1. Birendra Sasmal, a Ghana-based Indian entrepreneur, has won a prestigious International Business Person of the Year at the Asian Achievers Awards in London for his efforts to bring innovative IT solutions to Africa. Sasmal is CEO of Subah Group, which employs around 350 people with offices in Guinea, Sierra Leone, New York City and Dubai. Under Sasmal's leadership, the group's revenues have increased by over 3,000% and it has been named among one of Africa's fastest growing tech companies.
2. Rajni Kant Mishra, a U.P. Cadre IPS officer of 1984 batch, has taken charge as new Director General (DG) of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). He succeeded Archana Ramasundaram, who is set to retire on September 30, 2017. The decision was taken by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. Mishra will hold the post till his superannuation on August 31, 2019, from the date of assumption of charge of the post or until further orders. Mr R. K. Mishra is a recipient of Police Medal in 2003 and Prestigious President Police Medal in 2009.
3. The 3rd edition of Women of India Organic Festival has started at Dilli Haat in New Delhi on October 1, 2017. The purpose of the 15-day festival is to promote women entrepreneurs and farmers in the organic sector. Maneka Gandhi, the Union Minister of Women and Child Development (WCD) has inaugurate the festival. The theme of the festival is – Good for Women, Good for India, Good for You.
4. The Gautala Autramghat Sanctuary (GAS) is a protected area of Aurangabad District and Jalgaon District of Maharashtra and covers an area of 26,061.19 hectares. It houses a variety of wildlife including chinkara, nilgai, sloth bears, jungle cat, wanderoo, leopard cat, etc.
5. President Ram Nath Kovind has recently appointed Governors in five states and Lieutenant Governor in one Union Territory. These are as follows: Brigadier (Retd) B D Mishra has been appointed as the new Governor of Arunachal Pradesh and former member of Bihar Legislative Council Ganga Prasad as new Governor of Meghalaya. Satya Pal Malik, the former Union Minister, has been appointed as the new Governor of Bihar while Assam Governor Banwarilal Purohit will now be the new Governor of Tamil Nadu. Admiral (Retd) Devendra Kumar Joshi will be the Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar while Prof. Jagdish Mukhi will be the new Governor of Assam. The above appointments will take effect from the dates the incumbents assume charge of their respective offices.
6. The United Nations' (UN) International Day of Non-Violence is observed every year on October 2 to mark the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement and pioneer of the philosophy and strategy of non-violence. The day is an occasion to disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness. This day is referred to in India as Gandhi Jayanti.
7. The International Day of Older Persons is observed every year on October 1, 2017 to raise awareness about issues affecting the elderly, such as senescence and elder abuse. The 2017 theme "Stepping into the Future: Tapping the Talents, Contributions and Participation of Older Persons in Society" will explore effective means of promoting and strengthening the participation of older persons in various aspects of social, cultural, economic and civic and political life.
8. H. M. Marathe (77), the renowned writer and journalist, has passed away in Pune, Maharashtra on October 1, 2017. He was well-known journalist and worked with various regional periodicals like Lokprabha, Marmik, and Pudhari.
9. Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, has launch the nationwide Free Eye Check-up Campaign and distribution of spectacles for truck drivers, cleaners and helpers on October 2, 2017 at Panjari Toll Plaza, Nagpur Bypass in Maharashtra. The objective of this initiative is to ensure clearer vision and safe travel for truck drivers who are the most frequent users of national highways. The campaign will continue for five days. The cleaners can also avail of this facility by producing a valid driving license. Fifty free eye check-up camps will be set up on identified national highways on either side and will be manned by eye specialists and support staff volunteers. Any other defect like cataract will be identified and medicines will be prescribed. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), governments, social enterprises and private businesses are being roped in for facilitating the provision of these facilities.
10. The National Hard Court Tennis Championship has started in New Delhi on October 2, 2017. Among the men players, Tamil Nadu led Dhakshineswar Suresh, who last year won the Under-16 National championship, Aryan Goveas and Paramveer Singh Bajwa are participating in the tournament. Among the women players, Zeel Desai will head the field. Other players to watch out for would be Mihika Yadav, Sai Samhita, Snehadevi S Reddy and Mahak Jain. Tennis is the only sport in the country where the top players do not compete at the Nationals.
11. The sixth edition of the World Government Summit (WHS) is scheduled to be held from February 11th – 13th, 2018 in Dubai, UAE. India will be the guest of honour in this summit. The summit is the largest movement to review and share the best experiences, and the first global forum for governments, countries, organizations and private sector leaders interested in the industry of the future. At its 5th session in February 2017, the World Summit of Governments attracted more than 4,000 participants from 139 countries and 150 speakers attended 114 sessions.
12. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2017 has awarded jointly to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young for their discoveries on how plants, animals and humans adapt their biological rhythm so that it is synchronised with the Earth's revolutions. For many years, we have known that living organisms, including humans, have an internal clock that helps them adapt to the rotation of earth. But how does this clock actually work? It is explained through 2017 Nobel laureates discoveries. Using fruit flies as a model organism, they isolated a gene that controls the daily biological rhythm. They showed that this gene encodes a protein that accumulates in the cell during the night, and is then degraded during the day. The trio will share the prize sum of nine million Swedish kronor (about 1.1 million US Dollars) by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
13. In Libya, the Port of Benghazi has officially reopened for the first time in three years on September 30, 2017 after being forced to cease operations because of clashes in the cradle of the 2011 revolution. After long-time dictator Muammar Kadhafi was ousted and killed in the 2011 revolution, the country descended into political and military chaos. Commercial operations at the port had ended in 2014 when armed movements, including the Islamic State terror group, occupied the North African country's second city. In a bid to boost business at the facility, port officials announced a temporary customs exemption for all imports through Benghazi. The port is situated in the eastern part of the country.
14. The Bihar government has launched a state-wide campaign against child marriage and dowry on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary. In it, people pledged not to get married a girl below 18 years or a boy below 21 or participate in a child marriage or a wedding with dowry. They also took a pledge to stop such marriage if they come across any as a part of their social responsibility and make their state free of these two social evils. In case of any information on child marriage or dowry they can contact the district magistrates, SP, local elected representatives, block development officer or the police station or call on the toll free number 181. Bihar accounted for 15% of the total dowry deaths as per 2015- 16 national crime record bureau data. 25% girl children were getting married below 18 years age in the state.
15. The Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) is located in Kalahandi district of Odisha and covers an area of 75 square kilometres. This sanctuary is home to many wildlife species like tiger, leopard, sambar, nilgai, barking deer, mouse deer, a wide variety of birds like green munia, Great Eared-nightjar and various reptiles.
16. The 8th Conference of the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians will be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from October 4, 2017. The 3-day conference will be inaugurated by Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena. The Indian delegation will be lead by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who will deliver the lead speech on the topic Association of the SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians, a platform for the Parliamentarians of South Asia to work together to reach the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development. She is accompanied by a delegation of MPs and senior officials of Lok Sabha.
17. President Ram Nath Kovind has recently appointed a Commission to examine the sub-categorisation of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Justice (Retd.) G. Rohini will be the chairperson of the Commission which will present its report to the President within 12 weeks. The Commission will examine the extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation among the castes or communities included in the broad category of OBCs with reference to such classes included in the Central List. It will work out the mechanism, criteria, norms and parameters in a scientific approach for sub-categorisation within such OBCs. On receipt of the report, the Central Government will consider ways and means for equitable distribution of the benefits of the reservation in Central Government jobs and admission in Central Government Institutions amongst all strata of the OBC.
18. The Global Wildlife Programme (GWP) conference has started in New Delhi on October 2, 2017. India is hosting the programme jointly with World Bank (WB) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to address illegal wildlife trade across 19 Asian and African countries. In it, Environment Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan unveiled the 3rd National Wildlife Action Plan (NWAP) for 2017-2031 to spell out the future road map for wildlife conservation. The 4-day conference will act as a platform for knowledge exchange and coordination on the action taken on the ground to combat illegal poaching of wildlife and improve governance on wildlife conservation. It will provide an opportunity for India to showcase its conservation efforts through joint forest management, vana sanrakshan samitis, eco-development committees in and around protected areas.
19. The 3rd National Wildlife Action Plan (NWAP) for 2017-2031 has recently unveiled by Dr. Harsh Vardhan , the Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change(MoEFCC), at the 2017 Global Wildlife Programme (GWP) conference in New Delhi. This NWAP plan was drafted by a 12-member committee chaired by JC Kala, a former secretary to the ministry. The plan is unique as this is the first time India has recognised the concerns relating to climate change impact on wildlife and stressed on integrating actions that need to be taken for its mitigation and adaptation into wildlife management planning processes. The plan adopts a landscape approach in conservation of all wildlife – uncultivated flora and fauna – that have an ecological value to the ecosystem and to mankind irrespective of where they occur. It gives special emphasis to recovery o hreatened species of wildlife while conserving their habitats.
20. The 2017 World Habitat Day (WHD) is observed on October 2 with theme "Housing Policies: Affordable Homes" to bring attention to UN-Habitat's mandate to promote sustainable development policies that ensure adequate shelter for all. The purpose of day is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter. It is also intended to remind the world that we all have the power and the responsibility to shape the future of our cities and towns. The United Nations (UN) has officially designated the first Monday of October of every year as World Habitat Day.
21. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2017 was awarded to Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution. It's a method of simplifying and improving the imaging of biomolecules.
22. For the first time, Nepal and India will conduct a joint tiger census in their national parks, forests and protected areas adjoining the two countries by using a globally-recognised method – camera tapping procedure from November 2017. By using this method, officials can avoid chances of repeated counting of the same tiger. The Chitwan National Park and Parsa Wildlife Reserve, which are the habitats of tigers in Nepal, are adjacent to the Balmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar. Similarly, Nepal's Bardiya National Park is close to India's Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary while the Shuklaphanta National Park in Nepal adjoins India's Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. The tiger is regarded as an endangered animal and is listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
23. Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the Union Environment Minister, has launched SECURE Himalaya project in association with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) at the Global Wildlife Programme (GWP) conference in New Delhi. The purpose of the 6-year project is to secure livelihoods, conservation, sustainable use and restoration of high range Himalayan ecosystems, which is meant for specific landscapes. It includes Changthang (Jammu and Kasmir), Lahaul – Pangi and Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh), Gangotri – Govind and Darma – Byans Valley in Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand) and Kanchenjunga – Upper Teesta Valley (Sikkim). The focus of the project will be on protection of snow leopard and other endangered species and their habitats, while securing livelihoods of the people in the region and enhancing enforcement to reduce wildlife crime
24. The Karnataka government has launched 'Mathru Poorna' scheme to meet the nutritional needs of pregnant and lactating women in rural areas. Under the programme, pregnant and lactating women in rural areas will get one nutritious meal daily for 25 days in a month. This meal will meet 40-45% of the daily calorie, protein and calcium requirement per day of the pregnant and lactating mothers. Along with the meal, Iron Folic Acid (IFA) tablets will be administered and gestational weight monitoring will be ensured for pregnant women. The scheme will be implemented through anganwadis in the State. Each meal is estimated to cost around Rs. 20. The food will be provided for 15 months, from the start of pregnancy up to six months after delivery.
25. Dr Soumya Swaminathan has become the first Indian to hold deputy director general post for Programmes at the World Health Organisation (WHO). Currently, she is the Director General (DG) of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Dr Swaminathan is a paediatrician and is known for her research in tuberculosis and HIV. She is daughter of MS Swaminathan, the acclaimed geneticist and father of green revolution. Beside her, Jane Ellison from Britain has been appointed as a Deputy Director General for Corporate Operations (DDC).
26. Rajnish Kumar, the Managing Director of SBI, has been appointed as the new chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI) for a period of three years. He will succeed Arundhati Bhattacharya, whose tern is going to end on October 6, 2017.
27. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently released its 4th bi-monthly monetary policy statement for the year 2017-18. As per the monetary policy statement, the policy repo rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) has remain unchanged at 6%. The reverse repo rate, at which RBI borrows from banks will continue to be at 5.75%.
28. The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics has been jointly awarded to three US scientists – Rainer Weiss, Kip S. Thorne and Barry C. Barish – for the detection of gravitational waves. The ripples were predicted by Albert Einstein and are a fundamental consequence of his General Theory of Relativity. The winners are members of the Ligo-Virgo observatories, which were responsible for the breakthrough. The winners join a prestigious list of 204 other Physics laureates recognised since 1901. The trio will share the prize sum of nine million kronor prize. Prof Weiss gets half of the prize money, while Barish and Thorne will share the other half. Gravitational waves describe the stretching and squeezing of space-time that occurs when massive objects accelerate.
29. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Golden Jubilee Year Celebrations of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) in New Delhi on October 4, 2017. The event assumes significance as it comes close on the heels of the government action of de-registering over 2.1 lakh dormant, shell companies and disqualifying over one lakh directors as part of a clean up of the corporate system and tackling the menace of shell companies. Originally, the ICSI was set up as not-for-profit organisation on 4th October 1968. In 1980, the institute was converted into a statutory professional body under an Act of Parliament, 'The Company Secretaries Act 1980'. The headquarters of ICSI is located in New Delhi.
30. The Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) is a protected area in the Upper Gangetic plain in Uttar Pradesh and covers an area of 75 square kilometers in the Terai of the Bahraich district. It is home to a number of endangered species including gharial, tiger, rhino, Gangetic dolphin, swamp deer, hispid hare, Bengal florican, the white-backed and long-billed vultures.The sanctuary is one of the best places in the world for seeing the gharial in its natural habitat is the Girwa River, where it is found sympatric with the mugger.
31. British writer Kazuo Ishiguro has won the 2017 Nobel Prize for Literature. The novelist was praised by the Swedish Academy as a writer "who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world".The prize of 9 million Swedish kronor will be awarded to him. The literature prize is given for a lifetime of writing rather than for a single work. Ishiguro has written eight books, which have been translated into over 40 languages. His most famous novels "The Remains of the Day" and "Never Let Me Go" were adapted into highly acclaimed films. He won the Booker Prize in 1989 for The Remains of the Day and made an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1995.
32. In Rajasthan, Dungarpur has become the first Open Defecation Free (ODF) tribe district of the state. With this, Dungarpur has also become the first ODF district of Udaipur division. The district administration has achieved the goal of building 2 lakh 85 thousand toilets in 291 panchayats. This is the result of the extraordinary efforts made in Dungarpur towards Swachch Bharat Abhiyan. Having more than 65 percent tribal population, objective of making the district ODF has been acquired before the time limit by the District Administration with continues awareness campaign and public participation. Dungarpur city has also been declared the cleanest city of the state for two consecutive years for the year 2016 and 2017.
33. The 8th Conference of the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians has started in Colombo, Sri Lanka from October 4, 2017, which is inaugurated by Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena. In the 3-day conference, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan is leading the Indian delegation. She delivered the lead speech on the topic Association of the SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians, a platform for the Parliamentarians of South Asia to work together to reach the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development. She is accompanied by a delegation of MPs and senior officials of Lok Sabha.
34. The World Animal Day (WAD) is observed every year on October 4 to raise the status of animals in order to improve welfare standards around the globe. It is done by encouraging individuals, animal welfare organisations, community groups, youth and children's clubs and businesses to organise events in celebration of this day.
35. Ganga Prasad, the former member of Bihar Legislative Council (BLC), has been sworn-in as the new Governor of Meghalaya at Raj Bhavan in Shillong on October 5. Prasad has been a member of the legislative council in Bihar for 18 years. He was a businessman by profession, joined politics as a Jan Sangh member in 1967 and held various organisational posts in it as well as in the BJP.
36. The Chakrashila Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) is located under Dhubriand Kokrajhar districts of Assam and covers an area of 45.568 square kilometers. It is famous for the golden langur and is the second protected habitat for golden langur in India. Some species of mammals recorded in this sanctuary are short nosed fruit bat, Indian false vampire, Indian pipistrelle, rhesus macaque, Chinese pangolin, Asiatic jackal, etc.
37. The Union government has set up a high-level committee for proper management of water resources in the North-Eastern region. The Committee will be headed by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar. It will facilitate optimising benefits of appropriate water management in the form of hydro-electric power, agriculture, bio-diversity conservation, reduced flood damage erosion, inland water transport, forestry, fishery and eco tourism. The committee is also tasked with spelling out actionable steps for optimizing water resources in the region and chalking out an action plan for dovetailing of Central schemes. The high-level committee will submit its report by June 2018.
38. The World Teachers' Day (WTD) is observed every year on October 5 to 1994 to commemorate the anniversary of the signing of the 1966 UNESCO/ILO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers. The day also aims to mobilize support for teachers and to ensure that the needs of future generations will continue to be met by teachers. The 2017 theme is "Teaching in Freedom, Empowering Teachers".
39. The Union Ministry of Tourism has started a festival of Tourism 'Paryatan Parv' from Humayun's Tomb in Delhi from October 5, 2017 & will continue across the country till 25th of this month. The event is being organized by the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with other Central Ministries, State Governments and Stakeholders. The objective is to draw focus on the benefits of tourism, to showcase the cultural diversity of the country and reinforce the principle of Tourism for All. It will have three main components, Dekho Apna Desh, Tourism for All and Tourism & Governance. The components aims to encourage Indians to visit their own country, tourism events at sites across all states and interactive Sessions and workshops with stakeholders on varied themes.
40. Pooja Kadian has created history by becoming the first Indian to clinch a gold medal at Wushu World Championships in the 75 kilogram women Sanda category after defeating Evgeniya Stepanova in the final at Kazan on October 5, 2017. Apart from her, four other members of the Indian contingent – Rameshchandra Singh Moirangthem, Bhanu Pratap Singh, Rajinder Singh, and Arunpama Devi Keisham – won bronze medals in the tournament held at Kazan, Russia. Wushu is one of the two umbrella words used to describe Chinese Marial arts, the other one being Kung-Fu. It is also a full contact sport and is governed by the International Wushu Federation.
41. Bangladesh has signed $4.5 billion third line of credit (LoC) agreement with India for its infrastructure and social sector development on October 4, 2017. The new Indian line of credit will be used to fund 17 major projects in Bangladesh, which include electricity, railroads, roads, shipping and ports. As with previous LoC agreements, Bangladesh will pay an interest rate of 1 % a year. It will have 20 years to pay back the loans, with a grace period of five years. Under the agreement, Bangladesh would have to purchase 65 to 75% of the services, goods or works from the Indian market with the money to be provided under the third LoC following the precedence of the previous two nearly identical agreements. Bangladesh has two other LoCs open with India: the first one was signed in 2010, and the second one in 2016. These LOCs are collectively worth Tk3.06 billion, but till last year, Bangladesh government has been able to use only USD 576 million.
42. India's first-ever Industrial Training Institute (ITI) for the Divyangans will come up in Assam. Recently, the foundation stone for the institute was laid at Dibrugarh ITI Complex at Borboruah in Assam. As per the guidelines of National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT), the ITI will have sixty seats for three different trades with 20 seats per trade. The three different trades included in the curriculum are Computer Operator and Programming Assistant, Cutting and Sewing Technology and Hair & Skin Care.
43. Purushottam Lal Kaushik (87), the former Minister for Information and Broadcasting, has passed away in Mahasamund, Chhattisgarh on October 5, 2017. He was elected to the Lok Sabha twice in 1977 and 1989. The departed leader was the Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation in the Morarji Desai Ministry and later, the Minister for Information and Broadcasting in the Charan Singh government.
44. The HDFC Life Insurance Company has launched 'Neo', that uses artificial intelligence for customer service. This is the second bot put in operation by HDFC Life, after the launch of SPOK, which was an email bot to answer customer queries. The Neo bot will be available 24/7 and has the capability to authenticate customers and give frequently sought details, like fund value, sum assured and premium amount.
45. Ukhnaa Khurelsukh has been appointed as the new Prime Minister of Mongolia on October 4, 2017. The Prime Minister of Mongolia is the head of government, and heads the Mongolian cabinet. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President of Mongolia, and can be removed by the State Great Hural with a vote of no confidence.
46. Banwarilal Purohit, a veteran political leader from Vidarbha district of Maharashtra, has been sworn-in as the new Governor of Tamil Nadu in a function held at Raj Bhavan in Chennai on October 6, 2017. Mr Purohit was sworn in as the State's 20th Governor. The Madras High Court Chief Justice Indira Banerjee administered the oath of office and secrecy to him.
47. The Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary is located in Ballari district in Karnataka and covers an area of 82.72 square kilometers. The sanctuary's flagship species is the Indian sloth bear (Melursus ursinus). Some species of mammals recorded in this sanctuary are leopards, monitor lizards, mongoose, pangolins, star tortoises, etc.
48. The World Space Week (WSW) is an international celebration of science and technology, and their contribution to the betterment of the human condition, which is held every year from October 4-10. The 2017 theme "Exploring New Worlds In Space" is an outward facing theme that serves to inspire the world.
49. The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed the Finance Contract with India to € 300 million for Bangalore Metro Rail Project Phase II Line R6. The objective of the project is to bring in a quantum improvement in the transportation sector in the city in tandem with the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and other modes of urban transport. This project will be jointly financed by the European Investment Bank (€500 million) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (€300 million). The agreement signed recently was for first tranche of €300 million. The project implementation period is five years from date of commencement of the work.
50. The first ever ASEAN-India Music Festival has started at Purana Quila in New Delhi on October 6, 2017. The 3-day festival is organised by External Affairs Ministry in collaboration with Culture Ministry to celebrate the 25th year anniversary of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations. The festival aims to boost cultural influences among the peoples of the ASEAN member states and India. It will witness eclectic performances by musicians from ASEAN countries' bands such as The Ugly Band, Cherpen, Tim De Cotta, Red Bamboo among others. Famous Indian bands like the Raghu Dixit Project, Avial, Papon LIVE, Bipul Chettri and the Travelling Band, and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy will also participate in the festival. There will be no entry fee for the mega music event.
51. The 3-day international exhibition – 'World Dental Show 2017' has opened in Mumbai, Maharashtra on October 6, 2017 to showcase the evolving global technologies and techniques in dentistry. The show will facilitate the exhibitors from across the globe to meet the 'who is who' in the Indian dental arena and provide them to use this platform to build networks of influence, launch new products and create awareness about new clinical claims. The exhibition, hosted by the Indian Dental Association (IDA), has witnessed participation from the international exhibitors from China, Germany, Israel, Malaysia, Russian Federation, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, UK and US.
52. The Uttar Pradesh government has launched a mass marriage scheme 'Mukhyamantri Samoohik Vivaah Yojana'. In it, the state government will spend Rs 35,000 on each couple, besides gifting them mobile phones and household items, and the social welfare department will conduct the mass marriages. The marriage programs regarding the scheme will be organized by urban local bodies like Nagar panchayat, Nagar Palika and Nagar Nigam, kshetra panchayats, Zila panchayats, overnment/semi-government organizations and NGOs, which will be authorized by district magistrates of respective districts. As per the scheme, the parents of the brides must be the residents of Uttar Pradesh and must belong to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families in order to avail the benefits of the scheme. There must be minimum 10 couples in the mass marriage ceremony.
53. The first-ever conference of Partner NGOs will be inaugurated by the Union Minister of Women & Child Development (MoWCD) Maneka Sanjay Gandhi in New Delhi on October 9, 2017. The subject of the conference is "Implementation of Policies, Schemes and Programmes for Women and Children: Challenges and Way Forward". The aim of the conference is to sensitize partner NGOs across the country for the implementation of various WCD schemes and to give them an opportunity to share their experiences and insights. Approx 250 NGOs across the country, Line Ministries and experts will participate in the conference.
54. Kannada journalist Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017, has been awarded a prestigious global Anna Politkovskaya Award, which is given in the memory of a slain Russian reporter and political activist. With this, she became the first person from India to receive the honour. Lankesh shared the award with Gulalai Ismail, a Pakistani peace activist who has faced death threats for speaking out against the Taliban. The award marks the 11th anniversary of the killing of Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian investigative reporter and activist who uncovered state corruption and rights abuses, especially in Chechnya. The award is presented annually by Reach All Women in War (the RAW in WAR organisation) and honours women human rights defenders from around the world.
55. Filmmaker Kundan Shah (69), the director of the romantic drama 'Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa', has passed away in Mumbai on October 7. He is most known for his comedy classic 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro' and his 1985–1986, TV series Nukkad with Saeed Akhtar Mirza. He will be remembered for his wonderful usage of humour and satire to showcase the life & struggles of common citizens.
56. The Union Government has set up a study group to examine the problems being faced by the people living near the International Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) due to ever-present threat of cross-border firing from Pakistan. The group will meet people living in the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir, security forces deployed there, district administration officials and local public representatives and submit its report within two months. Special secretary in the home ministry Rina Mitra will head the team. The study group will look into broadly three issues – demand for land for relocation in case of shelling, construction of more bunkers and compensation issues related to shelling. The panel will prepare a detailed report on the issues being faced by the people living near the IB and the LoC and submit recommendations. India shares a 3,323-km long border with Pakistan of which 221 km IB and 740 km LoC fall in J&K.
57. The 2017 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons. The ICAN is a coalition of non-governmental organisations from over 100 countries around the globe. The headquarters of ICAN is located in Geneva, Switzerland. The purpose of the ICAN is to promote adherence to and full implementation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The Nobel Peace Prize, worth 9 million Swedish crowns ($1.10 million), will be presented in Oslo on December 10, 2017.
58. The Bori Wildlife Sanctuary (BWS) is located in in Hoshangabad District of Madhya Pradesh and covers an area of 518 square kilometers. It is an important transition zone between the forests of western and eastern India. The sanctuary is mostly covered in mixed deciduous and bamboo forests, part of the Eastern Highlands moist deciduous forests eco-region. It is home to tiger, leopard, wild boar, muntjac deer, gaur, chital deer, etc.
59. The Supreme Court of India (SCI) has appointed senior advocate and former additional solicitor general Amrender Sharan as amicus curiae on a petition seeking reprobe into the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The matter is posted for further hearing on October 30, 2017. The petition filed by Mumbai-based Dr. Pankaj Phadnis , a researcher and a trustee of Abhinav Bharat, has sought reopening of the probe on several grounds, claiming it was one of the biggest cover-ups in history. According to petition, there is possibility of involvement of more people in the murder. Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead at point blank range in New Delhi on January 30, 1948 by Nathuram Vinayak Godse, a right-wing advocate of Hindu nationalism.
60. President Ram Nath Kovind will inaugurate the 5th edition of India Water Week (IWW) on October 10 with theme "Water and Energy for Inclusive Growth" in New Delhi. About 1500 delegates from India and 13 other countries will attend the five day international event. The event will be celebrated with a multi-disciplinary conference and a concurrently running exhibition enriching the theme and showcasing the technologies and solutions available for the areas under deliberation of the meet. The event will have the many major components like water, food and energy security – essential requirement for sustainable development, water for inclusive growth, sustainable energy development – Key for all round economic growth and water and society.
61. Anupama Ramachandran from India has clinched the World Open Under-16 Snooker Championship title at St. Petersburg in Russia on October 8, 2017. In the girls category, second seed Anupama knocked out her compatriot and top seed Keerthana Pandian in the final by 3-1 to become World Open Under-16 champion. Federation of Billiards Sports of Russia hosted this first ever World Open championships for Under-16 boys and girls. Dylan Emery of Wales has claimed the title in the boys category. Total 73 cueists from across the world have participated in this championship.
62. The 2017 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences has been awarded to Richard H. Thaler for his contributions to behavioural economics. Thaler is an US economist and the Ralph and Dorothy Keller Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. The Nobel Prize for Economics, worth 9 million kronor, will be presented in Oslo on December 10, 2017.
63. Commonwealth Games bronze medallist RMV Gurusaidutt has clinched the men's singles title at the Bulgarian International Future Series tournament on October 9, 2017. Gurusaidutt, who has been out of action since the US Open in July 2016 due to an injury, defeated Muhammed Ali Kurt in the final by 21- 17, 21-16.
64. Rajesh Nath, the managing director of VDMA India, has been conferred the 'Cross of the Order of Merit', the highest civilian honour awarded to individuals for their services to Germany. The award, also known as Bundesverdienstkreuz or Federal Cross of Merit was instituted in 1951 and is Germany's only honour that is awarded to both Germans and foreigners for achievements in the economic, social, political or intellectual realms.
65. Indian shuttler Samiya Imad Farooqui from Hyderabad has clinched gold at the Under-15 women's singles competition after defeating Indonesia's Widjaja Stephani at the Asian Junior Championship in Yangon, Myanmar on October 9, 2017. Earlier, P V Sindhu had won the gold in U-19 Asia Junior championship in 2012 at Gimcheon, South Korea.
66. The Melkote Temple Wildlife Sanctuary (MTWS) is located in Mandya district of Karnataka and is spread over 45.82 square kilometres. This sanctuary is primarily to house wolves. Other mammals found in this sanctuary include the jungle cat, leopard, bonnet macaque, langur and pangolin. Around 230 species of birds have been observed here over the years. The Sanctuary has been known for its once abundant Cycas circinalis species, which in the recent time has been over exploited by the flower decorators and local doctors.
67. President Ram Nath Kovind has launched Rs 100 crore Mata Amritanandamayi Math Project "Jeevamritham" in Kollam district of Kerala to provide the filtration system for cleaning drinking water to 5000 villages across India, in Kollam district in Kerala. The President also distributed the certificates to three village out of 12 villages in the States of Bihar, UP, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Chatisgarh, Uttarakand, Maharashtra and Kerala, which were adopted by the Math, verified as Open Defecation Free by Swatch Bharat Abhiyan.
68. Under 'Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bhara'programme, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost cultural ties. Under this, the states will connect with each other to know more about the culture, heritage and traditions of each other. The purpose of the programme is to actively enhance interaction between people of diverse cultures living in different states and union territories, with the objective of promoting greater mutual understanding among them.
69. Rafael Nadal, a Spanish professional tennis player, has won the 2017 China Open Tennis tournament by defeating Nick Kyrgios in the final by 6-2, 6-1 in Beijing, China. It is his 6th ATP title of the year. Nadal's six trophies this year include a record 10th title at the French Open and a third at the US Open.
70. T D Ramakrishnan has been chosen for the 2017 Vayalar Ramavarma Literary Prize for his novel "Sugandhi Enna Andal Devanayaki". The 40th award ceremony will be held on 27th October 2017, the death anniversary of the late poet and lyricist Vayalar Ramavarma. The Vayalar Award is given for the best literary work in Malayalam. It carries a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh, a citation, and a statuette designed by sculptor Kanayi Kunhiraman.
71. The International conference on "Dialogue of Civilizations – IV" has started from October 8 –15, 2017 at Delhi, Gandhinagar and Dholavira. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and Union Ministry of Culture are hosting the conference in collaboration with National Geographic Society (NGS). The purpose of the conference is to encourage scholarly and public discourse about the five ancient, literate civilizations of the world, i.e. Egypt, Mesopotamia, South Asia, China and Mesoamerica and how the study of the past can share our present and future towards the right direction. The present conference is the fourth in this series, with the final dialogue planned in Egypt.
72. IIT-Kharagpur has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Samsung India for the setting up of a digital academy on the institute's campus. The Department of Computer Science and Engineering in the institute will host the Samsung Innovation Lab and train students on the Internet of Things (IoT) through Tizen-based operating systems, commonly used by the company for its mobile phones and home appliances. The academy was a part of Samsung's corporate social initiative that aims at bridging the digital divide in the country by imparting skills to students on cutting-edge technology, Through this partnership with IIT-KGP, the academy planned to train over 100 students in the next three years. The course would be taught over 14 weeks through classroom lectures, assignments, lab room sessions, self-study and mini projects.
73. The Uttarakhand Government and a charitable funding agency 'Swan Cultural Center and Foundation' launched 'Solar Briefcase' in Kedarnath Dham to provide electricity to far-flung areas in the hill state.
74. India has been ranked 8th out of 100 countries on a list of most valuable nation brands, according to Brand Finance's Nation Brands 2017 report. The list is topped by US, followed by China, Germany, Japan and United Kingdom. In terms of valuation, India's National Brand Value in 2017 is $2.04 trillion, down one percent from last year's $2.06 trillion. However, India's brand rating has improved from 'AA-' to 'AA'. Despite a rating improvement, India does not feature in the list of 10 best performing nation brands. Iceland topped the 'Top 10 best performing nation brands' list. Brand Finance measures the strength and value of the nation brands of 100 leading countries using a method based on the royalty relief mechanism employed to value the world's largest companies.
75. Rajnath Singh, the Union Home Minister, has inaugurated the first annual BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise- 2017 (BIMSTEC DMEx-2017) in New Delhi on October 10. The 4-day exercise is conducted by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) as the lead agency and its focus on testing the region's preparedness and resilience towards effective activation of inter-Governmental interaction for immediate deployment of regional resources for disaster response. The main exercise will comprise of Table Top Exercise (TTX), Field Training Exercise (FTX) and After Action Review (AAR). The delegates from all 7 nations of the BIMSTEC grouping, – namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand are participating in the event.
76. President Ram Nath Kovind has inaugurated the 5th edition of India Water Week (IWW) on October 10 with theme "Water and Energy for Inclusive Growth" in New Delhi. The IWW is being held with a multi disciplinary conference and a concurrently running exhibition enriching the theme and showcasing the technologies and solutions available for the areas under deliberation of the meet. It will have the following major components: Water, food and energy security – essential requirement for sustainable development, water for inclusive growth, sustainable energy development – Key for all round economic growth and water and society. About 1500 delegates from India and 13 other countries are attending the 5-day international event.
77. M Venkaiah Naidu, the Vice President of India, has inaugurated the 3rd International Conference on Yoga in New Delhi with theme "Yoga for Wellness"on October 10, 2017. The 2-day conference is being organized by the Ministry of AYUSH as a part of year long events being organized to celebrate 21st June as International Day of Yoga. The conference consists of seven technical sessions and a panel discussion on different aspects of Yoga and Wellness including recent research trends, Integrated medicine, non communicable diseases, mental health, women health, cancer, pain management and policy making. Around 500 delegates, including those from 44 countries are attending the conference, which will provide a common platform for AYUSH and allopathy practitioners, researchers, academicians, and policy makers and students.
78. The Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary (AWS) is the northernmost wildlife sanctuary of Kerala and is spread over 55 square kilometres. It is home to a vast variety of flora and fauna endemic to the Western Ghats. Elephant, gaur, sambar, spotted deer, barking deer, Nilgiri langur, Hanuman langur, Malabar giant squirrel, etc can be seen here. This is one of the main production centres of hybrid coconut seeds in the country.
79. Rajasthan has become the India's first state to incorporate skill development programme in higher education. In collaboration with IGNOU, the College Education department has prepared 16 courses for entrepreneurship and skill development for colleges in the state. Under the project, 12 certificates and 4 diploma courses will be run and each college will have to choose five courses.
80. Nisha Biswal, a former state department official, will head the US-India Business Council (USIBC), a powerful advocacy group of US companies with business interest in India. She is expected to join on November 1, 2017. The USIBC is a part of the US Chamber of Commerce, the largest lobbying organisation in the country that wields real political power in Washington.
81. The World Mental Health Day (WMHD) is observed every year on 10 October, to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilize efforts in support of mental health. The 2017 theme is "Mental health in the workplace'. 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.
82. The Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF), which markets the Amul brand of milk and milk products, has been recognised as the India's best Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Company in the food sector by the International Advertising Association (IAA). Amul was presented the 5th IAA Leadership Award for this recognition at Mumbai on October 9, 2017. The prestigious awards instituted by the IAA's India Chapter recognise excellence towards contribution in marketing, advertising and media sectors as well as celebrate outstanding achievements of individuals and teams.
83. The World Bank (WB), in its biannual economic update "South Asia Economic Focus (Fall 2017)", has reduced India's GDP growth forecast to 7.0% for 2017-18 from 7.2% estimated earlier. As per report, the unexpected slowdown in India's growth story is because of the delayed consequence of demonetization, sharp decline in the growth rate of public expenditures and uncertainty created by the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST). Apart from WB, Both the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as well as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have also cut their growth projections for India to 7% and 6.7%, respectively, for fiscal 2017-18.
84. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently released its October 2017 World Economic Outlook. In it, IMF slashed India's growth forecast by 0.5% points to 6.7% in FY 18 due to the lingering effects of disruption caused by demonetisation and transition costs of GST. Earlier, in April, the IMF had pegged India's GDP growth at 7.2% for FY18. It has also lowered the growth projection for FY 19 ( 2018-19) to 7.4% from its earlier estimate in April and June of 7.7%. Though, the IMF was more optimistic about medium-term growth prospects for India through gains from the new indirect tax levy. Apart from IMF, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also lowered its growth projection to 6.7% for the current financial year from its earlier estimate of 7.3% due to adverse impact on economic growth by the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
85. Film actor Anupam Kher has been appointed as the new chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). He succeeded Gajendra Chauhan. Kher has worked in more than 500 films and over 100 plays in last three decades. He was conferred the Padma Shri in 2004 and the Padma Bhushan in 2016 by the Indian government. Some of his prominent films include Saaransh, Daddy, Lamhe, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Maara. He has also been a part of international projects such as Bend It Like Beckham, Lust, Caution, and David O Russell's 2013 Oscar-winning Silver Linings Playbook.
86. The Maenam Wildlife Sanctuary (MWS) is located in the South Sikkim district of Sikkim and is spread over 35 square kilometres. Here, one can find species of the temperate forest such as Red Panda, Serow, Goral, Barking Deer, Leopard-Cat, Marbled-Cat, Civet-Cats, and birds like Common Hill Partridge, Blood Pheasant, Magpies, Blue necked Pita, Sunbird and Black Eagle.
87. The International Day of the Girl Child (IDGC) is celebrated every year on October 11 to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face, while promoting girls' empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights. The 2017 theme " EmPOWER Girls: Before, during and after crises" marks the beginning of a year-long effort to spur global attention and action to the challenges and opportunities girls face before, during, and after crises.
88. Vinay Mohan Kwatra, the 1988 batch of IFS officer, has been appointed as the new Ambassador to Principality of Monaco, with residence in Paris. He will take his assignment shortly. Presently, he is Ambassador of India to France.
89. Jagdish Mukhi has been sworn-in as the new Governor of Assam. He was administered the oath of office by Guwahati High Court Chief Justice Ajit Singh at a function in the Srimanta Sankardeva International Convention Centre. He succeeded Banwarilal Purohit, who has been appointed as the Governor of Tamil Nadu. Mukhi had also served as a minister in the Delhi government. He had been awarded the Best Finance and Planning Minister by the then Planning Minister, Pranab Mukherjee in 1997.
90. Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak has been bestowed with the 18th edition of Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics and Management for year 2017 by the President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan on October 10, 2017. Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak is the founder of Sulabh International and has developed and implemented, on a pan India scale, a low cost and appropriate toilet technology popularly known as the Sulabh Shauchalaya system.
91. The 48th Conference of Governors has started at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on October 12, 2017. The 2-day conference is being attended by 27 Governors and 3 Lt. Governors of States and Union Territories. The two-day Conference will deliberate on distinct agenda items in different sessions. The theme of the opening session was 'New India-2022'. The second session is on the subjects of 'Higher Education in States' and 'Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to Make Youth Employable'. In the third session, to take place on October 13, 2017, Governors will make brief remarks on any special issues pertaining to their respective States/Union Territories. In the concluding session, a brief report on the deliberations will be presented by the respective conveners.
92. The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently approved signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with Japan on establishing a Liquid, Flexible and Global LNG Market. The MoC will provides a framework to cooperate in facilitating flexibility in LNG contracts, abolition of Destination Restriction Clause (DRC) and also explore possibilities of cooperation in establishing reliable LNG spot price indices, reflecting true LNG demand and supply. This MoC is expected to be signed during the forthcoming visit of Hon'ble Minister for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship during October 16-18, 2017 at Tokyo. Apart from this, India and Japan will also sign MoC for a Technical Intern Training Program (TITP). The TITP is an ambitious program to send Indian technical interns to Japan for on the job training for a period of three to five years.
93. The first-ever meeting of the newly-constituted Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister (EAC-PM) was held at NITI Aayog, in New Delhi on October 11, 2017. It was chaired by Dr. Bibey Debroy. In it, 10 priority areas for reviving growth and employment in the next six months has been identified. The 10 themes are economic growth, employment and job creation, informal sector and integration, fiscal framework, monetary policy, public expenditure, institutions of economic governance, agriculture and animal husbandry, patterns of consumption and production and social sector.
94. The Union Law Ministry has finalized the appointment of a Second National Judicial Pay Commission to recommend salary hikes for the 21,000 lower court judges in India. The proposed commission will be headed by former Supreme Court judge PV Reddi. The commission will submit its recommendations in early 2019 and the hike again is expected to be given with retrospective effect. The move comes after directions from the Supreme Court in May. The first judicial pay commission, headed by Justice Jagannatha Shetty, was set up in March 1996 and it submitted its report in November 1999. The judges and judicial officers got the last pay hike in 2010, a three-fold jump, from their salaries decided in 1999. The 2010 hike was applied retrospectively from January 1, 2006. The current entry level salary for a junior civil judge is Rs 45000 while a senior judge gets nearly Rs 80,000.
95. Indian boxing coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu has been honoured with the 2017 National Awards for senior citizens by President Ramnath Kovind. Sandhu was India's longest-serving men's national coach, occupying the position for two decades before he was handed charge of the women campers earlier in 2017. He was the chief coach when India won its maiden Olympic medal in boxing through Vijender Singh in 2008.
96. The parliamentary committee on External Affairs, which will examine the relations between India and China, is headed by Congress parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor. The committee will examine in detail the issue of cooperation between both the countries in international organizations including Doklam standoff. The standing committee has also decided to closely look at India's "Relations with Myanmar and the Rohingya situation", India's "Act East Policy, including BIMSTEC", the "Situation in the Far East: Japan and North Korea", India's engagement with SAARC countries, global terrorism and voting rights for NRIs.
97. The Balpakram National Park (BNP) is located near the Garo Hills in Meghalaya and is famous for the golden cat and the barking deer. The park is often referred to as the "abode of perpetual winds" as well as the "land of spirits. Beside this, the park is home to wild water buffalo, red panda, elephant, tiger, etc.
98. The mixed pair of Jemson Ningthoujam and Ankita Bhakat clinched gold at the 2017 World Archery Youth Championship in Rosario, Argentina.This is India's first world title at the youth championships since Deepika Kumari's victories in 2009 and 2011. India also bagged one silver and one bronze in a promising show by the youngsters.
99. The Andhra Pradesh government has tied up with financial services company Visa for Vizag Digital Dhan Sankalp (VDDS) project, which is an initiative to develop Visakhapatnam into India's first 'less cash' city as well as a Fintech valley. In collaboration with Visa, the state government will make efforts to enable digital payments to educational institutions, small and micro merchants, street market vendors, etc.
100. The Himachal Pradesh government has implemented the Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS) to provide easy access to curative geriatric health care services by way of additional cover. The scheme will provide top up coverage of Rs. 30,000 per senior citizen to all existing Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) smart card holders in addition to basic coverage of Rs.30,000 in Trust/Society mode. the targeted beneficiaries of this scheme are RSBY enrolled persons aged 60 years and above. The senior citizens of those families that are eligible for RSBY but not currently rolled in this scheme will not get benefit of SCHIS.
101. The 5th India-Sri Lanka joint training exercise "Mitra Shakti 2017" has started at Aundh Military Station in Pune, Maharshtra. The exercise is based on Counter Terrorist Operations (CTO) and an Infantry company from both the countries is participating in the same. It will be conducted for next 14 days upto 26 Oct 17 & will involve sharing and learning from each others experiences.
102. Indian duo Deborah Herold and Aleena Reji have qualified for the 2017 UCI Track Cycling World Cup, which is scheduled to be held at Manchester in England from November 10 to 12. The pair obtained enough points to enter into the qualifying rounds of UCI Cycling World Cup events following their strong show in the Track Asia Cup held at the IGI Sports Complex in New Delhi.
103. India has been ranked 100th out of 119 countries in the 2017 Global Hunger Index (GHI) report, which is released by Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). As per report, India's score (31.4) is at the high end of the serious category, and is one of the main factors pushing South Asia to the category of worst performing region on the GHI 2017, followed closely by Africa South of the Sahara.The list is topped by Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Chile, Croatia and Cuba. The GHI score is a multidimensional index composed of four indicators—proportion of undernourished in the population, prevalence of child mortality, child stunting, and child wasting. On the severity scale, a GHI score of less than 10 means low prevalence of hunger while a score of more than 50 implies an extremely alarming situation.
104. The Lengteng Wildlife Sanctuary (LWS) is a protected area in Champhai district in Mizoram and covers an area of 120 square kilometers . It is an alpine forest and contains the second highest peak in Mizoram. It is specially a conservation interest on rare species of birds. The most notable birds are the dark-rumped swift, grey sibia, Mrs. Hume's pheasant, grey peacock pheasant, Oriental pied hornbill, rufous-bellied eagle, and white-naped yuhina. It is also home to tiger, leopard, sambar deer, barking deer, goral, etc
105. Indian Cricketer Yuvraj Singh has become the first Indian Brand Ambassador of Laureus and joined a host of cricket legends in the Laureus Family, including Indian Academy members Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Kapil Dev.
106. The 2019 AFC Asian Cup football tournament will be hosted by United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is the 17th edition of the AFC Asian Cup. The winner of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup will earn the right to participate in the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup. Recently, India thrashed Macau 4-1 to qualify for the 2019 football tournament at Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore on October 11, 2017. This is the fourth time that India has qualified for the Asian Cup. The last time they qualified was six years ago when they won the AFC Challenge Cup to book their tickets to the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.
107. All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has become the first cricketer from Bangladesh to be inducted in the MCC World Cricket Committee under the chairmanship of Mike Gatting. He is regarded as one of Bangladesh's finest players since they were awarded the Test status in 2000, with the all-rounder having played 51 Test matches and 177 One-day Internationals (ODI). Beside him, other cricketers added to the committee are Suzie Bates, Ian Bishop and Kumar Dharmasena.
108. The 3rd edition of the India International Science Festival (IISF-2017) has inaugurated by Union Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on October 13, 2017. The fest is being jointly conducted by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, and Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA).The prime objective of the 4-day festival is to instill scientific temper among the masses and showcasing India's contribution in the field of S&T over the years. It aims to build a strategy for rural India through the advancement of Science and Technology. Further, the science festival also intends to make innovation beneficial for the people and develop technology that is affordable to the masses. Approx 3000 people including young scientists, students,teaching faculties and international delegates are participating in the fest.
109. M K Sanu, the well-known critic, biographer and orator, has been chosen for the Mathrubhumi Literary Award for 2017 in recognition of his rich contribution to the Malayalam literature. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh, a citation and a statuette. Sanu is a permanent member of International body for Human rights. He is also the founding member of Mithram, School for Mentally Handicapped, at Mulanthuruthy village in Ernakulam District, Kerala.
110. The International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR) is observed every year on October 13 to promote a global culture of risk-awareness and disaster reduction. 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 2017 theme "Home Safe Home: Reducing Exposure, Reducing Displacement" seeks to raise global awareness about effective actions, policies and practices taken to reduce exposure to disaster risk at the community level, thereby contributing to saving homes and livelihoods.
111. Audrey Azoulay, a French civil servant and politician, has been elected to become the new Director-General (DG) of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). She will succeed outgoing DG Irina Bokova of Bulgaria. Azoulay was born in Paris to a Moroccan Jewish family from Essaouira, and is the daughter of Andre Azoulay, who is current adviser to king Mohammed VI of Morocco.
112. Carnatic vocalist T M Krishna has won the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration for 2015 -16 for his services in promoting and preserving national integration in the country. He will be presented with the honour by Congress president Sonia Gandhi on October 31, Indira Gandhi's death anniversary. The award consists of a citation and a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh.
113. The National Centre for Combustion Research and Development (NCCRD) was inaugurated at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) in Tamil Nadu on October 12, 2017, which is the world's largest combustion research centre. The NCCRD has been established at a total cost of Rs 90 crore. It will develop state-of-the-art capabilities in combustion research involving experts in the country. The establishment of the centre will give a major boost to the Indian scientific community and will provide an impetus to research in 'Alternative Energy and Environmental Protection' by focusing on effective utilisation of combustion as a means of thermo-chemical energy conversion. The NCCRD's research interests will cover automotive, thermal power and aerospace propulsion, besides fire research and microgravity combustion to minor extent.
114. Gautam Bambawale, an Indian foreign service officer of the 1984 batch, has been appointed as the India's new ambassador to China and is expected to take up the assignment shortly. He will succeed Vijay Keshav Gokhale. After joining the post, one of the first tasks in front of Bambawale will be to stabilise India-China ties rocked by a military face off in the Dokalam area of Bhutan that lasted 73 days. Currently, he is high commissioner to Pakistan.
115. The 2017 International Puppet Festival (IPF) will be held at Mohorkunj in Kolkata, West Bengal from October 26 to 31. The purpose of the fest is to regenerate the emotions attached to puppetry. Artists from the UK, Germany, Peru, Portugal, Italy, Lithuania, Brazil, Singapore and India would be participating in the festival. The fest will be inaugurated by the West Bengal principal secretary Tourism and Home Affairs Atri Bhattacharya.
116. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has launched an innovative mobile health App 'MedWatch' TO Provide authentic health information to all IAF personnel at New Delhi on 11 Oct 17. The app has been developed in-house with zero financial outlay by the Directorate of Information Technology (DIT). The important component of the App is its 'Reminder Tool' that will enable timely immunization for the children of all Air Warriors. It will be available on the IAF's AFCEL network and will directly enable 'Mission Indradhanush' of the Govt of India. It is the first mobile health app in the three Armed Services.
117. The Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), the public sector undertaking , has become the first Oil Marketing Company (OMC) from India that has started marketing lubricants in Myanmar and has chosen commercial hubs of Yangon and Mandalay.
118. The world's first negative emissions plant that turns carbon dioxide (CO2) into stone has begun operations in Hellisheidi, Iceland. In it, the CO2 is captured from ambient air, bound to water, and sent to more than 700 meters underground. There, the CO2 reacts with the basaltic bedrock and forms solid minerals, creating a permanent storage solution. Currently, the pilot system captures only 50 metric tons CO2, each year, about the same emitted by a single US household.
119. The Achanakmar Wildlife Sanctuary (AWS) is located in Mungeli district of Chhattisgarh and covers an area of 557.55 square kilometers . It is home to the Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, gaur, chital, striped hyena, Indian jackal, sloth bear, Ussuri dhole, sambar, nilgai, four-horned antelope, chinkara, blackbuck and Indian muntjac.
120. The International Day of Rural Women is observed every year on October 15 to recognize the crucial role that women and girls play in ensuring the sustainability of rural households and communities, improving rural livelihoods and overall wellbeing. The 2017 theme is "Challenges and opportunities in climate-resilient agriculture for gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls".
121. Young Indian paddler Selena Selvakumar has won triple gold medal at the Egypt Junior and Cadet Open Table Tennis Championship 2017. In the junior girls' team event, she won singles and doubles gold medal apart from the team championship gold. Selvakumar remained unbeaten throughout the 2017 ITTF World Junior Circuit event.
122. The World Food Day (WFD) is observed every year on October 16 to raise worldwide awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and for the need to ensure food security and nutritious diets for all. The day also marks the foundation of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in 1945. The global message for WFD 2017 is "Change the future of migration. Invest in food security and rural development".
123. Jackson Singh Thounaojam from Manipur is in news recently because he created history at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium by scoring India's first-ever goal in a FIFA U-17 World Cup during India's match against Colombia on October 9, 2017. The moment for which the entire country was waiting with baited breath, came in the 82nd minute of the match when Jackson headed home from a corner and the 48000 odd-crowd erupted in sheer joy.
124. Prof. Satish Chandra, the veteran historian of medieval India and noted educational administrator, has passed away on October 13, 2017. He was the author of the NCERT's medieval India textbook 'History of Medieval India' that was in circulation from some time in the 1970s till the early 2000s and was considered the most comprehensive textbook of the era, loaded with information. His information-rich work on medieval India was known to uphold India's composite culture and showed the medieval state as broadly secular in orientation. He was also the chairman and vice chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India during 1970s.
125. The Rajasthan assembly has become the first in India to call attention and adjournment motions and proposals online from legislators to send them to the state government. The new system is expected to save time, labour and use of paper in the functioning of the assembly, and also help legislators in bringing attention to urgent public issues. It will also streamline the exchange of information and reports among respective departments.
126. The International mega food summit "World Food India (WFI) 2017" will be organised by the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) in partnership with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in New Delhi on November 3-5, 2017 to boost food sector. The WFI is a gateway to the Indian food economy and an opportunity to showcase, connect, and collaborate. will be the largest gathering of investors, manufacturers, producers, food processors, policy makers, and organizations from the global food ecosystem. It aims to provides opportunities for both investment and trade in the food processing sector for leading Indian and international companies.
127. The Shahid Chandra Shekhar Azad Bird Sanctuary (SCSABS) is located in Unnao district on the Kanpur-Lucknow highway in Uttar Pradesh. It is also known as Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary. The sanctuary provides protection for 250 species of migratory birds such as greylag goose, pintail, cotton teal, red-crested pochard, gadwall, shoveller, coot and mallard. It also houses a deer park, watchtowers and boats.
128. The 6th annual LNG Producers Consumer Conference will be held in Tokyo, Japan from Oct 16-18, 2017. From India, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan will participate in the conference to enhance the bilateral engagements in the Oil and Gas sectors within the overall framework of India-Japan Energy Dialogue. The visit also aims to enhance cooperation in establishing a transparent, efficient, truly global and balanced Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) market. The conference is a global annual dialogue to promote active dialogue among LNG producers, consumers and other stakeholders with a view to deepening shared understandings of market trends and to develop a global LNG market. Energy Ministers from Qatar, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Japan and other leading hydrocarbon experts will participate in the Conference.
129. Roger Federer, a Swiss professional tennis player, has won the 2017 Shanghai Rolex Masters tennis tournament by defeating his old rival Rafael Nadal in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 at Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena in Shanghai, China. It was a 94th title for the Swiss legend, drawing him level with the great Ivan Lendl. Federer is now close to world number one Nadal in terms of rankings points.
130. Mohun Bagan has won the 37th All India Governor's Gold Cup football tournament-2017 for the 10th time by defeating Partha Chakra by a narrow 1-0 margin in the final match played at Paljor Stadium in Gangtok on October 15, 2017. Mohun Bagan's striker GA Kramah scored the lone goal in the seventh minute to win the match.
131. Noted Indian-American attorney Ajay Raju has been honoured with the 3rd American Bazaar Philanthropy award in recognition of his philanthropic activities in the US. Asif Ismail, publisher of The American Bazaar, an online ethnic news publication about Indian-Americans stated that Raju was honoured for his commitment to revive Philadelphia through the Germination Project.
132. The AYUSH Festival of Stamps 2017 was inaugurated by Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Tendulkar at Maquinez Palace in Panaji, Goa on October 17, 2017. The two-day exhibition event is being jointly organised by the Goa Postal Region, Indian postal department and the Ministry of AYUSH. The objective of the first-of-its-kind festival is to promote healthy hobbies such as stamp collection among students and healthy lifestyle habits. He said the event should initiate a movement of philately at schools. Stamps related to ayurveda, yoga and related traditional practices from India and abroad are being displayed at the event. About 150 schools and 5,000 students have registered for the festival.
133. The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) of India has signed an investment agreement worth $1 billion with a wholly owned unit of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). As part of the partnership agreement, ADIA will become the first institutional investor in NIIF's Master Fund and a shareholder in NIIF's investment management company. The agreement marks the culmination of an extensive process of collaboration with ADIA to develop an investment structure that is attractive to international investors while remaining closely aligned with the NIIF's objectives.The Indian government has set up NIIF in 2015 with the aim to attract investments from both domestic and international sources for infrastructure development in commercially viable projects.
134. The Karera Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) is located at the Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh and is spread over an area of 202 km2, of which as much as 146 km2 is privately owned land. It is established in 1981 to protect a population of the great Indian bustard in the region, it is now in the process of being denotified due to opposition by the local people and the extinction of the bird locally. The decision is now awaiting a final approval from the Supreme Court of India (SCI) and should it come through, the sanctuary will become India's first such reserve to lose its official recognition.
135. India's first-ever All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) has been inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Sarita Vihar in New Delhi on the occasion of 2nd National Ayurveda Day (NAD) i.e. on 17 Oct 2017. It has been set up along the lines of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The purpose of AIIA is to integrate traditional Ayurveda with new diagnostic tools and technology. It will offer postgraduate and doctoral courses in various disciplines of Ayurveda. Currently, the AIIA's hospital block includes neurological and degenerative disease care unit, diabetes and metabolic disorders care unit, Yoga, Panchakarma, diabetic retinopathy and infertility clinics. Pathology, biochemistry, microbiology and radiology laboratories and diagnostic facilities are also available in the hospital, which has provision of 200 beds.
136. The World Spine Day (WSD) is observed every year on October 16 to raise awareness about spinal disorders as part of the Bone and Joint Decade's Action Week. The 2017 theme "Your Back In Action" is highlighting the importance of physical activity and improving posture as part of good spinal health and prevention of injury.
137. The first-ever International tri services joint exercise "INDRA – 2017" will be conducted between Indian and Russian Armed Forces in the Eastern Military District of Russia from 19 to 29 Oct 2017. the INDRA-2017 will strengthen mutual confidence, inter-operability and enable sharing of best practices between both the armed forces. It will be a landmark event in the history of Indo-Russian defence cooperation. It must be noted that Exercise INDRA in its previous nine avatars has been conducted as a single service exercise alternately between the two countries. The year 2017 marks a major milestone as this Exercise has been upgraded to involve all the three Services of the Armed Forces (Army, Navy & Air Force), which further accentuates the importance of Joint Services in the present world environment.
138. Lekh Raj Tandon (88), the renowned Indian filmmaker and actor, has passed away in MUmbai, Maharashtra on October 16, 2017. He was best known for films like Amrapali, Agar Tum Na Hote and Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaye. He is credited with discovering Shahrukh Khan by casting him his TV serial 'Dil Dariya' in 1988. He also directed TV serial Farmaan, broadcast on Doordarshan in early 1990s.
139. The biography of actress and BJP MP Hema Malini "Beyond the Dream Girl" has been authored by veteran journalist Ram Kamal Mukherjee, which is recently launched on October 16, 2017. The book is published by HarperCollins India and will give readers an in-depth look into her life. It is divided into 23 chapters, covering her childhood, teens, Bollywood, rise as an actor, romance, colleagues, marriage, her second innings, launching Shah Rukh Khan in Dil Aashna Hai — which she directed — her ballet, her political journey and spiritual journey. This book will also have Hemaji's family tree, which has not been published earlier, and there will be a lot of exclusive unseen photographs from her personal, professional and political spheres.
140. The Global Handwashing Day(GHD) is observed every year on October 15 as an annual global advocacy day to increase awareness and understanding about the importance of handwashing with soap as an easy, effective, and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives. The day is an opportunity to design, test, and replicate creative ways to encourage people to wash their hands with soap at critical times. The 2017 theme "Our hands, our future!" reminds us that handwashing protects our own health, but also allows us to build our own futures, as well as those of our communities, and the world.
141. The 6th annual LNG Producers Consumer Conference has started in Tokyo, Japan from Oct 16-18, 2017. In it, India has signed a Memorandum of Co-operation (MoC) with Japan to send youngsters there as technical interns for on-the-job training for a period of three to five years. The MoC on Technical Intern Training Programme (TITP) was signed by Union Minister of Skill Development Dharmendra Pradhan and Japanese Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare with Katsunobu Kato in Tokyo on October 17, 2017. The MoC on TITP is expected to significantly expand the bilateral cooperation between India and Japan in the field of skill development. India is the third country with which Japan has signed the MoC. As per the Japan's official data for 2016-end, approximately 2.3 lakh technical intern trainees from multiple countries are on training in the island nation.
142. The Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) has launched India's first commodity options in gold and gave stakeholders a new set of financial instruments to hedge their price risks. It is launched by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi on October 17, 2017. MCX has currently launched a Gold Option contract, with Gold (1 Kg) futures as the underlying asset, with expiry on November 28, 2017 and January 29, 2018. The options product is unique and the first of its kind, giving buyers the right to buy or sell the underlying asset, but no obligation, at a specified price at the expiry. Thus, for buyers, the risk is limited only to the premium paid to the option seller (i.e. Option writer).
143. The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) has launched an online campaign #IamThatWoman to end gender bias in women against women.Through the campaign, the Ministry seeks to highlight the various aspects of women standing 'by' and 'for' women. The purpose of the campaign is to shed light on the enormous contributions made by women for women. For this, Twitter and Facebook users have been encouraged to tag and share stories of women helping women with a photograph and post online with the hashtag #IamThatWoman. Hence, join the '#IamThatWoman' campaign and spread the message that a woman can move mountains for another woman".
144. US author George Saunders has won the 2017 Man Booker Prize for his first full-length novel "Lincoln in the Bardo" and became only the 2nd American writer to win £50,000 ($66,000) Britain's prestigious English-language literary award. The book is a fictional account of US President Abraham Lincoln burying his 11-year-old son Willie at a Washington cemetery. In 2016, American author Paul Beatty became the first American to win the award for his novel 'The Sellout', a biting satire on race relations in the US.
145. The Chhilchhila Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) is located in the Kurukshetra district of Haryana and is spread over an area of 28.92 hectares. According to a local legend, the lake in the sanctuary had an ancient link during the epic Mahabharata days when the Pandavas escaped to Haridwar through a tunnel under the lake. It is home to blue peafowl, rufous treepie, greater coucal, Indian grey hornbill and coppersmith barbet.
146. The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP) is observed every year on October 17 to raise people's awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and destitution worldwide, particularly in developing countries. The 2017 theme 'Answering the Call of October 17 to end poverty: A path toward peaceful and inclusive societies' reminds us of the importance of the values of dignity, solidarity and voice underscored in the Call to Action to fight to end poverty everywhere. This year's celebration also marks the 25th anniversary of the declaration of the day by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), which had adopted the resolution on 22 December 1992.
147. E-commerce major Myntra has launched its CSR initiative in association with the Union Ministry of Textile to work directly with weavers and promote the handloom industry. It will work on bringing artisans and their products online to provide them with access to new customers and opportunities. These products will retail on Myntra via a dedicated online store, creating a one-stop shop for handloom products. Myntra will also launch a new handloom brand during its upcoming annual Brand Summit "The Tech Threads" on November 2 in Bengaluru. So far, about 49 brands associated with Myntra have pledged to be a part of this initiative and source handloom products from the weaver community. These include names like W, Biba, Peter England, Raymond, Welspun, Chennai Silks, Metro and others.
148. Prabha Varma, the well-known poet, lyricist and journalist, has been chosen for the 2017 Padma Prabha Puraskaram for his contribution to Malayalam literature. Varma's major works include 'Chandananaazhi','Kalaprayaaga', 'Avicharithram' and 'Manjinotu Veyil Enna Poleyum'. The award carries cash prize of Rs 75,000, a plaque and a citation. It was instituted by Kalpetta-based Padma Prabha Memorial Trust in memory of M K Padmaprabha, a leading socialist and one of the founders of modern Wayanad.
149. Kavita Devi from Haryana has become the first ever woman wrestler from India to sign up for the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). She also has the distinction of being the first Indian woman to compete in a WWE ring, as she was a featured participant in the Mae Young Classic women's tournament. She is expected to begin training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida from January 2018. The WWE Performance Center is the home of the developmental system for WWE. With seven training rings, a world-class strength and conditioning program and cutting-edge edit and production facilities, the Performance Center allows new recruits to hone their skills through a comprehensive program that includes in-ring training, physical preparedness and character development.
150. Shamsher Khan (86), India's first swimmer who had participated in the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, has passed away at his native village Repalle in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh on October 15, 2017. Mr. Khan had enrolled himself in the Indian Army in 1949. He had taken part in various national swimming competitions. He won a place in the Indian Olympics contingent that had visited Australia in 1956. However, he secured 4th place in the competition. He continued to serve in the Army till he retired in 1973.
151. The first-ever International tri services joint exercise "INDRA – 2017" has started between Indian and Russian Armed Forces at the 249th Combined Army Range Sergiyevisky and in the Sea of Japan near Vladivostok port from October 19, 2017. The 11-day exercise will serve towards strengthening mutual confidence and interoperability as well as sharing of the best practices between the armed forces of both the countries. The Indian contingent will comprise of 350 personnel from Army, 80 from Air Force, two IL 76 aircraft and one Frigate and Corvette each from the Navy. The Russian Federation Armed Forces is represented by approximately 1000 troops of the 5th Army, Marines and Ships of Pacific Fleet and aircraft from Eastern Military District. The joint tri-service exercise will be a demonstration of the increasing commitment of both nations to address common challenges across the full spectrum of operations.
152. Sunny Verghese, co-founder and Group CEO of Singapore-based Olam International, has been appointed as the new chairman of World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). Verghese is the first ever Asian CEO to be appointed as Chair in the organisation's 25 years of history. His term will begin on January 1, 2018 for a duration of two years and will succeed Paul Polman, whose term ends on 31 December 2017. The WBCSD is a global network of more than 200 CEOs who are responsible for combined revenue of more than $8.5 trillion and 19 million employees.
153. Prof Hans Joachim Schellnhuber from Germany has won the 2017 Blue Planet Prize for establishing a new field of science 'Earth System Analysis' and introducing most influential concepts including the notion of tipping elements in the climate system in Tokyo. He is Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). Beside him, Prof. Gretchen C. Daily (from USA) has also won the award for her work promoting practical conservation by revealing the value of nature. Each will receive a prize of 50 million yen, about $450,000. The Blue Planet Prize, which is instituted by Asahi Glass Foundation, is the world's most prestigious award for pioneers in environmental science.
154. Indian-American Gitanjali Rao has won the 2017 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge for her prototype water lead contamination detector 'Tethys'. The sensor-based device detects the quality of water and shares the results to a mobile application via bluetooth. The aim of the competition, open to citizens of the US who are enrolled from Class 5 to 8, is to identify a solution to an everyday problem that directly impacts either the contestant or the global population. The winner of the competition is awarded $25,000 along with the title of 'America's Top Young Scientist 2017'.
155. According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s revised guidelines on interest subvention scheme, banks will provide funds to women Self Help Groups (SHGs) in rural areas at 7% under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) in the current fiscal FY18. These guidelines will be implemented in 21 Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and 19 private banks. All women SHGs will be eligible for interest subvention on credit upto Rs 3 lakh at 7% per annum. Banks will be subvented to the extent of difference between the Weighted Average Interest Charged and 7% subject to the maximum limit of 5.5% for the year 2017-18. The subvention will be available to banks on the condition that they make SHG credit available at 7% per annum. The interest subvention scheme on credit to women SHG during 2017-18 is applicable in 250 districts across the country.
156. The 4th ADMM (ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting)-Plus meeting will be held in Philippines from October 23, 2017 to deliberate extensively on the situation in Afghanistan and Syria besides China's growing military presence in the disputed South China Sea. The ADMM-Plus is a platform for ASEAN and its eight dialogue partners to strengthen security and defence cooperation for peace, stability, and development in the region. The two-day meeting will discuss ways to enhance defence and security cooperation among the member nations to effectively counter various transnational security challenges facing the region. From India, Union defense minister Nirmala Sitharaman will attend the meeting.
157. Roy Dotrice (94), a veteran British actor, has passed away in London, England on October 16, 2017. He was best known for his Tony Award-winning Broadway performance in the revival of 'A Moon for the Misbegotten'. He also narrated the first five books in George R. R. Martin's fantasy series 'A Song of Ice and Fire'.
158. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, has launched the ambitious 'Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojna' for the farmers of the state at the Krishi Upaj Mandi in Khurai, Sagar. The scheme has launched as a guarantee to ensure reasonable prices to the farmers for their agriculture produces. To get benefits of the scheme, the farmers are required to sell their crops in the mandi and obtain a receipt for the same. As per the scheme, the government will provide subsidy and loan ranging from Rs 10 lakhs to two crores to the farmers willing to invest in industries. In addition, the state government has approved a web of irrigation projects across the Sagar District which will cover 96-hectare fields.
159. The National Police Commemoration Day (NPCD) is observed every year in India on October 21 to mark the memory of brave policemen who sacrificed their lives while discharging their duties. The day commemorates the sacrifices of ten policemen while defending our borders with China in 1959. Indian Police personnel were responsible for manning the 2,500 mile long border of India with Tibet until the autumn of 1959. So far since Independence, 34,418 Police personnel have sacrificed their lives for safeguarding the integrity of the nation and providing security to people of this country. During the last one year, from September 2016 to August 2017, 383 Police personnel have laid down their lives.
160. The Search-cum-Selection Committee headed by Prasar Bharati Chairman A Surya Prakash has been formed to select the candidate for the post of editor-in-chief of Rajya Sabha TV (RSTV). The other members of the 5-member committee are Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta, Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati, Additional Secretary (Personnel) in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat PPK Ramacharyulu and journalist Rahul Srivastava. Rajya Sabha TV is owned and operated by the Upper House of Parliament and the vice-president is its chairman.
161. India's National field hockey team has won the 10th edition of Men's Hockey Asia Cup tournament – 2017 by defeating Malaysia in the final by 2-1 at Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh on October 22. India started strongly and scored first goal through Ramandeep Singh in the first quarter and the second goal was scored by Lalit in the second quarter. The victory came to India under massive pressure from Malaysia. Pakistan won the bronze medal after edging out Korea 6-3 in the third-fourth place play-off match. The winner of this tournament qualified for the 2018 Men's Hockey World Cup, which is scheduled to be held in India.
162. Indian golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar has clinched the 2017 Macao Open golf tournament title to bag his 8th Asian Tour title. As a result, Bhullar etched his name on the Macao Open trophy for the second time having previously won the event in 2012. It was also Bhullar's third wire-to-wire victory of his career following the Macao Open 2012 and the Indonesia Open 2013. With this, he equalled Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa's record of most wins (8) by an Indian on the Asian Tour.
163. Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth has won the 2017 Denmark Open Superseries Badminton trophy by defeating South Korea's Lee Hyun-il in straight games 21-10, 21-5 on October 22 at Odense. With this, he bagged his third Super Series title of the year and 5th overall. It was the first time Srikanth and Lee had faced each other.
164. The Ratapani Tiger Reserve (RTS) is located in the Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh and is spread around 823.84 sq. km. Some precipitous hills have cliffs; have large rock blocks and talus at the base. This unique feature provides shelter to various animals like vultures, reptiles and small mammals. The forest of Ratapani is dry deciduous and moist deciduous type, with teak as the main tree species. It is home to tiger, panther, wild dogs, hyena, jackal, fox, chital, sambhar, blue bull, four horned antelope, languor, rhesus monkey, etc.
165. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched India's first Roll On-Roll Off (Ro-Ro) ferry service between Ghogha in Bhavnagar district and Dahej in Bharuch district, which will facilitate vehicular and passenger ferry services across the Gulf of Cambay in Gujarat. The Ghogha-Dahej Ferry Service will reduce the distance between the two coastal towns from 310 km by road to 30 km, saving time and money. The travel time will be cut by at least 5 hours. The ferry will be able to carry up to 100 vehicles (cars, buses and trucks) and 250 passengers between the two ports. The ro-ro ferry services are vessels made to carry wheeled cargo that are driven on and off the ferry on their own wheels or using a platform vehicle. The wheeled cargo includes cars, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers, and railroad cars. This ferry service project cost stands at Rs 614 crore.
166. The National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB) Tiruchi has recently signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with the Andhra Pradesh government to develop technologies relating to banana production. As per the agreement, NRCB will be the knowledge partner in developing technologies towards value chain management, supporting banana export, organic production and waste utilisation. It will provide training, human resource development and hand hold growers and entrepreneurs to promote indigenous and commercial varieties for domestic and export markets. NRCB is an institution under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
167. The 4th edition of ASEAN Defence Minister's Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) meeting has started in Philippines from October 23, 2017.The purpose of the 2-day conference is to promote mutual trust and confidence between defence establishments through greater dialogue and transparency. The conference is also likely to discuss enhancing maritime security cooperation among the member countries. The Indian delegation will be lead by Union defense minister Nirmala Sitharaman. During her three-day stay, Ms Sitharaman is also likely to hold bilateral talks with her counterparts from a number of countries. The ADMM-Plus is a platform for ASEAN and its eight dialogue partners to strengthen security and defence co-operation for peace, stability, and development in the region.
168. India's first Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) for Skilling in Smart Cities has launched in New Delhi under Skill India Mission in collaboration with New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC). It was inaugurated by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh along with Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan on October 23, 2017. The purpose of the centre is to provide skill training for unemployed youth through its Short-Term Training (STT) module and contribute to the capacity building of municipal employees through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) program. The ministers also laid the foundation for a Skill Development Centre at Moti Bagh and a Centre of Excellence at Dharam Marg, New Delhi.
169. Former IB Chief Dineshwar Sharma, a 1976 batch Kerala cadre IPS officer, has been appointed as the Government of India (GoI) special representative to hold sustained dialogue on Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) with all stakeholders. He will hold the position of a Cabinet Secretary. As an interlocutor, he will hold peace talks with Assam's insurgent groups, including the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and will be free to decide whom to talk to. Sharma is retired as director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) on December 31, 2016.
170. The World Development Information Day (WDID) is observed every year on October 24 to draw the attention of the world to development problems and the necessity of strengthening international cooperation to solve them.
171. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is in news because it will analyse the social media trends and data for the first time in monitoring security. The data will be used to monitor the India's most vital assets such as airports and nuclear and aerospace installations. A special team of CISF men and women has been trained to track social media trends, news, reports and indicators across various platforms, collate them and dish them out as vital pieces of actionable intelligence to its various airports and other vital units. According to CISF Director-General, this project is being done on experimental basis and based on the experiences; this smart centre will be further strengthened. The CISF is directly under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and its headquarters are at New Delhi.
172. Rakesh Asthana, a 1984-batch IPS officer of Gujarat-cadre, has been appointed the special director of the Central Bureau of Investigation. (CBI). Currently, he is posted as additional director in CBI. Apart from him, Gurbachan Singh has been appointed as the special director in Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Sudeep Lakhtakia as Special DG in CRPF. Rajesh Ranjan and AP Maheshwari have been promoted as Special DG in the Border Security Force (BSF).
173. Jayant Rikhye has been appointed as the new chief executive of India operations of Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd (HSBC). He will take charge from 1 December and will succeed Stuart Milne. Currently, he is HSBC's international head for Asia-Pacific, which is responsible for 11 markets in the region.
174. The Meghalaya Election department has entered the Limca Book of Records for the formation of the biggest human logo by newly-enrolled young voters of Meghalaya. Limca official Garima Manon conveyed this in a message to the office of Meghalaya Chief Electoral Officer on October 24, 2017. It will feature in the forthcoming edition of the book 2018. A total of 2870 students from 113 schools, 3 colleges in the age group of 18 and 19 enrolled as new voters and formed a 75 feet by 120 feet size human logo named You 'N' I on July 1, 2017. The logo formation was part of the launching of the statewide special drive to enroll left-out voters with a special focus on first-time electors. Election to the 10th Meghalaya Assembly is expected to be held in February-March, 2018.
175. Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid's Portugal striker, has been named the 2017 Best FIFA Men's Player award for a second straight year at the 2017 award ceremony in London, England on October 23, 2017. He is four-time Ballon d'Or winner, who helped Real to a Champions League-La Liga double in 2016-17. Lieke Martens of FC Barcelona and the Netherlands won the best FIFA Women's Player award and Real Madrid's Zinedine Zidane was named best men's coach and Netherlands' Sarina Wiegman the best female coach. Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud received the Puskas award for the best goal of 2017 for his 'scorpion kick' against Crystal Palace in January 2017. Celtic won the fan award after they honoured the club's 1967 'Lisbon Lions' with a stunning 360-degree card display on the 50th anniversary of their historic European Cup win.
176. The World Polio Day (WPD) is observed every year by the World Health Organization (WHO) on October 24 to raise awareness about the hazards of the crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease. The day was established by Rotary International over a decade ago to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk, who led the first team to develop a vaccine against poliomyelitis. There is no cure for this disease, but there are safe and effective vaccines. Polio can be prevented through immunization. Polio vaccine, given multiple times, almost always protects a child for life. The strategy to eradicate polio is therefore based on preventing infection by immunizing every child until transmission stops and the world is polio-free.
177. The United Nations Day is observed every year on October 24 to make known to the people about the aims and achievements of the UN and to mark the 72nd anniversary of the UN Charter's entry into force. With the ratification of this founding document in 1948 by the majority of its signatories, including the five permanent members of the Security Council, the United Nations officially came into being.
178. The Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has celebrated its 56th raising day on October 24, 2017. The ITBP guards 3488 KMs long borders in the Himalayas on the BOPs at altitudes ranging from 9K to 18.7 K ft. Apart from border guarding, the Force is also deployed for Anti-Naxal Operations and other Internal Security duties. It is one of the five Central Armed Police Forces (CRPF) of India, raised on 24th October in 1962, under the CRPF Act, in the wake of the Sino-Indian War of 1962.
179. The 2nd edition of World Congress on Marxism will be held at Peking University in Beijing, China, which is scheduled to be held from May 5-6, 2018, with theme "Marxism and the current world and China". The congress will discuss Marxism in the 21st century and its development in China. It coincides with the 200th birth anniversary of Karl Marx and the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up. Approx 300 Marxism researchers from all over the world will attend the conference.
180. The Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary (PWS) is located in Somwarpet taluk of the Kodagu district, Karnataka and is spread over 102.59 square kilometres. It is home to rare and endangered birdlife such as great pied hornbill, Malabar trogon and Nilgiri blackbird. It is also home to mammals include elephant, tiger, slender loris, Nilgiri marten and bonnet macaque.
181. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has formed a 10-member task force on Public Credit Registry (PCR) for India to improve market efficiency. The task force will be headed by M Deosthalee, former chairman of L&T Finance Holdings. The terms of reference of the task force include, reviewing the current availability of information on credit in the country, assessing gaps in India that could be filled by a comprehensive public credit registry and suggesting a "roadmap including the priority areas, for developing a transparent, comprehensive and near-real-time" public credit registry for India. The task force will also study the best international practices on public credit registry and will decide the structure of the new information system. It will submit its report by April 4, 2018.
182. Suresh Sethi, the former MD of Vodafone M-Pesa Ltd., has been appointed as the new Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB). He succeeded A.P. Singh, who had been the interim MD & CEO of IPPB since January 2017. Sethi has broad international experience of over 27 years in the banking and financial services industry with Citigroup and YES Bank, across India, Kenya, the UK, Argentina and the US.
183. The State Bank of India (SBI) has recently signed an agreement with Escorts Ltd to finance farmers for purchase of Escorts tractors. The aim of the tie-up with Escorts is to promote, market and make accessible, organised finance facility, with superior features, at competitive interest rates to farmers across the country, who wish to purchase Powertrac and Farmtrac tractors manufactured by Escorts. Escorts is a leading tractor and construction equipment manufacturer at Faridabad in Haryana.
184. Irruppam Veedu Sasidaran (also known as I V Sasi) (69), the legendary filmmaker, has passed away at Saligramam, Chennai, on October 24, 2017. He was best known for his films "Avalude Ravukal" and "Devasuram". In his more than three-decade career, Sasi directed over 150 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi and worked with stars such as Mohanlal, Mammootty, Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth.
185. The Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) of India has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Punjab National Bank (PNB) to provide easy access to export finance for SMEs and merchant exporters of the council. The PNB will provide finance with assurance that loans up to Rs 10 crore would be provided within six to seven weeks at competitive rates. As per the agreement, PNB would also extend foreign currency loan facilities and provide advisory support to EEPC India members to finance projects through its more than 200 authorised foreign exchange branches. Besides, engineering exporters would be given a 'Gold card' under which additional benefits like quicker sanction and disbursal of loan will be extended. The gold card facilities would be extended to the exporters with internal credit rating of B1 and above and those outside the RBI caution list.
186. Freedom fighter and lawyer Gaur Kishore Ganguli (96) has passed away in his native village in Purulia in West Bengal. Born on October 21, 1923 in Purulia in West Bengal Ganguli was influenced by his father Sasodhar Ganguli, a freedom fighter. He joined the Quit India movement in 1942 when he was 19 years old and a student of Ranchi College. He served a two-and-half-year long jail term along with his father in the prisons of Ranchi, Hazaribagh and Patna. He began practising in Dhanbad district court after the reorganization of states in 1956 and was a member of the bar association.
187. As per report by Coeus Age Consulting, Madhya Pradesh has emerged as the top state in terms of digital initiatives undertaken, with a maximum score of 100.1 on performance index, followed by Maharashtra at 99.9 and Andhra Pradesh at 99.8. The assessment by the knowledge domain service provider was done using a scoring framework made up of two key constructs, Policy and Infrastructure Readiness (PIR) Score and Mission Mode Projects' Performance (MMP) Score for each state. Chhattisgarh (97.4) and Karnataka (95.3) occupied the fourth and fifth positions in the list, respectively, the company said in a release. The report is based on a comparative assessment of digital initiatives by 36 states and Union Territories. The assessment is based on 109 key performance indicators related to policy, infrastructure and mission mode projects.
188. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will soon make Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) compulsory for companies having aggregate fund-based and non-fund based exposure over Rs 5 crore. Before this, RBI made LEI mandatory for transactions in interest rate, forex and credit derivative market. LEI is a unique 20 digit alphanumeric code that will be assigned to corporate borrowers. Banks will be required to capture this number in the Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC) database that captures details of loan above Rs 5 crore. LEI mechanism will help banks to effectively monitor debt exposure of corporate borrowers. It would also enable banks in preventing multiple loans to companies against the same collateral.
189. The Topchanchi Wildlife Sanctuary (TWS) is located in Dhanbad district of Jharkhand and covers an area of 8.75 Sq. Km. It is home to Leopard, Jungle Cat, Cheetal, Barking Deer, Wild Boar, Mongoose, Langur, Jackal, Fox, Wild Dog, etc. The Topchanchi Lake increases the richness of the habitat and is visited by migratory winter birds such as pochards, red crested pochards and coots. The forests here are of Dry Mixed Deciduous type with Dry Peninsular Sal in Baneshpur and Bawardaha, the other tree species being Asan, Bijasal, Dhow, Semal, Kendu, Piar, Karam, Siris, Sidha etc. The grassland and bamboo crops are also present.
190. The President of India Ram Nath Kovind has constituted a Commission under Article 340 of the Constitution to examine Sub-categorization of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the central list. The four-member Commission headed by Justice G. Rohini will submit its report to the President within 12 weeks. The commission has commenced functioning on 11th October 2017, from its office at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. The sub categorization of the OBCs will ensure that the more backward among the OBC communities can also access the benefits of reservation for educational institutions and government jobs. On receipt of the report, the Central Government will consider ways and means for equitable distribution of the benefits of the reservation in Central Government jobs and admission in Central Government Institutions amongst all strata of the OBC.
191. Professors Salim Abdool Karim and Quarraisha Abdool Karim, a globally-acclaimed South African Indian-origin researcher couple, has been honoured with a prestigious 2017 IHV Lifetime Achievement Award for their exceptional contributions in the field of HIV/AIDS. The researcher couple received the award from the Institute of Human Virology (IHV) in Baltimore in the US. The award was presented to them by Robert Gallo, who discovered HIV as the cause of AIDS, at the 19th international meeting of the IHV. The Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a syndrome caused by a virus called HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). The disease alters the immune system, making people much more vulnerable to infections and diseases.
192. The Union Ministry of AYUSH hosted the first-ever meeting of BIMSTEC Task Force on Traditional Medicine (BITFM) on October 24-25, 2017 at Parvasi Bhartiya Kendra in New Delhi. India being a major stake holder in the field of Traditional Medicine plays an important role in influencing the policies and strategies related to the Traditional Medicine in the BIMSTEC Forum. The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an International Organisation involving a group of countries in the South Asia and South East Asia namely, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.
193. The 2017 Vigilance Awareness Week (VAW) will be observed by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) from 30th October to 4thNovember, 2017 with theme "My Vision-Corruption Free India". The Vice President of India Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu will be the Chief Guest at the Inaugural Function to be held on 30th October 2017. The purpose of observing VAW is to educate the public at large about the corruption related practices and also educating them how to report about it.
194. Odisha will be the 'Focus State' in the mega international food event "World Food India (WFI) 2017", which is scheduled to be held at New Delhi on November 3-5. In the WFI 2017, Japan, Denmark and Germany are partner countries, and Italy & Netherlands are 'Focus Countries'. More than 200 global companies and 41 global CEOs from 30 countries will participate and will also see 21 ministerial and business delegations. Besides, 450 domestic companies and leading Research and Development (R&D) institutes along with 95 Indian industry captains are likely to participate in WFI.
195. India's passport has been ranked 75th out of 94 countries with a visa-free score of 51, according to the 'Global Passport Power Rank 2017' by global financial advisory firm Arton Capital. The list is topped by Singapore, followed by Germany, Sweden and South Korea. As per report, Singapore's passport is the most powerful ranking with a visa-free score of 159. Afghanistan was on bottom most position (94th) with the score of 22, while Pakistan was at 93rd Position with Iraq with the score of 26. The index ranks national passports by the cross-border access they bring, assigning a "visa-free score" according to the number of countries a passport holder can visit visa-free or with visa on arrival.
196. Ministries of Power and Textiles have jointly launched a new scheme SAATHI under which Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) will provide energy efficient power loom equipment to small and medium units at no upfront cost. The use of the efficient equipment would result in energy and cost savings to the unit owner and he will repay in instalments to EESL over a 4 to 5 year period. The SAATHI initiative of the government will be jointly implemented by EESL and the office of the Textile Commissioner on a pan-India basis. The EESL will procure energy efficient powerlooms, motors and rapier kits in bulk and provide them to the small and medium power loom units. The acronym of SAATHI stands for "Sustainable and Accelerated Adoption of efficient Textile technologies to Help small Industries".
197. Girija Devi (88), the veteran Indian classical singer of the Seniya and Banaras gharanas, has passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal on October 24, 2017. She was known as 'Thumri queen', who popularised the genre of semi-classical Indian music. She was conferred with all three Padma awards, and was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan in 2016.
198. The Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary (AWS) is located in the southeast part of Kannur District of Kerala Dhanbad district of Jharkhand and covers an area of 55 Sq. Km. It is home to elephant, wild boar, leopard, mongoose, nilgiri langur, hanuman langur, malabar giant squirrel, etc.
199. Rajiv Mehrishi, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India(CAG) and former Union home secretary, has authored an e-book titled "India 2017 Yearbook" on current affairs in India. It is recently launched by Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in Jaipur. The e-book includes a plethora of information on important dignitaries, state policy, public schemes and important data about demographics, trade, economy and many other topics.
200. The global conference on consumer protection has inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on October 26, 2017 with theme "Empowering Consumers in New Markets". This is the first time that an international conference on consumer protection is being organised by India for countries of the region which account for a majority of the global consumers and share common challenges and experiences. The 2-day conference will deliberate upon steps taken by Asian countries to implement the United Nations guidelines on consumer protection as well as challenges faced by consumers of financial services and e-commerce. Experts from different countries and India will present their papers and views. Twenty two countries from East, South and South-East Asia are participating in the conference. These include China, South Korea, Singapore, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
201. The International Conference on Green Initiatives & Railway Electrification has inaugurated by Union Minister of Railways & Coal Piyush Goyal in New Delhi on October 27, 2017. The conference is organised by Ministry of Railways through Institution of Railways Electrical Engineer (IREE). The main purpose of the 2-day international conference is to bring green power project developers and other stakeholders on a common platform for making Indian Railways (IR) an efficient and Greener mode of transport. This will open an international discussion on various Green initiatives including use of renewable energy, shift towards electric traction, development of new locomotive technology, high speed rail traction system and development in generation of Solar/Wind power as well as use of energy in efficient ways.
202. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India (GoI) signed a $65.5 million loan agreement on October 26, 2017 in New Delhi to continue interventions to check coastal erosion on the Western Coast in Karnataka. The loan is the Second Tranche of a $250 million financing facility under the Sustainable Coastal Protection and Management Investment Program. The financing will be used to address the immediate coastal protection needs and for strengthening institutional capacity of Karnataka's Public Works, Ports and Inland Water Transport Department.
203. Veteran writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar has been honoured with the 2017 Hridaynath Mangeshkar Award at an event in Mumbai which marked the 28th anniversary of Hridayesh Arts and the 80th birthday of veteran music composer Hridaynath Mangeshkar.
204. The World Day for Audiovisual Heritage (WDAH) is observed every year on October 27 to raise general awareness of the need to preserve and safeguard important audiovisual material for future generations, and for urgent measures to be taken to conserve this heritage and ensure it remains accessible to the public now, and to future generations. The 2017 theme is "Discover, remember and share".
205. Chile has been named the best country to visit in 2018 by Lonely Planet in its 'Best in Travel 2018' list and is followed by South Korea, Portugal, Djibouti and New Zealand. Apart from this, Belfast and the Causeway coast of Northern Ireland has been named by Lonely Planet as the best region to visit in 2018, while Seville of Spain has been named as best city to visit in 2018.
206. The Cricket Association of Puducherry (CAP) has become the newest associate member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after the Committee of Administrators (CoA) accepted their proposal. With this, CAP will represent the Union Territory ahead of the Pondicherry Cricket Association – Kalaimani and Pondicherry Cricket Association – Velmurugan. Now, as an associate member Puducherry will be able to take part in the Ranji Trophy as early as next season.
207. The Sai Yok National Park (SYNP) is located in in Sai Yok district of Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand and covers an area of 500 Sq. Km. The park is home to mountains, waterfalls and caves. Animal species include elephants, tiger, barking deer, sambar deer, wild pig, gibbon, Malayan porcupine, slow loris and serow. It is home to Kitti's hog-nosed bat, a rare bat species considered to be the world's smallest mammal (weighing around 2 grams).
208. Dr Digamber Singh, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, has passed away in Jaipur, Rajasthan on October 27, 2017. He served as cabinet minister in Government of Rajasthan led by Vasundhara Raje. He represented Deeg-Kumher constituency of Bharatpur district in the assembly. He is currently President of "Bees Sutri Karyakram" and has a status of Cabinet Minister.
209. The 14th South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation in Law (SAARCLAW) Conference has started in Colombo, Sri Lanka along with the 11th SAARC Chief Justices Conference on October 27, 2017. The three-day conference was inaugurated by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and will see participation from South Asia's top Judges, legal practitioners and academics. The conference provides a platform for legal professionals to meet and discuss issues of mutual interests and emerging legal trends in the South Asian countries. The conference will deal with issues like artificial intelligence, human trafficking, FDIs and environmental protection concerns. The 11th Chief Justices conference will be held tomorrow with a closed-door session attended only by the Chief Justices or their representatives.
210. The Infantry Day is celebrated every year in India on October 27 to commemorate the first Infantry action post independence. On this day 70 years ago, in response to the threat posed to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation, the leading elements of the Indian Army from the 1st Battalion of the SIKH Regiment, air landed at Srinagar. This bold action by Indian Army and resolute fighting by the Infantrymen reversed the tide of events and thwarted the nefarious designs of Pakistani Raiders aided by Pakistan Army.
211. Burundi has become the first country to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) with effect from October 27, 2017. According to ICC officials , a preliminary investigation launched by the prosecutor in April 2016 into possible crimes against humanity in the central African nation would continue. Burundi's withdrawal does not affect the jurisdiction of the court with respect to crimes alleged to have been committed during the time it was a state party. It must be noted that Burundi has faced deadly political turmoil since April 2015, when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced plans to seek a disputed third term that he ultimately won. In 2002, the ICC was established in The Hague, Netherlands to prosecute those behind the world's worst atrocities.
212. Punathil Kunjabdulla (77), the renowned writer and Malayalam novelist, has passed away in Kozhikode, Kerala. His works includes more than 45 books, including 7 novels, 15 short story collections, memoirs, an autobiography and travelogues. His masterpiece 'Smarakashilakal' published in 1977, is one of the most significant novels of all time in Malayalam. It won the both the Kerala and Central Sahitya Akademi Awards.
213. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has been honoured with the prestigious Golden Peacock Award under the category – Global Leadership in Public Service and Economic Transformation for excelling in public services at the 17th London Global Convention by the Institute of Directors for Leadership in Transferring Governance in England. In 1991, the Institute of Directors established the Golden Peacock Awards for the recognition of "corporate excellence".
214. Jacinda Ardern, the leader of the Labour Party, has officially been sworn in as the prime minister of New Zealand on October 26, 2017. She promised to tackle climate change, eradicate child poverty and improve the lives of the country's most vulnerable people.
215. The 36th edition of National Games of India will be held in Goa from November 4 to 17, 2018. The Games were originally scheduled to be held in November 2016 but the Goa administration requested a postponement at the Indian Olympic Association (IOA)'s annual general meeting based on extraneous factors, mainly the State elections. The delays to the 34th and 35th editions of the Games, which were hosted by Jharkhand and Kerala respectively, affected Goa's plan to hold the mega-event.
216. England has won their first-ever FIFA Under-17 World Cup by defeating European Champions Spain in the final by 5-2 at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on October 28, 2017. England's goal-machine Rhian Brewster won the 'Golden Boot' with 8 goals to his credit.
217. India and the United States have agreed to implement Helicopter Operations from Ships other Than Aircraft Carriers (HOSTAC) programme to strengthen maritime security. The decision in this regard was taken by Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her US Counterpart Jim Mattis during their meeting in Philippines on October 25, 2017 on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting-Plus.
218. Gautam Adhikari (67), the chairman and whole time director of the SAB group, has passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra on October 27, 2017. The group is behind the successful SAB TV channel, most popularly known for the show 'Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah'. Adhikari produced and directed several films and television series, including Hello Inspector, Commander, Marshall, Silsila and Waqt ki Raftar.
219. The Anamalai Tiger Reserve, which is earlier known as Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park (IGWLS&NP), is located in the Anaimalai Hills of Pollachi, Valparai and Udumalpet taluks of Coimbatore District and Tiruppur District, Tamil Nadu. It is home to golden jackal, leopard cat, jungle cat, spotted deer, barking deer, mouse deer, wild boar, common langur, bonnet macaque, Asian palm civet, etc. It is also home to 15 of 16 species of birds endemic to the Western Ghats. Over 250 species of birds have been identified in the park such as cormorants, ducks, teal, darter, partridge, quail, etc.
220. Patna Pirates (PTP) has won the 5th edition of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) by defeating Gujarat Fortunegiants in the final by 55-38 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It is their third consecutive Pro Kabaddi title. The PTP team is led by Pardeep Narwal and coached by Ram Mehar Singh. The league is organised by Mashal Sports and Star India.
221. Pakistan will host the 2018 Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Emerging Nations Cup in April 2018. The decision to have the Emerging Cup in Pakistan was taken during the meeting of the ACC held in Lahore on October 30, 2017. In it, six ACC teams including five full members will play in the tournament.
222. N.J.Gangte (IFS:1994) has been appointed as the new High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Zambia. He is presently the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs and is expected to take up his assignment shortly.
223. The world's first hybrid electric tram powered by hydrogen fuel cells has started running in China to give big boost to green energy in public transport. The tram was put into commercial operation for the first time in Tangshan, north China's Hebei Province. With water being its only emission, the tram emits no pollutants. No nitrogen oxides will be produced as the temperature of the reaction inside hydrogen fuel cells is controlled under 100 degrees Celsius. The tram, having three carriages with 66 seats, can run for 40 kilometers at a maximum speed of 70 kilometers per hour after being refilled with 12 kilograms of hydrogen.
224. Veteran actor Sharmila Tagore has been honoured with the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) in New Delhi for her contribution in the field of cinema. Minister of State for Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh and Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari presented the award to Tagore. The celebrated actor debuted in movies with legendary director Satyajit Ray's Bengali film Apur Sansar in 1959. Apart from her, Filmmaker-poet Muzaffar Ali was conferred with a Special Award for his outstanding contribution to promote and arts, fine arts and literature. Music legend Usha Mangeshkar and singers Prem Bhatia, Kavita Seth, Ankit Tiwari, Rahul Vaidya, Akriti Kakar, Manmeet of Meet Brothers and actor Sukhmani Lamba were also felicitated at the event.
225. The Karnataka government will sign MoU with Microsoft Corporation India Private Limited with an intention to empower smallholder farmers with technology-oriented solutions that will help them increase income. The solutions would use cloud based technologies, machine learning and advanced analytics. The MoU will experiment with Karnataka Agricultural Price Commission (KAPC) and Department of Agriculture to help improve price forecasting practices to benefit farmers.
226. The Union government has constituted a ministerial panel headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to oversee merger proposals of state-owned banks. The other members of the panel include Railway and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. This alternative mechanism has been set up by the government to fast-track consolidation among public sector banks to create strong lenders. The move to create large banks aims at meeting the credit needs of the growing Indian economy and building capacity in the PSB space to raise resources without dependence on the state exchequer. The mechanism will oversee the proposals coming from boards of PSBs for consolidation.
227. The Akan Mashu National Park (AMNP) is located on the island of Hokkaidō, Japan and covers an area of 90,481 hectares. The park is famous for its crystal clear lakes, its hot springs and its large marimo. It is the only place where marimo of appreciable size form naturally in Japan.
228. Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth has won the men's singles title of the French Open Superseries badminton tournament 2017 by defeating Japan's Kenta Nishimoto in the final by 21-14, 21-13 in Paris, France on October 29. This is his fourth title in the fifth superseries final. Beside this, Greysia POLL and Apriyani Rahayu won the Women's doubles title, defeating Lee Sottee and SHIN Seung Chen 21-17, 21-15. The Mixed Doubles title went to Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana NATSIR who beat Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen 22-20, 21-15.
229. The parliamentary standing committee on defence has been constituted to examine the operational preparedness of the armed forces and review the accidents involving strategic defence assets. The committee, headed by BJP MP B C Khanduri, will also assess the procurement policy relating to defence equipment. According to a Lok Sabha bulletin, the issue of preparedness of the armed forces is likely to be discussed in the next meeting of the panel, which is scheduled from November 2017. The committee has also decided to "critically review" the accidents involving strategic defence assets and look into the quality of ration given to the forces especially in border areas.
230. Vikram Singh, the 1997 batch officer of the Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS), has been appointed Private Secretary to President Ram Nath Kovind for a period of two years. Apart from him, IAS officer P C Meena was appointed Private Secretary to Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C R Chaudhary.
231. According to World Health Organisation (WHO)'s Global TB Report 2017, India topped the list of seven countries, accounting for 64% of the 10.4 million new tuberculosis (TB) cases worldwide in 2016. Indonesia has acquired 2nd position, followed by China, Philippines, Pakistan, Nigeria and South Africa. As per new TB report, an estimated 1.7 million people died from TB in 2016, including nearly 400,000 people who were co-infected with HIV, recording a drop by 4 per cent as compared to 2015. Also, India along with China and the Russia accounted for almost of half of the 490,000, multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) cases registered in 2016. The report pointed out that though global efforts to combat tuberculosis have saved an estimated 53 million lives since 2000 and reduced the TB mortality rate by 37 percent, the latest picture is grim as TB remains the top infectious killer in 2016.
232. The National Unity Day (NUD), also known as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas (RED), is celebrated every year across India on October 31 to commemorate birth anniversary of the Iron Man of India Sardar Vallabh bhai Patel, one of the founding leaders of Republic of India. The day is observed to foster and reinforce the government's dedication to preserve and strengthen unity of the nation. This year, in 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the 'Run For Unity' in New Delhi to mark the 142nd birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. A large number of people, including sports personalities like Sardar Singh, Deepa Karmakar, Suresh Raina and Karnam Malleswari participated in the Run.
233. The Government of India (GoI) and the World Bank (WB) has signed a $200 million Loan Agreement for the Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project. The Project will support the Government of Assam to facilitate agri-business investments, increase agriculture productivity and market access, and enable small farm holders produce crops that are resilient to recurrent floods or droughts in the state. The $200 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), has a 7-year grace period, and a maturity of 16.5 years.
234. Giriraj Singh, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), has launched MSME Delayed Payment Portal – MSME Samadhaan (http://msefc.msme.gov.in) on October 30. The purpose of the portal is to empower Micro and Small Entrepreneurs (MSEs) across the country to directly register their cases relating to delayed payments by Central Ministries/Departments/CPSEs/State Governments. The information on the portal will be available in public domain, thus exerting moral pressure on the defaulting organisations. The CEO of PSEs and the Secretary of the Ministries concerned will also be able to monitor the cases of delayed payment under their jurisdiction and issue necessary instructions to resolve the issues. The MSEs will also be empowered to access the portal and monitor their cases.
235. The 13th session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) of Wild Animals (CMS COP13) will be hosted by India in 2020. The CMS COP is also known as a Global Wildlife Conference & is held once in three years. It was officially announced at the CMS COP 12, which is held in Manila, Philippines from 23 to 28 October 2017 and was attended by delegates from over 120 countries. The slogan for the CMS COP 12 was "Their Future is Our Future – Sustainable Development for Wildlife & People". It is first time that the COP was held in Asia. The CMS is the only global and UN-based intergovernmental organization established exclusively for the conservation and management of terrestrial, aquatic and avian migratory species throughout their range.
236. Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar P, AVSM, VSM has taken charge as the new Vice Chief of Naval Staff (VCNS) at a formal ceremony held in New Delhi on October 30, 2017. He succeeded Vice Admiral Karambir Singh, who has taken charge as the new Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command (ENC) on 31 Oct 17. Kumar is an alumni of the National Defence Academy. The VCNS is second in command of the Indian Navy. The office is held by a Three Star Officer in the rank of Vice Admiral. He is responsible for operation of naval related tasks.
237. Roger Federer, a Swiss professional tennis player, has won the 2017 Swiss Indoors men's singles tennis tournament by defeating Juan Martin del Potro in the fiinal by 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland. With this, he earned his 8th Basel title that led him to achieve his 95th career title. Now, Federer surpassed Ivan Lendl in number of career titles, only trailing Jimmy Connors, who owns 109 trophies.
238. Heena Sidhu clinched the 10-metre air pistol gold medal at the Commonwealth Shooting Championships in Brisbane, Australia on October 31, 2017. She gave a perfect start at the Championships, which is held from Oct. 31 to Nov. 6. Sidhu shot a combined score of 626.2 to claim the top honours. This was Sidhu's second successive international gold after she along with Jitu Rai, claimed the top position in the 10-metre air pistol mixed team event in the ISSF World Cup Finals in Delhi earlier this month. Among other Indians, Deepak Kumar won a bronze medal in the 10-metre air rifle event. London Olympic bronze-medallist Gagan Narang finished fourth, while Ravikumar ended fifth.
239. The Jasper National Park (JNP) is located in Alberta, Canada and covers an area of 10,878 km2. The park includes the glaciers of the Columbia Icefield, hot springs, lakes, waterfalls and mountains. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. The park is home to moose, mule deer, white-tailed deer, porcupine, lynx, beaver, two species of fox, marten, pika, etc.
240. The United Nations's World Cities Day (WCD) is observed on October 31 to 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, in 2017, the United Nations has selected the theme "Innovative Governance, Open Cities" to highlight the important role of urbanization as a source of global development and social inclusion. The general theme of World Cities Day (WCD) is 'Better City, Better Life', while each year a different sub-theme is selected, to either promote successes of urbanization, or address specific challenges resulting from urbanization.
No comments:
Post a Comment