Top 5 Current Affairs: 22 September 2017

First Scorpene-class submarine, INS Kalvari, delivered to Indian Navy

INS Kalvari, the first of the six Scorpene-class submarines, was delivered to the Indian Navy by Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) on 21 September 2017. The submarine will soon be commissioned into the Indian Navy.

The development marks a major milestone in Indian Navy's submarine programme as the vessel is expected to bolster India's maritime prowess.

Meanwhile, the second Scorpene-class submarine, INS Khanderi, which was launched in January 2017, is currently undergoing the rigorous phase of sea trials. The third Scorpene-class submarine, INS Karanj, is also being readied for launch later in 2017. The rest of the submarines are in various stages of outfitting.

Himachal Pradesh becomes first state to launch electric bus service

The Himachal Pradesh government on 21 September 2017 launched first-of-its-kind electric bus service in the ecologically fragile 51km-long stretch between Manali and Rohtang Pass.

The bus service was flagged off by State Transport Minister GS Bali along with Kullu Deputy Commissioner Yunus. The move was made amidst concern over increasing environmental degradation in the Rohtang Pass area due to plying of diesel taxis.

With this initiative, the state has become the first in the world to ply electric buses at an altitude of 13 thousand feet.

There would be a total of 10 buses in the fleet. All the buses have been imported by the state government, as no company in India manufactures such battery-operated ones.

Nigerian lawyer Zannah Mustapha wins 2017 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award

Nigerian lawyer Zannah Mustapha in September 2017 won the 2017 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award for his crucial mediating role and efforts to help children affected by the insurgency in Nigeria.

Mustapha had negotiated and helped secure the release of more than 100 schoolgirls from Chibok kidnapped by the Boko Haram militant group.

Mustapha will be bestowed with the prestigious Nansen Refugee Award at a ceremony taking place in Geneva on 2 October 2017.The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) called him “a champion for the rights of displaced children growing up amid violence in North East Nigeria”.

50 nations sign United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

Fifty countries on 20 September 2017 inked United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Brazil was the first country to sign onto the ban, followed by nations from Algeria to Venezuela.

Fifty states as different as Indonesia and Ireland had put their names to the treaty; others can sign later if they like. Guyana, Thailand and the Vatican also have already ratified the treaty, which needs 50 ratifications to take effect among the nations that back it.

Under the terms and conditions of the treaty, the countries signing it would be barred from developing, testing, producing, manufacturing, otherwise acquiring, possessing or stockpiling nuclear weapons under any circumstances.

Under its terms, non-nuclear nations agreed not to pursue nukes in exchange for a commitment by the five original nuclear powers the U.S., Russia, Britain, France and China to move toward nuclear disarmament and to guarantee other states’ access to peaceful nuclear technology for producing energy.

World's richest woman and L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt passes away

Liliane Bettencourt, world's richest woman and heiress to the L’Oreal cosmetics fortune, passed away on 21 September 2017 at her home in Paris. She was 94. Bettencourt is survived by her daughter, Francoise, who was born in 1953.

In 2016, Bettencourt was ranked as the richest woman in the world with a fortune of USD 39.5bn by Forbes magazine. It made her the world's 14th richest person.

Born in Paris, she was the only child of Louise Madelaine Berthe and Eugene Schueller, who founded L’Oreal. She joined the family business when she was just 15 and inherited L'Oreal group empire when her father died in 1957.