India to hold G20 Chair in 2018

India is going to chair Group of Twenty (G20) nations forum in the year 2018 and New Delhi could be the host of the prestigious annual G20 summit. The Group of 20 (G20) is an international forum for governments from 20 major economies.
Members: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, U.K., U.S, EU

  • G20 isn’t an organisation but operates as a forum.
  • One nation holds the Chair, known as ‘G20 Presidency
  • Turkey is chairing for 2015
  • China heads for 2016, followed by Germany in 2017. India will chair G20 for 2018.

RBI lowers repo rate by 50 basis points to 6.75 percent

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut its repo rate by 50 basis points to 6.75%, while keeping the cash reserve ratio (CRR) unchanged at 4%. This is the fourth rate cut since January. The central bank has also cut the FY16 gross domestic product (GDP) growth target to 7.4% from 7.6% earlier.

India up 16 places to 55th on global competitiveness index

India has moved up 16 positions to rank 55th on a global index of the world’s most competitive economies. Globally, Switzerland has retained its top position as the world’s most competitive economy for the seventh year in a row and is followed by Singapore, the US, Germany and the Netherlands in the top-five.

Mukesh Ambani India’s richest person for 9th consecutive year: Forbes

Industrialist Mukesh Ambani has been named as India’s richest person for the ninth consecutive year in a row with a net worth of 18.9 billion dollars in the 2015 Forbes magazine’s India rich list. Presently, Mr. Ambani is the Chairman, Managing director (MD) and largest shareholder of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL). It should be noted that RIL is India’s second most valuable company by market value after Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

NDTV signed 100 crore rupees deal with Taboola

NDTV Convergence, the digital wing of NDTV group, on 30 September 2015 signed a strategic deal with the US-based content recommendations engine Taboola worth around 100 crore rupees for 3 years. The deal is signed to boost the entire network of desktop and mobile sites of NDTV.

INS Kochi, largest India made warship, commissioned

INS Kochi, India’s largest stealth-guided warship, was commissioned into the Indian Navy  at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai. The ship was commissioned by Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in Mumbai.

  • It is a second ship of the three ships Kolkata-class Guided Missile Destroyer to be inducted.
  • Earlier in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had commissioned INS Kolkata.
  • The third and last ship of Kolkata-class Guided Missile Destroyer INS Chennai is expected to join Indian Navy in 2016.

Indian Government appointed four Brand Ambassadors for Digital India Programme

Government of India announced that four brand ambassadors for Digital India programme were appointed.

List of Brand Ambassadors

  • Satwat Jagwani, All India IIT-JEE —Advanced Topper -2015 (Student)
  • Krati Tiwari, All India IIT-JEE —Advanced Girl Topper -2015 (Student)
  • Ankit Fadia, Author & Ethical Hacker
  • Pranav Mistry, Samsung USA (Computer Scientist & Author of 6th Sense)

The services of these Brand Ambassadors will be used for generating mass awareness for the programme for a period of one year since their nomination.

Volkswagen AG appoints Matthias Mueller as new CEO

German automaker Volkswagen AG has appointed Matthias Mueller as its new chief executive officer (CEO). Prior to this appointment, he was serving as CEO of Volkswagen’s subsidiary Porsche AG. He will succeed Martin Winterkorn who had resigned from office following an emissions cheating scandal (dubbed as Diesel Dope) described as a moral and political disaster.

World Tourism Day observed on 27th September

World Tourism Day was observed across the world on 27 September 2015. The theme of the World Tourism Day 2015 is One Billion Tourists, One Billion Opportunities. This year’s theme emphasizes the impact of the tourism sector on economic growth, job creation and development.

Marathi film ‘Court’ selected as India’s official entry to Oscars

Critically acclaimed Marathi film ‘Court’ has been selected as India’s official entry to the Best Foreign Language category of the 88th Academy Awards 2016 (popularly known as Oscars). The film was shortlisted from 30 other films by the Film Federation of India (FFI) jury headed by filmmaker and director Amol Palekar.

  • Till date, the film has won 18 awards at various film festivals across the world including honours at the Vienna, Antalya, Mumbai and Singapore film festivals.
  • The film also has won the Best Feature Film award at the 62nd National Film Awards in 2015.

Pankaj Advani wins 2015 IBSF World Billiards Championship

India’s ace cueist Pankaj Advani has won 2015 IBSF World Billiards Championship (Time Format) in Adelaide, Australia. He won 2015 IBSF World title by defeating Peter Gilchrist of Singapore by 1168 points.

  • Advani is 14-time World Billiards and Snooker Champion.
  • He is the only player in the world to win world titles in all formats of both, Billiards and Snooker.
  • In recognition of his achievements in sports, Union Government has bestowed several awards upon him including Arjuna Award (2004), Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2006), Padma Shri (2009).

Lewis Hamilton wins 2015 Japanese Grand Prix title of Formula One

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain won 2015 Japanese Grand Prix title of Formula One. This was his overall eight victory of the season.

  • He has won Australia, China, Bahrain, Canada, United Kingdom, Belgium and Italy 2015 Grand Prix titles of Formula One.
  • It should be noted Lewis Hamilton has won highest number as compared to any other British driver in the history of Formula One.
  • He is currently 5th on the all-time list of F1 with 41 wins.

Sourav Ganguly appointed CAB president

Former Indian Cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly has been appointed as President of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). It was announced by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata in Kolkata. Sourav Ganguly will succeed Jagmohan Dalmiya as the post fallen vacant following his death.