• The 15th edition of Indo – Nepal Joint Military Training Exercise Surya Kiran will be held from September 20, 2021 at Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand.
• The previous edition of the Exercise Surya Kiran was conducted in Nepal in 2019. The exercise was called off in 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• During the exercise, the Indian Army and Nepali Army would share their experiences of various counter-insurgency operations, and familiarise themselves with each other’s weapons, equipment, tactics, techniques and procedures of operating in a counter-insurgency environment in mountainous terrain.
• The joint military training will help in improving bilateral relations and further strengthen the traditional friendship between the two nations.

• International Equal Pay Day is celebrated on 18 September. The inaugural edition of the day was observed in the year 2020.
• The day aims to achieve equal pay for work of equal value and break the walls against all forms of discrimination, including discrimination against women and girls.
• The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to observe September 18 as International Equal Pay Day, on November 15, 2019, which was introduced by the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC).

• Alka Nangia Arora has been appointed as the Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD) of the National Small Industries Corporation Ltd. (NSIC).
• Ms Alka Arora has taken the additional charge of the post on September 14, 2021.
• She is a Joint Secretary in Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises.
• The National Small Industries Corporation Limited (NSIC) is a Mini Ratna company established in 1955. It falls under Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises of India and serves as a nodal agency for several schemes of Ministry of MSME.

• Government think tank NITI Aayog has entered into partnered with edtech major Byju’s, to provide free access to Byju’s high-quality and tech-driven learning programmes to children from 112 Aspirational districts of the country.
• Under this collaboration, a dedicated working group will be established that will create a knowledge, innovation, and strategy support system, as well as actively monitor and evaluate programme implementation to enable efficacy and ensure better scope of delivery.
• The main objective of this partnership is to empower the children from underserved communities and locations with tech-enabled learning and access to quality education, and bring in positive systemic changes in the education ecosystem.

• The 21st Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State was held in hybrid format on September 17, 2021 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
• The meeting was held under the Chairmanship of President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon.
• The Indian delegation was led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, who participated in the meeting via video-link and at Dushanbe, India was represented by External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar. 
• This was the first SCO Summit held in a hybrid format and the fourth Summit in which India participated as a full-fledged member of SCO.

• Global Deputy CTO of State Bank of India, Amit Saxena has joined RBI Innovation Hub as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The Reserve Bank announced that it would set up Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) to promote innovation across the financial sector by leveraging on technology and creating an environment that would facilitate and foster innovation.

• The Pulitzer Prize-winning noted fiction writer, Jhumpa Lahiri, is set to launch her new book titled ‘Translating Myself and Others’, which will highlight her work as a translator.
• The new book is planned to be out in Spring 2022.
• It will be a collection of essays that reflect Lahiri’s experiences on the meaning of translation, translating her own writing, and writing across languages.

• Former Supreme Court judge, Justice (Retired) Indu Malhotra will be the new Ombudsman cum Ethics Officer of Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) for a period of one year was made. The DDCA’s general body, headed by its president Rohan Jaitley, decided on 65-year-old Justice (Retd) Malhotra’s appointment.
• In 2007, Malhotra was designated senior advocate by the Supreme Court and she became only the second woman to be designated by the apex court after a gap of three decades. She has been appointed amicus curiae by different benches of the Supreme Court in some matters. After serving as legal counsel in the Supreme Court for 30 years, she was unanimously recommended for appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court.

• A 12-year-old environmental activist from Mumbai, Maharashtra, Ayaan Shankta has been named as “2021 International Young Eco-Hero”.
• He won the 3rd prize under the Age Group: 8-14 for his project “Conservation and Rehabilitation of Powai Lake” and became one of the 25 global winners of the Young Eco-Hero Award 2021.
• The award presented by “The Action for Nature”, San Francisco based NGO, recognize young people (8 to 16 years old) for their environmental achievements.

• Former India footballer and Mohun Bagan captain, Bhabani Roy passed away. He was joined Bagan in 1966 and played for the club till 1972.
• He represented India in the 1969 Merdeka Cup and played in three matches. Bhabani Roy helped Mohun Bagan win the Rovers Cup in 1968, 1970, 1971 and 1972 (Joint Winner).
• At the domestic level, he was part of the West Bengal team that won the Santosh Trophy in 1968 and 1971.

Download Daily GK PDF of 18 September 2021