Month of OCTOBER-2019
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CURRENT AFFAIRS Month of OCTOBER-2019 Plot-1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRP Square, Bhubaneswar Ph : 8093083555, 8984111101 Web : www.vanikias.com | E-mail : [email protected] www.facebook.com/vanikias CURRENT AFFAIRS – OCTOBER–2019 Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS Preparation 01.10.2019 Among the small States, Manipur (68.8 per cent) emerged as the top 1. NITI Aayog releases School performer while Arunachal Pradesh Education Quality Index (SEQI) (24.6 per cent) came last in the School Education Quality Index was category. developed by NITI Aayog through a Rajasthan bagged the second position collaborative process, including key among the large States with 72 per stakeholders such as the Ministry of cent, followed by Karnataka with 70 Human Resource and Development, per cent and Andhra Pradesh-69 per the World Bank and sector experts. cent respectively. It aims to evaluate the performance of Among Union Territories, Chandigarh States and Union Territories (UTs) in (82.9 per cent) stood at the top the school education sector. position while Lakshadweep ranked The objective of the index is to bring lowest (31.9 per cent). an outcomes focus to the education Note: policy by providing States and UTs West Bengal did not participate in the with a platform to identify their NITI Aayog exercise. strengths and weaknesses and Topic- GS Paper 2 –Governance undertake requisite course Source- PIB corrections and policy interventions." 2. A process on to commute Rajoana The index consists of 30 critical sentence: MHA indicators that assess the delivery of The process to commute the death quality education. sentence of Balwant Singh Rajoana, These indicators are categorized as convicted for killing former Punjab below: chief minister Beant Singh, was Category 1: Outcomes “underway,”. o Domain 1: Learning outcomes Related Information o Domain 2: Access outcomes Pardoning Power of the President o Domain 3: Infrastructure and Article 72 of the Constitution empowers the facilities for outcomes President to grant pardons to persons who o Domain 4: Equity outcomes have been tried and convicted of any offence Category 2: Governance processes in all cases where the: aiding outcomes 1. Punishment or sentence is for an The governance process aiding offence against a Union Law; outcomes category included 2. Punishment or sentence is by a court- indicators such as student and martial (military court); and teacher attendance system, 3. Sentence is a sentence of death. transparency in teacher recruitment The pardoning power of the President to name a few. is independent of the Judiciary; it is The data for the index was collected executive power. for three categories: large states, The pardoning power of the President small states and Union Territories. includes the following: Findings of the index 1. Pardon: It removes both the Kerala bagged the top spot with 76.6 sentence and the conviction and per cent and while Uttar Pradesh with completely absolves the convict from 36.4 per cent scored the lowest for all sentences, punishments and 2016-17. disqualifications. 1 CURRENT AFFAIRS – OCTOBER–2019 2. Commutation: It denotes the The missile, with a strike range of substitution of one form of 290km, can be fired from land as well punishment for a lighter form. For as sea-based platforms. example, a death sentence may be Related Information commuted to rigorous imprisonment, BrahMos Missile which in turn may be commuted to It has been jointly developed by India simple imprisonment. and Russia and is operationalised in 3. Remission: It implies reducing the the Indian Armed Forces with all the period of a sentence without changing three services. its character. For example, a sentence The recent test-fire was conducted on of rigorous imprisonment for two the land-attack version of 290-km years may be remitted to rigorous range BrahMos supersonic cruise imprisonment for one year. missile which featured Indian 4. Respite: It denotes awarding a lesser propulsion system, airframe, power sentence in place of one originally supply and major indigenous awarded due to some special fact, components. such as the physical disability of a The missile can be red from land as convict or the pregnancy of a woman well as sea-based platforms. offender. The missile has been tested with 5. Reprieve: It implies a stay of the increased indigenous equipment and execution of a sentence (especially is a version used by Indian Army. that of death) for a temporary period. Topic- GS Paper 3 –Defence Its purpose is to enable the convict to Source- AIR have time to seek pardon or 4. Salar de Uyuni: world’s greatest commutation from the President. lithium deposits Note: Bolivia, among the poorest countries Under Article 161 of the in South America, sits on one of the Constitution, the governor of a state world’s largest lithium reserves, also possesses the pardoning power beneath the vast Salar de Uyuni salt but the pardoning power of the flat. governor differs from that of the Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt President in following two respects: flat, lies one of the world’s greatest o The President can pardon lithium deposits – around 17 per cent sentences inflicted by court- of the global total. martial (military courts) while Bolivia’s lithium deposits contain four the governor cannot. times as much magnesium as o The President can pardon a neighbouring Chile. death sentence while the Related Information governor cannot. Lithium Topic- GS Paper 2 –Governance It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Source- The Hindu Under standard conditions, it is the 3. Land-attack version of BrahMos lightest metal and the lightest solid supersonic missile successfully test- element. fired Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly DRDO successfully test-fired a land- reactive and flammable and must be attack version of BrahMos supersonic stored in mineral oil. missile from Chandipur coast in Topic- GS Paper 1 –Geography Odisha’s Balasore district. Source- Down to Earth 2 CURRENT AFFAIRS – OCTOBER–2019 5. 20 countries including India sign The Union Water Ministry has agreement to stop the spread of fake excavated an old, dried-up river in news online Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad) that Recently twenty countries, including linked the Ganga and Yamuna rivers. France, Britain and India, havesigned The “ancient buried river” as it was an agreement at the United Nations to described at a conference organised stop the spread of fake news on-line. by the Ministry, is around 4 km wide, The signatories, which also included 45 km long and consisted of a 15- South Africa and Canada, committed metre-thick layer buried under the to promoting independently reported, soil. diverse and reliable information on The newly discovered river was a the internet under an accord initiated buried paleochannel that joins the by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Yamuna River at Durgapur village, The agreement underlined the about 26 km south of the current responsibility of internet providers to Ganga-Yamuna confluence at promote trustworthy content and Prayagraj. pluralism to escape the current The genesis of the paleochannels information chaos. discovery followed a 2016 report of a Related Information seven-member committee, headed by Professor K.S. Valdiya of the Reporters Without Borders Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced It is an international non-profit, non- Scientific Research, commissioned by governmental organization based in the Water Resources Ministry. Paris that conducts political advocacy This report concluded that evidence on issues relating to freedom of from paleochannels suggested that information and freedom of the press. the mythological Saraswati River did Its headquarter in Paris, France. indeed exist. Publications Topic- GS Paper 1 –Geography Reporters Without Borders issues Source- The Hindu press releases, fact-finding reports, 7. Kerala CM launches a capacity and periodical publications. development programme for women Its key Publications are: entrepreneurs World Press Freedom Index, Kerala Chief Minister has launched the Predators of Press Freedom and Press Kerala edition of WING-Women Rise Freedom Barometer. Together at the second edition of World Press Freedom Index 2019 Huddle Kerala 2019. India has dropped two places on a It is an initiative by Startup India, global press freedom index to be Department for Promotion of Industry ranked 140th out of 180 countries in and Internal Trade (DPIIT) for the annual Reporters Without Borders capacity development of women analysis. entrepreneurs in the country. The programme aims to identify and The World Press Freedom Index support aspiring and established 2019', topped by Norway, female entrepreneurs by providing Topic- GS Paper 2 –Governance them access to incubation, investors Source- Economics Times and various business support 6. Scientists excavate ‘ancient river’ services. in Uttar Pradesh 3 CURRENT AFFAIRS – OCTOBER–2019 Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) along This is the average rainfall recorded with LetsVenture has been awarded during the months from June to the responsibility by Invest India to September, calculated during the 50- run this programme in all the year period. southern states. It is kept as a benchmark while Related Information forecasting the quantitative rainfall Invest India for the monsoon season every year. It is India’s official agency dedicated When IMD forecasts the category of to investment promotion and rainfall, be it for country, region or facilitation which