued on Wednesday that reports appearing in some sections of social media about the RBI closing down certain commercial banks are false.
Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar also said in his twitter message that such social media messages are mischievous rather the government is in process of strengthening public sector banks by infusing capital in them.
Messages are circulating in various social media platforms that nine banks will be closed down permanently by the RBI and appeals being made to the public to withdraw their money from them.

Centre expects to eradicated Tb by 2025

Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan launched 'TB HAREGA DESH JEETEGA' campaign in New Delhi today.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Harsh Vardhan said that India is committed to eradicate TB before 2025. He said that one-third of the people in the world have TB bacteria, and 10 per cent of them can become a victim of TB at any time.
Minister said that he has written letters to all MPs to defeat TB. He said that public representatives can play an important role in defeating TB.
Dr. Harshvardhan further said that people who have been cured of TB will be made campaign ambassadors.
Minister said his government is providing free TB medicines not only to the patients of government hospitals but also to patients arriving in private hospitals.
On this occasion, the Health Minister launched a van equipped with state-of-the-art testing facilities for the prevalence survey of TB with a sample size of 5 lakhs.
25 such vans will go to 625 clusters of the country and check for TB. This sample survey is to be completed by 2020.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India announces developmental projects in Pacific island countries

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met leaders of the Pacific Islands Developing States (PSIDS) on the sidelines of the UNGA session in New York.
Prime Minister highlighted the need for development policies to be inclusive and sustainable to reduce inequality and contribute to empowerment and improvement of the quality of people's lives.
Mr Modi said, India was equally committed to tackle the impact of climate change and supported the efforts of the PSIDS to achieve their developmental goals through necessary developmental and technical assistance.
External Affairs Ministry in a press release said, in the spirit of his fundamental Mantra "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas aur Sabka Vishwas PM Modi announced allocation of 12 million US Dollar grant towards the implementation of high impact developmental project in the area of their choice.
In addition, a concessional Line of Credit of 150 Million dollars which can be availed by the PSIDS for undertaking solar, renewable energy and climate-related projects based on each country’s requirement was announced.
Leaders of PSIDS welcomed the initiatives proposed by PM Modi to strengthen engagement and cooperation between the two sides and reassured full support from their respective governments.

India- China financial dialogue held

9th India-China Financial Dialogue was held in New Delhi today. A high-level Chinese delegation led by Ms. Zou Jiayi, Vice Minister, Ministry of Finance, China interacted with the Indian delegation led by Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs on wide-ranging issues of mutual interest.
The India-China Financial Dialogue is a mechanism between the two countries with an aim to promote cooperation in the financial sector.
During this dialogue, both sides had an in-depth exchange of views on macroeconomic situation and policy, cooperation in a multilateral framework, bilateral investment and financial cooperation.
The two sides also committed to promoting a favourable environment to enable continuous growth of bilateral trade and investment, strengthen efforts to promote more balanced and healthier development of trade and economic cooperation.
A Joint Statement was issued at the conclusion of the Financial Dialogue reflecting the mutual understanding and shared the vision of both the countries to further strengthen cooperation in the financial sector. The next round is to be held in China.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

CDSCO Expresses concern over sale of ranitidine

Indian doctors have advised patients here to avoid over-the-counter (OTC) use of popular antacid ranitidine, following concerns over its contamination by cancer-causing substances, with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) now having started the process of “checking for any adverse reactions of the drug”.
CDSCO has written to State regulators, asking that they “communicate to the manufacturers of ranitidine active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and formulations under your jurisdiction to verify their products and take appropriate measures to ensure patient safety”.
The drug regulator notes that it is aware of reports from other countries that some ranitidine medicines contain a nitrosamine impurity called N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) at low levels.
The USFDA had noted that NDMA levels in ranitidine from preliminary tests barely exceed amounts might be expected to be found in common foods. NDMA, an environmental contaminant found in water and foods, has the same impurity that the USFDA had investigated in blood pressure drugs valsartan and losartan over the last year.

::SPORTS::

Pankaj Advani-Aditya Mehta wins world snooker title

The Indian duo of Pankaj Advani and Aditya Mehta has won the IBSF World Snooker Team title at Mandalay, Myanmar today.The Indian pair beat Thailand's team comprising C.Pongsakorn and D.Poramin 5-2 in the final.
This takes Advani's world title tally to a phenomenal 23 while Aditya claimed his maiden title.For Advani, this win has ensured that his name is now there on every IBSF world title on offer. He had also won the world billiards event at Mandalay last week.