Sakthy Academy Coimbatore Hopes bus stop, Peelamedu, Coimbatore-04 82200 00624 / 82200 00625 01st...

Sakthy Academy Coimbatore

www.sakthyacademy.com Hopes bus stop, Peelamedu, Coimbatore-04

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01st October 2019

Appointments

1. RBI appoints Jai Bhagwan Bhoria as administrator for PMC Bank

The Reserve Bank of India has superseded the Board of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank Limited, Mumbai and appointed Jai Bhagwan Bhoria as the bank’s administrator with all powers of the board. Jai Bhagwan Bhoria replaces S.Waryam Singh.

RBI had recently increased the amount of withdrawal allowed to the depositors of PMC from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000 and the directives will remain in force for a period of six months.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/IBPS RRB Mains:

RBI 25th Governor: Shaktikant Das; Headquarters: Mumbai; Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata.

2. KS Dhatwalia appointed as PIB’s Principal DG

Senior Indian Information Service officer, KS Dhatwalia, has been appointed as the Principal Director General of Press Information Bureau.

He will succeed Sitanshu Kar and will be the 28th Principal Spokesperson of the government.

He has worked in key positions in various Media Units of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Banking

3. SBI becomes first Indian bank to have office in Australia’s Victoria

The State Bank of India opened its Melbourne office and becoming the first Indian bank to have a branch in the Australian state of Victoria.

The Melbourne office will assist the growing trade and investment relations between Victoria and India and is the outcome of the state’s 10-year India Strategy.

This investment by India’s largest commercial bank is a testament to our thriving financial services sector and our highly skilled workforce.


SBI Chairperson: Rajnish Kumar; Headquarters: Mumbai; Founded: 1 July 1955.

Defence

4. 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.

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DRDO Chairman: G Satheesh Reddy, Established: 1958; Headquarters: New Delhi.

Ranks and Reports

5. Kerala tops NITI Aayog’s School Education Quality Index

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.

Tamil Nadu was the top performer in access and equity outcomes, while Karnataka led in learning outcomes. Haryana had the best infrastructure and facilities.

Sports

6. Wilson-Satish pair wins gold at Asian Age Group Championships

India’s N. Wilson Singh and Satish Kumar Prahapati won the gold medal in the 10m platform synchronised diving event at the Asian Age Group Championships held in Bengaluru.

The duo of Wilson and Satish scored 290.19 score to beat Uzbekistan’s Zaynetdinov Marsel and Khasanov Botir, who scored 280.53 points. The bronze medal went to Mojtaba Valipour and Masood Vakili of Iran with a score of 266.16.

7. Fraser-Pryce wins World Championship 100m gold

Jamaican sprint legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won gold medal in 100m race of 2019 IAAF World Championships held in Doha.

This was her 4th women’s 100 metres world title. She defeated Britain’s European champion Dina Asher-Smith who took silver medal while Marie-Josee Ta Lou finished 3rd.

8. Fencer Bhavani Devi wins silver medal at Tournoi satellite competition in Belgium

Indian fencer Bhavani Devi wins the silver medal in the women’s sabre individual event at the Tournoi satellite competition in Belgium. She lost 15-10 to Anna Bashta of Azerbaijan in the final.


Capital of Belgium: Brussels; Currency of Belgium: Euro.

9. Japan’s Kento Momota wins Korea Open

Top-ranked Kento Momota of Japan clinched the men’s singles title at the Korea Open badminton tournament with a win over number two Chou Tien-Chen of Taiwan.

In the women’s final, China’s He Bingjiao defeated Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand.

10. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton won 2019 Russia F1 Grand Prix




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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.

Obituaries

11. INA veteran from Tamil Nadu V Ganesan passes away

Indian National Army (INA) veteran V Ganesan passed away. He joined Netaji’s INA at the age of 18 and received six months of military training in Singapore.

While participating in the battle against the British Army in Myanmar, he was arrested and was imprisoned for 10 months in Yangon jail and was later repatriated to India.

He was honoured by the President of India in 2012 at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan. He also a recipient of Copper Plaques from both the central and state governments.

12. Legendary singer Jose Jose passes away

Legendary Mexican singer Jose Jose who was often called ‘El Principe de la Cancion’ or ‘The Prince of Song, passes away.

In a career of more than four-decade, the singer sold millions of albums and picked by 6 Grammy nominations.

13. Grammy-winning opera star ‘Jessye Norman’ passes away

Jessye Norman, the renowned international opera star whose passionate soprano voice won her 4 Grammy awards and the national medal of arts, passed away recently.

She was a trailblazing performer and one of the rare black singers to attain worldwide stardom in the opera world.

Jessye Norman made her operatic debut in 1969 in Berlin, wowing audiences around the world on stages in Milan, London and New York. Norman, at 52, became the youngest person to earn the Kennedy Center Honor in the organization’s 20-year history.

Important Days

14. International Day of Older Persons: 1 October

The United Nations observes 1 October every year as International Day of Older Persons.

The International Day of Older Persons is an opportunity to highlight the important contributions that older people make to society and raise awareness of the opportunities and challenges of ageing in today’s world.

2019 Theme: The Journey to Age Equality.

The theme focuses on pathways of coping with existing and preventing future old age inequalities.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Clerk Mains:

Headquarters of United Nations: New York, USA; Founded: 24 October 1945.

Secretary General of the United Nations: Antonio Guterres.




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Miscellaneous

15. UNESCO, DD Join Hands for TV Show on Gandhi’s 150th Anniversary

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and Doordarshan, country’s public service broadcaster have joined hands to telecast TV bilingual programme ‘Mahatma Lives‘ or ‘Bapu Zinda Hain’ on 1-2 October 2019.

UNESCO and Doordarshan will telecast TV bilingual programme to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.

The objective of the programme is to celebrate his ideas and teachings and how it has shaped the lives of people in India as well as around the world.


Director-General of UNESCO: Audrey Azoulay; UNESCO Headquarters: Paris, France.

16. Gandhi Film Festival to be organised in Mumbai

Film Division in association with India Tourism will organise a “Gandhi Film Festival” in Mumbai from 2nd to 6th October, 2019.

This film festival is a part of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary celebration and will focus on Gandhiji’s message of non-violence and Swachh Bharat.

The select documentaries and feature films will be screened at the Films Division Complex, including: The Making of Mahatma, Gandhi, Gandhi My Father and Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara.

2nd and 3rd October 2019

National

1. Amit Shah flags off Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express

Union Home Minister Amit Shah flagged off Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express from the New Delhi Railway Station. The first commercial run of the train will start from 5th October.

Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express is a big gift for Jammu and Kashmir’s development and for promoting religious tourism. This is the second Vande Bharat Express. The first one runs in between Delhi and Varanasi.


Railways Board chairman: Vinod Kumar Yadav.

2. Palestine issues commemorative stamp to honour Gandhi on 150th birth anniversary

Palestine has released a commemorative postage stamp on Mahatma Gandhi, honouring his legacy and values, to mark the 150 birth anniversary of the world leader.

Palestinian Authority’s Minister of Telecommunication and Information Technology Ishaaq Seder released the stamp in Ramallah.




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Palestine’s issuance of the commemorative stamp comes in honour of Gandhi’s memory, legacy, and values that guided and shall continue to guide humanity.

3. Smriti Irani Inaugurates India’s Largest ‘Charkha’ Made of Waste Plastic in Noida

Union Minister Smriti Irani Inaugurates India’s Largest ‘Charkha’ made of Waste Plastic in Noida. This ‘charkha’ (spinning wheel) made of used plastic waste was inaugurated the eve of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary.

The ‘charkha’, which symbolises Gandhi’s dream of Swadeshi (self-sufficing and self-reliance), measures 14ft, 20ft and 8ft and is made of 1,250 kg of used plastic.

4. Nation pays homage to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th and Lal Bahadur Shashtri on his 115th birth anniversary

The Nation pays homage to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary today i.e. 2nd October 2019. A series of activities are being organized across the country and by Indian Missions abroad.

The nation is also remembering Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on his 115th birth anniversary.

Under Shastri’s leadership, India won the 1965 war against Pakistan.

He gave the nation the powerful slogan of Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan to enthuse soldiers and farmers.

International

5. China unveiled DF-41 the most powerful intercontinental-range ballistic missile on the planet

China unveiled the Dongfeng-41 (DF-41) intercontinental-range ballistic missile, touted to be the most powerful missile on the planet at the National Day parade, as China observed its 70th anniversary of Communist rule. DF-41 has a range of up to 9,320 miles (15,000 kilometres), more than any missile on Earth.

The missile capable of carrying 10 independently targeted nuclear warheads and could theoretically, hit the United States in 30 minutes, according to the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. China has also displayed its underwater vehicles and new stealthy DR-8 drones thought to be able to fly up to five times the speed of sound.


President of China: Xi Jinping.

Capital of China: Beijing; Currency: Renminbi.

State News

6. Rajasthan becomes the third state to ban certain categories of pan masala

Rajasthan became the third state in India after Maharashtra and Bihar to ban certain categories of pan masala containing magnesium carbonate, nicotine, tobacco, mineral oil and flavoured ‘supari’. All such products will now be banned in the State under the Food Safety Act.





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Chief Minister of Rajasthan: Ashok Gehlot; Governor: Kalraj Mishra.

Appointments

7. SS Mallikarjuna Rao appointed MD and CEO of Punjab National Bank

SS Mallikarjuna Rao was appointed as the Managing Director(MD)and Chief Executive of the Punjab National Bank(PNB).

He is currently serving as chief executive of the Allahabad Bank. He will replace Sunil Mehta of PNB.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Main 2019:

Headquarters of PNB: New Delhi; Founded: 19 May 1894.

Founder: Dyal Singh Majithia and Lala Lajpat Rai.

8. Former Indian cricketer, Kapil Dev resigned as chairman of CAC

The former Indian captain Kapil Dev decision to resign from the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) of BCCI.

This decision comes after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Ethics Officer D.K. Jain sent a notice to the panel comprising of Kapil, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy with regards to allegations of conflict of interest as claimed by Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association MPCA life member Sanjeev Gupta.


President of BCCI: C.K. Khanna; Headquarters of BCCI: Mumbai.

9. Air Marshal S K Ghotia appointed as chief of South Western Air Command

Air Marshal S K Ghotia has taken over as the new Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the South Western Air Command (SWAC) of the Indian Air Force (IAF), at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

He replaced Air Marshal H S Arora, who moved to Air Headquarters as the Vice-Chief of Air Staff. Prior to assuming the present appointment, Air Marshal Ghotia was the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Training Command.

Air Marshal Ghotia was commissioned in the fighter stream of the IAF in 1981.

He has held various posts including Chief Operations Officer and Station Commander of a forward base in SWAC, Director Intelligence at Air Headquarters, Air Attache at Embassy of India in Paris, Air Officer Commanding COBRA Group and Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Intelligence) at Air HQ.


The Indian Air Force is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces.

Indian Air Force was founded on 08th October 1932.

Headquarters of IAF is in New Delhi.

10. Surjit S Bhalla appointed as Executive Director for India at IMF

The government has appointed economist Surjit Bhalla as the executive director of the International Monetary Fund for a period of three years.




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The post was lying vacant after the death of Dr. Subir Gokarn in July.

Bhalla earlier served as a member of the prime minister’s economic advisory council but resigned earlier this year.

11. Jai Bhagwan Bhoria appointed as new administrator for PMC Bank

The Reserve Bank of India has superseded the Board of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank Limited, Mumbai and appointed Jai Bhagwan Bhoria as the bank’s administrator with all powers of the board.

The amount of withdrawal from the bank allowed to depositors has been increased from one thousand to ten thousand rupees.

The RBI’s directives will remain in force for a period of six months.

Agreements

12. Bank of Baroda signs MoU with Indian Army for customised services

Bank of Baroda (BoB) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Army under which the bank would offer customised services along with a host of facilities to account holders.

The MoU includes handsome free personal accident insurance cover, free air accident insurance cover of Rs 15 lakh to Rs 50 lakh and an overdraft facility up to three times of monthly net salary.

The features are also applicable for pensioners of Indian Army up to the age of 70 years.


Managing Director & CEO of BOB: P S Jayakumar; Headquarters: Baroda, Gujarat.

Banking

13. Axis Bank launches short-term online fixed deposits “Express FD”

Axis Bank, India’s third-largest private sector bank has launched the ‘Express FD’, a digital fixed deposit (FD) product that allows a customer to open an FD account in 3 minutes through the digital mode without opening a savings account with the bank.

‘Express FD’ offers attractive interest rates, zero issuance fees and no penalty on pre-mature withdrawal of up to 25% of the amount, the bank said.

A customer can open an Express FD account by investing a minimum Rs 5,000 up to Rs 90,000, for a tenure of 6 to 12 months.


Chairman of Axis Bank: Rakesh Makhija; Headquarters: Mumbai.




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Awards

14. President Kovind to confer Vayoshreshtha Samman-2019

President Ram Nath Kovind will confer the Vayoshreshtha Samman-2019 on the eminent senior citizens and institutions in recognition of their services towards the cause of the elderly persons.

The Vayoshreshtha Samman is a Scheme of awards instituted by the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry and gradually upgraded to the status of National Awards for institutions involved in rendering distinguished service for the cause of elderly persons.

15. Sachin Tendulkar gets most effective Swachhata Ambassador award

President Ram Nath Kovind presented the most effective Swachchta Ambassador award to Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Books and Authors

16 . Book by India’s Ambassador to the Netherlands, titled ‘India and the Netherlands – Past, Present and Future” released

A book penned by Indian Ambassador to the Netherlands Venu Rajamony titled ‘India and the Netherlands – Past, Present and Future,’ was released in Amsterdam.

The book gives an insight into the cross-cultural legacy between the two countries and was released at a function attended by the king and queen of the Netherlands.

The first copy of the book was received by Dutch King Willem-Alexander in presence of all high officials. The book has been published by Bombay Ink.


Netherlands Capital: Amsterdam, Currency: Euro and USD.

17. A new book titled “The Tech Whisperer” penned by Jaspreet Bindra released

A new book entitled “The Tech Whisperer”, written by digital transformation expert Jaspreet Bindra, features a chapter on AI (Artificial Intelligence).

The book has been published by Penguin India. The book will describes and simplify “emerging technologies like AI, blockchain, Internet of things, virtual reality,” and talk about how companies can employ these to drive their digital transformation.

Important Days

18. International Day of Non-Violence: 2nd October

The International Day of Non-Violence is observed on 2 October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. According to the UN General Assembly, which established the commemoration, International Day is an occasion to “disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness”.




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Obituaries

19. Hollywood tycoon Eric Pleskow passes away

American-Austrian film producer Eric Pleskow the Hollywood tycoon passed away.

He was the president of the film company United Artists from 1973 to 1978 and then as co-founder of Orion Pictures where many films under these film companies won Oscar awards.

4th October 2019

National

1. Nationwide ‘Paryatan Parv 2019’ to promote tourism kicks off

The nationwide Paryatan Parv, 2019 kicked off to promote tourism in the country.

The aim is to propagate the message of Dekho Apna Desh to encourage people to visit tourist destinations of the country and also spread the message of Tourism for All.

This year’s event is dedicated to 150th birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

2. PM of India & Mauritius jointly inaugurated projects in Mauritius

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mauritius PM Pravind Jugnauth jointly inaugurated 2 landmark projects in Mauritius via video conference.

The 2 projects includes the phase-1 of the Metro Express and a new ENT Hospital. The Indian Government has granted $275 million for the Metro Express project and a grant of $14 million for the new Hospital Project.

The grant was awarded as a special economic package for assisting five high-priority projects, which include the Metro Express project and a new ENT hospital.

3. Tourism Ministry launches App “Audio Odigos” for 12 sites of India

Tourism Ministry has launched the Audio Guide facility “Audio Odigos” for 12 sites of India (including Iconic Sites) on the occasion of “Paryatan Parv 2019”.

An MoU for Gol Gumbad, Delhi with Government of Delhi and Resbird Technologies was also exchanged for the development of Tourism Amenities.

Audio guide odigo offers Government of India verified content, with visuals & voice over support. With Audio Odigos, tourists will now enjoy a more enriching experience and take back historical insights of the Indian culture and heritage.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

Minister of State (I/C) of Tourism Ministery: Prahalad Singh Patel.

4. IRCTC to compensate passengers on delay of Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express

Passengers of IRCTC’s Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express will be compensated in case of delays, the Railway subsidiary, announcing a first of its kind offer from any national carrier.




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An amount of Rs 100 will be paid in case the delay is for over an hour and Rs 250 for delays of over two hours.

This latest offer is in addition to the Rs 25 lakh free insurance that will be given to passengers of the train.

This travel insurance also includes coverage of Rs 1 lakh against household theft and robbery during travel period of the passengers, again a first for those travelling onboard trains.


Railway Minister: Piyush Goyal.

5. India’s first private train Lucknow-Delhi Tejas Express flagged off

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath flagged off country’s first private train Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express started its maiden journey from Lucknow.

It will be the first train of Indian Railways that will be entirely run by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). The new Tejas Express will cover the distance between Delhi and Lucknow in six hours fifteen minutes.

All passengers travelling by Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express will be provided free insurance of up to ₹25 lakh by IRCTC.

State News

6. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik launches ‘Mo Sarkar’ initiative

Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik rolled out ‘Mo Sarkar’ programme which finds its roots in the Gandhian philosophy of giving people their voice in daily governance.

The objective of ‘Mo Sarkar’ is to improve governance by collecting feedback on behaviour and professionalism displayed by the Government officers.

“Mo Sarkar’ programme has been launched in 21 district headquarters hospitals and medical colleges at Cuttack, Sambalpur and Berhampur.


Odisha CM: Naveen Patnaik; Governor: Ganeshi Lal.

7. Uttarakhand CM launches awareness campaign ‘Urjagiri’ to stop power theft

Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat launched an awareness campaign “Urjagiri” which aims at stopping power theft and saving.

The Chief Minister emphasised on the need to speed up the process for wider awareness to avoid power loss in Uttarakhand.


Capital of Uttarakhand: Dehradun; Governor: Baby Rani Maurya.




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Appointments

8. Tata Communications names Amur Lakshminarayanan as its MD and CEO

Digital infrastructure provider, Tata Communications has named Amur S Lakshminarayanan as Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer designate of the company.

He comes with 35 years of experience in a broad range of leadership roles across industries and regions across the world.

Prior to this appointment, Lakshminarayanan was President and CEO of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Japan, Ltd.

He also worked in the company as Global Head of Telecom, Media and Information Services, HiTech and Utilities, and Head of TCS UK (United Kingdom) and Europe.

9. Amrit Lugun appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Greece

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India was appointed Amrit Lugun as the next Ambassador of India to Greece. He is an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) Officer of the 1989 batch. He will replace Shamma Jain.


Capital of Greece: Athens; Currency of Greece: Euro.

10. Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to Niue

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India notified that Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi was appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to Niue, with residence in Wellington, New Zealand.

He is an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) Officer of the 1991 batch presently working as a High Commissioner of India to New Zealand. He will replace Sanjiv Kohli.


Capital of Niue: Alofi; Currency: Niue dollar, New Zealand dollar.

11. Sushil Chandra appointed as MD & CEO of Oil India Limited

Oil India Limited has appointed Sushil Chandra Mishra as the new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company. He will replace Utpal Bora.

Sushil Chandra Mishra started his professional journey as an executive trainee with OIL in 1984 and developed deep expertise in commercial matters.

He also played a key role in framing and implementing procurement policies and procedures for inventory management, vendor development, framework agreement and its related strategies.

Banking

12. RBI reduces repo rate by 25 basis points in 4th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy




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In its 4th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee meeting, the Reserve Bank of India has reduced the policy repo rate by 25 basis points (bps).

The MPC has also decided to maintain the accommodative stance of monetary policy. The main decisions taken in the 4th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee meeting are:

The repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) was reduced from 5.40% to 5.15%.

The reverse repo rate under the LAF stands revised to 4.90%.

The marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate is revised to 5.40%.

RBI has also reduced the real GDP growth for 2019-20 from 6.9% to 6.1%.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For SBI Clerk Mains:

Governor of RBI: Shaktikant Das; Headquarters: Mumbai; Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata.

Awards

13. Ben Stokes named PCA player of the year

England all-rounder Ben Stokes has been voted Professional Cricketers’ Association player of the year at the Professional Cricketers’ Association awards.

All-rounder Stokes played a starring role in England’s maiden World Cup win before repeating his heroics to help salvage an Ashes draw with Australia.

Tom Banton of Somerset picked up the PCA young player of the year, while England bowler Sophie Ecclestone collected the women’s player of the summer award.

The 50th NatWest PCA Awards were held at the Roundhouse in Camden. The event, organised by the PCA in conjunction with the England and Wales Cricket Board.

14. Kyrgyz lawyer AzizbekAshurov wins 2019 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award

Human rights lawyer from Kyrgyzstan Azizbek Ashurov was awarded the 2019 UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) prestigious Nansen Award.

Ashurov will receive the award comprising of a commemorative medal and a cash prize of USD 150,000 prize money at a ceremony in Geneva on October 7, 2019.

The UNHCR hailed Azizbek Ashurov for helping Kyrgyzstan become the world’s first country to end statelessness, working through his organisation Ferghana Valley Lawyers Without Borders (FVLWB).

He and his organisation have helped more than 10,000 people gain Kyrgyz nationality after they became stateless following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.


UNHCR Founded: 14 December 1950; Headquarters of UNHCR: Geneva, Switzerland.

Sports

15. Abdul Quadir Khan Wins Silver Medal in Asian Body Building & Physique Sports Championship 2019

Maj Abdul Quadir Khan of the Corps of Signals has won the Silver medal at the 53rd Asian Body Building and Physique Sports Championship held at Batam, Indonesia.

His accomplishment in the sport has brought glory to the Indian Army and Corps of Signals.




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Obituaries

16. Padma Shri awardee HL Trivedi passes away

Renowned kidney transplant surgeon and Padma Shri recipient Dr H L Trivedi passed away.

He was as an expert in handling kidney transplant surgeries and was awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, in 2015 for his contribution to the society as a nephrologist.

He also established dialysis centre network in district hospitals across Gujarat with the help of the state government.

Miscellaneous

17. Govt launches portal for monitoring coal supply to power plants

Power Minister RK Singh and Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi have jointly launched PRAKASH – Power Rail Koyla Availability through Supply Harmony- portal in New Delhi.

The portal aims at bringing better coordination for coal supplies among all stakeholders.

This is an important step in ensuring adequate availability and optimum utilization of coal at thermal power plants.

The portal is designed to help in mapping and monitoring the entire coal supply chain for power plants.

18. NBCC sign MoU with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports

National Buildings Construction Corporation(NBCC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to provide project management consultancy for the development of National Sports University at Imphal, Manipur.

NBCC has bagged a Rs 400-crore contract to develop National Sports University.

5th October 2019

National

1. Goa Maritime Conclave 2019 inaugurated

The Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC)-2019 was inaugurated by the National Security Advisor, Shri Ajit Kumar Doval, at Goa.

This conclave was conducted by the Naval War College. The subjects of the conclave are Opportunities and Challenges in the Indian Ocean Region, Forging Common Maritime Priorities, Regional Constructs and Strategies in the region.

The theme for the conclave is “Common Maritime Priorities in IOR and need for Regional Maritime Strategy”.

State News

2. HP Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur launched the Pragati Rath of the HDFC bank




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Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur launched the Pragati Rath of the HDFC bank.

Pragati Rath will provide financial and digital literacy to the people during a month-long initiative by moving to different parts of Himachal Pradesh.

During the launching occasion, the bank provided a cheque Rs.1 crore to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. The bank has also announced that it is to launch the Sustainable Livelihood Initiative in the State.


Governor of Himanchal Pradesh: Bandaru Dattatraya.

3. Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh launches ‘YSR Vahana Mitra’

Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will launch the “YSR Vahana Mitra scheme” in Eluru, Andhra Pradesh.

Under which the government will provide financial assistance of Rs 10,000 per annum to owner-driver of an auto-rickshaw, or taxicab with the aim to meet their insurance premium, licence fee and other recurring expenses.


Andhra Pradesh Governor: Biswa Bhusan Harichandan.

Appointments

4. President Kovind appoints Chief Justices to 7 high courts

President Ramnath Kovind appoints Chief Justices to seven high courts.

Those chief justices have been appointed to Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, Gauhati, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim High Courts.

Name High court

Lingappa Narayana Swamy Himachal Pradesh High Court

Ravi ShankerJha Punjab and Haryana High Court

Indrajit Mohanty Rajasthan High Court

J.K. Maheshwari Andhra Pradesh High Court

S. Manikumar Kerala High Court




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Arup K. Goswami Sikkim High Court

Ajai Lamba Gauhati High Court

Four of the new Chief Justices would fill the vacancies left by Justices V. Ramasubramanian, Krishna Murari, S. Ravindra Bhat and Hrishikesh Roy, who were elevated to the Supreme Court recently from the Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, Rajasthan, and Kerala High Courts, respectively.

5. Vijay Patil elected President of Mumbai Cricket Association

Vijay Patil has been elected the president of Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), while Sanjay Naik and Amol Kale were elected as secretary and vice-president respectively.

Vijay Patil is the son of former Governor of Bihar Dr DY Patil.

Banking

6. UCO Bank launches UCash, Digilocker and an App

UCO Bank has launched three new digital products called, UCash, Digilocker and an app in Kolkata, West Bengal. A new current account facility has also been launched by the bank.

UCash enables customers to withdraw money from ATMs through mobile banking without using a debit card. Digilocker aims to eliminate the use of physical documents and enables sharing of verified electronic documents.

The third product, the new mobile app, integrates four existing apps of the bank – UCO Mbanking, UCO UPI, UCO Mpassbook and UCO Secure- in a single interface.


MD & CEO of UCO Bank: Atul Kumar Goel; Headquarters: Kolkata, West Bengal.

Obituaries

7. Centenarian philatelist Krishna Kadekodi passes away

Centenarian philatelist and coin collector Krishna Gopalkrishna Kadekodi passed away. He was 102.

He started his career as a revenue inspector and retired as a special deputy commissioner at the Regional Commissioner’s Office in Belagavi.

He was the first tahsildar of Panaji after the liberation of Goa from Portuguese occupation.

He was popular not only in India but also aborad for his hobby of collecting stamps, coins and antiques. His collection includes a coloured stamp of Queen Victoria issued in 1854.

8. Farook Khan, an Indian-origin journalist in South Africa passes away

Farook Khan, an Indian-origin journalist in South Africa passed away. He hailed from Maharashtra. He had started the Miss India South Africa Pageant as part of the Miss India Worldwide Pageant.

9. Bangladesh, Buddhist leader Satyapriya Mohathero passes away




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The second highest Buddhist leader of Bangladesh and head of Sima Bihar of Ramu, Satyapriya Mohathero passed away in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

He was awarded the second-highest civilian award of Bangladesh Ekushey Padak in 2015 for social work.

The Ramu monastery had provided shelter to a large number of people during the Liberation War of Bangladesh 1971 in the face of Pakistani atrocities.

Important Days

10. World Teachers’ Day: 5 October

World Teachers’ Day or International Teachers’ Days is celebrated on October 5.

The aim of World Teacher’ss Day is to acknowledge the significant role of educators across the world.

It commemorates the anniversary of the adoption of UNESCO’s 1966 recommendation concerning the status of teachers.

This year’s theme: ‘Young Teachers: The future of the Profession’.

The UNESCO adopted the recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel in 1997 to complement the 1966 recommendation by covering teaching and research personnel in higher education.

UNESCO’s recommendation sets benchmarks regarding the rights and responsibilities of teachers and standards for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, and teaching and learning conditions.

Miscellaneous

11. India’s first floating basketball court opens in Arabian Sea, Mumbai

The National Basketball Association (NBA) brought to India the first-ever Floating Basketball Court in the Arabian Sea in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

NBA India on December 20, 2018, had announced that the first-ever NBA game in the country would be organized on October 4 and 5 in Mumbai.

The NBA India Games 2019 will feature the Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers, who will play two pre-season games on October 4 and 5.

6th and 7th October 2019

National

1. AIM NITI Aayog & UNDP India launches Youth Co:Lab

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India jointly launched Youth Co:Lab.

The lab aims at accelerating social entrepreneurship and innovation in young India and to recognize young people as critical drivers of sustainable development. During the launch, a Letter of Intent (LOI) was signed between AIM, NITI Aayog and UNDP India.

Through Youth Co:Lab, young entrepreneurs and innovators will get a chance to connect with governments, mentors, incubators and investors. They will also get the opportunity to pitch their ideas at UNDP’s regional centre in 2020.

2. 5th World Parliament of Science, Religion and Philosophy begins




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The three-day event 5th World Parliament of Science, Religion and Philosophy will be held at the MIT World Peace University in Pune, Maharashtra.

The theme of the programme this year is ‘role of science, religion and philosophy for world peace and well-being of mankind’.

The primary objective of the event was to create and promote interfaith and inter-religious movement for World Peace.

State News

3. India’s first e-waste clinic to be set up in Bhopal

The Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) have joined hands to set up the country’s first e-waste clinic in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

This clinic would enable segregation, processing and disposal of waste from both household and commercial units.

The electronic waste will be collected door-to-door or can be deposited directly at the clinic in exchange for a fee.


Chief Minister of MP: Kamal Nath; Governor of MP: Lal Ji Tandon.

Appointments

4. Justice Vinod Kumar Sharma is new Punjab lokpal

The Punjab government has appointed Justice Vinod Kumar Sharma (retired) as the new Lokpal. The post was lying vacant since April 23, 2018, after Justice Satish Kumar Mittal (retd) had resigned.

The Lokpal holds the office for a term of 6 years.

Justice Sharma had served as Punjab and Haryana high court judge from March 22, 2006, to October 26, 2010. Thereafter, he was transferred to the Madras high court from where he retired on May 24, 2013.


CM of Punjab: Amarinder Singh; Governor: VP Singh Badnore.

5. Mexican actress Yalitza Aparicio named UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador

The Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, has named Mexican actress Yalitza Aparicio as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Indigenous Peoples.

Yalitza Aparicio is committed to the fight against racism and for the rights of women and indigenous peoples. She was chosen to play in Alfonso Cuarón’s film Roma while studying to be a teacher.

She is the first indigenous Mexican woman to be so recognized by the US Academy Awards.

TIME magazine (USA) listed her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019.

Agreements




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6. NHA ties with Google to strengthen the implementation of PMJAY

National Health Authority signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) with Google to collaborate and strengthen the implementation of Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY).

The two organizations will now work together to increase process efficiencies in day-to-day applications. Google will support NHA in improving digital presence of PMJAY and showcasing relevant content to the 50 crore entitled beneficiaries.

Google will also help provide training and support to NHA personnel to build on digital skills. NHA is the nodal agency for implementing Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.

Defence

7. Indo-Mongolian Joint Exercise Nomadic Elephant 2019

14th edition of Indo – Mongolian joint military training, Exercise Nomadic Elephant-XIV started.

The Mongolian Army is being represented by officers and troops of the elite 084 Air Borne Special Task Battalion, while the Indian Army is being represented by a contingent of a battalion of RAJPUTANA RIFLES.

Nomadic Elephant-XIV is aimed at training troops in counter-insurgency & counter-terrorism operations under United Nations mandate.

The Joint Exercise will enhance defence co-operation and military relations between the two nations. It is an ideal platform for the armies of both nations to share their experiences & best practices and gain mutually during the joint training.


Mongolia Capital: Ulaanbaatar; Currency: Mongolian togrog.

Obituaries

8. American actress, singer, and model, Diahann Carroll passes away

US actress Diahann Carroll, who won Golden Globe and Tony awards and was nominated for an Oscar passed away.

She was also the first black woman to win the Tony Award for best actress for her role in the Broadway musical No Strings.

Sports

9. Naomi Osaka beats Ashleigh Barty to win China Open

Japan’s Naomi Osaka has won the China Open held in Beijing, China.

She defeated world number one Ashleigh Barty with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. This was a third title of 2019 for Osaka and fifth in her short career.

10. Christine Wolf wins Hero Women’s Indian Open

Austria’s Christine Wolf has won the Hero Women’s Indian Open at Gurugram, Haryana.

It was Christine’s first title after six years on the Ladies European Tour. Norway’s Mariaane Skarpnord finished as runner-up while England’s Meghan MacLaren finished third in the competition.




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Among the Indian players, Anika Varma finished at 5th position while Tvesa Malik was at 6th position.

11. Novak Djokovic wins Japan Open title

Novak Djokovic defeated Australia’s John Millman in the finals to win the Japan Open title. He defeated Millman with a score of 6-3, 6-2 and secured a 76th career singles tournament win.

12. Harmanpreet Kaur becomes first Indian to play 100 T20Is

Harmanpreet Kaur has become the 1st Indian to play 100 T20 International matches. She has joined the club of 10 female players who have reached the three figure mark in terms of appearances.

New Zealand’s Suzie Bates and Australia”s Ellyse Perry are on top of the list with 111 appearances.

Harmanpreet Kaur has 2 more appearances in T20Is than MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma, who have played the highest number of matches for India in men”s cricket.

Books and Authors

13. A new book titled “150 Years of Celebrating the Mahatma the South African Legacy”, by Fakir Hassen launched

A new book titled “150 Years of Celebrating the Mahatma the South African Legacy”, by Fakir Hassen launched in Johannesburg, South Africa. This book released on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary.

The book chronicles commemorations of Gandhi’s activities, including his birth and death anniversaries & his visit in South Africa, which was stifled by the apartheid-era minority white government and revived after former president Nelson Mandela.


Capitals of South Africa: Cape Town, Pretoria, Bloemfontein.

The rand is the official currency of South Africa.

Miscellaneous

14. GoI launches eco-friendly crackers to fight air pollution

Union Health Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan has launched eco-friendly green firecrackers which have been manufactured in India.

Environment-friendly fireworks have been developed by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) labs and manufactured by licensee-manufacturers.

A green logo as well as a Quick Response (QR) coding system has been developed for differentiation of green crackers from conventional crackers.

The crackers have been launched in a bid to “resolve the crisis of air pollution”.

15. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan launches trans-fat free logo

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan launched the ‘trans-fat-free’ logo, which can be voluntarily used by food business operators in their outlets and also on food products.

The logo was launched to boost the ‘Eat Right Movement’ of FSSAI. He also released a slogan ‘Chefs 4 Trans Fat-Free’ at the event.




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National

1. AIIMS & Health ministry launches “eDantSeva”

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences in collaboration with the Union Health Ministry launched the 1st-ever website and mobile application on oral health awareness “eDantSeva“.

The digital platform contains information about the National Oral Health Programme and a detailed list of all the dental facility and colleges, Information, Education and Communication (IEC) material.

It also constitutes a unique feature called the ‘Symptom Checker’. The website also provides GPRS route and satellite images of the facility for easier access to the people.

A Braille booklet and voice-over on oral health education for visually impaired was also released on the occasion.

2. CBDT launches Faceless e-Assessment scheme

The Central Board of Direct Taxes has launched “Faceless e-Assessment scheme” that eliminates physical interface between an assessing officer and an assessee. They also inaugurated the National e-Assessment Centre (NeAC).

The “Faceless e-assessment scheme” is expected to bring in a “paradigm shift” in taxation by eliminating human interface in the income tax assessment system.

A total of 2,686 officials of the I-T department have been deputed for implementation of the scheme. With NeAC, there would be no physical interface between the tax payers and the tax officers.

Also, the above will bring transparency and efficiency and will improve the quality of assessment and monitoring.

There would be a NeAC in Delhi to be headed by Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax.

There are 8 Regional e-Assessment Centres (ReAC) set up at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata Ahmedabad, Pune, Bengaluru and Hyderabad which would comprise Assessment unit, Review unit, Technical unit and Verification units.


Chairman of CBDT: P.C. Mody.

3. 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 Dassault Aviation in France.

However, the first batch of jets will arrive in India only in May 2020. Defence Minister also held the Annual Defence dialogue with his French counterpart Florence Parly.

The RB in the aircraft designation stands for IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria who as then Deputy Chief of IAF led the Indian negotiation team and had a major role in the contract negotiations.

4. Air Force Day: 8th october

Air Force Day is celebrated every year by the Indian Air Force on 8th of October. This year Indian Air Force celebrated its 87th anniversary. The IAF was founded on October 8, 1932.

On the occasion of 87th anniversary of Indian Air Force, a scintillating air display by various aircraft was organized as the hallmark of the Air Force Day Parade-cum-Investiture Ceremony.




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The display commenced with flag bearing skydivers of the famous AKASH GANGA Team dropping out of an AN-32 aircraft in their colourful canopies.

Indian Air Force officers who participated in the Balakot airstrike, flew three Mirage 2000 aircraft and two Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft in Avenger formation during the event.


Air Force Chief: Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria.

International News

5. Antonio Costa re-elected as the PM of Portugal

Antonio Costa has been re-elected as the Prime Minister of Portugal after winning the general elections.

Antonio Costa, the Socialist leader and incumbent prime minister, got the most votes in Portugal’s general election, leaving it poised to continue leading the government for another four years.

Awards

6. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2019

The Nobel Assembly has announced the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine at Karolinska Institutet.

The prize will be awarded jointly to William G. Kaelin, Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza. They have been nominated for the prize for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability.

The prize committees are currently working carefully and independently to select the recipients of the 2019 Nobel Prize and the laureates for other fields: Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace Prize and the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.

The recipient for above prizes will be announced as per the schedule between 8th to 14th October, 2019.

7. The Nobel Prize in Physics 2019

The Nobel Assembly has announced the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics. The prize will be awarded to James Peebles, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz.

James Peebles was honoured for his contributions to the understanding of the evolution of the Universe and Earth’s place in the cosmos. Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz were awarded the prize for finding 51 Pegasi b, a gas giant orbiting a star 50 light-years away.

It was the first exoplanet to be discovered orbiting a star like our own.

8. “Spirit Of Kerala” wins People’s Choice Award

Short film from Kerala “Spirit Of Kerala” has won the People’s Choice Award at the recently concluded My Rode Reel film competition.

The film won the honour beating 1,680 entries. The short film is based on a boat race and directed by Arun Joseph.

My Rode Reel film competition is touted as the ‘world’s largest short film competition’.

9. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2019




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The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2019.

The prize will be awarded jointly to John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino. They have been nominated for the prize for the development of lithium-ion batteries.

This lightweight, rechargeable and powerful battery is now used in everything from mobile phones to laptops and electric vehicles.

Business News

10. Reliance MF renamed as “Nippon India Mutual Fund”

Reliance Mutual Fund has been renamed as “Nippon India Mutual Fund“. The organization was renamed following the purchase of 75% stake in Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management by Nippon Life Insurance.

Nippon India Mutual Fund has become the largest foreign-owned Asset Management Company in India. Sundeep Sikka will continue to lead company as the CEO.

11. Infosys bags digital transformation services deal from Volvo

Infosys has been selected as the main supplier to deliver Volvo Cars’ digital transformation services for its enterprise digital commercial operations applications and products.

Infosys will offer next generation application services leveraging its global delivery model (GDM), agile delivery, automation and other service optimisation levers to deliver effective service operations.

Based on the Scale Agile Framework (SAFe), Infosys will enable transformation of application management and application development deliveries to a 100% agile operating model.

Ranks and Reports

12. India ranks 68th on WEF’s Global Competitiveness Index

World Economic Forum has released the Global Competitiveness Index report. In total, there are 103 indicators distributed across the 12 pillars on which the performance of the countries was evaluated.

As per the WEF’s released report, India has moved down 10 places to rank 68th on an annual global competitiveness index which was topped by Singapore.

India is among the worst-performing BRICS nations along with Brazil which is ranked 71st this year.

WEF stated that India ranks high in terms of macroeconomic stability and market size, while its financial sector is relatively deep and stable despite the high delinquency rate, which contributes to weakening the soundness of its banking system.

Here is the detailed ranking of India in individual pillars across which the performance of the countries was evaluated:

Sl. No. Pillars Rank

1. Institutions 59

2. Infrastructure 70

3. ICT Adoption 120

4. Macroeconomic

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Stability

5. Health 110

6. Skills 107

7. Product Market 101

8. Labour Market 103

9. Financial System 40

10. Market Size 3

11. Business Dynamism 69

12. Innovation Capability 35

Important Days

13. World Habitat Day: 7 October

The United Nations designated the first Monday of October of every year as World Habitat Day. The Day is observed to remind the world that we all have the power and the responsibility to shape the future of our cities and towns.

The focus of this year’s World Habitat Day is promoting the contribution of innovative frontier technologies to sustainable waste management to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 11: inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities.

Theme for 2019: Frontier Technologies as an innovative tool to transform waste to wealth.

This year’s Global Observance of World Habitat Day will be held in Mexico City.




14. World Post Day: 9 October

United Nations celebrates World Post Day every year on 9 October. The purpose of World Post Day is to bring awareness to the Post’s role in the everyday lives of people and businesses, as well as its contribution to global social and economic development.

The Posts in many countries use the event to introduce or promote new postal products and services.

The day marks the establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1874 in the Swiss Capital, Bern. It was declared World Post Day by the UPU Congress held in Tokyo, Japan in 1969.

Sports




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15. Simone Biles wins 15th world title

Simone Biles has clinched a record-extending 15th World Gymnastics Championship title in Stuttgart, Germany. With the victory, she has become the event’s most decorated woman.

Simone Biles won a record 21st medal at the world gymnastics championships as the United States retained their women’s team all-around title.

Biles played a key role in a commanding performance by the USA, earning the most points in three of the four disciplines: the vault, balance beam and floor.

Miscellaneous

16. Day Care Recreation Centre inaugurated in Leh

The 1st Government-sponsored and operated Day-Care cum Recreation Centre for senior citizens has been inaugurated in Leh.

The day care Centre, co-sponsored by Government and the District Legal Service Authority will provide a raft of medical facilities including geriatric care, health consultations and check-ups, physiotherapy to the senior citizens. It would also provide legal service, the senior citizens would require on various legal issues.

The premise would be a one stop-shop for entertainment, medical services and legal aid for the aged people of the Ladakh region.

10th October 2019

National

1. Dearness allowance of government employees hiked by 5%

The Central government has increased the Dearness Allowance (DA) of Central government employees and pensioners. The government has hiked DA by 5%, which means the dearness allowance has been increased from 12% to 17%. The decision was approved in a cabinet meet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The hike would be effective from July 2019. The cost to the exchequer will be Rs 16,000 crore.

The cabinet also approved inclusion of 5,300 families under the development package of Jammu & Kashmir, who initially opted to move outside the state, but later returned and settled in the Jammu & Kashmir. This will enable such development package families to become eligible to get one-time financial assistance of Rs 5.5 lakh under the existing scheme.

Cabinet has also relaxed the mandatory requirement of Aadhaar-seeded data as a pre-condition for release of funds to the beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. The relaxation will be till 30th November 2019. It will enable immediate release of benefits to a large number of farmers who are not able to avail the same due this requirement.

2. “DHRUV” a Learning Programme launched from ISRO, Bengaluru

“DHRUV” a Pradhan Mantri Innovation Learning Programme has commenced from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bengaluru and will conclude at IIT, Delhi.

The programme aims to further sharpen innovative imagination, skills and knowledge of the students who are expected to contribute to bringing solutions to socio-economic, political and environmental issues in the country.

60 brightest and talented students from Science, Mathematics and Performing Arts have been chosen for the programme.




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3. GoI launches “Ganga Aamantran: Open Water Rafting Expedition”

Jal Shakti Minister has launched an initiative ‘Ganga Amantran’. The initiative has been launched to connect with the stakeholders of the river.

It is a pioneering exploratory open-water rafting and kayaking expedition on the Ganga river. The expedition will start at Devaprayag and culminate at Ganga Sagar covering the entire stretch of over 2500 kms of the River.

Ganga Aamantran is the 1st ever effort by National Mission for Clean Ganga to raft across the entire stretch of the river.

It is also the longest ever social campaign undertaken through an adventure sporting activity to spread the message of River Rejuvenation and Water Conservation on a massive scale.


Union Jal Shakti Minister: Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

4. Govt constitutes panel for measures to raise GST revenue

The Central Government has constituted a committee of officers to suggest measures to augment GST revenue collections and administration.

The terms of reference of the panel includes making suggestions related to systemic changes in goods and services tax (GST) including checks and balances to prevent misuse and measures to improve voluntary compliance.

The panel has also been given the task to give inputs on measures for the expansion of the tax base. The committee have to submit its 1st report within 15 days to the GST Council Secretariat.

Business News

5. RBI rejects Indiabulls Housing & Lakshmi Vilas Bank merger deal

The Reserve Bank of India has rejected the merger proposal of Indiabulls Housing Finance and Lakshmi Vilas Bank.

RBI has rejected the application for voluntary amalgamation of Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd. and Indiabulls Commercial Credit Ltd. with the Lakshmi Vilas Bank Ltd.

The merger was crucial for Lakshmi Vilas Bank as it is now under the prompt corrective action framework of the RBI due to a high level of bad loans and insufficient capital.


Chairman of Indiabulls Group: Sameer Gehlaut.

Ranks and Reports

6. RBI released Consumer Confidence Survey (September 2019)

The Reserve Bank of India has released the results of the September 2019 round of its Consumer Confidence Survey.




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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.

Respondents perceived an increase in the price level over the last 1 year and a majority of them expect prices to rise further in the coming year.

Respondents sentiments on overall spending as well as essential spending remain strong, though sentiments on discretionary spending weakened.



Banking

7. RBI approves merger of DCBs to form ‘Kerala Bank’

The Reserve Bank of India has given the go-ahead to the Kerala government to amalgamate 13 district cooperative banks (DCBs) with the Kerala State Cooperative Bank to form the proposed “Kerala Bank”.

Except the Malappuram District Cooperative Bank, all district banks had approved the scheme of amalgamation proposed by the State government at their respective general body meetings.

Now, the government have to complete the stipulations laid for merger and submit a compliance report to the apex bank before March 31, 2020.

RBI also insisted that the State government would have to consistently infuse additional capital and also put in place a well-defined governance structure by amending the KSCS Act.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO/Clerk Mains:


Awards

8. Russia honors astronaut Nick Hague with “Order of Courage”

Russia has honoured NASA astronaut Nick Hague with one of its highest honours, “The Order of Courage“.

Nick Hague survived an aborted space launch with Russian cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin when their Soyuz rocket failed minutes after blast-off from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in October 2018.

Hague has been awarded for his “courage and high professionalism” shown during life-threatening conditions.

Sports




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9. German Footballer Bastian Schweinsteiger announces his retirement

German World Cup champion Bastian Schweinsteiger has announced his retirement from soccer.

Schweinsteiger spent a major part of his career with European giants Bayern Munich, where he won 8 Bundesliga titles and 7 German cups as well as the Champions league in 2013.

He made over 300 appearances for the Bavarian side, scoring 45 goals from 2002-2015.

Important Days

10. World Mental Health Day: 10 October

World Health Organization observes World Mental Health Day on 10th 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 theme 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.


WHO Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland; Director general: Tedros Adhanom.

11. World Space Week: 4th-10th October

The United Nations (Office for Outer Space Affairs) observes 4-10 October every year as World Space Week. It is an international celebration of science and technology, and their contribution to the betterment of the human condition.

The United Nations General Assembly declared in 1999 that World Space Week (WSW) will be held each year from October 4-10. The dates were in recognition of the October 4, 1957 launch of the first human-made Earth satellite, Sputnik 1.

The theme for 2019 is: The Moon: Gateway to the Stars

During World Space Week space education and outreach events are organised by space agencies, aerospace companies, schools, planetaria, museums, and astronomy clubs around the world.




Science and Technology

12. Saturn overtakes Jupiter as planet with most moons

A team of astronomers has discovered a haul of 20 new moons orbiting the ringed planet, Saturn. This discovery has brought its total to 82 moons, while Jupiter, by contrast, has 79 natural satellites.

The moons were discovered using the Subaru telescope on Maunakea, Hawaii.




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Each of the newly discovered objects in orbit around Saturn is about 5 km in diameter and 17 of them orbit the planet “backwards” i.e. retrograde direction. The other three moons orbit in a prograde direction i.e. the same direction as Saturn rotates.

Dr Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC led the team of astronomers including David Jewitt of University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and Jan Kleyna of the University of Hawaii.

Miscellaneous

13. Vishnu Nandan among 300 researchers to join MOSAiC Expedition

Vishnu Nandan, polar researcher from Kerala will join largest ever Arctic expedition “MOSAiC Expedition“. He will be the only Indian aboard among the 300 researchers for multidisciplinary drifting observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate expedition.

Vishnu Nandan will aboard the German research vessel Polarstern, anchored on a large sheet of sea ice in the Central Arctic, drifting along with it during the pitch-black Polar winter.

Led by the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany, MOSAiC, the largest ever Arctic expedition in history, will be the first to conduct a study of this scale at the North Pole for an entire year.

The expedition will help the researchers better understand the impact of climate change and aid in improved weather projections.

14. “GEMINI” system to warn fishermen of danger

GEMINI is a portable receiver developed to avoid communication blackouts. It linked to ISRO-satellites and is “fail-proof” and warn fishermen of danger.

The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services collaborated with Accord, a private company, to develop a box-shaped receiver that has an antenna and in-built battery that can last 3 to 4 days.

GEMINI works on GAGAN, developed by ISRO and the Airports Authority of India and is an India-made global positioning system and relies on the positioning system by ISRO’s GSAT satellites.

When GEMINI is connected to an app, it also lets fishermen know the probability of fish-catch in the surrounding seas.

11th October 2019

National

1. SARAS Aajeevika Mela begins in New Delhi

SARAS Aajeevika Mela has begun at India Gate Lawns, in New Delhi. It has been organized by the Ministry of Rural Development under the initiative of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission.

It aims to bring the rural women Self Help Groups (SHGs) formed with support of DAY-NRLM, under one platform to show-case their skills, sell their products and help them build linkages with bulk buyers.

Over 200 stalls have been set-up at the Mela venue, where nearly 500 rural SHG craftswomen from 29 States and UTs will show-case varied range of products like handicrafts, handlooms, natural food products and a food court with regional cuisines at India Gate Lawns.

2. GoI launches Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN) initiative




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Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan has launched the Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN) initiative in New Delhi.

The initiative was launched during the 13th Conference of Central Council of Health and Family Welfare.

The initiative aims to assure dignified, respectful and quality health care at no cost for every woman and newborn visiting the public health facility in order to end all preventable maternal and newborn deaths.

It also provides a positive birth experience to both mother and infant. With the initiative, the government is committed to achieve the target of reducing the maternal mortality and child mortality.

Economy News

3. Moody’s cuts India’s GDP growth forecast to 5.8% for FY20

Moody, the rating agency has lowered its 2019-20 GDP growth forecast for India to 5.8% from 6.2%.

It stated that the Indian economy is experiencing a pronounced slowdown partly due to long-lasting factors.

Appointments

4. Yes Bank Ltd appoints Anita Pai as COO

Yes Bank Ltd has appointed Anita Pai as the Chief Operating Officer and Jasneet Bachal as the Chief Marketing Officer of the bank. The appointments has been made to further strengthen the top management at the bank.

Anita Pai will lead the bank’s operations and service delivery and will also look after the information technology functions of the lender.

Jasneet Bachal will head the marketing and communication efforts of the bank.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO/Clerk Mains:

Chief Executive Officer of Yes Bank: Ravneet Gill.

Agreements

5. GeM signs MOU with Union Bank of India

Government e-Marketplace signed an MoU with Union Bank of India. As per the MoU, UBI will be able to offer an array of services including transfer of funds through GeM Pool Accounts, advising of Performance Bank Guarantees and Earnest Money Deposit to the registered users on the GeM portal.

The MoU will facilitate a cashless, paperless and transparent payment system on the portal and will create an efficient procurement system for government entities.

GeM is an initiative of the Government of India offering one stop platform facilitating online procurement of common use goods and services required by various government departments, organisations, Public Sector Units.

Awards

6. The Nobel Peace Prize for 2019




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The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2019 to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali. He has been awarded for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea.

The prize is also meant to recognise all the stakeholders working for peace and reconciliation in Ethiopia and in the East and Northeast African regions.

He will receive a full cash prize, valued this year at 9-million kronor ($918,000), a gold medal and a diploma.

7. The Nobel Prize in Literature 2018 and 2019

The Nobel Prizes in Literature 2018 and 2019 were announced at The Swedish Academy in Stockholm. Both winners will receive a full cash prize, valued this year at 9-million kronor ($918,000), a gold medal and a diploma.

The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2018 is awarded to the Polish author Olga Tokarczuk. She has been awarded “for a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life.”

The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2019 is awarded to the Austrian author Peter Handke. He has been awarded “for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience.”

Obituaries

8. Legendary saxophonist Kadri Gopalnath passes away

Legendary saxophonist and the Padma Shri awardee Kadri Gopalnath passed away. The Carnatic music maestro won multiple awards in his illustrious career, including the Kendra Sangeetha Nataka Academy Award and Karnataka Kalashree.

He had the distinction of being the first Carnatic musician to be invited in the BBC Promenade concert in the Royal Albert Hall at London in 1994.

Important Days

9. International Day of the Girl Child: 11 October

The United Nations observes International Day of the Girl Child on 11th of October every year. The day aims to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face, while promoting girls’ empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights.

The theme for 2019: GirlForce: Unscripted and Unstoppable.




Summits and Conferences

10. Gujarat to host conference of State Power Ministers

Gujarat will host the State Power Ministers’ Conference. It will take place at Kevadia, on the banks of Narmada river.

The 2 day conference will see discussions on policies related to emerging technologies in sustainable and renewable energy sector.




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It will also look after the implementation of Prime Minister Kusum Yojana, Solar Roof top, renewable energy development in the border areas, projects for Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Parks, ease of doing business in solar and wind energy space and the concerning issues related to regulatory matters, land and infrastructure.

11. 9th RCEP Intersessional Ministerial Meeting to be held in Thailand

The 9th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Intersessional Ministerial Meeting will be held in Bangkok, Thailand.

This will be the final Ministerial meeting before the 3rd Leaders’ Summit which will be held on November 4, 2019 in Bangkok.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will represent India in the meeting.

He will also hold a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Japan, Singapore, China, Australia and New Zealand during the Bangkok Ministerial.

Miscellaneous

12. Railway police’s website & mobile app “Sahyatri” launched

Union Minister Nityanand Rai has launched a Government Railway Police’s website “railways.delhipolice.gov.in” and a mobile application “Sahyatri”.

The database of criminals, including their photographs, active in railways’ jurisdiction all over India would be uploaded on the Railway police’s website. It will also have the facility to scan and read QR codes and make an emergency call.

The Sahyatri app will help railway passengers find out the jurisdiction of a police station and the details of GRP officials by geo-tagging with Google Maps.

It will also help the railway police in addressing complaints of passengers from across India and crime detection by integrating the criminal database online.

13. 38th India Carpet Expo begins in Varanasi

The 38th India Carpet Expo will be held in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The expo will be organized by the Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC).

The India Carpet Expo aims to promote the cultural heritage and weaving skills of Indian hand-made carpets and other floor coverings for the visiting overseas carpet buyers.

India carpet expo also acts as a platform for international carpet buyers, buying houses, buying agents, architects and Indian carpet manufacturers and exporters to meet and establish business relationship.

14. Maharashtra & Goa Circle celebrating National Postal Week

The Maharashtra and Goa Circle of the India Post is celebrating National Postal Week.

The postal circle is observing the National Postal Week in each of the six regions under its jurisdiction – Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Goa.

The week is being celebrated to spread awareness about services provided by the department and efforts made to meet changing requirements of customers.

The week also commemorates the establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1874 in the Swiss capital Berne.




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12th October 2019

National

1. India to extend over $60 mn line of credit to Comoros

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has signed an MoU with the island nation Comoros. As per MoU, India will extend over $60 mn line of credit to Comoros for Energy and Maritime Defence Cooperation.

The Line of Credit consists of over USD 41.6 million for setting up of 18 MW Power Plant in Moroni and another USD 20 million for the procurement of High-Speed Interceptor Boats.

The Vice President was also conferred ‘The Order of the Green Crescent’, the highest Civilian Honour of Comoros, by Azali Assoumani, President of Comoros in Moroni.

Ranks and Reports

2. Forbes India Rich List 2019

The business magazine Forbes has released “The Forbes India Rich List 2019” which has been topped by Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani with net worth of $51.4 billion.

Mukesh Ambani remained the richest Indian for the 12th year in a row.

Industrialist Gautam Adani jumped 8 spots on the list to become the 2nd richest Indian with net worth of $15.7 billion.

The magazine stated that it was ‘a challenging year’ for the Indian economy.

5 of the Richest Indians in Forbes India Rich List 2019 are:

1.MukeshAmbani with networthof $51.billion 2.GautamAdani with net worth of $15.7 billion 3.HindujaBrothers with net worth of $15.6 billion 4.PallonjiMistry with net worth of $15 billion 5. Uday Kotak with net worth of $14.8 billion

Awards

3. Ramesh Pandey selected for Asia Environmental Enforcement Award

Indian Forest Service officer Ramesh Pandey has been selected for the prestigious Asia Environmental Enforcement Award by the United Nations Environment Programme.

He is known for his investigation and intelligence gathering on poachers. He will receive the award at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok. The selection panel has recognised his excellent work in combating trans-boundary environmental crime.

Asia Environmental Enforcement Awards aims to publicly recognise outstanding achievements by public organisations and individuals in Asia to combat transboundary environmental crime.

4. Ashleigh Barty wins ‘The Don’ Award




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Ashleigh Barty has been awarded Australian sport’s highest individual honour ‘The Don’ Award at the annual Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

With the award, she has joined legends like Cathy Freeman and Ian Thorpe in lifting the prestigious prize.

Barty was the first Australian to win the French Open in 46 years and is now aiming to become the first Australian woman to end the season with the No.1 ranking since Margaret Court in 1973.

Defence

5. 2nd edition of India-Bangladesh CORPAT begins

The 2nd edition of Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) of the navies of India and Bangladesh has begun in Northern Bay of Bengal.

Guided-missile destroyer INS Ranvijay and ingeniously built missile Corvette INS Kuthar are participating in the exercise along with BNS Ali Haider and BNS Shadinota from Bangladesh.

The exercise aims at development of mutual communication and sharing of best practices between the two navies.

The India Bangladesh CORPAT commenced in 2018.


Bangladesh Capital: Dhaka; Currency: Taka; PM: Sheikh Hasina.

Important Days

6. World Migratory Bird Day: 12 October

World Migratory Bird Day is observed on 12 October every year. It is an annual awareness-raising campaign highlighting the need for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats.

It has a global outreach and is an effective tool to help raise global awareness of the threats faced by migratory birds.

Theme for 2019: Protect Birds: Be the Solution to Plastic Pollution!





7. 1st India Sports Summit held in New Delhi

Minister of State for Youth and Sports Kiren Rijiju inagurated 1st India Sports Summit 2019 in New Delhi.

He also underlined the need to induce a national sporting culture with the aim to make India a sporting powerhouse at the event.

He also announced that a ‘Fit India’ mission office would be set up, with the help of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), to promote the aforementioned goals.

8. India-China 2nd Informal Summit begins in Tamil Nadu




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The 2nd “India-China Informal Summit” between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China’s President Xi Jinping begins at Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu.

The 1st summit took place in Wuhan in the wake of the Doklam crisis in April, 2018.

Miscellaneous

9. “India International Cooperatives Trade Fair” inaugurated

The 1st ever ‘India International Cooperatives Trade Fair’ has been inaugurated in New Delhi.

The 3 day Fair is a major platform to promote export of products of cooperatives which will lead to enhanced rural and farm prosperity.

Organisations from 35 countries and more than 150 Indian cooperatives are participating in the Fair.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar also launched ‘Yuva Sahakar’ Cooperative Enterprise Support and Innovation Scheme 2019.

13th October 2019

International News

1. Typhoon Hagibis strikes northern Japan

Typhoon Hagibis strikes Tokyo, capital of Japan after fierce rain and wind paralysed the capital.

The cyclone Hagibis which caused floods, landslides and emergency disaster warnings, could be the strongest to hit Tokyo since 1958.

Authorities issued evacuation advisories and orders for more than 6 million people across the country as the storm unleashed the heaviest rain and winds in years. Train operators has suspended bullet train services extensively.

“Hagibis” means “speed” in the Philippine language Tagalog.


Japan Capital:Tokyo; Currency: Japanese yen; PM: Shinzo Abe.

Agreements

2. ADB & India signs $190 million loan for projects in Rajasthan

The Asian Development Bank and the Government of India has signed a $190 Million loan.

The amount will be used to upgrade 754 km of state highways and major district roads (MDRs) to benefit about 26 million people in 14 districts of Rajasthan.

For the benefit of commuters and pedestrians, particularly women and children, the project provides for constructing more than 200 bus stops, 70 km of hard shoulder, and 2 km of raised sidewalk on project roads

Important Days




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3. International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction: 13 October

The United Nations observes International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction on 13 October every year.

The day celebrates how people and communities around the world are reducing their exposure to disasters and raising awareness about the importance of reining in the risks that they face.

The day also promotes a global culture of risk-awareness and disaster reduction.

Theme for 2019: Reduce disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services.

The 2019 edition continues as part of the “Sendai Seven” campaign (launched in 2016), centred on the 7 targets of the Sendai Framework.

This year will focus on Target (d) of the Sendai Framework: “Substantially reduce disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services, among them health and education facilities, including through developing their resilience by 2030.”





4. PM Modi chairs meeting on ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting on ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ programme in Delhi. Under the initiative, the government plans to hold people-to-people exchange between states to enhance knowledge about each others culture.

‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’ highlights India’s diversity and furthers national unity. The goal of the initiative is to develop a holistic national perspective on important issues and encourage the celebration of India’s vibrant regional cultures.

Sports

5. Eliud Kipchoge becomes 1st athlete to run sub 2-hour marathon

Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge has become the 1st athlete to run sub 2-hour marathon. He busted the mythical 2-hour barrier for the marathon on a specially prepared course in a huge Vienna park.

He finished the marathon with an unofficial time of 1 hr 59 min 40.2 sec and became the first ever to run a marathon in under 2 hours.

Eliud Kipchoge already holds the men’s world record for the distance with a time of 2 hr 01 min 39 sec, which he set in the flat Berlin marathon on September 16, 2018.

6. M C Mary Kom wins bronze in World Women’s Boxing Championships

M C Mary Kom has won the bronze medal in the 51kg event of World Women’s Boxing Championships held in Ulan-Ude, Russia.

She lost in an intense semifinal bout to Turkey’s Busenaz Cakiroglu. This bronze is her first world medal in the 51kg category.




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14th October 2019

National

1. 10th National Cultural Festival begins in Madhya Pradesh

10th edition of the Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav-National Cultural Festival is being organized by the Union Ministry of Culture from 14th to 21st of October under the ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’ campaign in Madhya Pradesh.

The National Cultural festival will display diverse forms of folk, art and culture of 22 states. The concept of National Cultural Festival was conceived in the year 2015.


Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism: Prahlad Singh Patel.

Ranks and Reports

2. PM Modi becomes most followed leader on Instagram

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the most-followed elected world leader on photo-sharing app Instagram.

He is ahead of US President Donald Trump, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and former president Barack Obama.

With 30 million followers, PM Modi leads the list of world leaders on Instagram, with Joko Widodo coming in a close second with 25.6 million followers on the popular app.

Barack Obama comes in third with 24.8 million followers while, Donald Trump, trails behind with 14.9 million followers.

Awards

3. The Nobel Prize in Economics 2019

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Economics 2019.

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2019 was awarded jointly to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.”

Indian-born Abhijit Banerjee is an American citizen while Esther Duflo is French-American.

Michael Kremer is also from the US. Abhijit Banerjee, 58, was born in India and has a PhD from Harvard University.

He is a Professor of Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US.

4. Chandi Prasad Bhatt to get Indira Gandhi award for national integration

The 31st Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration for the years 2017 and 2018 will be awarded to the pioneer of the Chipko Movement Chandi Prasad Bhatt for his services in promoting and preserving the national integration.




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He is a Ramon Magsaysay award recipient for the year 1982. He was also awarded Padma Shri in 1986, the Padma Bhushan in 2005 and the Gandhi Peace prize in 2013.

The award consists of a citation and cash of Rs 10 lakh to be given to the awardee by Congress president Sonia Gandhi on October 31, the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Banking

5. Life Insurance Council plan to launch life insurance industry’s first joint mass media campaign ‘Sabse Pehle Life Insurance’

Life Insurance Council has decided to launch the Indian life insurance industry’s first joint mass media campaign with the slogan ‘Sabse Pehle Life Insurance’.

The slogan will encourage Indian households to opt for adequate life insurance cover as the fundamental necessity in their lives.

The life insurance council’s campaign represents joint efforts of all 24 Indian life insurance companies who are working towards creating a common narrative aimed at increasing life insurance awareness in the country.


Chairman of Life Insurance Council: M.R. Kumar; Headquarters: Mumbai.

Appointments

6. K Satish Reddy appointed Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance president

K Satish Reddy, Chairman of Dr Reddy’s has been appointed as President of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) for 2019-2021.

Rajesh Jain, Managing Director of Panacea Biotec Limited, will continue as the Vice President.

K Satish Reddy, the past president of IPA (2013-2015), played a major role in shaping policies concerning the pharmaceutical sector and the economy.

7. Mastercard India elevates Vikas Varma to COO

Mastercard India, payment technology major, elevated Vikas Varma as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the firm. He will lead initiatives related to new partnerships and the development of digital payments solutions in the country.

Recently, Mastercard announced an investment of USD 1 billion (around Rs 7,100 crore) over the next five years in India.


Mastercard Founded: 1966; Headquarters: New York, US.

Defence

8. 2nd edition of Indo-Japan joint military exercise “Dharma Guardian 2019” to be held in Mizoram

The 2nd joint military exercise ‘Dharma Guardian-2019’ to promote military cooperation between India and Japan will be held in Mizoram from 19 Oct to 02 Nov 2019.




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Indian Army and Japanese Ground Self Defence Forces (JGSDF) comprising 25 soldiers each will participate in the exercise with an aim to share experience gained during various Counter-Terrorism Operations in respective Countries.

The joint military exercise will enhance the level of defence co-operation between the Indian Army and Japanese Ground Self Defence Forces (JGSDF) which in turn will further foster the bilateral relations between the two nations.


Chief of the Army Staff: General Bipin Rawat.

9. 10th edition of Indo-US joint military exercise ‘Vajra Prahar 2019‘ begins in Seattle, US

The 10th edition of the joint military exercise ‘Vajra Prahar 2019’ between India and the US will be held at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) in Seattle, US.

‘Vajra Prahar’ is a Special Forces joint training exercise conducted alternately in India and the US. Last year, the exercise had taken place in Jaipur.

These exercises will enable the sharing of best practices and experience in areas such as joint mission planning capabilities and operational tactics.

Bilateral military exercises and defence exchanges are an important aspect of deepening bilateral defence cooperation between India and the US.

Important Days

10. World Standards Day: 14 October

World Standards Day (or International Standards Day) is celebrated internationally each year on 14 October.

The aim of World Standards Day is to raise awareness among regulators, industry and consumers as to the importance of standardization to the global economy.

2019 theme: Video standards create a global stage

Sports

11. Manju Rani wins silver medal in World Women’s Boxing C’ships

Manju Rani settled for silver medal in World Women’s Boxing Championships at Ulan-Ude in Russia. Russian Ekaterina Paltceva defeated Rani 4 -1 in the 48-kilogram category in the final match of the tournament.

12. Lakshya Sen wins maiden BWF World Tour title

Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen clinched his maiden BWF World Tour title by winning the Dutch Open men’s singles at Almere in the Netherlands.

He rallied from a game deficit to defeat Yusuke Onodera of Japan 15-21, 21-14, 21-15 in a final.

Obituaries

13. Alexei Leonov, the first human to walk in space passes away




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Alexei Leonov, the first human to walk in space passed away. He was the legendary Soviet cosmonaut who became the first human to walk in space 54 years ago.

During this mission, on 18 March 1965, Leonov exited the spacecraft and walked for 12 minutes and 9 seconds.

14. First female head of Nobel’s Literature Award Body, Sara Danius passes away

First female head of Nobel’s Literature Award Body, Sara Danius passed away.

She was a literature critic, professor and writer, served as the first female permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy between 2015 and 2018.

Books and Authors

15. Bill Gates book on climate change to be released in 2020

he founder of Microsoft Corporation and American philanthropist Bill Gates’ new book titled “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need” will be released on June 2020.

It will be published by UK-based Allen Lane publishers. The book is about climate change and the possible solutions to prevent an environmental crisis.

Miscellaneous

16. PM Modi launches commemorative stamp to honour Marshal of IAF Arjan Singh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a commemorative stamp in honour of Marshal of the Indian Air Force late Arjan Singh.

He served as the Chief of Air Staff from August 1964 to July 1969. Government of India designated him as the Marshal of the Air Force in January 2002. He remains the only officer of the IAF to be given a Five-Star rank.

Arjan Singh is an icon of Indian military history and the best remembered for providing excellent leadership to a young IAF during the 1965 war.

Even after retirement, he continued to serve in various positions including India’s Ambassador to several countries.


IAF Founded: 8 October 1932; IAF Headquarters: New Delhi.

IAF Motto: Touch the sky with glory.

17. Pope Francis elevates Indian nun Mariam Thresia to sainthood

Indian nun Mariam Thresia from Kerala and four other nuns were declared Saints by Pope Francis at a grand ceremony at the Vatican City.

The other four nuns are English Cardinal John Henry Newman, Swiss laywoman Marguerite Bays, Brazilian Sister Dulce Lopes and Italian Sister Giuseppina Vannini.

Mariam Thresia, who founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family in Thrissur in May 1914, was raised to the highest position within the centuries-old institution during the ceremony at the St Peter’s Square.




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15th October 2019

National

1. Nation pays homage to former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam on his 88th birth anniversary

The nation pays homage to former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam on his 88th birth anniversary and remembered his contributions to the country.

The birthday of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam the most popular President of India is celebrated as World Students Day.

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, better known as the ‘Missile Man of India’ for his contributions towards the development of the country’s missile projects was born on October 15, 1931, at Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu.

Dr Kalam made innumerable contributions to Indian defence. Dr Kalam’s commitment, patriotism and vision to make India a strong nation will continue to inspire people.

In 2002, Dr Kalam became the 11th President of India and famously became the ‘People’s President’ for his friendly nature to one and all. The former President suffered a cardiac arrest on July 27, 2015, and passed away while giving a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong.

2. Air India becomes first airline to use Taxibot on A320 aircraft

Air India became the first airline in the world to use a Taxibot on a A320 aircraft with passengers on board. Taxibot is a robot-used aircraft tractor for taxiing an aircraft from parking bay to runway and vice versa.

The national carrier’s Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani flagged off flight AI665, which was carried to runway using Taxibot at terminal 3 of the Delhi airport to Mumbai.

It is a pilot-controlled semi-robotic towbarless aircraft tractor used as alternate taxiing equipment.

Taxibots will also help in decongesting boarding gates and the apron area by providing efficient pushbacks. it is the first such usage on any Airbus aircraft worldwide.

International

3. Kais Saied elected as new President of Tunisia

Kais Saied is elected as the new President of Tunisia after a landslide victory in recently concluded Presidential runoff. The Independent law professor Kais Saied won against his rival, Nabil Karoui.

He won Tunisia’s presidential election with 73% of votes. The elections followed the death of President Beji Caid Essebsi in July 2019.


Capital of Tunisia: Tunis; Currency of Tunisia: Tunisian Dinar.

Agreement

4. IIT Madras to collaborate with ExxonMobil for research in Energy and Biofuels




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IIT Madras will collaborate with ExxonMobil on Research in Energy and Biofuels. The 5-year joint-research agreement focuses on biofuels, data analytics, gas conversion and transport, and is intended towards finding low-emission solutions.

ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company (EMRE) for research on energy and biofuels is the research and engineering arm of ExxonMobil Corporation, a leading global oil, natural gas, and petrochemicals company. ExxonMobil works with over 80 universities around the world.

India is the 3rd highest producer of agro-residues globally with the surplus potential of over 230 million tonnes per year after China and Brazil.

India’s huge biofuel potential is expected to get realized shortly with the ‘new biofuel policy’ of Government of India, which targets to convert the country’s biofuel industry into a $15.6 billion economy.


Chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil: Darren W. Woods.

Headquarters of ExxonMobil: Texas, United States.

Banking

5. ICICI Bank launches new FD scheme “FD health”

ICICI Bank has launched a fixed deposit scheme called FD Health, that comes with an in-built critical insurance policy. The FD Health – Critical illness Cover will be provided to only the primary holder of the FD account.

Anyone in the age bracket of 18-50 years, gets this complimentary insurance cover for a year on 33 critical illnesses. For the first year, free of cost insurance cover will be provided which can be renewed later.

The new FD scheme from ICICI bank offers a complimentary critical illness cover of Rs. 1 lakh from ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company on opening an FD of Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 3 lakh for a tenure of at least two years.

The critical illness cover will be available on Cumulative FDs opened for a period of a minimum of 2 years.


MD & CEO of ICICI Bank: Sandeep Bakhshi.

Tagline: Hum Hai Na, Khyal Apka.

Headquarters: Mumbai.

Awards

6. Director Priyadarshan gets MP govt’s Kishore Kumar award

Noted director and producer Priyadarshan, who has made several blockbuster Malayalam and Hindi films, was conferred the Madhya Pradesh government’s National Kishore Kumar Samman for 2018-19 at a function in Khandwa, MP.

The award, instituted by MP Department of Culture, carries a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh and a citation.

Khandwa is the birthplace of the legendary singer-actor Kishore Kumar and he had expired on October 13, 1987, in Mumbai.

7. Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo jointly win Booker Prize

Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo have jointly won the 2019 Booker Prize after judges flout the rules by declaring a tie.




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The Booker rules say the prize must not be divided, but the judges insisted they could not separate Atwood’s – ‘The Testament’ and ‘Girl, Woman, Other’ by Evaristo, who is the first black woman to win the prestigious award since its creation in 1969.

British Indian novelist Salman Rushdie’s tragicomic ‘Quichotte’ was among the six books shortlisted for the prize.

This was the fifth time that the Mumbai-born novelist was shortlisted, including the 1981 win where he bagged the award for “Midnight’s Children”.

8. Nobel Prize Winners 2019 – Check Here Complete List

The Nobel Prize 2019 were announced recently in 6 different fields viz. Physiology or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences.

The Nobel Prize distribution was first done on 1901. The winners will receive a full cash prize, valued this year at 9-million kronor ($918,000), a gold medal and a diploma.

Chronicle of the Nobel Prize:

On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his 3rd and last will at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris in which he specifically designated the institutions responsible for the prizes he wished to be established: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for the Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry, Karolinska Institutet for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the Swedish Academy for the Nobel Prize in Literature, and a Committee of five persons to be elected by the Norwegian Parliament (Storting) for the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1968, the Sveriges Riksbank established the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.

The Nobel Foundation, a private institution established in 1900, has the ultimate responsibility for fulfilling the intentions in Alfred Nobel’s will. Each year, thousands of members of academies, university professors, scientists, previous Nobel Laureates and members of parliamentary assemblies and others, are asked to submit candidates for the Nobel Prizes for the coming year.

After receiving all nominations, the Nobel Committees of the 4 prize awarding institutions are responsible for the selection of the candidates.

Summit and Conferences

9. 1st National Hindi Science writers conference begins in Lucknow

The first National Hindi Science writers conference 2019 started in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh with an aim to promote the use of Hindi and other Vernacular languages in science writing.

The conference is organised at Dr Shakuntala Mishra National rehabilitation university was inaugurated by the speaker of the state assembly Hriday Narayain Dixit.

A dedicated website WWW.VIGYANLEKHAN.COM has been prepared for this event.


Chief Minister of UP: Yogi Adityanath; Governor: Anandiben Patel; Capital: Lucknow.

10. Nitin Gadkari inaugurates conference on ‘One Nation One Tag – FASTag’ in New Delhi

Union Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated a conference on ‘One Nation One Tag – FASTag’ in New Delhi to roll out the process for having a unified electronic system across the country.

Under this system the same FASTag affixed on the windscreen of a vehicle can be used to pay toll across all toll plazas in the country.




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Important Days

11. International Day of Rural Women: 15 October

The International Day of Rural Women is observed on 15th October. The day recognizes the crucial role of women and girls in ensuring the sustainability of rural households and communities, improving rural livelihoods and overall wellbeing.

This year’s theme is “Rural Women and Girls Building Climate Resilience”.

This year’s theme highlights the important role that rural women and girls play in building resilience to face the climate crisis.

12. World Students’ Day 2019

World Students’ Day is celebrated every year on October 15 on former president APJ Abdul Kalam’s birthday.

The day is commemorated on his birth anniversary because of Dr Kalam was a dedicated teacher and identified himself foremost in that role before anything else.

Due to the former President’s love for students, various educational institutions in India observe Kalam’s birthday in their own way. In 2010, the United Nations declared October 15 to be World Students’ Day.

Sports

13. Priyanshu Rajawat wins men’s singles title at Bahrain International Series

Indian shuttler Priyanshu Rajawat wins the men’s singles title at the Bahrain International Series Badminton at Isa Town, Bahrain. 17-year-old Rajawat beat top-seed Jason Anthony Ho-Shue from Canada in the finals 16-21, 21-7, 21-12 in the summit clash.

Indian mixed double pair of Juhi Dewangan and Venkat Gaurav Prasad also finished at the top.

They defeated Thailand’s Pannawat Theerapanitnun and Kanyanat Sudchoeichom 21-18, 21-16 in 34 minutes to bag the gold medal.


King of Bahrain: Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa; Capital: Manama.

14. ICC changes super over rule for all its major events

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has changed the super-over rule for all its major events following the uproar over the outcome of the men’s World Cup final this year when England was declared winners against New Zealand on boundary count.

As per new rule, in case of a super over tie, there will be a repeated super over until one team has more runs than the other.


ICC Chairman: Shashank Manohar; Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The 13th edition of ICC Cricket World Cup will be held in India from February 9 to March 26, 2023.




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Miscellaneous

15. Sangam Youth Festival organised by Indian Army

Over 1,500 students from 32 different colleges and university participated in the ‘Sangam Youth Festival’ being organised by the Indian Army in collaboration with Jammu University Campus in a bid to spread the message of peace, prosperity, communal harmony and national integration.

During this festival, several events are being organised so the students can showcase their talents and skills.

16. 2nd phase of LOTUS-HR launched in New Delhi

The 2nd phase of an Indo-Dutch project called Local Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse, or LOTUS-HR was launched at Barapullah drain in New Delhi.

This project was launched by Minister of Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan and the Dutch Royal couple, Netherlands King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima.

The (LOTUS-HR) project was set up in 2017 at the Sun Dial Park here as part of a collaboration between the governments of India and the Netherlands.

17. DPIIT launches website, mobile app for IPR

Secretary Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Guruprasad Mohapatra launched the website and mobile application L2Pro India [Learn to Protect, Secure and Maximize Your Innovation] on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs).

The website and app have been developed by Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM)-DPIIT in collaboration with Qualcomm and National Law University (NLU), Delhi.

The website and app will be very useful to the startup community which holds great promise for India and its economy.

The modules of this e-learning platform will aid and enable youth, innovators, entrepreneurs and small and medium industries (SMEs) in understanding IPRs for their ownership and protection, integrate IP into business models and obtain value for their R&D efforts.

The L2Pro has been successfully implemented in Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and France, benefiting immensely from close collaboration with respective IP organizations and public research institutions.

The learning app has been customized for India in order to ensure that innovation which is fundamental to startups are protected, managed and commercialised.

16th October 2019

National

1. CBIC launches programme to strengthen Make in India

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has launched a revamped and streamlined programme to attract investments into India and strengthen Make in India through manufacture and other operations under the bond scheme, of Customs Act, 1962.

The Section enables conduct of manufacture and other operations in a customs bonded warehouse.

The scheme has been modernized with clear and transparent procedures, simplified compliance requirements ICT-based documentation and account keeping, by the issue of Manufacture and Other Operations in Warehouse Regulations 2019.




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CBIC has collaborated with Invest India to launch a dedicated microsite for providing information and promoting the scheme and for the facilitation of investors. The site can be accessed at www.investindia.gov.in/bonded-manufacturing.


Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs is a part of the Department of Revenue under the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

2. Govt launches Food Safety Mitra Scheme

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan launched Food Safety Mitra Scheme, Eat Right Jacket and Eat Right Jhola. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has introduced the scheme of Food Safety Mitra (FSM) through which it plans to engage motivated individuals with the food safety ecosystem at ground level.

A Food Safety Mitra Scheme is an individual professional certified by FSSAI who assists in compliances related to FSS Act, Rules & Regulations with three avatars- Digital Mitra, Trainer Mitra and Hygiene Mitra depending upon their respective roles and responsibilities.

During the event, the Minister also launched Eat Right Jhola which is a reusable, washable and bio-degradable bag. Eat Right Smart Jacket has been introduced to giving an identity to FSSAI staff to ensure transparent inspection. It’s embedded with an RFID tag and QR code.

3. Indian Railways to become net zero carbon emitter by 2030

Indian Railways (IR) has announced that it will become a net-zero carbon emitter by 2030. The move will be a part of India’s strategy to combat climate change.

The announcement was made by railways and commerce minister Piyush Goyal at the India Energy Forum by CERAWEEK in New Delhi. India is the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US and China, and is among countries most vulnerable to climate change.

Indian railways is the world’s largest railway network. It has a rail network of around 1,25,000km under single management. IR is to go green by setting up solar power generation capacities in its large tracts of land along its network.


John Mathai was the first Railways Minister of Independent India.

State News

4. UP Culture Dept to organise training & performance programme of KHON Ramlila

The Culture Department of Uttar Pradesh government is going to organise the country’s first training and performance programme of world-famous KHON Ramlila, a masked form of Ramlila art of Thailand in collaboration with the Thai government.

KHON Ramlila of Thailand is included in the list of UNESCO’s Intangible cultural heritage and it’s a form of masked dance depicting the scenes of Ramlila.

It has no dialogues and background voices narrate the whole story of Ramayana. KHON Ramlila’s performance is also a visual delight famous for its beautiful attire and golden masks.





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Thailand Capital: Bangkok; Currency: Baht.

Appointment

5. Kishan Dan Dewal concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to Georgia

Kishan Dan Dewal (IFS officer of 2003 batch), has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to Georgia. He will replace Yogeshwar Sangwan.

Dewal is presently serving as Ambassador of India to the Republic of Armenia.


President of Georgia: Salome Zurabishvili; Prime Minister of Georgia: Giorgi Gakharia.

Capital of Georgia: Tbilisi; Currency of Georgia: Georgian lari.

6. J.P.S. Chawla assumes charge as new Controller General of Accounts

Government of India has appointed J. P. S. Chawla, (1985-batch Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) Officer) as the new Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure. He will replace Girraj Prasad Gupta.

Prior to assuming the charge of CGA, Chawla served as Principal Chief Controller of Accounts, Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) where he was instrumental in the finalisation of the accounting procedure and operationalisation of GST Network (GSTN) before the national rollout of GST.

He also played a key role in the integration of the IGST refund payment network of CBIC with the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) as part of the Government of India’s decision to digitise all Government receipts and payments through the PFMS portal of the Office of Controller General of Accounts.


Controller General of Accounts headquarters: New Delhi.

7. Anoop Kumar Mendiratta appointed as new Law Secretary

Anoop Kumar Mendiratta has been appointed as the new Law Secretary (Secretary, Legal Affairs) in the Union Law Ministry. He is presently the District and Sessions Judge, North-East District, Karkardooma Courts, Delhi. He will serve in the position till 30 March 2023, or until he attains the age of 60.

Awards

8. India wins four UNESCO heritage awards

The UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation awards were announced at a ceremony held in Penang, Malaysia. 4 heritage landmarks from India were chosen for the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation 2019.

Heritage landmark

Award category

Place




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Flora Fountain Honourable mention

Mumbai

KenesethEliyahoo Synagogue

Award of Merit

Mumbai

Our Lady of Glory Church

Award of Merit

Mumbai

Vikram Sarabhai Library from (IIM)

Award of Distinction

Ahmedabad

Renewal of Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage and Arts in Hong Kong received the Award of Excellence, which is the highest award among all categories.


UNESCO President: Audrey Azoulay; Founded: 16 November 1945.

Headquarters- Paris, France.


9. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurates 41st DRDO Directors Conference in New Delhi

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the 41st DRDO Directors Conference in New Delhi. Chiefs of the three forces & DRDO Chairman G Satheesh Reddy were also present on the occasion.

The discussion included efforts taken by DRDO to ensure technological advancement of the Indian forces to safeguard the country.

It was suggested that DRDO can play a significant role in becoming a catalyst in the absorption of technology.


DRDO was formed in 1958; It is headquartered in New Delhi.

Important Days

10. World Food Day: 16 October

World Food Day is celebrated every year around the world on 16 October in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in 1945.

The theme for WFD 2019 is “Our Actions Are Our Future”.

This day generates awareness globally for those who suffer from hunger and to ensure the need for food security and nutritious diets for all. The main focus of this day is that food is a basic and fundamental human right.





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Food and Agriculture Organization headquarters: Rome, Italy.

Food and Agriculture Organization Established: 16 October 1945.

Ranks and Reports

11. India ranked 102 in Global Hunger Index 2019

The 2019 Global Hunger Index (GHI) indicates that the level of hunger and undernutrition worldwide falls into the serious category. As per the index, India ranks 102nd out of 117 qualifying countries, with a score of 30.3.

India has slipped from 95th rank in 2010 to 102nd in 2019 on the Global Hunger Index (GHI), with the increase in the prevalence of wasting (low weight for height) among children with score under 5 contributing the most to the country’s poor performance.

Seventeen countries, including Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey, Cuba and Kuwait, shared the top rank with GHI scores less than 5.

There were only four countries in the alarming hunger category are Madagascar, Chad, Yemen and the Central African Republic in the extremely alarming hunger category.

The report warned that climate change was causing alarming levels of hunger and making it more difficult to feed people in the world’s most vulnerable regions.

The Global Hunger Index is a peer-reviewed annual report, jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe, designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at the global, regional, and country levels.

The aim of the GHI is to trigger action to reduce hunger around the world.

12. IMF cuts World and India growth rates

The World Bank-International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings kicked off on a somber note, with the IMF downgrading global growth in 2019 to 3%, the slowest since the global financial crisis.

India’s growth projections have also been downgraded to 6.1% and 7.0% in 2019 and 2020 respectively, down by 1.2 percentage points and 0.5 percentage points relative to April projections, owing to weaker than expected domestic demand. India’s growth rate in the April-June quarter had hit 5%, the lowest in six years, as per government data. Consumption, investment and exports were down.

The IMF projected the U.S. would grow at 2.4% and 2.1% in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

For China, growth was projected to grow at 6.1% and 5.8% in 2019 and 2020.


MD of IMF: Kristalina Georgieva, Headquarters: Washington DC, USA.

Sports

13. Zimbabwe, Nepal readmitted as ICC members

Zimbabwe and Nepal were re-admitted as ICC members in a meeting held in Dubai.

Zimbabwe will now be able to take up their place in the ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup in January and the ICC Super League later in 2020.

Zimbabwe Cricket had been suspended from membership of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with immediate effect in July this year. Nepal had been banned in 2016 for “governmental interference” as well.





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14. Mercedes’s Valtteri Bottas won 2019 Japanese Grand Prix

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas (Finland) won the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix held at the Suzuka International Racing Course in Suzuka in Mie Prefecture, Japan.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel (Germany) and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (Britain) were ranked at the 2nd and 3rd places respectively.

17th October 2019

National

1. J&K’s Chenani-Nashri Tunnel to be renamed after Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee

India’s longest Tunnel Chenani- Nashri on NH 44, in Jammu and Kashmir will be named after Bhartiya Jansangh Founder Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2017 had dedicated to the nation this 9.2 km long tunnel that reduces the distance between Jammu and Srinagar by 31 km.


Jammu and Kashmir governor: Satya Pal Malik.

2. Railways Minister Piyush Goyal flagged off 9 ‘Sewa Service’ trains

Railways Minister Piyush Goyal flagged off 9 ‘Sewa Service’ trains. These trains are connecting small towns to major cities and one of those, the Vadnagar-Mehsana train, was the railways’ gift to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who sold tea at the Vadnagar station during his younger days.

The 9 “Sewa Service” trains were launched without any additional investment by the railways and it was an example of how to use existing resources to the maximum.

The trains are – Delhi to Shamli, Bhubaneswar to Nayagarh town, Murkongselek to Dibrugarh, Coimbatore to Palani, Coimbatore to Pollachi, Vadnagar to Mehsana, Asarya to Himmatnagar, Karur to Salem, Yesvantpur to Tumkur.

International

3. UAE announces establishment of world’s 1st AI university

UAE announced the establishment of the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence( MBZUAI) in Abu Dhabi.

This is the first graduate-level, research-based AI university in the world. MBZUAI will enable graduate students, businesses and governments to advance the artificial intelligence field.

MBZUAI will introduce a new model of academia and research to the field of AI, providing students and faculty access to some of the world’s most advanced AI systems to unleash its potential for economic and societal development.




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The University is named after Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, who has long advocated for the UAE’s development of human capital through knowledge and scientific thinking to take the nation into the future.


Currency of UAE: Dirham, Capital: Abu Dhabi.

4. India hands over 2nd pair of Mi-24V helicopters to Afghan Air forces

India handed over the second pair of Mi-24V helicopters to war-torn Afghanistan, boosting the capability of the Afghan Air forces.

The helicopters were officially handed over by Indian Ambassador Vinay Kumar to Afghanistan’s acting Defence Minister Asadullah Khalid at a ceremony held in the military airport, Kabul.

These helicopters are a replacement for the four attack helicopters previously gifted by India to Afghanistan in 2015 and 2016.

The combat performance and offensive firepower that the helicopters provide will increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the Afghan Air Force (AAF) in ensuring that the ANDSF maintain an agile and robust Counter-Terrorism capability.


Air Force Chief of India: Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria.

State News

5. Shirui Lily Festival inaugurated in Manipur

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism and Culture Prahlad Singh Patel inaugurated Shirui Lily Festival, 2019 at Shirui Vangayan Ground of Ukhrul in Manipur.

Mr Patel along with State Chief Minister N. Biren Singh also inaugurated the Strength of Unity Statue as a mark of opening the third edition of the four-day state festival.

This joint efforts of the State Government and Central Government can only promote tourism and culture of a region to the level of people’s expectation.


Governor of Manipur: Padmanabha Balkrishna Acharya; Capital of Manipur: Imphal.

Awards

6. Lionel Messi wins 3rd straight Golden Shoe as top scorer in European Leagues

Barcelona captain Leo Messi received his 6th Golden Shoe as the top scorer in the European leagues.

Messi won the trophy for a 3rd straight year after scoring 36 goals, 3 more than his closest challenger, Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain.

Messi now has two more Golden Shoes than his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo. The award was created in 1967 when it was won by Eusebio.




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Agreement

7. Mastercard and MS Dhoni partner to build ‘Team Cashless India’

Mastercard, along with cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni, launched a nationwide initiative ‘Team Cashless India’ to accelerate the acceptance and adoption of digital payments.

The initiative ‘Team Cashless India’ brings consumers and merchants to the forefront of the digital payments dialogue. The campaign encourages all Indians to nominate one or more merchants who currently do not accept digital payments.

Mastercard will work together with Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), acquirer banks and fintech companies to support nominated merchants to deploy digital payments acceptance infrastructure.


Mastercard Founded: 1966; Headquarters: New York, US.

Banking

8. India Post launches mobile banking facility for savings accounts

The Department of Post announced that it has launched mobile banking for its savings account customers.

The facility will be available all the post office savings account holders of the CBS (core banking solutions) post offices.

The launch of the mobile banking facility comes almost a year after the Department of Post launched Internet banking facility for its savings account holders.

Ranks and Reports

9. India ranked 82 in the 2019 World Giving Index

India ranked 82 spots among the 128 countries surveyed in the World Giving Index (WGI).

The average figures for India over the past decade show that 34 per cent people helped a stranger, 24 per cent donated money and 19 per cent volunteered or donated their time.

According to the WGI, the USA stood at the top followed Myanmar, New Zealand and Australia.

Important Days

10. International Day for the Eradication of Poverty : 17 October

The United Nations’ (UN) International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is observed on October 17 each year since 1993.

It promotes people’s awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and destitution worldwide, particularly in developing countries.

2019 Theme: Acting Together to Empower Children, their Families and Communities to End Poverty.

Sports

11. Mumbai’s Yashasvi Jaiswal becomes youngest cricketer to score double hundred in One Day cricket




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The 17-year-old Mumbai teenager Yashasvi Jaiswal make history as he became the youngest cricketer in the world to score a double century in One Day cricket.

He playing in his debut Vijay Hazare season. He scored 203 off 154 balls against Jharkhand at Alur, Karnataka. His score comprised 12 sixes and 17 fours.

12. Indian Women football Team wins 3rd SAFF U-15 Women’s Championship 2019

The Indian football team won the 3rd Edition of the SAFF U-15 Women’s Championships 2019 by beating Bangladesh by 5-3 in the penalty shoot-out.

The tournament was organized by the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) and was held at Changlimithang Stadium in Thimpu, Bhutan.

Indian captain Shilky Devi slotted home from the final spot-kick to hand her side 5-3 win.

Miscellaneous

13. Kiran Uniyal, w/o a serving Colonel of Indian Army sets Guinness World Records

Kiran Uniyal, w/o a serving Colonel of Indian Army has created Individual Guinness World Records for “The most full contact knee strikes in three minutes (one leg) (female), 263 strikes” & “The most full contact knee strikes alternate legs in one minute(female),120 strikes”.

The earlier records were of 177 strikes and 102 in female category respectively.

The objective of both her records were to promote martial arts for girls and women safety and self-defence.

While creating the record for the most full contact knee strikes for three minutes, she surpassed the existing male category record of 226 knee strikes. She has so far achieved 15 World Records, including 10 Guinness World Records in Martial Arts, Fitness and Social Work.

14. Textiles Secretary Inaugurates IHGF-Delhi Fair 2019

Textiles Secretary, Ravi Capoor, inaugurated the 48th edition of the Indian Handicrafts and Gifts Fair (IHGF) at the India Expo Centre & Mart at Greater Noida.

More than 3,200 Indian exhibitors are participating in the fair. Around 110 overseas buyers from 110 countries are participating in the event as well.

They are here to source furniture, fashion, lifestyle and textiles products of the exhibitors.

Handicrafts are important in terms of economic development. The sector provides a number of opportunities for unemployed with minimal investment.

The sector earns around Rs 43,000 crores (2015) of rupees annually. Out of this, it earns an export of Rs 10,000 crores annually.

The theme of IHGF-Delhi Fair 2019: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

15. Death Anniversary of Fakir Lalon Shah observed in Bangladesh

The 129th death anniversary of the mystic bard Fakir Lalon Shah is being observed in Bangladesh. He is believed to be born in 1774 though no written records exist.

He died in 1890. He was born Hindu but he was raised by a Muslim family after he was abandoned by his own family.

Fakir Lalon Shah songs talk about humanism, love and equality going beyond the limitations imposed by religion, caste and creed.

He created and composed more than 2000 songs which were popularised by Bauls who sang his songs while wandering in the countryside of Bengal and parts of Assam of those days.

His contemporary Gurudev Rabindra Nath Tagore got some of his songs transcribed and published.




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18th October 2019

National

1. NITI Aayog launches India Innovation Index 2019

NITI Aayog with Institute for Competitiveness as the knowledge partner released the India Innovation Index (III) 2019. Karnataka is the most innovative major state in India.

Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana, Haryana, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh form the remaining top ten major states respectively.

Sikkim and Delhi take the top spots among the northeastern & hill states, and union territories/city-states/small states respectively.

Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh are the most efficient states in translating inputs into output.

The study examines the innovation ecosystem of Indian states and union territories.

The aim is to create a holistic tool which can be used by policymakers across the country to identify the challenges to be addressed and strengths to build on when designing the economic growth policies for their regions.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/IBPS RRB (Clerk) Mains:

Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog: Rajiv Kumar; CEO, NITI Aayog: Amitabh Kant.

2. Commemorative stamp on centenary of NIN released

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan released a postal stamp to commemorate the centenary celebrations of the city-based ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) at a function held at Indian Council of Medical Research in New Delhi.

The postal stamp has been brought out under the ‘Corporate My Stamp’ scheme of India Posts.

About 5,000 stamps with a face value of ₹5 each have been printed and the India Posts would print an additional 1,000 sheets for sale online at the e-post office and for display and sale at national and global philately exhibitions by the Department.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB (Clerk) Main 2019:

ICMR Director: Balram Bhragava; NIN Director: R. Hemaltha.

3. NH No. 703AA in Punjab named as Guru Nanak Dev Ji Marg

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has announced the naming of new National Highway No. 703AA as “Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji Marg.”

The road starting from Kapurthala connecting Goindwal Sahib and terminating near Taran Taran in Punjab. The naming would be effective from next month.

The decision has been taken to mark the 550th Birth Anniversary of Shri Guru Nanak Dev.


CM of Punjab: Amarinder Singh; Governor: VP Singh Badnore.




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International

4. Italy set to introduce web tax on digital giants from 2020

Italy approved a new tax on digital companies, including U.S. tech giants, as part of its 2020 draft budget on October 16.

The levy, due to be introduced from next year, will oblige companies such as Facebook, Google and Amazon, to pay a 3% levy on internet transactions, according to a text of the draft budget.

The Italian scheme is expected to yield about 600 million euros ($662 million) a year.


President: Sergio Mattarella; Prime Minister: Giuseppe Conte.

Capital: Rome; Currency: Euro.

State News

5. Odisha’s first Robot Restaurant opens in Bhubaneswar

Odisha’s smart city Bhubaneswar gets it 1st Robo Chef Restaurant in Odisha.

The Robot Restaurant opened at the Infocity DLF tower of Bhubaneswar claims to be the first restaurant in Eastern India where two indigenously developed robots, ‘Champa’ and ‘Chameli’ are engaged.

The robots are developed at a Jaipur-based startup using SLAM technology, and It automatically navigates like humans, follows the routes and instructions.

Not only this, after serving the food, the robots will also ask you for feedback in Odia that ‘Are you happy’.

Earlier Chennai and Bengaluru had introduced smart restaurants with robots machines imported from China.


Utkal Divas or Odisha Day falls every year on 01st April.

6. CM Kamal Nath inaugurates “Magnificent Madhya Pradesh Conference”

Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath formally inaugurated the 2-day Magnificent Madhya Pradesh Conference started.

Many well-known industrialists are attending this conference held in Indore.

The event showcasing various opportunities that exist in the state in variegated sectors, including food processing, pharmaceuticals, textile and garment, warehousing and logistics, IT &ESDM, urban development and renewable energy.

Chief Minister Kamal Nath also inaugurated the Global Trade Exhibition at the Brilliant Convention Centre, Indore.


Governor of Madhya Pradesh: Lal Ji Tandon.

7. Tamil Nadu constitutes two panels over water disputes with Kerala




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The Tamil Nadu government constituted two committees to deal over water disputes with Kerala relating to the Parambikulam-Aliyar Project (PAP) and the Pandiyar-Punnampuzha project.

Secretary of Tamil Nadu’s Public Works Department (PWD) K. Manivasan would lead both the committees constituted by the State government.

Cauvery Technical Committee chairperson R. Subramanian is also part of both the panels.


Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu: Edappadi K. Palaniswami.

Governor of Tamil Nadu: Banwarilal Purohit.

Tamil Nadu Capital: Chennai.

8. Satya Pal Malik inaugurates J&K Bazar

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has inaugurated J&K Bazar.

J&K Bazar is a retail showroom of authentic Jammu Kashmir Handicrafts, Handlooms, Silk, Agro-based products and Restaurant serving Authentic Kashmiri Cuisine at J&K House in New Delhi.

The newly constructed state-of-the-art showroom is for promoting J&K specific products of handicrafts and authentic cuisine.

The newly inaugurated showroom shall cater to the people who cherish the Kashmiri handicraft and relish the traditional Kashmiri food which is now available in the heart of Delhi.

Other handicraft products in the showroom which are on display include-Paper Mache items, carved walnut-wood items, Pashmina shawls and Kashmiri embroidery sarees.

Appointments

9. World Steel Association elected Sajjan Jindal as vice Chairman

The World Steel Association (Worldsteel) has elected Sajjan Jindal, Chairman and Managing Director, JSW Steel, as Vice-Chairman of the association for one year.

The association has also appointed Tata Steel CEO and MD T V Narendran and Arcelor Mittal Chief L N Mittal as its members.

The board also elected a 14-member Executive Committee.


Chairman of World Steel Association: Andre Johannpeter; Formed: 10 July 1967.

Headquarters: Brussels, Belgium.

Agreement

10. Home Credit India join hand with Karur Vysya Bank for joint lending

Home Credit India (HCIN), a local arm of the international consumer finance provider, has tied-up with Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) for joint lending using end-to-end automated processing which will help the customer get real-time approval and disbursement.

Under the agreement, HCIN and KVB will disburse loans in a single amount to customers.

With this partnership and by leveraging the lower cost of funds of KVB, Home Credit India will be able to reach out to a new segment of customer.

Home Credit India has operations spread over 179 cities across 20 States in India.




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Managing Director and CEO: PR Seshadri; founded: 1916.

Headquarters: Karur, Tamil Nadu.

Tagline: Smart Way to Bank.

Awards

11. Hong Kong’s orchestra wins “Orchestra of the year award 2019” at Gramophone Awards

Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra has been named orchestra of the year at the 2019 Gramophone Awards.

The group is the first Asian orchestra to win the award, a fact noted by its Dutch-born conductor Van Zweden, who has been its Music Director since 2012.

The category is the only one of the classical music magazine’s awards open to the public vote. This award is often likened to the Oscars for the classical music world.

Defence

12. India, Japan joint Air Force exercise ‘Shinyuu Maitri’ 2019 began in West Bengal

Indian Air Force and Japanese Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) carrying out a joint military air force exercise named ‘Shinyuu Maitri’ began from October 17 to 23, at the air force station, Arjan Singh in Panagarh town in West Bengal.

C-130 J aircraft of the Special Operations Squadron of IAF and C-130 H of Tactical Airlift Squadron of JASDF will participate in the exercise.

The focus of the exercise will be to undertake Joint Mobility and Tactical interoperability among the two forces.


Motto of the Indian Air Force: Nabha Sprsham Deeptam (The Glory that touches the sky).

Air Chief Marshal: Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria.

13. India-Oman begin joint training exercise ‘EX EASTERN BRIDGE-V’

Indian Air Force (IAF) kickstarted its bilateral joint exercise with Royal Air Force Oman (RAFO), named ‘EX EASTERN BRIDGE-V’ at Air Force Base Masirah, Oman.

The exercise will be held till October 26. The IAF contingent comprises of MiG-29 and C-17 aircraft.

MiG-29 will be exercising with Royal Air Force Oman’s Eurofighter Typhoon, F-16 and Hawk.

For the first time, MiG-29 fighter aircraft will be participating in an international exercise outside India.

The exercise will enhance inter-operability during mutual operations between the two Air Forces and will provide an opportunity to learn from each other’s best practices. Last time, the bilateral exercise was held in 2017 at Jamnagar, Gujarat.


Oman Capital: Muscat, Currency: Omani rial.

Books and Authors




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14. A new book titled “India in a Warming world: Integrating Climate Change and Development” set to release

A new book titled “India in a Warming World: Integrating Climate Change and Development” is set to release on November 2019.

This book is featuring a collection of articles by climate experts including Sunita Narain, Anil Agarwal, Dr Friederike Otto & Shibani Ghosh, edited by Navroz K Dubash.

It is published by Oxford University Press(OUP).

This book aims to bring together the many and growing, voices that seek to find the language and ideas with which to engage climate change and to do so from a perspective that resonates with broader Indian development policy discourses.

Sports

15. England all-rounder Jennifer Louise Gunn announces retirement from international cricket

England all-rounder Jennifer Louise Gunn has announced her retirement from international cricket.

Gunn, who is England’s most capped player in T20Is, made 259 appearances for her country, winning 3 World Cups and five Ashes series.

She was a member of the England side that won the inaugural Women’s World T20 in 2009, and also featured in her country’s Women’s World Cup-winning campaign that same year.

Miscellaneous

16. NCERT to revise 14-year-old curriculum framework

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is planning to review the 14-year-old National Curriculum Framework (NCF) in accordance with new national education policy (NEP) and set up a committee for the purpose.

The NCF has been revised four times so far – in 1975, 1988, 2000 and 2005. A panel led by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K Kasturirangan had submitted the draft of the new national education policy to Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’.

The new proposed revision will be a 5th of the framework. The council is also undertaking a survey in six blocks to analyse the quality of primary education available and the areas that need change.

The revision of NCERT textbooks has also been recommended in the new education policy draft.

19th October 2019

International

1. United Nation General Assembly Elects 14 Member States to Human Rights Council

The United Nation General Assembly has elected 14 States to the 47 member body of UN Human Rights Council(UNHRC). The UNHRC is responsible for promoting and protecting all human rights around the globe.

The Assembly elected Armenia, Brazil, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Libya, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Namibia, Netherlands, Poland, Republic of Korea, Sudan and Venezuela.




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All 14 members will serve three-year terms beginning on 1 January 2020.

The newly-elected States are replacing the following outgoing members: China, Croatia, Cuba, Egypt, Hungary, Iceland, Iraq, Japan, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Tunisia and the United Kingdom.

The 14 new members were elected according to the following pattern: 4 seats for the African States; 4 seats for the Asia-Pacific States; 2 seats for the Eastern European States; 2 seats for Latin American and Caribbean States; and 2 seats for Western European and other States.


President of UNHRC: Coly Seck; Formation: 15 March 2006.

Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.

2. NASA Astronauts complete All-Woman Spacewalk

Nasa astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir have made history by completing the first-ever all-female spacewalk. They spent 7 hours outside the International Space Station (ISS) replacing a failed power control unit.

Ms Koch had already carried out four spacewalks but it was the first such mission for Ms Meir, who became the 15th woman to walk in space.

Appointments

3. Anup Kumar Singh appointed as Director-General of NSG

A senior 1985-batch IPS officer of Gujarat cadre Anup Kumar Singh has been appointed as Director-General of the National Security Guard (NSG).

The appointment of Mr Singh as the DG of the ‘black cats commando’ force was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The appointment will be from the date of joining the post and up to September 30, 2020. The NSG was raised as the federal contingency force to counter-terrorists.


The National Security Guard (NSG) was formed on September 22, 1986 to save the country from terror activities.

The National Security Guard (NSG) comes under the control of Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

4. Sudhaker Shukla appointed as whole-time member of IBBI

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Sudhaker Shukla as Whole-Time Member, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI).

He is a 1985 Indian Economic Service officer. His period of service for 05 years or up to the age of 65 years.


Chairperson: MS Sahoo; IBBI Established: 1 October 2016.

Headquarters: New Delhi.

5. Former IMF chief Christine Lagarde appointed head of European Central Bank




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European Union leaders confirmed the appointment of Christine Lagarde as the new chief of the European Central Bank.

She will be replacing Mario Draghi (Italy) from November 1. Lagarde’s confirmation for a non-renewable term of 8-years.

She served 8-years as the head of IMF since 2011.


ECB headquarters: Frankfurt, Germany; Currency: Euro.


6. India to host Interpol General Assembly in 2022

India will host the 91st Interpol General Assembly in 2022 after a proposal received the overwhelming support of member countries at this year’s congregation at Santinago in Chile.

The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) had hosted the general assembly, where representatives of all member countries converge, in India in 1997.

The general assembly of Interpol is an annual exercise hosted by member countries.

All major decisions affecting general policy, the resources needed for international cooperation, working methods and finances are deliberated and discussed by representatives.


Interpol is an international police cooperation organisation with 194 member states and 100 years of experience of international cooperation in policing.

Headquarters of Interpol: Lyon, France.

7. Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurates 11th Nuclear Energy Conclave

The Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region (I/C), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated the 11th Edition of Nuclear Energy Conclave 2019 in New Delhi.

The theme of the Conclave: “Economics of Nuclear Power- Innovation towards Safer & Cost-Effective Technologies”. It was organized by India Energy Forum (IEF).

Government is setting up the nuclear plants in other parts of the country. A nuclear plant is coming up in the Gorakhpur of Haryana.

A “Hall of Nuclear Energy” was opened to educate the students and the general public about the applications of nuclear energy, in Pragati Maidan in Delhi.

Books and Authors

8. A book titled “Mind Master: Winning Lessons from a Champion’s Life” penned by Viswanathan Anand

Indian Chess player, Viswanathan Anand has penned a book titled “Mind Master: Winning Lessons from a Champion’s Life”. The book, published by Hachette India, is releasing on December 11.

The book is based on the experience he had in the game of Chess. In the book, he revisits his greatest games and worst losses, his unique experiences of playing against the best minds, and the methods he employs to prepare for wins, cope with disappointments and, simply, stay in the game.




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Defence

9. Defence of Andaman and Nicobar Islands exercise 2019 (Danx-19)

Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) has conducted the 2nd edition of Defence of Andaman & Nicobar Islands 2019 (DANX-19).

The components of the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard carried out mobilisation and field manoeuvres to validate defensive plans of Headquarters ANC towards pursuance of the Command’s responsibility, namely ensuring the territorial integrity of the A&N Islands.

In addition to internal forces from ANC, accretional forces from Mainland comprising ships and aircraft, Special Forces from the newly formed Armed Forces Special Operations Division (AFSOD), also participated in this edition.

Obituaries

10. Legendary Cuba ballet dancer Alicia Alonso passes away

Cuban ballet dancer Alicia Alonso passed away at 98. she is considered one of the greatest 20th Century ballerinas.

In 1948, she founded the Alicia Alonso Ballet Company in Cuba’s capital. She formed the National Ballet of Cuba after the revolution.

11. Renowned painter Kalidas Karmakar passes away in Dhaka

Internationally acclaimed painter of Bangladesh Kalidas Karmakar passed away in Dhaka.

He was born on January 10, 1946, in Faridpur district, he completed his graduation from the Government College of Fine Arts and Crafts in Kolkata in 1969.

He was awarded Shilpakala Padak in 2016 and the Ekushey Padak in 2018 by the Government of Bangladesh for his contribution to fine arts.

Miscellaneous

12. Livestock population in India rises 4.6 per cent in 20th Livestock Census

India’s livestock population has increased to over 535.78 million showing an increase of 4.6 per cent over Livestock Census-2012.

The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying released the 20th Livestock Census -2019.

The data revealed that the livestock population in India has grown by 4.6% from 512 million in 2012 to about 535.78 million in 2019.

Total Bovine population (Cattle, Buffalo, Mithun and Yak) is 302.79 Million in 2019 which shows an increase of 1.0% over the previous census.

Among the States, Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of livestock of 67.8 million (68.7 million in 2012), followed by Rajasthan 56.8 million (57.7 million), Madhya Pradesh: 40.6 million (36.3 million) and West Bengal: 37.4 million (30.3 million).

The census usually covers all domesticated animals and headcounts of these animals are taken.

The 20th Livestock Census was carried out in about 6.6 lakh villages and 89 thousand urban wards across the country.




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20th and 21st October 2019

National

1. Col. Chewang Rinchen Setu inaugurated in Ladakh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated Col. Chewang Rinchen Setu (Bridge) which has been constructed at an altitude of 14,650 feet in the forward area of Ladakh region.

It is named in honour of Colonel Chewang Rinchen who was one of the highly decorated officers in Indian Army from Ladakh. He was also a Maha Vir Chakara awardee (1952).

The Bridge, which is 1400 feet span, is constructed by the Border Road Organization.

According to BRO, micropile technology was used during the foundation of the bridge to overcome the technological challenges in this remote area of Ladakh.

The construction of the Bridge was completed within 15 working months using 6900 cubic meters of concrete and 1984 metric tons of steel.

International

2. Sri Lanka has removed from FATF’s Grey List

Sri Lanka has been removed from the “Grey List” of the international terror financing watchdog FATF.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), whose five-day plenary concluded in Paris, France stated that Sri Lanka made significant progress in addressing the strategic AML/CFT deficiencies identified earlier.

In October 2016, the FATF announced that Sri Lanka will be subjected to a review of the International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) of the terror financing watchdog to assess the progress of AML/CFT effectiveness in the country.

Static/Current Takeaways For IBPS PO/Clerk Mains 2019: i. The headquarters of FATF is in Paris, France. ii. FATF was founded in July 1989. iii. Ranil Wickremesinghe is the current Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.

Appointments

3. SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar elected as the new chairman of IBA

SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar has been appointed as the new chairman of Indian Banks’ Association.

He will succeed Sunil Mehta, who was the MD & CEO of Punjab National Bank.

The MD & CEO of IDBI Bank Rakesh Sharma will be honorary secretary of IBA for 2019-20.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RBI Grade ‘B’ 2019:

CEO of the Indian Banks’ Association: V. G. Kannan; Headquarters: Mumbai.

4. Upender Singh Rawat elected as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Nicaragua




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The Ministry of External Affairs appoints Upender Singh Rawat (IFS: 1998), Ambassador of India designate to the Republic of Panama will be concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Nicaragua. He will replace Yogeshwar Varma.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/SSC CGL:

Capital of Nicaragua: Managua; Currency: Nicaraguan Cordoba.

Awards

5. Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu presents Most Eminent Senior Citizen Award to K Parasaran

The Vice President Shri Venkaiyah Naidu presented the “Most Eminent Senior Citizen Award” to the scholar, legal luminary and former Attorney General of India K Parasaran.

He was honoured with the award on the occasion of Elder’s Day celebration organized by Age Care India.

He was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2003 and Padma Vibhushan in 2011.

Defence

6. India-Myanmar Naval Exercise: IMNEX-2019

The India-Myanmar Naval Exercise called IMNEX-2019 is being organised in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

The opening ceremony of the second edition of Indo-Myanmar joint naval exercise was conducted onboard INS Ranvijay.

Myanmar naval ships UMS Sin Phyu Shin (F-14) and UMS Tabinshweti (773) arrived at Visakhapatnam.

The exercise would be conducted in two phases: Harbour phase and Sea Phase.

The joint exercise will encompass a variety of operations including anti-air and surface firing exercises, flying exercises using integral helicopter and seamanship evolutions at sea.

7. Sudarshan Chakra Vahini War exercise begins in Jaisalmer

Two-day long manoeuvres by Sudarshan Chakra Vahini of Indian Army Started at Jaisalmer, field firing range in Rajasthan.

In this war exercise, the army is going to exhibit its strength regarding Agni Missile and artillery.

Artillery, Arms and mechanized forces, Army air defence and helicopters of army aviation are participating in this exercise to test mutual coordination.

Endogenously manufactured light helicopter Rudra and self-propelled artillery gun system K-9 vajra are also taking part in this exercise.

Books and Authors

8. PM Modi releases book titled ‘Bridgital Nation’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a book titled ‘Bridgital Nation’ in New Delhi.

The book has been authored by N Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons and Roopa Purushothaman Eminent industrialist.

He presented books’ first copy to eminent industrialist and philanthropist Ratan Tata.

The book presents a powerful vision of the future where technology and human beings co-exist in a mutually beneficial ecosystem.




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The cutting edge digital tools can act as a bridge between aspirations and achievements – hence the term ‘bridgital’.

Sports

9. Kuhoo Garg-Dhruv Rawat pair wins Egypt International mixed doubles title

Kuhoo Garg and Dhruv Rawat win the badminton mixed doubles title at the Egypt International 2019 in Cairo, Egypt.

The unseeded Garg and Rawat held their nerves for a tight 21-16, 22-20 victory over the third seeds Utkarsh Arora and Karishma Wadkar in an all-Indian final.


Capital of Egypt: Cairo; Currency: Egyptian pound.

10. Ronaldo Singh wins gold medal at Asian Track Cycling Championships

Indian cyclist Ronaldo Singh bagged a gold medal in the men’s junior Keirin event at the Asian Track Cycling Championships being held at Incheon in South Korea.

Apart from Ronaldo, James Singh clinched a bronze medal in the event.


South Korea Capital: Seoul; Currency: South Korean won.

11. Great Britain wins 9th Edition of Sultan of Johor Cup hockey Tournament 2019

Great Britain defeated India in the finals by 2-1 in the 9th edition of the Sultan of Johor Cup 2019, an international men’s under-21 field hockey tournament, was held at Johor Bahru, Malaysia. It was their 3rd title.

India’s Shilanand Lakra with 5 goals emerged as a top scorer; Japan’s Kosei Kawabe was named as the Best Player of the tournament and Oliver Payne of Great Britain was named as the GoalKeeper of the tournament.

Obituaries

12. Writer and philosopher K.B. Siddaiah passes away

Writer and philosopher K.B. Siddaiah passed away. He was one of the founder members of Dalitha Sangharsha Samithi (DSS) during the ’80s and co-authored many songs to inspire the movement.

13. Oracle co-CEO Mark Hurd passes away

Former Co-Chief executive Officer(CEO) of Oracle Mark Hurd, passed away.

He was previously served as chairman, CEO, and president of Hewlett-Packard (HP). He was also in the Board of Directors of Globality and a member of the Technology CEO Council and board of directors of New Corporation.

Important Days

14. World Statistics Day: 20 October




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World Statistics Day is observed on October 20, once every 5 years. The next World statistics Day celebrates on 20 October 2020.

The day acknowledges the fundamental importance of sustainable national statistical capacity.

This year World Statistics day theme is “Better Data, Better Lives”.

The first World Statistics Day was celebrated in 2010, as decided in resolution 64/267, and was deemed an overwhelming success, with activities organized in more than 130 Member States and by at least 40 international and regional organizations and entities.

Miscellaneous

15. IIT Kharagpur graduate develops unique device “PM 2.5” to curb vehicular air-pollution

IIT Kharagpur graduate Debayan Saha has invented a device called “PM 2.5” which he claimed when fitted near the silencer pipe in vehicles will curb air pollution.

The technology developed by uses a combination of electric energy and wave energy to influence the pollutants like PM 2.5 such that they act like a magnet attracting other particulate pollutants from the ambient atmosphere to get attached to it.

This device can neutralise the pollution emitted from 10 cars in its vicinity.

22nd October 2019

National

1. Union Culture Minister launches E-Portal, YouTube Channel of CCRT

Union Minister of State for Culture & Tourism (IC), Prahlad Singh Patel launched the E-Portal of Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) ‘Digital Bharat Digital Sanskriti’ and CCRT YouTube Channel in New Delhi.

For this initiative, CCRT has tied up with Routes 2 Roots, an NGO, for connecting seamlessly all the CCRT Regional Centres i.e., Guwahati, Udaipur and Hyderabad.

On this Occasion Union Minister also released a film ‘Rahas’ directed by Sunil Shukla.

Rahas is basically Raaslila of Chhattisgarh. Subsequently, he released a book “Dewas ki Sanskritik Parampara” written by Jeewan Singh Thakur.

CCRT should provide a platform for specifically dropout children so that they can join the mainstream and pursue their dreams.


Director of CCRT: Rishi Kumar Vashist; CCRT Established: 1979.

2. United Nations WFP launches ‘Feed Our Future’ cinema ad campaign

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has launched a cinema advertisement campaign ‘Feed Our Future’ to raise awareness and take steps against hunger and malnutrition in India.

This programme held in Facebooks Mumbai office, Maharashtra with support from UFO Moviez India Limited and Indian digital cinema distribution network.

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization committed to saving lives in emergencies and changing lives through sustainable development.




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In India, WFP has been working in partnership with the Government for more than 50 years to contribute to its efforts to achieve food and nutrition security.

WFP does this by demonstrating scalable pilots, providing specialised knowledge and international experience for effective implementation of food safety nets and supporting research and monitoring efforts.


Executive Director of WFP: David Beasley; Formed: 19 December 1961.

Headquarters: Rome, Italy.

3. Siachen base camp to Kumar Post opened for tourism purposes

Government of India has decided to open the entire area from Siachen base camp to Kumar Post for tourism purposes. The step has been taken to boost tourism in Ladakh.

It will also give people a window to appreciate the tough work done by Army jawans and engineers in extreme weather and inhospitable terrains.

The Siachen Glacier at the height of around 20,000 ft in the Karakoram range is known as the highest militarised zone in the world where the soldiers have to battle frostbite and high winds.

The Glacier came under the strategic control of India in 1984 following ‘Operation Meghdoot’.

International

4. World’s oldest pearl ‘Abu Dhabi Pearl’ discovered on Abu Dhabi Island

The world’s oldest natural pearl named ‘Abu Dhabi Pearl’ has been discovered on an island off Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

The 8,000-year-old pearl was found during excavations at Marawah Island which also revealed the earliest architecture in the UAE.

Archaeologists used radiocarbon dating to determine that the pearl dated back to between 5800 and 5600 BC, during the Neolithic period.

Awards

5. Jennifer Aniston to receive People’s Icon Award 2019

Jennifer Aniston to receive People’s Icon Award 2019 at the 2019 People’s Choice Awards.

The actress would be the 2nd-ever recipient of the title. 50-year-old Aniston has played the most iconic, unforgettable characters and has conquered comedy and drama on both the small and big screen.

She is a 7-time People’s Choice Award winner.

6.”Gully Boy” & “Delhi Crime” wins at Asian Academy Creative Awards

“Gully Boy” & “Delhi Crime” have won awards at the Asian Academy Creative Awards.

Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt-starrer “Gully Boy” won the best film from India award in the regional finals at the Asian Academy Creative Awards ceremony.

Netflix series “Delhi Crime” has won in a number of categories at the Asian Academy Creative Awards. Delhi Crime won for Best Actress, Best Direction, Best Drama Series, Best Editing and Best Original Programme.




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Defence

7. DAC cleared indigenous projects worth Rs 3,300 crore

The Defence Acquisition Council has approved 3 projects worth Rs 3,300 crore of “indigenously designed and developed equipments”.

The projects include 3rd generation Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) and Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) for the T-72 and T-90 Tanks to be executed by the Indian industry.

This is the first time the Ministry of Defence has offered complex military equipment to be designed, developed and manufactured by the Indian private industry.

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) meeting was chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Banking

8. SBI Card launches contactless mobile phone payments facility

SBI Card announced the launch of ‘SBI Card Pay’, a feature which allows contactless payment using mobile phones at PoS terminals.

Using SBI Card Pay, customers can make contactless payments at near field communication (NFC) enabled point of sale terminals with just one tap of their mobiles, without using the physical credit card or entering any PIN.

SBI Card Pay is a payment feature based on Host Card Emulation (HCE) technology for faster, convenient and more secure card payments using mobile phones.


CEO of SBI Card: Hardayal Prasad; Founded: October 1998.

Headquarters: Gurugram, Haryana.

Summit and Conference

9. The 18th NAM Summit to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit has been scheduled to be held between 25 October and 26 October 2019 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The 18th NAM summit 2019 will be preceded by Ministerial meetings and senior official meetings.

The 18th Summit Conference of the NAM will be hosted by H.E. Mr Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Nepal PM Oli and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina will be attending the summit.

The Non-Alignment Movement was founded in 1961. India is a founding member of the NAM summit.

NAM was based on Bandung principles that were adopted at the Belgrade Summit, an Afro-Asian Conference, in 1955. The movement worked towards the attainment of independence for many countries.

The principles of non-alignment constitute one of the basic tenets of Nepal’s foreign policy NAM. The 17th NAM Summit was held in 2016 at the Island of Margarita, Venezuela.

Ranks and Reports

10. NCRB releases Crime in India Report 2017

National Crime Records Bureau has released the annual “Crime in India Report 2017”. The report has been released after a delay of 2 years.




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Key findings of the report are:

According to the report, 3.59 lakh cases of crime against women were reported in the country. Uttar Pradesh topped the list with 56,011 cases followed by Maharashtra with 31,979 cases and West Bengal 30,002 in cases of crime against women.

Majority of cases under crimes against women were registered under ‘Cruelty by Husband or his Relatives’ (27.9%) followed by ‘Assault on Women with Intent to Outrage her Modesty’ (21.7%), ‘Kidnapping & Abduction of Women’ (20.5%) and ‘Rape’ (7.0%).

The NCRB report also cited 58,880 incidents of rioting in 2017. Maximum incidents of rioting were reported from Bihar (11,698), followed by Uttar Pradesh (8,990) and Maharashtra (7,743).

The incidents registered under the Scheduled Caste Prevention of Atrocities Act saw an increase from 5,082 incidents reported in 2016 to 5,775 in 2017.

Incidents of crime related to Scheduled Tribes dipped from 844 in 2016 to 720 in 2017.

A total of 95,893 cases of kidnapping and abduction were registered during 2017.

The NCRB for the first time collected data on circulation of “false/fake news and rumours”. Under the category, maximum incidents were reported from Madhya Pradesh (138) followed by Uttar Pradesh (32) and Kerala (18).

A total of 28,653 murder cases were registered across the country in 2017 and enmity cited as the maximum triggers for such murders. Among Union Territories, Delhi recorded the most murder cases in 2017 at 487.

Sports

11. Raunak Sadhwani becomes India’s 65th Grandmaster

Raunak Sadhwani has becomes India’s 65th Grandmaster. He defeated Russian GM Alexander Motylev to become the Grandmaster at the age of 13 years, 9 months and 28 days.

Sadhwani’s first GM norm came in the 2019 Aeroflot Open and the 2nd in the 2019 Porticcio Open and the final norm at FIDE-Chess Grand Swiss.

With the victory, Sadhwani has joined the growing list of country’s teenaged GMs that includes enormously-talented Nihal Sarin, R. Praggnanandhaa and D. Gukesh, among others.

12. Denis Shapovalov wins the Stockholm Open

Canadian player Denis Shapovalov has won the Stockholm Open title.

He defeated Filip Krajinovic by 6-4, 6-4 in the Stockholm Open final. Denis Shapovalov has become the first Canadian ATP singles champion since Milos Raonic won at Brisbane in January 2016.

13. Riya Bhatia wins ITF title in Nigeria

Riya Bhati has won the ITF women’s tennis tournament in Lagos, Nigeria.

She defeated Slovenian player Nastja Kolar of Slovenia 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 in the summit clash of the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament.

This was the 3rd singles title in the professional circuit for Riya, who had won her last two titles in 2016 and 2017.

14. Rohit Sharma set a record of highest average in Test cricket

Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma smashed the former Australia cricketer Don Bradman’s record of highest average in Test cricket on home soil.

He set the record on day two of the third Test match against South Africa.

He broke the 71-year-old record that was previously held by Bradman by scoring an average of 99.84.

Bradman, the legendary Australia cricketer had an average of 98.22.




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Obituaries

15. Dhyanchand award recipient Wrestler Dadu Chougule passes away

Dadu Chougule, wrestler and recipient of Major Dhyanchand award, passed away.

In 1973, Chougule had won the titles ‘Rustum-e-Hind’ and ‘Mahan Bharat Kesari’ in national-level tournaments.

In the 1974 Commonwealth Games, he won the silver medal. He won the ‘Maharashtra Kesari’ title twice in 1970 and 1971 and was awarded by the state government with ‘Shivchattrapati Puraskar’.

Miscellaneous

16. World fastest ant “Saharan silver ant” found in northern Sahara

The Saharan silver ant is the fastest of the world’s 12,000 known ant species, clocking 855 millimetres nearly a metre per second. Its scientific name is Cataglyphis bombycina.

Silver ants travel 108 times their body length per second and have a stride rate 10 times that of Usain Bolt.

A team of German researchers from the University of Ulm and Freiburg(Germany) discovered the ant in Douz area of Tunisia in Northern Sahara

23rd October 2019

National

1. Indian Railways install Electronic Interlocking System on Grand Chord route

Indian Railways has installed the most advanced Electronic Interlocking System on the Grand Chord route.

The measure is expected to help Indian Railways speed up trains and achieve the objective of reducing the travel time between Delhi and Howrah to about 12 hours from the existing 17 to 19 hours.

Grand Chord is part of the Howrah-Gaya-Delhi line and Howrah-Allahabad-Mumbai line.

The new Electronic system has replaced outdated 65-year old mechanical signalling system at Tundla Junction in Uttar Pradesh on the route.


Railway Minister: Piyush Goyal.

2. IIM Kozhikode & MRPL to support women entrepreneurs

IIM Kozhikode and Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Ltd. have announced a special drive Labelled as “La Eve (meaning The Woman)” to support women entrepreneurs in the country.

The initiative aims to identify innovative, promising women-founded start-ups to provide a comprehensive start-up support programme. The initiative would be steered by the institute’s entrepreneurship development centre, Laboratory for Innovation, Venturing and Entrepreneurship or IIMK LIVE.




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Under the drive “La Eve” IIMK LIVE would identify women-founded, innovation-led start ups and provide incubation that would provide access to the institutes intellectual, network and infrastructural resources. MRPL would provide seed fund assistance from the start funding initiative under start-up India Program.

States News

3. No govt. jobs in Assam for people with more than two children

The State Cabinet of Assam has decided to make government jobs out of bounds for people with more than 2 children.

The policy will come into effect from January 1, 2021.

The Cabinet also adopted a new land policy that will make the landless indigenous people eligible for 3 bighas (43,200 sq. ft.) of land for farming and half a bigha for constructing a house. The beneficiary will be able to sell the given land only after 15 years of use.

Agreements

4. AYUSH, Defence ministries ink MoU to provide traditional medicine services

The AYUSH ministry has signed an MoU with the Defence Ministry to provide traditional medicine services at the armed forces’ hospitals and dispensaries.

Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Naik inaugurated an Ayurveda Palliative Care Unit at the Base Hospital in the Delhi Cantonment.

Under the MoU, Ayurveda units will also be established at palliative care centres at the Army Research and Referral Hospital, Air Force Hospital, Hindon in Ghaziabad and five identified ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) polyclinics in Delhi–NCR.


Union Minister of Defence: Raj Nath Singh.

5. Grasim partenered with German’s MR to produce insulators

Grasim Industries Limited has signed a definitive agreement to form a joint venture company in India with Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen GmbH (MR) of Germany.

The joint venture is for the manufacturing and sale of Composite Hollow Core Insulators to serve the power transmission and distribution (T&D) industry globally.

This joint venture will bring together Aditya Birla Insulators (a unit of Grasim) and Reinhausen Power Composites (a unit of MR).

ABPCL will build a fully integrated CHCI plant at Halol, bringing the latest technology for Composite Hollow Insulators from Europe.

It will serve the insulator requirements of Indian and global OEMs in the power equipment industry.

Appointment

6. Ashok Malik appointed as Policy Advisor in MEA




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Ashok Malik has been appointed as the Policy Advisor in the External Affairs Ministry in the rank of Additional Secretary.

The Distinguished Fellow of the prominent think tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF) will have a 2-year tenure.

Ashok Malik has previously served as the Press Secretary to President Ram Nath Kovind from August 1, 2017 to July 31, 2019.

7. Godavarthi Venkata Srinivas elected as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Cabo Verde

The Ministry of External Affairs notified that Godavarthi Venkata Srinivas (IFS:1993), presently Ambassador of India to the Republic of Senegal, has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Cabo Verde.

He will replace Rajeev Kumar.


Union Minister of External Affairs: Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

8. Pankaj Kumar appointed as new CEO of UIDAI

The Government of India appointed IAS officer Pankaj Kumar as the new CEO of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

He is currently Additional Secretary in the Ministry Of Electronics and IT.

The UIDAI is a statutory authority established under the provisions of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 by the government under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, with the mandate to issue Unique Identification numbers (UID), or Aadhaar, to all residents of India to eliminate duplicate and fake identities.


Headquarters of UIDAI: New Delhi.

9. Sourav Ganguly take Charges as new BCCI President

One of India’s most decorated captains Sourav Ganguly takes over as the 39th President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Ganguly is the unanimous nomination for the post of BCCI President along with Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah as the Secretary.

Mahim Verma of Uttarakhand is the new Vice President of BCCI.

Defence

10. DRDO starts work on ‘next-gen’ hypersonic weapon

The Defence Research and Development (DRDO) has started work to produce hypersonic weapon missiles that travel at 5 times speed of sound, or a little over a mile every second.

A wind tunnel to test and fine-tune the technology will be operational soon.

Hypersonic weapons are specifically designed for increased survivability against modern ballistic missile defence systems.

These missiles are capable of delivering conventional or nuclear payloads at speeds not imagined hiterto over long ranges.




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DRDO Chairman: G Satheesh Reddy; Formed: 1958; Headquarters: New Delhi.

Summit and Conference

11. 1st India-Bangladesh Stakeholders’ meet in Guwahati

The 1st India-Bangladesh Stakeholders’ meet was held in Guwahati. Bangladesh was represented by Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi.

India is the second-largest trading partner of Bangladesh.

A 70-member delegation from Bangladesh is participating in the meet, while a similar top-level team will represent the host nation.

The idea of the meet is to put Assam at the focus point of India’s trade expansion with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as well as Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal.



Ranks and Reports

12. IIT-Bombay again tops this year’s QS India University Rankings 2020

The latest 2 edition of Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) India University Rankings 2020 released.

The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) has again topped all Indian Institutes in the list with an overall score of 88.5 followed by IISc- Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (ranked 2 with 84.7 score) & Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD),which has improved a notch to rank 3 with 82.2 scores.


Headquarters of Quacquarelli Symonds (QS): London, United Kingdom

Founded: 1990

Founded by Nunzio Quacquarelli, QS is a British company specialising in education.

Sports

13. Graeme Smith has been elected as MCC Honorary Life Member

Former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith has been elected an Honorary Life Member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).

Smith has an impressive record in One-Day International, scoring 6,989 runs including ten centuries and also became South Africa’s youngest ever captain at 22.

Former Australian off-spinner Tim May was also awarded Honorary Life Membership in recognition of his outstanding achievements in cricket.

The pair follows Paul Collingwood, AB de Villiers, Mitchell Johnson and Adrian Morgan in being awarded Honorary Life Membership of MCC in 2019.

14. Anandan wins 2 golds at the 7th CISM World Military Games




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Para-athlete Anandan Gunasekaran has won 2 gold medals at the 7th CISM World Military Games held in Wuhan, China.

He won the medal in the disabled men’s 100m and 400m IT1 events.

Gunasekaran finished the 100m race in 12 seconds and won India’s 1st medal in the ongoing Games.

He clinched his 2nd gold clocking 53.35s in the disabled men’s 400m IT1 event.

15. Bengal Warriors wins 7th season of Vivo Pro Kabaddi League 2019

In the final of 7th season of Vivo Pro Kabaddi League 2019, Bengal Warriors won their first title by defeating Dabang Delhi by 39-34 at the EKA Arena by TransStadia in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Most Valuable Player award of the League was bagged by Naveen Kumar from Dabang Delhi, Best raider to Pawan Kumar Sherawat from Bengaluru Bulls; Best defender award to U Mumba’s Fazel Atrachali and New Young Player of the season to UP (Uttar Pradesh) Yoddha’s Sumit.

16. 2024 Olympic Games logo unveiled in Paris

The logo for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games unveiled at a ceremony in the French capital.

The circular design with Paris 2024 in the art deco style which was in vogue in 1924 when Paris last hosted the Games, also incorporates the lips and outline of Marianne, the personification of the French Republic since the revolution in 1789.


President of France: Emmanuel Macron; Capital: Paris; Currency: Euro, CFP Franc.

Miscellaneous

17. IRDAI imposes penalty of Rs 1.01 crore on Cholamandalam MS GIC

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India has imposed penalties of Rs 1.01 crore on Cholamandalam MS GIC.

The insurer was penalised for violations observed during an inspection.

The penalty of Rs 1 crore is for violation of Clause 15 of Schedule I of IRDA (Health Insurance) Regulations, 2013 which clearly specifies that no commission shall be payable to any intermediary on the acceptance of a ported policy.

The other penalty of Rs 1 lakh is for motor insurance and was for violating the outsourcing guidelines by agreeing to payment terms not in the interests of the insurer.

24th October 2019

National

1. Union Cabinet approves merger of BSNL and MTNL

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the merger of loss-making telecom firms BSNL and MTNL as part of a revival package.




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The Cabinet has also given in-principle nod to the merger of BSNL and MTNL and till modalities are in place, MTNL will be a subsidiary of BSNL

The revival package includes raising sovereign bonds, monetising assets and voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for employees.

The revival package for BSNL and MTNL includes raising of Rs 15,000 crore sovereign bonds and monetising Rs 38,000 crore of assets in next 4 years. Under the package, 4G spectrum worth Rs 20,000 crore will be administratively allotted to the two firms.

Agreements

2. GeM and Federal Bank sign MoU for payment related services

The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Federal Bank to offer a number of services including transfer of funds through GeM Pool Accounts (GPA), advising of Performance Bank Guarantees (e-PBG) and Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) to the registered users on the portal.

The MoU will facilitate a cashless, paperless and transparent payment system on the portal and would create an efficient procurement system for government entities.


MD & CEO of Federal Bank: Shyam Srinivasan; Tagline: Your Perfect Banking Partner

Headquarters: Kochi, Kerala.

Awards

3. Mohun Bagan confers life membership to Abhijit Banerjee

The Mohun Bagan Athletic Club has conferred life membership to Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee.

The club handed him the First Day Cover of 1911 and the maroon green jersey with his name written on it. He was also given a book on the history of the club.

In 1911, Mohun Bagan became the first Indian club to win the Indian Football Association (IFA) Shield beating the East Yorkshire Regiment of the British Army in the final.

Banking News

4. Vreedhi Financial Services receives an NBFC licence from RBI

Vreedhi Financial Services (VFS) has secured a non-banking finance company licence from the Reserve Bank of India.

It’s objective is to provide credit and other services to micro-enterprises operating in tier two-three cities and small towns.

The company will create a digital lending model by the next financial year.

It will address the gap between the addressable and viable credit in the micro-enterprises space which is $123 billion as per the study conducted by the International Finance Corporation (IFC).


Governor of RBI: Shaktikanta Das; Headquarters: Mumbai.

Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata.




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Defence

5. Indian Army to conduct 2019 “Sindhu Sudarshan” exercise 2019 in Rajasthan deserts

The Indian Army (IA) is to conduct exercise codenamed “Sindhu Sudarshan” for the year 2019 in the deserts of Rajasthan from November 29 to December 4, 2019.

The aim of this exercise is to evaluate the capability of the defence services in an integrated air-land battle.

In the Sindhu Sudarshan exercise, operational efficiency of the Strike Corps fighting in the desert terrain will be assessed and the Indian Air Force(IAF) will provide support in terms of destruction of targets and airlifting troops.

The exercise showcasing a high degree of synergy between the Army and Air Force will be reviewed by Lieutenant General SK Saini.



Air Chief Marshal: Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria.

Sports

6. Abhishek Nayar retires from all forms of cricket

Veteran Mumbai all-rounder Abhishek Nayar has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.

He represented India in 3 One Day Internationals but his record as a First Class player is more promising.

He played 103 first-class games, most of them for Mumbai, and scored 5749 runs with 13 centuries and 32 fifties while taking 173 wickets in a career spanning a decade and a half.

He also played 99 List-A games in which he amassed 2145 runs and picked 79 wickets.

7. Praveen Kumar wins gold in Wushu World Championship

Praveen Kumar has become the 1st Indian man to win a gold medal at the Wushu World Championships.

He defeated Philippines’ Russel Diaz by 2-1 in the men’s sanda event in the 48kg category of the 15th World Wushu Championships held in Shanghai.

Among other Indians, Poonam in women’s 75kg category and Sanathoi Devi in women’s 52kg category secured silver medals while Vikrant Baliyan bagged the bronze in the men’s 60kg category.

Wushu Sanda is a martial art which combines full-contact kickboxing, including close range punches and kicks, with wrestling, takedowns, throws, sweeps and kick catches.

Books and Authors

8. A new book entitled “Ten Studies in Kashmir: History and Politics” released

An Indian historian, educationist and Padma Shri recipient, Kashi Nath Pandit’s new book entitled “Ten Studies in Kashmir: History and Politics”, published by Academic Foundation.

A new book looks at the riveting history of Jammu and Kashmir from the time of its political and geographic consolidation to the abrogation of the state’s special status.

The book, which comes after the scrapping of Article 370 provisions in August, will shed light on the happenings from 1947 till the revocation of the special status of the state.

Important Days




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9. World Development Information Day: 24 October

The United Nations observes World Development Information Day on 24 October every year.

The General Assembly in 1972 established World Development Information Day to draw the attention of the world to development problems and the need to strengthen international cooperation to solve them.

The General Assembly decided that the date for the Day should coincide with United Nations Day i.e. 24 October.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RBI Grade-B Prelims:


Secretary-General of the United Nations: Antonio Guterres.

10. United Nations Day: 24 October

24th October has been celebrated as United Nations Day since 1948. UN Day marks the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter.

The United Nations was founded in 1945 to support collective action to realize peace, development and human rights for all.

United Nations will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations in 2020 with inclusive global conversation on the role of global cooperation in building the future we want.

The UN75 initiative seeks to spark dialogue and action on how we can build a better world despite the many challenges we face.

Obituaries

11. Belgian Paralympian Marieke vervoort ends life through euthanasia at 40

Marieke Vervoort, Belgian Paralympic athlete has ended her life at the age of 40 through euthanasia (the practice of intentionally ending a life to relieve pain and suffering).

She was suffering from a muscle disease that caused her constant pain, paralysis in her legs.

She was diagnosed with the disease at the age of 14, after which she made her life in the sport and took part in basketball, swimming and triathlon in a wheelchair.

She won gold in the 100 meters and silver in the 200 meters at the 2012 London Games, while at the Rio Games 2016 she managed to win silver in the 400 meters and bronze in the 100 meters. She signed euthanasia documents in 2008, to allow a doctor to end her life.

Miscellaneous

12. Deepika Padukone, PV Sindhu named as ambassadors for ‘Bharat Ki Laxmi’ initiative

Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone and Indian badminton player PV Sindhu were named the ambassadors for Bharat Ki Laxmi. It is an initiative by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

The aim of this initiative is to celebrate the contribution & accomplishments of women of the nation for the public good. The hashtag for the initiative is #BharatKiLaxmi.

13. Amazon’s male white bellbird is the world’s loudest bird

The male white bellbird is the world’s loudest bird which hits 125.4 decibels.

This study was published in the journal Current Biology. This was recorded by Biologist Jeff Podos at Brazil in the mountains of the northern Amazon.




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The call by the bird is made as part of their mating rituals and it’s mating call is about three times louder than screaming phias.

The screaming phias (Lipaugus vociferans), also an Amazonian species, previously held the record of being the world’s loudest bird.

14. Vijaya Bank Museum inaugurated in Bengaluru

The Vijaya Bank Heritage Museum has been inaugurated at the headquarters of the erstwhile Vijaya Bank i.e. Bengaluru.

The museum has a rare collection of photos through which the growth of the bank is showcased.

The memories of the erstwhile Vijaya Bank can now be refreshed at a museum dedicated to its history. Vijaya Bank was one of the premier nationalised banks in the country.

The erstwhile Vijaya Bank, along with the erstwhile Dena Bank, was amalgamated with Bank of Baroda on April 1, 2019.

25th October 2019

National

1. BPRD releases “Data on Police Organizations (DoPO 2018)”

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy has released the Bureau of Police Research and Development’s flagship publication “Data on Police Organizations” (DoPO 2018) in New Delhi.

The Data on Police Organisation in India is an important compilation of information on police infrastructure, manpower and other resources from all States, Union Territories, CAPFs and CPOs.

Major highlights of the DoPO 2018:

There has been an increase of 19,686 Police personnel in the sanctioned strength of the State Police and 16,051 in the strength of CAPFs

There has been 20.95% increase in the strength of Woman Police which brings the total percentage of women in the Indian Police to 8.73%.

The overall Police Population Ratio at the state level stood at 192.95 policemen per lakh population.

Police Stations have increased from 15579 to 16422. This includes Cyber Police Stations whose number has risen from 84 to 120.

Electronic surveillance has improved with addition of 2,10,278 CCTV Cameras.

2. Chenani-Nashri Tunnel renamed as Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Tunnel

J&K’s Chenani-Nashri Tunnel, a 9 km-long tunnel that reduces the distance between Jammu and Srinagar by 31 km has been renamed as Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Tunnel.

The ‘Chenani-Nashri Highway Tunnel’ is not only India’s longest highway tunnel but also Asia’s longest bi-directional highway tunnel.

The renaming of the tunnel aims to preserve Mukherjee’s heritage and memory as well as a tribute for his sacrifice for the nation.

3. Indian Railway launches One Touch ATVM




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Indian Railways has launched ‘one touch ATVM’ at 42 suburban stations of Central Railway over Mumbai Suburban Network.

The machine has been launched to render fast ticketing to millions of commuters. This new machine will reduce the waiting time of the passengers and allow passenger to avoid standing in long queues.

The new machine is loaded with the user friendly procedure which will greatly ease the load on ticketing system of Mumbai Suburban Network. A total of 92 ATVMs has been installed at 42 suburban stations.

Awards News

4. Ilham Tohti wins Sakharov Prize

The European Parliament has awarded the Sakharov Prize to Uighur intellectual Ilham Tohti. He has been awarded the Sakharov Prize for his attempts to “foster dialogue” between Chinese people and the Uighur.

Ilham Tohti, who is from the Uighur minority, has been a fierce critic of China’s treatment of the Uighur people. He has been sentenced to life imprisonment in China for “separatism”.

The outspoken former Professor of economics at a Beijing university was sentenced in 2014.

Ranks And Reports

5. India ranked 63rd in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking

World Bank has released Ease of Doing business Rankings which includes 190 countries. As per the rankings, India has jumped 14 places and has been ranked at 63rd among 190 countries.

New Zealand and Somalia retained their 1st and 190th spot respectively. The indicator measures the performance of countries across 10 different dimensions in the 12-month period ending May 1, 2019.

From 2020, the World Bank has expanded its ease of doing business survey to 2 more cities: Bengaluru and Kolkata in addition to Delhi and Mumbai that are currently surveyed. The World Bank has decided to have four cities from every country with a population above 100 million.

Key findings of the Report:

India has become one of the top 10 most improved countries for the third consecutive time.

The country’s score improved from 67.3 (in 2018) to 71.0 (in 2019), as per The Doing Business 2020 study.

India saw the biggest jump in ranking in the “resolving insolvency” category from 108th to 52nd on the back of the government implementing the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

India’s ranking improved substantially in “dealing with construction permits” (from 52nd to 27th) and “trading across borders” (from 80th to 68th).

India’s ranking improved in “registering property” from 166th to 154th despite a drop in score.

Miscellaneous

6. ITBP celebrated its 58th Raising Day

Indo-Tibetan Border Police celebrated its 58th Raising Day on 24th October 2019. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy took the salute of the Raising Day Parade ITBP’s Headquarters in Greater Noida.

The Parade comprised of all Frontier Contingents of the Force including women, Commando, Skiing, mountaineering and paratroopers’ contingents besides the dog squad & mounted columns. The parade showcased valour and courage of various contingents.




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Indo-Tibetan Border Police was raised on 24 October, 1962 in the wake of Chinese aggression on Indo-China border.

26th, 27th and 28th October 2019

National

1. Health Ministry to observe Vigilance Awareness Week

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will observe the Vigilance Awareness Week from 28th October to 2nd November, 2019.

The week will be observed with the theme of “Integrity- a way of life”. Vigilance Awareness Week will commence with the administration of ‘Integrity Pledge’ to the officers/staff of the Ministry by the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, to fight against corruption and commit to highest standards of honesty and integrity.

The week will be observed as per directions of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), Government of India.

CVC observes Vigilance Awareness Week every year to promote probity in public life and to achieve a corruption free society.

2. ‘Maharatna’ status granted to state-owned HPCL & PGCIL

‘Maharatna’ status has been granted by the Government to state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited.

The status also comes with greater operational and financial autonomy.

The grant of Maharatna status to the PSUs will impart enhanced powers to their Boards to take financial decisions.

The Boards can structure and implement schemes relating to personnel and human resource management and training. They can also enter into technology joint ventures or other strategic alliances, among others.

State News

3. First-ever Ladakh Literature Festival

Ladakh administration is organizing the first-ever Ladakh Literature festival. The 3-day Literature Festival is being organized from 29 to 31 October 2019.

The first-ever Ladakh Literature festival aims to celebrate the uniqueness of the region in the fields of Art, Culture and Literature.

There will be screenings of Ladakhi films, discussions on Heritage and presentations on History and Archeology of Ladakh, during the festival.

To provide an opportunity to children, youth and women to participate in the 3 Day Ladakh Literature Festival several competitions and events like Calligraphy, Culinary art are also incorporated.

Agreements

4. USD 165 mn loan agreement for Odisha’s Integrated Irrigation Project

The Government of India, Government of Odisha and the World Bank have signed a USD 165 million loan agreement.

The agreement is signed for Odisha’s Integrated Irrigation Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture.




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The project will be implemented in rural areas vulnerable to droughts and largely dependent on rainfed agriculture.

The project will strengthen the resilience of smallholder farmers against adverse climate by improving access to resilient seed varieties and production technologies, diversifying towards more climate-resilient crops, and improving access to better water management and irrigation services.

The project will also support aquaculture in rehabilitated tanks, help farmers access affordable and quality fingerlings, and disseminate improved aquaculture practices and post-harvest management.

The $165 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (Member of World Bank Group), has a 6-year grace period, and a maturity of 24 years.

5. IOB launches health care plus insurance policy

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) in association with Universal Sompo General Insurance Co Ltd. has launched upgraded health care plus insurance policy.

It is a co-branded insurance scheme exclusively designed for IOB customers with a sum insured starting from ₹50,000 and going up to ₹15 lakh.

The policy issuance will be made on a real-time basis at the IOB branches to its customers. Self, spouse, dependent children, dependent parents can be covered under the policy.


MD & CEO of IOB: Karnam Sekar; Founded: 10 February 1937.

Headquarters: Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Tagline: Good people to grow with.

Appointments

6. Manohar Lal Khattar sworn in as CM of Haryana for a second term

Senior BJP leader Manohar Lal Khattar was sworn in as the chief minister of Haryana for second straight time, with the support of Dushyant Chautala led Jannayak Janta Party.

Dushyant Chautala took oath as deputy chief minister of Haryana. Governor administered him the oath of office and secrecy at a function at Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh.


Governor of Haryana: Satyadev Narayan Arya.

Ranks and Report

7. Bill Gates overtakes Jeff Bezos as the world’s richest person

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates overtook Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest person.

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos lost the title as the world’s richest man to Bill Gates, after losing nearly $7 billion in stock value leaving his net worth to $103.9 billion.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is currently worth $105.7 billion.

Bezos ended Gates’ 24-year run as the richest man in 2018 and became the first man on earth with a net worth of $160 billion.

Bill Gates debuted on Forbes’ first ever billionaire list in 1987 with a net worth of $1.25 billion.





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8. “Global Bio-India 2019” Summit to be held in New Delhi

The Global Bio-India 2019 will be held for the first time in India in New Delhi from 21st to 23rd November, 2019. It is one of the largest biotechnology stakeholders integration programme.

India is hosting this mega event for the biotech community to attract investments and showcase our indigenous strengths and aspirations of the indigenous talent pool.

A brochure of GlobalBio-India 2019 was also released at the Curtain Raiser ceremony.

The DBT, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India will organize the event with Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council.

The Summit is one of the largest biotechnology stakeholders conglomerate to be held in India for the first time.

The event will bring together stakeholders from 30 countries, 250 start-ups, and 200 exhibitors.

Sports

9. Jasprit Bumrah, Smriti Mandhana win Wisden India Almanack Cricketer of the Year award

Indian Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and batswoman Smriti Mandhana won the Wisden India Almanack Cricketer of the Year award.

The other 3 winners are Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman, Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne and Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan.

Smriti Mandhana became the third woman to win ‘Cricketer of the Year’, after Mithali Raj and Deepti Sharma. Former Indian cricketers Gundappa Viswanath and Lala Amarnath were inducted into the Wisden India Hall of Fame.

Wisden India Almanack, annual cricket publication, also featured the name of Indian cricketer Mayank Agarwal for his splendid performance in the Test match against South Africa in a recently concluded series.

The book titled “Cricket Country: The Untold History of the First All India Team” by Prashant Kidambi was adjudged the Wisden India Book of the Year 2019 (Published by Penguin India).

10. Karnataka wins Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019-20

Karnataka has won the 2019-20 Vijay Hazare Trophy. Karnataka defeated Tamil Nadu by 9 wickets in the finals of Vijay Hazare Trophy at Bengaluru.

Karnataka won their 4th Vijay Hazare Trophy title with a dominant display against Tamil Nadu. Abhimanyu Mithun took a hat-trick in the summit clash.

11. Prithvi Sekhar wins gold in World Deaf Tennis Championship

India’s unseeded Prithvi Sekhar beat 3rd seeded Jaroslav Smedek of the Czech Republic by 6-4, 6-3 points and clinched the men’s singles title in World Deaf Tennis Championships 2019.

The 2nd Edition of World Deaf Tennis Championships 2019 was held in Antalya, Turkey.

He had also won the men’s doubles bronze medal with Prashanth Dasharath Harsambhavi.

Important Days

12. World Day For Audiovisual Heritage: 27 October

World Day for Audiovisual Heritage is celebrated all over the world on 27th of October.

The theme for World Day for Audiovisual Heritage 2019 is “Engage the Past Through Sound and Images”.

In 2005, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) General Conference declared October 27 as World Day for Audiovisual Heritage.




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Obituaries

13. Former Gujarat Chief Minister Dilip Parikh passes away

Former Gujarat Chief Minister Dilip Parikh passed away. He served as the 13th Chief Minister of Gujarat between October 1997 and March 1998.

He was an industrialist and also served as president of the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Miscellaneous

14. CBSE & NCERT launches ‘Tamanna’ test for Class 9 & 10 students

The Central Board of Secondary Education and National Council for Educational Research and Training have launched an online aptitude test called ‘Tamanna’.

Tamanna stands for “Try And Measure Aptitude And Natural Abilities“. Tamanna is an aptitude test that aims to help students of Class 9 and 10 to make a better choice of subjects, eventually helping them in making an informed decision while choosing subjects in Class 11 and 12.

Tamanna provides information about strengths of students and there is no pass or fail in this test.


National

1. ‘Aarambh’, common foundation course for IAS probationers held in Statue of Unity

The Centre’s first-ever common foundation course “Aarambh” (Beginning) for 2019 batch probationer civil servants has begun at the Statue of Unity in Kevadia, Gujarat.

There are around 500 newly recruited bureaucrats are undergoing six-day training. The theme this year is ‘How to achieve the goal of making India a 5 trillion dollar economy’.

State News

2. Odisha govt inks LoU for ‘drink from tap mission’ with UNICEF

Odisha has inked a Letter of Understanding (LoU) on “drink from tap mission” with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The main objective of the mission is to provide piped quality drinking water supply to each household on a 24-hour basis. UNICEF will provide technical cooperation to the government of Odisha.

The community-based water management system will be adopted at ward-level and in the first phase 1.20 lakh people will be the beneficiaries.





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Headquarter of UNICEF: New York, USA; Founded: 11th Dec 1946.

3. CM Patnaik launches ‘Odisha Mo Parivar’ programme

Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik launched “Odisha Mo Parivar” (Odisha, My Family) programme.

It is a social service initiative aimed at encouraging environment protection, blood donation and the welfare of Odias in distress.


Governor of Odisha: Ganeshi Lal; Capital: Bhubaneswar.

Awards News

4. President confers first National CSR Awards

President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the first National Corporate Social Responsibility Awards to the companies for their outstanding contribution in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

The first National CSR Awards ceremony in New Delhi. The CSR provisions under the Companies Act, 2013 came into force from April 1, 2014.

Banking News

5. RBI Fined Rs 35 lakh penalty on Tamilnad Mercantile Bank

The Reserve Bank has imposed a penalty of Rs 35 lakh on Tamilnad Mercantile Bank for violating norms on fraud classification and notification.

It stated that the bank has been penalized for non-compliance with certain provisions of directions issued by RBI on fraud classification and reporting by commercial banks and select FIs directions 2016.

Important Takeaways for IBPS PO/Clerk Mains 2019:

i. Tamilnad Mercantile Bank based in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu. ii. RBI is India’s central bank, which controls the issuance and supply of the Indian rupee.

Appointments

6. Birender Singh Yadav to be next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Iraq

Birender Singh Yadav has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Iraq.

The 1997 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, Birender Singh replaced Pradeep Singh Rajpurohit as the ambassador.





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President of Iraq: Barham Salih; Prime minister: Adil Abdul-Mahdi.

Capital of Iraq: Baghdad; Currency: Iraqi dinar.

7. Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde Appointed as 47th Chief Justice of India

Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde was appointed as the 47th Chief Justice of India. Justice Bobde will take oath as the CJI on November 18th, a day after incumbent Ranjan Gogoi demits office. He will have a tenure of 17 months and would demit office on 23rd April 2021.

A judge since 2000, Justice Bobde joined the Bombay High Court as an additional judge. He was appointed as the chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on October 2012. In April 2013, he was elevated to the Supreme Court.

Important Takeaways for RBI Grade-B and LIC Assistant 2019:

Ranjan Gogoi is the 46th and current Chief Justice of India.

The Supreme Court of India came into existence on 26th January 1950 and is located in New Delhi.

KK Venugopal is present Attorney General of India.

8. G C Murmu and R K Mathur appointed as new Lt Governors of J&K and Ladakh respectively

The Union Government has appointed former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers Girish Chandra Murmu and Radha Krishna Mathur as the first Lieutenant (Lt) Governors of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh respectively.

These newly appointed governors succeed Satya Pal Malik. These Union Territories will come into existence on October 31, 2019.

Satya Pal Malik has been transferred and appointed as Governor of Goa, succeeding Mridula Sinha. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Kerala state president P S Sreedharan Pillai was appointed as the 15th governor of Mizoram succeeding Jagdish Mukhi.

New Governors

S. No. State/UT Governor Predecessor

1. J&K Girish Chandra

Murmu Satya Pal Malik

2. Ladakh Radha Krishna

Mathur Satya Pal Malik

3. Mizoram P S Sreedharan Pillai Jagdish Mukhi

4. Goa Satya Pal Malik Mridula Sinha

Summits And Conferences

9. 9th edition of Bangladesh-India Friendship Dialogue




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The 9th edition of Bangladesh-India Friendship Dialogue will be held at Cox Bazar in Bangladesh from November 1, 2019.

The dialogue aims to draw from learning and experiences in these sectors between India and Bangladesh.

The two-day dialogue will cover a wide range of issues like trade and investment, connectivity, technology, energy, regional security, extremism, and sustainable development among others.

The event will be organized jointly by the India Foundation and Bangladesh Foundation for Regional Studies.



Ranks And Reports

10. HBR’s list of 10 best performing CEOs has 3 Indian-origin CEOs

The Best-Performing CEOs in the World, 2019′ list compiled by the Harvard Business Review (HBR) features 100 CEOs. The list has been topped by American technology company NVIDIA’s CEO Jensen Huang. Among the top 10 chief executives on the list, 3 spots have been occupied by the Indian-origin CEOs.

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen was ranked 6th, followed by MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga was ranked 7th and Microsoft chief Satya Nadella on the 9th spot. The list also features India-born CEO of DBS Bank Piyush Gupta on the 89th spot. Apple CEO Tim Cook was ranked 62nd in the list. The 2019 list has 4 female CEOs in the top 50 of the rankings.

The HBR took into account three metrics for each CEO’s tenure: the total shareholder return (including dividends reinvested) adjusted by country and by industry and change in market capitalisation (adjusted for dividends, share issues, and share repurchases), measured in inflation-adjusted USD.

Sports

11. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty bags silver medal at French Open

Indian men’s doubles pair Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy has won the silver medal in the men’s doubles event at French Open.

The Indian pair lost the summit clash to the Indonesian pair of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo by 18-21, 16-21.

12. ICC bans Bangladeshi cricketer Shakib Al Hasan for 2 years

The International Cricket Council has banned Bangladesh Test and T20 Captain Shakib Al Hasan for 2 years from all forms of cricket. The Bangladeshi cricketer has been banned for not reporting to the ICC that he was approached by the bookies.

The cricketer was approached by the bookies during the 2018 home tri-series against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. One year of the punishment has been suspended after he accepted three charges of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.




13. Lewis Hamilton wins Mexico Grand Prix 2019




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Mercedes’ driver and 5-time world champion Lewis Hamilton clinched his 10th win of the season for Mercedes at the Mexican Grand Prix 2019.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, a German racing driver, and Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, a Finnish racing driver, finished second and third respectively.

14. Tiger Woods clinched historic 82nd title with Zozo Championship 2019

The Zozo Championship 2019 tournament title was clinched by America’s Tiger Woods, aged 43, which was his 82nd PGA Tour crown.

He sealed a historic three-stroke win to draw level with Sam Snead (America) for the most victories on Tour.

The Zozo Championship 2019, a professional golf tournament, was held at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club, Chiba, Japan. It was the first event sanctioned tournament by the PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association) Tour in Japan, in a deal that will last until at least 2025. The prize money of the tournament was US$9.75 million.

Obituaries

15. Padma Shri awardee & India’s oldest Yoga teacher Nanammal passes away

Padma Shri awardee & India’s oldest Yoga teacher Nanammal passed away at 99. She had bagged 150 awards, 6 national-level gold medals and Yoga Ratna award of the Government of Karnataka in 2014.

She was also conferred the Padma Shri in January 2019 for her efforts to make people lead a healthy life.

Miscellaneous

16. Facebook launches healthcare tool for check-up reminders

Facebook has unveiled a ‘Preventive Health’ tool that connects people to health resources and sends check-up reminders. Facebook has launched the tool in the United States.

The tool is designed to help users of the social networking giant to find affordable places to receive care, set reminders to schedule tests and mark when tests are completed. The recommendations to the users will be provided on the basis on their age and sex.

The resources available in the tool are provided by the American Cancer Society, the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.


Facebook Headquarters: California, US; CEO: Mark Zuckerberg.

17. Nirmal Purja climbs world’s 14 highest peaks in record-breaking 189 days

The mountaineer from Nepal, Nirmal Purja, created a new speed record by climbing the world’s 14 highest peaks over 8,000 metres (26,250 feet) in just 189 days.

The 14th peak which he climbed was Shishapangma, located at Nyalam County, China. The other 13 peaks are Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, Kanchenjunga, Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, Nanga Parbat, Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II, K2, Broad Peak, Cho Oyu and Manaslu.

18. Finance Minister releases Commemorative Coin on Paramahansa Yogananda




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The Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman has released a special commemorative coin on Paramahansa Yogananda. The coin has been released to mark Paramahansa Yogananda’s 125th birth anniversary.

Paramahansa Yogananda is known as the Father of Yoga in the West. He was the founder of two organisations: Yogoda Satsanga Society of India and Self-Realisation Fellowship, belongs to the line of gurus whose message is universal transcending nations and religions.

31st October 2019

National

1.India now has 28 states and 9 UTs

According to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the appointed day for the two Union Territories J&K and Ladakh was October 31.

This is for the first time that a state is converted into two Union Territories. The total number of states in the country will now be 28 while the total Union Territories will go up to nine.

For Complete list of 28 states and 9 Union Territories of India Click here

State News

2. TN becomes first State to enact law on contract farming

President of India Ram Nath Kovind has approved the Tamil Nadu Agricultural Produce and Livestock Contract Farming and Services (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2019.

Now Tamil Nadu has become the first state in the country to enact a law on contract farming.

The aims of this Act is to set a policy framework and institutional mechanism on agricultural produce and livestock contract farming.


Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu: Edappadi K. Palaniswami; Governor: Banwarilal Purohit.

Capital of Tamil Nadu: Chennai.

International

3. Sheikh Sultan inaugurates Sharjah International Book Fair 2019

The 38th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) 2019 was inaugurated by Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, UAE.

Nearly 1800 exhibitors from 77 countries are participating in the Fair.

The fair will showcase 987 activities presenting scientific, knowledge and literary themes.


https://currentaffairs.adda247.com/india-now-has-28-states-and-9-uts/



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The Republic of Mexico has been declared as the Guest of Honour at the 38th edition of SIBF.

The theme of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) 2019 is ‘Open Books Open Minds’, to promote books and reading across age groups and communities.


Capital of the UAE: Abu Dhabi; Currency of the UAE: Dirham.

4. Saad Hariri resigns as Prime Minister of Lebanon

Prime Minister of Lebanon, Saad Hariri has resigned from the portfolio amid anti-government protests.

He resigned bowing to one of the central demands of anti-government demonstrators shortly after baton-wielding Hezbollah supporters rampaged through the main protest camp in Beirut.

The protests has paralyzed the country for nearly two weeks. Lebanon is facing a deep-running fiscal crisis as it staggers under one of the highest debt ratios in the world $86 billion, or more than 150% of the country’s gross domestic product.

Appointments

5. Rafael Grossi elected as the new IAEA head

Rafael Mariano Grossi of Argentina has been elected as the new Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

He succeeds Yukiya Amano of Japan, who passed away in July. He will be the 6th head of IAEA since it was founded more than six decades ago in 1957.


Headquarters IAEA: Vienna, Austria; Membership: 171 Member States.

6. Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Datta Padsalgikar appointed as Deputy NSA

Former Mumbai Police Commissioner and Maharashtra DGP Datta Padsalgikar have been appointed as Deputy National Security Advisor (NSA).

The 1982-batch IPS officer had earlier served in the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

He had also served as DCP (Detection) in crime branch, and in EOW (Economic Offences Wing). He retired as the Director-General of Police (DGP) in 2018.


Present National Security Advisor (NSA): Ajit Doval.

Sports

7. Shiva Thapa, Pooja Rani clinch gold in Olympic Test event for Boxing

Indian boxer Shiva Thapa and Pooja Rani clinched gold medals in Olympic Test Event for Boxing in Tokyo, Japan.

While Ashish settled for a silver, ending India’s brilliant campaign at the Olympic Test Event.




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Four-time Asian medallist Thapa outpunched Kazakhstan’s national champion and Asian bronze-winner Sanatali Toltayev 5-0 to claim the top honours in the 63-kilogram category.

Former Asian Games bronze-medallist Pooja Rani edged past Australia’s Caitlin Parker in 75-kilogram category to ensure that the Indian women’s contingent also had gold in its kitty.

In 69 kilogram category, Ashish, however, lost to Japan’s Sewon Okazawa to sign off with a silver medal.

Defence

8. Indo-French joint exercise ‘Shakti-2019’

The bilateral ‘Exercise SHAKTI’ between the armies of India and France will be conducted from 31st October to 13th November 2019 at Foreign Training Node in Mahajan Field Firing Ranges, Rajasthan.

The joint exercise will focus on counter-terrorism operations in semi-desert terrain.

The exercise aims at enhancing understanding, cooperation and interoperability between the two armies.

While a contingent of the Sikh Regiment of Sapta Shakti Command will represent Indian Army in this exercise, the French Army delegation will be represented by troops of 21st Marine Infantry Regiment of 6th Armoured Brigade.



Obituaries

9. First female UN refugee chief Sadako Ogata passes away

First female UN refugee chief Sadako Ogata passed away. She served as the Chief of the UN refugees from 1991-2000.

She had also served as the head of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) from 2003- 2012 and also as the chairman of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) from 1978-1979.

10. Former Karnataka Lokayukta N. Venkatachala passes away

N. Venkatachala, former judge of the Supreme Court and former Lokayukta of Karnataka passed away.

Venkatachala was known for bringing to light the existence of Karnataka’s autonomous anti-corruption wing as the Lokayukta by conducting raids on public servants and disclosing their names and particulars of seized assets.

He also functioned as the head of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, during 1990. He was Lokayukta from July 3, 2001, to July 2, 2006.

11. Actor and comedian John Witherspoon passes away

Actor and comedian John Witherspoon passed away recently. He was best known best known for the hit Friday franchise and The Wayan Brothers.

He made his feature debut in the film The Jazz Singer (1980) and entered showbiz through stand-up comedy and started acting in the late 1970s with guest-starring TV roles.

Important Days

12. India celebrates “National Unity Day” on 31st October




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India is celebrating the 144th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel as National Unity Day.

The birth anniversary of Sardar Patel i.e. 31st October is observed as the National Unity Day every year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Sardar Patel at the ‘Statue of Unity’ in Kevadiya, Gujarat and also witnessed the ‘Rashtriya Ekta Diwas Parade‘ by personnel of Gujarat Police and central armed forces.

Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel is also known as the Iron Man of India. At the time of independence, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel played an instrumental role in India’s struggle for independence, and later during the integration of the country by convincing several princely states to align with the Indian Union.

13. World Cities Day: 31 October

The United Nations General Assembly has designated the 31st October as World Cities Day.

The Day is expected to greatly promote the international community’s interest in global urbanization, push forward cooperation among countries in meeting opportunities and addressing challenges of urbanization, and contributing to sustainable urban development around the world.

This year, the United Nations has selected the theme “Changing the world: innovations and better life for future generations” to discuss how urbanization can be used to achieve sustainable development.

Miscellaneous

14. IIIT Hyderabad create first ever Indian Brain Atlas

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIIT-H), Telangana have created the first-ever ‘Indian brain atlas’(IBA).

The Indian brain atlas was constructed in collaboration with the Department of Imaging Sciences and Interventional Radiology, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

The study has revealed that the Indian brain, on an average, is smaller in height, width and volume when compared to Western and other Eastern populations.

This will help in early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and other brain-related ailments.

15. Pak releases coin to commemorate 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak

The government of Pakistan released a new coin to commemorate the 550th anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak.

The coin worth Pakistan Rupees 50 will be available at the Kartarpur Sahib along with a postal stamp worth Pakistan Rupees 8 to the travelling pilgrims.


Prime Minister of Pakistan: Imran Khan; President: Arif Alvi.

Currency: Pakistani rupee; Capital: Islamabad.


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