17th September 2015 - Important Current Affairs updates

International Affairs

• More than one million people were evacuated from their homes after a massive 8.3-magnitude earthquake hits central Chile.
• A tsunami alert was issued for the entire Chilean coast.
• Austria has imposed new restrictions at its borders, as the country on the main route for refugees crossing the European Union by land struggled to cope with a backlog of thousands trying to reach Germany.
• Note : Yesterday, Austria's next-door neighbour, Hungary, declared a state of emergency, and shut its border with Serbia leaving many desperate refugees stranded at the border. 

National Affairs

• Ganesh Chaturthi is being celebrated with religious fervour and traditional enthusiasm all
  
  over the country with the idols of the Lord being installed in various pandals and mandals amid tight security arrangements.
• The National Green Tribunal has passed directions to prevent pollution in the Yamuna river and imposed a ban on the immersion of idols except those made from biodegradable material in the upcoming festive season.
• NGT chairperson : Justice Swatanter Kumar
• The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha today launched a Nationalwide "Panch Kranti Abhiyan" to propogate the Five Flagship programs of the BJP-led Government on the celebration of the Birth Anniversary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The programme is mainly taken to popularize the flagship programmes of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government.
• The Five Aspects of the programme includes the flagship porgrammes of NDA Govt,
• Make in India (Nirman Kranti)
• Skill India (Kaushal Kranti)
• Clean India (Swatch Kranti)
• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (Kanya Shakti Kranti)
• Yoga (Yog Kranti)
• The Centre launches the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY) for the welfare of areas and people affected by Mining related operations, using the funds generated by District Mineral Foundations (DMFs).
• The scheme aims at mitigating the adverse impacts due to mining operation on the environment and health and ensuring long-term sustainable livelihoods for the affected people in mining areas.
• Minister of Mines and Steel : Narendra Singh Tomar 
• The government today approved creation of Four posts of directors for four new National Institutes of Design (NIDs) at Kurukshetra, Bhopal, Jorhat and Vijayawada.
• Note : The National Design Policy was approved by the Cabinet in February, 2007.

Science & Technology

• North Korea has resumed normal operations at the Yongbyon complex, the country's main nuclear facility.

Awards & Honors

• Indian-origin British author Sunjeev Sahota is among six writers shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize for Fiction for 2015.
• Sahota, who was adjudged the Granta Best Young British Novelist 2013, competes with fellow Briton Tom McCarthy, Jamaican Marlon James, US-based Anne Tyler and Hanya Yanagihara and Nigerian Chigozie Obioma for his second book "The Year of the Runaways" which deals with the experience of illegal immigrants from the Indian subcontinent in Britain.

Sports

• The capital city of Zhejiang Province Hangzhou in East China was chosen by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to host the 2022 Asian Games.  
• Important Points to Note :
• Hangzhou was the only candidate city for the 2022 Asian Games, the XIX edition of games.
• It will be the third Chinese city to host the Asian games following Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010. 
• In 2014, Incheon, city of South Korean, hosted the Asian Games, while Indonesia’s Jakarta city is going to host the 2018 Asian Games.