1.

​On 29th September 2019, the government banned exports of onions which is a
common ingredient in cooking. The reason behind this is the price which remains
high due to a seasonal shortage which has been worsened by flooding in several
states
2. Mercedes earned a one-two in Sochi, where Lewis Hamilton rushed to victory to
extend his drivers’ championship lead to 73 points - Russian Graphix
3. West Bengal’s Midnapore becomes 5000th Wi-Fi enabled railway station; RailTel
providing Wi-Fi facility RailWire
Midnapore is a district located in the state of West Bengal.
It has become the 5000th city to have a Wi-Fi enabled railway station.
The Wi-Fi services on the railway station are being provided by a mini-Ratna Public
Sector Undertaking called Rail-Tel, which was established in the year 2000. It has a
pan India optic fibre network. It has covered 5000 stations in a period of just 44
months which in itself is a big achievement.
Rail-Tel provides these services in collaboration with Google. Google had joined in
this initiative as it was in line with Google Station, the ambitious public Wi-Fi initiative
of Google. Rail Tel has also planned to collaborate with Tata Trust to provide Wi-Fi
access at B, C, D and E category railway stations.

Fun Fact:
Mumbai Central Station was the first railway station to get a Wi-Fi access.
4. Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma will step down from his position on September 10,
2019. Daniel Zhang, Alibaba’s CEO, will replace Jack Ma as Executive Chairman of
the group.
Jack Ma, had co-founded Alibaba in 1999 and under his leadership, the company
grew up to become one of Asia’s most valuable listed company.
The current market capitalization of Alibaba is around $460 billion.
5. ​World Health Organization​ observes W
​ orld Mental Health Day​ on 1​ 0th of October 
every year. The day is celebrated with an objective of ​raising awareness of mental 
health​ issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health. 

● The  Day  provides  an opportunity for all stakeholders working on mental health 

issues  to  talk  about  their  work  and  what  more  needs  to  be  done  to  make 
mental health care a reality for people worldwide. 
● The t​ heme​ selected for this year’s Day: ​Suicide Prevention​.
● This  year’s  Day  is  supported by WHO, the International Association for Suicide 
Prevention,  and  United  for  Global  Mental  Health.  World  Mental  Health  Day  is 
organized by the World Federation for Mental Health. 

6.​The Reserve Bank of India has released the results of the S

​ eptember 2019​ round of its 
Consumer Confidence Survey​. 
 ● The  survey  was  conducted  in  ​13  major cities​: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, 
Chennai,  Delhi,  Guwahati,  Hyderabad,  Jaipur,  Kolkata,  Lucknow,  Mumbai, 
Patna and Thiruvananthapuram. 
● Perceptions  and  expectations  on  the  general  economic  situation,  the 
employment  scenario,  the  overall  price  situation  and  own  income  and 
spending are obtained from households across these cities. 

Highlights​ of the survey:

● Consumer  confidence  weakened  in  September  with  both the current situation 

index and the future expectations index recording declines. 
● Households’  sentiments  on  the  general  economic  situation  and  the 
employment scenario ​declined​. They were less optimistic on their income over 
the year ahead than in July 2019 

7.​. Land-attack version of BrahMos supersonic missile successfully

test-fired

● India  successfully  test-fired  a  land-attack  version  of  ​BrahMos  supersonic 

missile​ from Chandipur coast in Odisha’s Balasore district. 
● DRDO  conducted  the  test-fire  successfully.  The  missile,  with  a  strike  range  of 
290km,  can  be  fired  from  land  as  well  as  sea-based  platforms.  BrahMos  is  a 
joint venture between the DRDO and the NPOM of Russia. 

8.​Kerala  has topped the ​“School Education Quality Index” launched by ​NITI Aayog​. ​Uttar 
Pradesh  was  ranked  at  the  ​bottom  of  the  list.  ​Chandigarh  has  ​topped  the  list  of  ​Union 
Territories​. 

● The  School  Education  Quality  Index  assesses  States  on  the  basis  of  learning 
outcomes,  access,  equity  and  infrastructure  and  facilities,  using  survey  data, 
self-reported data from States and third-party verification. 
9.Formula  One  world  champion  Lewis  Hamilton  of  Mercedes  won  the  2019  Russia  F1 
Grand Prix (Formula 1 GP) at Sochi Autodrom race track in Russia. 

● Mercedes  ​Valtteri  Bottas  (Finland)  and  Ferrari’s  ​Charles  Leclerc  (Monaco) 

won  the  second  and  third  spot  respectively.  The  victory  was  the  82nd  of 
Hamilton’s  career,  and  ninth  of  the  season,  leaving  him  nine  short  of  Michael 
Schumacher’s all-time record of 91. 

10.​India receives 1st Rafale fighter jet built for Indian Air Force

● India  has  got  the  1st  ​Rafale  fighter  jet  “​RB-001​”  built  for  the  ​Indian  Air  Force 
(IAF)  in  France.  Defence  Minister  Rajnath  Singh  received  the  1st  Rafale 
combat jet aircraft at Production Unit of D ​ assault Aviation in France​. 

11.