1. Indra Nooyi, Shobhana Bhartia awarded 2015 Global Leadership Award
i. Hindustan Times Group chairperson Shobhana Bharatia and PepsiCo Chairman Indra Nooyi have been awarded 2015 Global Leadership Award of the US-India Business Council (USIBC).
ii. They were honoured with this award for their roles as top women leaders in the Business world and their commitment to driving a more inclusive global economy.
iii. Apart from them, renowned Indian-American artist Natvar Bhavsar was awarded the Artistic Achievement Award. He is well-known for his abstract expressionism and colour-field painting.
iv. All of them were presented the awards during the annual gala of the USIBC. US Vice President Joe Biden, US Secretary of State John Kerry were among the dignitaris who had addressed USIBC gala on the occasion.
2. CCS clears Military helicopters deal with US aviation giant Boeing
i. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has given its approval to a multi-billion dollar deal to purchase Military helicopters from United States aviation giant Boeing. Under this deal, India will purchase 22 Apache Attack helicopters and 15 Chinook heavy-lift choppers from Boeing.
ii. Apache Attack helicopters are equipped with Longbow gunships and are armed with deadly Hellfire and Stinger missiles. They are potent as fighter helicopters and are capable of destroying enemy helicopter and tank forces.
iii. There addition in Indian Air Force (IAF) will help to replace the ageing fleet of 15 Russian Mi-35 attack helicopters which already have undergone life extension upgrades.
iv. Chinook heavy-lift choppers will help IAF to enhance its heavy-lift chopper capabilities and replace existing fleet of Russia made four gigantic Mi-26s. These choppers will play important role in warfront as well humanitarian operations for proving logistics support.
3. Union Cabinet gives nod to amend MoU on Indo-German Partnerships in Higher Education
i. The Union Cabinet gave its approval for minor amendments in earlier MoU signed to facilitate implementation of Indo-German Strategic Partnerships in Higher Education Programme.
ii. Decision in this regard was taken by Union Cabinet meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. In order to make changes, a Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI) between India and Germany will be signed for implementation of Indo-German Strategic Partnerships in Higher Education programme.
iii. Funding period of the programme will be changed from 2015-19 to 2016-20. Now it will be from 1 July 2016 to 30 June, 2020.
iv. Indo-German Partnership in Higher Education will help to strengthened education relationship between both the countries through this JDI. It will enable the higher education institutions of both the countries to mutually benefit by enhancing innovative partnerships in the field of education, research and skill development.
4. Union Cabinet gives nod to set up India Sign Language Research and Training Centre
i. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the setting up of Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC).
ii. ISLRTC will be set up as a Society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and initially will be located at the Institute for Physically Handicapped, New Delhi.
iii. It will be established under the aegis of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities which comes under Union Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.
iv. At the centre there will be General Council consisting of a President and 12 Members. There will be also an Executive Council consisting of a Chairperson and 9 Members. Some of these members will be ex-officio and others will be experts from National Level Organizations of the Deaf or Academic Institutions or Universities or and independent experts in Indian Sign Language (ISL).
v. It will seek to provide equal opportunities to hearing impaired persons to fully participate in every sphere of life.
5. Lalita Prasida Sripada Srisai of Odisha won Community Impact Award at Google Science Fair
i. A class 9th student from Koraput district of Odisha, Lalita Prasida Sripada Srisai, bagged the prestigious Community Impact Award at the fifth Google Science Fair held in California on 22 September 2015.
ii. Lalita is a student of DPS Damanjodi in Koraput, Odisha and she got the award for developing a low-cost bio-absorbent based water purifier, which aimed at cleaning waste water by flowing through difference layers of corn cobs.
iii. As a part of the award, 13 years old Lalita won 10000 US dollars as prize money. She will also receive support from Google for one year for her project.
iv. The Google Science Fair is an online science competition sponsored by Google, National Geographic, Galactic, Lego, Virgin and Scientific American. The competition is open for 13 to 18 years old students from all over the world. The first ever Google Science Fair award was announced in July 2011.
6. Korea Caravan 2015 organised by Korea-Andhra Pradesh Friendship Forum held in Vishakhapatnam
i. Korea-Andhra Pradesh Friendship Forum organized the Korea Caravan 2015 in Vishakhapatnam on 22 September 2015. This is for the first time that Caravan was held outside New Delhi.
ii. During this, Andhra Pradesh government announced to create a Korea Desk, which would be an exclusive cell to be opened in the State Secretariat, to issue necessary clearances and give swift response to investors.
iii. Besides, it also called upon the Koreans to join hands with the Indians to set up various industries in the State and in building the capital Amaravathi.
iv. On the other hand, Ambassador of Korea to India Joongyu Lee, while addressing the gathering, reiterated the faith and confidence in the potential of Andhra Pradesh as was reflected by the World Bank’s recent report on ‘Assessment of State Implementation of Business Reforms.
v. The report ranked the state second in ease of doing business category. Andhra Pradesh was ranked with a score of 70.12 percent, below Gujarat which stood at the top with a score of 71.14 per cent.
7. 24th Vyaas Samman conferred on eminent Hindi writer Dr Kamal Kishore Goenka
i. Eminent Hindi writer Dr Kamal Kishore Goenka was conferred with 24th Vyaas Samman for the year 2014 on 22 September 2015. He was awarded for his work 'Premchand ki Kahaniyon ka Kaal Kramanusaar Adhyayan'.
ii. Goenka's work is a critical analysis of the work by Hindi literature's towering giant Munshi Premchand.
iii. He was awarded a citation along with a cash amount of 2.5 lakh rupees by eminent Hindi writer Prof Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari.
iv. The award was instituted in 1991 by the KK Birla Foundation. It is presented to an outstanding literary work in Hindi published during the last 10 years.
8. Zayn Khan elected as President of Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India
i. Zayn Khan was on 22 September 2015 unanimously elected as the President of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI). His appointment was necessitated by the death of R Bharath Raj, who passed away while serving as President on August 15.
ii. Khan is a resident of Hyderabad and represents the Western India Automobile Association. He has years of hands-on experience in the sport and has contributed a lot for the technical side of the sport in India.
iii. As head of the stewards development, training and deployment, Khan has extensive knowledge about rallying. He also has experience in officiating at the international level.
iv. FMSCI was formed in the year 1971 as a federation of five clubs to promote motorsporting events in the country. It is a Private Limited company registered under Section 25 of the Indian Companies Act 1956.