OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs the JSS Academy of Higher Education and State Research at Varuna village. 1. Mysuru Dasara festival inaugurated in On the third day on October 12, Mr.Kovind Karnataka will visit Swami Vivekananda Yoga The ten-day Mysuru Dasara festival was Anusandhana Sansthana in Bengaluru after a inaugurated by Kannada novelist Dr. S L breakfast meeting with Chief Justice and Bhyrappa by offering floral tributes to the Judges of Karnataka High Court and also idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari atop paying a visit to the house of former Union Chamundi Hill. Chief Minister B S Minister Late H N Ananth Kumar. Yediyurappa and other dignitaries were present on this occasion. 3. Autorickshaw owners in AP to get Rs 10,000 The festival will be marked by cultural as grant programmes, sports events, wrestling The Andhra Pradesh Government launched a competition, film and food festival, book welfare scheme- YSR Vahana Mitra - under exhibition, flower shows. The festivities will which the owner-driver of an auto-rickshaw, or culminate with the grand elephant procession taxicab, gets Rs 10,000 grant per annum. on Vijayadashmi day. More than 1.73 lakh auto owner-drivers would benefit from this scheme and only 2,000 or so applications had been rejected. The The cultural capital of Karnataka and city of Government had allocated Rs 400 crore for it. palaces is decked up for the world-famous Dasara festivities. The illuminated palaces, 4. 63rd Dhammachakra Pravartan Din to be fountains, flower decorations and the display celebrated Nagpur of tradition and heritage are drawing crowds in In Maharashtra, 63rd Dhammachakra large numbers from across the world. The birth Pravartan Din will be celebrated on Oct 8th at centenary celebration of the erstwhile ruler of Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur. Buddhist followers Mysore Jayachamaraja Wadiyar is included in from the different parts of the country and the Dasara festival this year. Badminton world abroad are reaching at the venue to pay champion P V Sindhu will launch the Dasara homage to the Architect of Indian Constitution sports events. Ranu Mandal, whose singing Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar at Deekshabhoomi. capabilities were discovered by a video at the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Smarak Samiti Kolkata Railway Station will be honored on along with District Administration and Nagpur the occasion. Municipal Corporation are organizing this mega event. 2. President Kovind to pay 3-day visit to Karnataka 5. Manjamma Jogati first Transgender to President Ramnath Kovind will pay a three- head an academy in Karnataka day visit to Karnataka. He will visit the Manjamma Jogati, renowned practitioner Mysuru Palace and inaugurate the Centenary of Jogati Nritya, who has been appointed celebration of the erstwhile ruler of Mysore, as the chairperson of Karnataka Janapada Late Jayachamaraja Wadiyar on October 10th. Academy, is the first transwoman to head a Next day the President will pay obeisance at cultural academy in Karnataka. Ms. Nanjangud Srikanteshwara temple and offer Manjamma had earlier served as a member prayers at Sree Chamundeshwari temple atop of the academy. Chamundi hills in the morning. On the same Jogati Nritya is ritual folk dance performed day later, he will lay the foundation stone for by a group of women, generally tradeswomen called jogappas.
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs government advocate from 1973 to 1977. 6. Karnataka tops first ever India Innovation Mr. Venkatachala was appointed as Additional Index launched by NITI Aayog Judge of the High Court on November 28, The first-ever India Innovation Index was 1977, and made a Permanent Judge on launched by NITI Aayog in New Delhi in September 8, 1978. He also functioned as the order to promote competitiveness among the head of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) states. Tribunal under the Unlawful Activities Karnataka has emerged the topper among (Prevention) Act, 1967, during 1990. major states. Tamil Nadu is second and He was appointed the Acting Chief Justice of Maharashtra is on the third position followed the High Court in May 1992. by Telangana, Haryana, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, He was elevated as a judge of the Supreme West Bengal, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. Court on July 1, 1992, and retired in July Jharkhand finished last in the list of 17 major 1995. He was Lokayukta from July 3, 2001, to states. Among the North-Eastern states, July 2, 2006. Sikkim and among Union Territories Delhi has occupied the top spot.
7. Former Karnataka Lokayukta N. National Venkatachala passes away 1.DRDO test-fires BrahMos supersonic cruise N. Venkatachala, former judge of the Supreme missile Court and former Lokayukta of Karnataka, Defence Research and Development passes away. He was 89. Organization, DRDO, successfully test-fired a Mr. Venkatachala was known for bringing to land-attack version of BrahMos supersonic light the existence of Karnataka‘s autonomous cruise missile off the coast of Odisha from the anti-corruption wing as the Lokayukta by Integrated Test Range in Chandipur. conducting raids on public servants and The missile, with a strike range of 290km, can disclosing their names and particulars of be fired from land as well as sea-based seized assets, besides allowing the media to platforms.It has been fitted with increased show video footage of his raids on public indigenous equipment and is a version used by institutions such as hospitals on complaints the Army. related to poor public service. On 11 March, 2017, the first extended version Born on July 3, 1930, at Mittur village in of the missile was successfully tested. It had a Mulbagal taluk of Kolar district in a farming strike range of 450 kilometres. family, he obtained his B.Sc. degree and B.L. degree from Mysore University. He enrolled as 2.KS Dhatwalia appointed PIB's Principal DG an advocate in the then High Court of Mysore Senior Indian Information Service officer, KS (now Karnataka) on November 16, 1955, and Dhatwalia, has been appointed as the Principal practiced law in the High Court and its Director General of Press Information Bureau. subordinate courts at Bengaluru in civil, Mr. Dhatwalia, who will succeed Sitanshu criminal and constitutional matters. Kar, will be the 28th Principal Spokesperson He was a part-time Reader in Mercantile Law of the government. He will continue to hold from 1958 to 1970 besides being a Legal the additional charge of Director General, Adviser to the University of Agricultural Indian Institute of Mass Communication.KS Sciences, Hebbal, from 1963 to 1973 and to Dhatwalia has worked in key positions in Bangalore University from 1970 to 1973. He various Media Units of the Ministry of was the High Court‘s government pleader Information and Broadcasting. from 1968 to 1973 and High Court‘s
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Principal Director General, News Services Pune, received the award at a programme held Division of All India Radio, Ira Joshi has been at the M P Birla Planetarium. given additional charge of Publications Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awardee dwelt on Division. open questions about the Universe, which have Satyendra Prakash, Director General, Bureau not yet been fully resolved. of Outreach and Communication, has been Padmanabhan, a visiting faculty to several given additional charge of Press Registrar, institutes in the US and the UK, has RNI. contributed to the fields of general relativity, gravitation and cosmology, it said. 3.Rajnath Singh launches website of DefEXpo The M P Birla Memorial Award comprises a Defense Minister Rajnath Singh launched the citation, trophy and a cheque for Rs 2,51,000. website of 11th edition of DefEXpo, to be held The award was introduced in 1993 in in Lucknow from 5th to 8th February next recognition to the excellence in research in year. The Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Science and website, www.defexpo.gov.in provides online related areas. services to exhibitors, besides hosting informative content about the product profile 6.NITI Aayog's Education Index of Defence Public Sector Undertakings and Government Niti Aayog's School Education Ordnance Factories. Quality Index (SEQI) released showed a huge The website enables exhibitors to register and disparity in the performance of the States in book space online as per their requirements on school education across the country. Kerala first-come-first-serve basis, make online bagged the top spot with 76.6 per cent and payments, book conference halls and venues while Uttar Pradesh with 36.4 per cent scored for Business-to-Business meetings. Exhibitors the lowest for 2016-17. can avail early bird discounts by booking Among the small States, Manipur (68.8 per space on the website before 31st of next cent) emerged as the top performer while month. Arunachal Pradesh (24.6 per cent) came last in the category. 4.Veteran actor Viju Khote passes away The index was developed to evaluate the Veteran actor Viju Khote, passed away in performance of States and Union Territories Mumbai. He was 78. He had acted in more (UTs) in the school education sector. than 300 Hindi and Marathi films. He gained Rajasthan bagged the second position among fame for his character Kaliya in the the large States with 72 per cent, followed by blockbuster film Sholay. Khote was popular Karnataka with 70 per cent and Andhra for his comedy roles in many films including Pradesh-69 per cent respectively. Andaz Apna Apna, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. The overall performance of the States was His role in TV serial Jaban Sambhal Ke also measured using two parameters- outcomes and gained popularity. governance process aiding outcomes. Scores of the outcomes category were 5.Scientist Thanu Padmanabhan gets M P Birla primarily driven by learning outcomes. On the Memorial Award other hand, governance process aiding Noted physicist Thanu Padmanabhan on outcomes category included indicators such as Sunday received the M P Birla Memorial student and teacher attendance system, Award 2019 for his contributions to the world transparency in teacher recruitment to name a of cosmology. few. Padmanabhan, a professor of Inter-university Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs The data for the index was collected for three A quarter of 5-9 and 10-19 year-olds were thin categories: large states, small states and Union for their age, one in five children 5-9 years‘ Territories (UTs). old were stunted. A total of 1.12 lakh children Among Union Territories, Chandigarh (82.9 and adolescents (0-19 years) were surveyed for per cent) stood at the top position while height and weight measurements and 51,029 Lakshadweep ranked lowest (31.9 per cent). children (1-19 years) for biological samples. The objective of the index is to bring an outcomes focus to education policy by 8.MNRE to organize Global Student providing States and UTs with a platform to Solar process identify their strengths and weaknesses and The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy undertake requisite course corrections and (MNRE) in association with IIT Bombay, is policy interventions organizing the Global Student Solar Assembly Meanwhile, West Bengal did not participate in on October 2, 2019. The day-long event the Niti Aayog exercise. scheduled at Indira Gandhi Stadium Complex, New Delhi will see participation of over 7.National Nutrition Survey 10,000 students from across the institutions Nearly 10% of children in the age group of 5-9 from National Capital Region and Delhi. years and adolescents in the age group of 10- Students will be accompanied by their trainers 19 years are pre-diabetic, 5% are overweight who would provide them hands-on training on and another 5% suffer from blood pressure. how to assemble their own solar study lamps. These are among the key findings of the first- This being done to commemorate 150th birth ever national nutrition survey conducted by the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and to Centre, providing for the first time hard promote the Gandhian idea of sustainable evidence of the coexistence of obesity and living. under nutrition, among school going children. The Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey 9.Trade apprentices to get minimum monthly conducted by the Ministry of Health and stipend Family Welfare and UNICEF between Minimum stipend will be on qualification February 2016 and October 2018 is the first based and range from five thousand to nine study undertaken to measure malnutrition, thousand rupees per month from now onwards, including micronutrient deficiencies through employers having four or more workers are biochemical measures such as blood and urine eligible to engage apprentices said by Minister samples, anthropometric data as well as details of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship of non-communicable diseases such as Mahendra Nath Pandey. diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol and kidney function in children and adolescents. 10.Arogya Manthan event being organized in The National Family Health Survey (NFHS), New Delhi however, collects anthropometric data (weight Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will for age, height for age, weight for height, mid- preside over the valedictory function of upper arm circumference) to measure Arogya Manthan at Vigyan Bhawan. Arogya prevalence of stunting, wasting and Manthan is a two-day event organized by the underweight and household dietary intake to National Health Authority, to mark the measure deficiencies. completion of one year of Ayushman Bharat Moreover, these are collected for children in PM-JAY. the age group of 1-5 years and adults, but not A new mobile application of Ayushman for school going children between the age of 5 Bharat will be launched by the Prime Minister and 19 years. at the venue. He will also launch the
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs ‗Ayushman Bharat Start-Up Grand Challenge‘ The Delhi leg of the Parv will continue till 6th and will release a commemorative stamp on October. This year's event is dedicated to the occasion. 150th birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Prime Minister will interact with select The government is developing 17 tourist sites beneficiaries of Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY. into world-class destinations to attract more He will visit the exhibition on PM-JAY which tourists. Foreign tourist arrivals in the country will showcase the journey of the scheme over have risen and 1.05 crore tourists are coming the past one year. to India every year. The purpose of the Arogya Manthan is to On the occasion, the ministers also inaugurated provide a platform to meet for all the an interactive digital exhibition on - Swachh important stakeholders of PM-JAY to meet Bharat, Sashkat Bharat, Bapu Ke Sapno Ka and discuss the challenges faced in the Bharat. It has been organized by the Bureau of implementation of the scheme in the past year Outreach Communication, Ministry of and to forge new understanding and pathways Information and Broadcasting. towards improving implementation. The key recommendations of Arogya Manthan will be 13.President Kovind to confer Vayoshreshtha presented on the occasion. Samman-2019 Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY was launched by President Ram Nath Kovind will confer the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September Vayoshreshtha Samman-2019 on the eminent 23rd, 2018. senior citizens and institutions in recognition of their services towards the cause of the 11.NBCC inks MOU with Ministry of Youth elderly persons. The award will be given a Affairs and Sports function in New Delhi. NBCC (National Buildings Construction The Vayoshreshtha Samman is a Scheme of Corporation Ltd) has signed a memorandum of awards instituted by the Social Justice and understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Empowerment Ministry and gradually Youth Affairs and Sports to provide project upgraded to the status of National Awards for management consultancy for development of institutions involved in rendering distinguished National Sports University at Imphal, service for the cause of elderly persons. These Manipur. awards are presented as part of the celebration The approximate cost of project would be Rs of the International Day of Older Persons on 400 crore. 1st October. The awards are intended to show-case the 12.„Paryatan Parv 2019‟ to promote tourism government's concern for senior citizens and The nationwide Paryatan Parv, 2019 kicked off its commitment towards them with the aim of to promote tourism in the country. It will strengthening their legitimate place in the continue till 13th of October. The aim is to society. It is also intended to provide an propagate the message of Dekho Apna Desh to opportunity to the younger generation to encourage people to visit tourist destinations understand the contribution of the elderly in of the country and also spread the message of building of the society and the nation. The Tourism for All. recipients are drawn from diverse fields. The parv was jointly inaugurated by Information and Broadcasting Minister 14.Sachin Tendulkar gets most effective Prakash Javadekar, Petroleum Minister Swachhata Ambassador Award Dharmendra Pradhan and Tourism Minister Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar bagged the Prahalad Singh Patel at Rajpath lawns in New 'Most Effective Swachhata Ambassador' award Delhi. at India Today Group's fifth edition of the
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Safaigiri Awards for utilizing his popularity sustainable India of their dreams, using and fame to ensure India achieves its goal of a Gandhi‘s principles. Swachh Bharat. The winners of The Gandhian Challenge will Sachin Tendulkar has been promoting be awarded in New Delhi by NITI Aayog‘s cleanliness drives in India for almost 10 years. Atal Innovation Mission and UNICEF on the On September 18, 2011, during Support My occasion of Children‘s Day in November. The School telethon‘, Sachin Tendulkar helped contest – open for every child in India from 2 raise crores more than the target set for October to 20 October – also celebrates 70 creation of basic facilities in 140 government years of partnership between Government of schools across India, particularly toilets for girl India and UNICEF India to enable Every Right students. for Every Child. Revered as the 'god of cricket', Sachin The problem statement for the Gandhian Tendulkar was nominated by Prime Minister Challenge is: “Share your innovative Narendra Modi as one of India's swachhata solutions/ideas to create a futuristic and ambassadors‘ in 2014. After accepting his sustainable world of your dreams, following nomination, Tendulkar‘s first campaign was Gandhi's principles.” cleaning up a locality near his home in Ideas and solutions to the Gandhian Challenge Mumbai. may be expressed through broad categories: The former Indian cricketer had launched Art & Innovation (Letters, poems, painting, Mission-24‘, aimed at improving the quality of videos and photos, among others) and Science, life in Mumbai‘s M East ward which known to Technology & Innovation (Robotics, IoT, have ranked the lowest in human development sensors and 3D printers, among others) among the city‘s 24 wards in the Mumbai All applications must be submitted on the Human Development Report 2009. challenge page The project was taken up by two NGOs and on https://innovate.mygov.in/the-gandhian- the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, challenge/ , Government of India‘s citizen with an aim to improve basic amenities like engagement portal. All applications must have hospitals, schools, water and drainage systems. an ATL code. Children in schools without an Sachin Tendulkar's universal appeal across ATL can obtain the ATL code by visiting or age, gender and class set him apart from other calling the nearest ATL School. The list of ambassadors. With around 30 million nearest ATL schools in every district can also followers on Twitter and Facebook, he also be accessed on the challenge page mentioned wields tremendous influence on social media. above. Tendulkar was honored with Bharat Ratna in The most innovative, sustainable 2014, becoming the youngest recipient of the solutions/ideas will be showcased as a symbol highest civilian award in the country. of a larger movement by children taking root in every district of India. Children across India 15.AIM, NITI Aayog‟s Atal Tinkering Labs can access to more than 8000 Atal Tinkering and UNICEF India launches „The Labs across all districts to support their Gandhian Challenge‟ innovative ideas. On the 150th birth Anniversary of Mahatma In ATLs, students of class 6th to 12th acquire Gandhi, AIM, NITI Aayog‘s Atal Tinkering a problem-solving attitude; develop innovative Labs (ATL) and UNICEF India, including solutions leveraging technologies like 3D Generation Unlimited, have launched ‗The printers, robotics, miniaturized electronics, Gandhian Challenge‘. This innovation IOT and programming and DIY kits, with challenge provides a platform for every child support from teachers and mentors. across India to ideate innovative solutions for a About AIM:
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs AIM is the Government of India‘s flagship initiative to promote a culture of innovation 17.CBDT launches unique document and entrepreneurship in the country. AIM‘s identification number for taxpayers objective is to develop new programmes and Marching forward towards 'Digital India', the policies for fostering innovation in different Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) sectors of the economy, provide platform and implemented a computer-generated Document collaboration opportunities for different Identification Number (DIN) which will stakeholders create awareness and create an ensure greater transparency and accountability umbrella structure to oversee innovation in tax administration. ecosystem of the country. The DIN system, which becomes operative Six major initiatives of AIM: from 1 October 2019, will apply to all kind of Atal Tinkering Labs-Creating problem- communications from the income tax solving mindset across schools in India. department, whether it is related to assessment, Atal Incubation Centers-Fostering world appeals, investigation, penalty, and class start-ups and adding a new dimension rectification among other things. On the very to the incubator model. first day of implementation, about 17,500 Atal New India Challenges-Fostering communications have been generated with product innovations and aligning them to DIN. the needs of various sectors/ministries. This development would also help taxpayers Mentor India Campaign- A national detect fake notices and letters as the notice Mentor network in collaboration with would be verifiable on the department's e- public sector, corporates and institutions, filing portal. to support all the initiatives of the mission. Atal Community Innovation Center- To 18.Consumer affairs ministry launches App to stimulate community centric innovation register consumer grievances online and ideas in the unserved /underserved The government on Tuesday launched an App regions of the country including Tier 2 and that would help consumers register their Tier 3 cities. grievances online as well as give suggestions ARISE-To stimulate innovation and on consumer-related issues. research in the MSME industry. Consumer App, available for both IOS and 16.About UNICEF India and Generation Android users, can be downloaded free of cost Unlimited: from Play Store or Apple Store, was launched UNICEF, an integral part of the United by Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Nations, works with governments, Paswan. This can serve a one-stop solution for communities, civil society organizations, the consumer grievance redressal and complaints private sector, and other partners worldwide to filed on the app can be tracked by consumers advance children‘s rights, and is guided by the to know the progress. Convention on the Rights of the Child. It also has several consumer-centric features, Generation Unlimited is a new UNICEF-led besides having essential links that could be global partnership that aims to ensure that useful to consumers. Besides, the every young person age 10-24 is in some form knowledgebase available in the App would be of school, learning, training, self-employment, useful for consumers to get information about or age-appropriate employment by 2030. 42 different sectors, including consumer It aims to co-create and scale up proven durables, electronic products, e-commerce, solutions related to secondary age-education, banking, insurance, etc. The App is available skills for learning, employability and decent in both English and Hindi. work, and empowerment, with a focus on girls.
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs 19.Amit Shah to flag off Delhi-Katra Vande railway stations of the country. Jaipur scored Bharat Express highest 931.75 marks out of 1000. Survey was Home Minister Amit Shah will flag off the conducted on the basis of different parameters Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express. The including availability and cleanliness of toilets, flagging off function will be held at New Delhi waste management, drinking water and Railway Station. The high-speed train will sanitation management at different areas of bring down the travel time between Delhi and railway stations. Katra, the last station on way to the Vaishno To treat single use plastic, bottle crushing Devi temple, to eight hours from the current 12 machines have been planted at Jaipur Junction hours. and Gandhinagar Jaipur stations and NWR is The first commercial run of the train will be planning to plant such machines at some other on 5th of this month and booking of tickets is stations also. Under ranking of all 16 railway now open on the IRCTC website. The train zones also, NWR having headquarter at Jaipur will run on all days of the week except maintained top rank consecutively for second Tuesday. Just like first Vande Bharat Express, year with an average of 848.764. the railways have not applied the dynamic fare principle on this new train for Delhi to Katra. 22.Govt launches portal for monitoring coal The first Vande Bharat Express was stared supply to power plants between Delhi to Varanasi in February this Power Minister RK Singh and Coal, Mines year. and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi have jointly launched PRAKASH - 20.Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju flags off Fit Power Rail Koyla Availability through Supply India Plog run Harmony portal in New Delhi. Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju today The portal aims at bringing better coordination flagged off Fit India Plog run at Indira Gandhi for coal supplies among all stakeholders. This stadium in New Delhi to mark Gandhi Jayanti. is an important step in ensuring adequate Member of Parliament and Singer Manoj availability and optimum utilization of coal at Tiwari, Wrestler Bajrang Punia, Poet Ashok thermal power plants. The portal is designed to Chakradhar among others were present on the help in mapping and monitoring entire coal occasion. supply chain for power plants. Plogging is a concept brings together fitness and cleanliness as participants pick up plastic 23.India is now open defecation-free and other waste from the road while jogging. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called upon The run is being organized at over two people to eradicate single-use plastic from the thousand places all over the country including country by 2022 at a 'Swachh Bharat Diwas' 225 places in the national capital. programme in Ahmedabad on the 150th birth 21.Jaipur cleanest railway station in India anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi .Plastic is a Under Swachh Rail, Swacch Bharat major threat to environment and we have to cleanliness assessment 2019, Jaipur Junction achieve the goal to eradicate single-use plastic has top the tally among 720 stations covered from the country. all over the country. Jodhpur bagged second Mr Modi declared that India is now open place where sub urban station of Jaipur defecation-free (ODF). Prime Minister made Durgapura has been places third. the declaration by pressing the button of a AIR correspondent reports that seven stations remote, unveiling the map of India as open under NWR, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Durgapura, defection-free. India provided toilets to over Gandhinagar Jaipur, Suratgarh, Udaipur City 60 crore people in 60 months by building over and Ajmer found place in first 10 most clean
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs 11 crore toilets. Rural India has declared itself The renamed New Delhi-Ludhiana Intercity open defection-free. will ply from Delhi to Lohian Khas via holy The Centre plans to spend 3 lakh crore rupees city Sultanpur Lodhi. on the ambitious "Jal Jivan Mission" aimed at water conservation. He appealed people to join 27.Reserve Bank cuts repo rate by 25 basis hands to recharge water sources and recycle points water at the local level. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has slashed the policy repo rate under the liquidity 24.Rajasthan bans certain categories of pan adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points to masala 5.15 per cent from 5.40 per cent with The Rajasthan government on October 2 immediate effect. Consequently, the reverse announced a ban on paan masala containing repo rate under the LAF stands reduced to 4.90 magnesium carbonate, nicotine, tobacco, per cent, and the marginal standing facility mineral oil and flavoured ‗supari‘ in the state. (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 5.40 per cent. All such products will now be banned in the Announcing its fourth bi-monthly monetary State under the Food Safety Act. This is an policy statement in Mumbai, RBI has revised important decision taken to curb addiction the GDP outlook for 2019-20 to 6.1%, from among youth, Health Minister Raghu Sharma 6.9% in previous Monetary Policy committee said. meet. For 2020-21, RBI has revised the GDP Production, storage, distribution and sale of outlook to 7.2%. The Monetary Policy these products will not be allowed in the State. Committee (MPC) also decided to continue With this, Rajasthan has become the third with an accommodative stance as long as it is State after Maharashtra and Bihar to announce necessary to revive growth, while ensuring that such a move, according to a release here. inflation remains within the target. The objective is to achieve the medium-term 25.PM Modi releases commemorative Rs 150 target for Consumer Price Index (CPI) coins, on Mahatma Gandhi birth inflation of 4 per cent within a band of /- 2 per anniversary cent, while supporting growth. PM Modi releases commemorative Rs 150 The repo rate, at which it lends to the system, coins, on Mahatma Gandhi birth anniversary in has been brought down to help reduce Ahmedabad, Gujarat when he had reached borrowing costs for home and auto loans, Sabarmati riverfront for the ‗Swachh Bharat which are now directly linked to this Diwas‘ programme. benchmark. Reverse repo rate is the rate at which the RBI borrows money from 26.Sarbat Da Bhala Express' train flagged commercial banks within the country. off at New Delhi railway This is the fifth straight cut in rates by the Union Ministers Piyush Goyal, Harsh Vardhan Reserve Bank in its key rates in as much and Harsimrat Kaur Badal flagged off 'Sarbat policy reviews in 2019, and takes the total Da Bhala Express' train at New Delhi railway quantum of reductions to 1.35 per cent station. The renamed New Delhi-Ludhiana Intercity Express will ply from New Delhi to 28.MEITY launches Smart-board for effective Lohian Khas via holy city Sultanpur Lodhi. monitoring of the key programmes The request to rename the train was made by The ministry of electronics and IT (MEITY) Mrs Badal on the occasion of the 550th launched an Automated Real Time Parkash Purb. Performance Smart-board for effective monitoring and measurement of the key programmes of the government such as Digital
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs India, Aadhaar, Digital Payments etc. The eminence with administrative experience in a dashboard was launched by Ravi Shankar national-level institution. Prasad, minister for electronics and IT, communication and law and justice while 30.India gets its first-ever floating basketball celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of court in Mumbai Mahatma Gandhi. The NBA brought to India the first-ever The Smart-board is aimed to be a single Floating Basketball Court in the Arabian Sea window access for Centre, State or District near Bandra Worli Sea link, Mumbai. specific projects implemented by MeitY. It There were some sports enthusiasts enjoying will provide real-time, dynamic analytical the floating court and were accompanied by project monitoring for critical and high priority NBA legend Jason Williams. Programme of the ministry. "The smart-board NBA India on December 20, 2018, had will enhance analysis through data integration announced that the first-ever NBA game in the (using APIs/web services) by consolidating country would be organized in October in multiple data sources into one centralized, Mumbai. easy-to-access platform. This automated real- The NBA India Games 2019 will feature the time performance smart-board will promote Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers, who transparency and enhance ease of working," will play two pre-season games on October 4 and 5 at the Dome, NSCI, SVP Stadium here. 29.Cabinet approves Bill to set up „India‟s first‟ Sports University 31.Finance minister to inaugurate NeAC for The Delhi Cabinet approved a Bill to set up better taxpayer service ―India‘s first‖ Sports University in Delhi, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will which will offer graduation, post graduation inaugurate National e-Assessment Centre and doctorate degrees in cricket, football, and (NeAC) for better taxpayer service and hockey among other sports. promotion of ease of doing business in New Making the announcement, Chief Minister Delhi. Income Tax Department's NeAC, will Arvind Kejriwal said that the university will avoid face-to-face interaction between come up in 90 acres of land in Mundka and taxpayers and tax officials. NeAC is a step to there will also be sports schools. reduce taxpayer grievances in line with the The Delhi Sports University (DSU) is prime minister's vision of 'Digital India'. proposed to be set up as a State university and The new initiative shall impart greater it will have a full-fledged Delhi Sports School, efficiency, transparency and accountability in affiliated to the CBSE, for imparting education the assessment process. Under the new system, with emphasis on sports and to groom the taxpayers have received notices on their students for a career in sports. registered e-mails as well as on registered ‗The Delhi Sports University Bill‘ approved accounts on the web portal by the cabinet, grants the university the right to
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs The 50th International Film Festival of India, Judges of Himachal Pradesh High Court, IFFI 2019, will be held from November 20-28 Madras High Court, Advocate General Ashok in Goa. Over 200 best films from 76 countries, Sharma, DGP, S.R. Mardi, senior officers of 26 feature films and 15 non-feature films in the state government and other prominent the Indian Panorama section will be screened people were also present. at the film festival. This was announced by Information and 34.Central approves SEZ at West Jalefa in Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar in Sabroom subdivision of South Tripura New Delhi. Around 10 thousand people and The Central government has approved a film lovers are expected to participate in the proposal in principle to set up a Special Golden Jubilee edition of the festival. Economic Zone (SEZ) at West Jalefa in First, films with audio Deion will be screened Sabroom subdivision of South Tripura. for the visually impaired. As IFFI is Central Government made the approval during celebrating its Golden Jubilee edition, 12 the 92nd meeting of Board of Approval (BoA) prominent films in different languages that held in the Ministry of Commerce, have completed 50 years this year, will also be Government of India on 4th October at Udyog showcased. Bhawan, New Delhi. Mr Javadekar said Dadasaheb Phalke Award An estimated investment of setting up first- winner Amitabh Bachchan's outstanding ever SEZ would be around Rs. 1550 crore contribution to cinema will be honored and which will generate 12,000 jobs. celebrated through a package of his impactful Under the plan, rubber-based industrial units, and entertaining films. rubber thread, apparel making, bamboo and Indian Panorama is a flagship section of IFFI, food process units are proposed to be set up. showcases the best of contemporary Indian A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in Feature and non-feature films of the years. which the business and trade laws are different This year, the Feature Film Jury was headed from the rest of the country. SEZs are located by acclaimed filmmaker and screenwriter within a country's national borders, and their Priyadarshan. The Jury has chosen Gujarati aims include increased trade balance, film HELLARO directed by Abhishek Shah as employment, increased investment, job the Opening Feature Film of Indian Panorama, creation and effective administration. To 2019. The Non-Feature Jury was headed by encourage businesses to set up in the zone, well-known documentary Filmmaker Rajendra financial policies are introduced. These Janglay. The Jury selected the film -- Nooreh - policies typically encompass investing, - directed by Ashish Pandey as the Opening taxation, trading, quotas, customs and labour non-feature film of Indian Panorama. regulations. Additionally, companies may be offered tax holidays, where upon establishing 33.Justice Lingappa Narayana Swamy takes themselves in a zone, they are granted a period oath as Himachal Chief Justice of lower taxation. Justice Lingappa Narayana Swamy was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh 35.Ministry of Tourism launches Audio Guide High Court. facility App "Audio Odigos" He was administered the oath of office by On the second day of nationwide "Paryatan Governor Bandaru Dattatraya in a simple but Parv 2019" Shri Yogendra Tripathi , Secretary, impressive ceremony held at Raj Bhawan in Ministry of Tourism in the presence of DG, Shimla. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur was ASI Smt. Usha Sharma launched the Audio present on the occasion. Guide facility Audio Odigos for 12 sites of India(including Iconic Sites). A MoU for Gol
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Gumbad, Delhi with Government of Delhi and relevant content to the 50 crore entitled Resbird Technologies was also exchanged for beneficiaries. the development of Tourism Amenities during In addition, Google will also help provide the programme at Paryatan Parv New Delhi, training and support to NHA personnel to today. build on digital skills. The collaboration will Audio Odigos launched for the benefit of the seek to bolster PM-JAY's objective of reaching tourists. Audio guide odigo offers the poor and vulnerable, reducing their high Government of India verified content, with out-of-pocket health expenditure, and visuals & voice over support. With Audio improving access to quality healthcare. Odigos, tourists will now enjoy a more "Robust technology is the mainstay of PM- enriching experience and take back historical JAY. In various areas such as fraud prevention insights of the Indian culture and heritage. and detection, claim approvals, the use of The Audio Odigos app contains an inbuilt map technology can help reduce the turnaround of the site for a smooth navigation during the time and aiding faster closure of processes will tour. Listeners will be offered various versions enable the states to implement the scheme of history like Synopsis, Detailed History and more effectively. NHA's CEO Indu Bhushan Podcasts. The audio can be chosen in their said. preferred language & version of the history. The NHA is implementing the programme, Audio Odigos is now available for download hailed as the world's largest public funded on all Android and iOS supported mobile health insurance scheme aimed to bring quality phones. healthcare to around 50 crore poor and Audio Guide facility Audio Odigos can be vulnerable Indians across India. The mission used in 12 sites that includes Amer Fort, of NHA is to create the world's best health Rajasthan, Chandni Chowk, Red Fort, Purana assurance programme on an efficient and Quila, Humayun‘s tomb, Delhi, Fatehpur Sikri, technologically robust eco-system. Taj Mahal, Uttar Pradesh, Somnath and Dholavira, Gujarat, Khajuraho, Madhya 37.Indian Air Force to mark 87th anniversary pradesh, Mahabalipuram, Tamilnadu and Air Force Day is being celebrated on Oct 8th, Mahabodhi Temple, Bihar. This app is the marking 87th anniversary of Indian Air Force. outcome of the MoU signed with Resbird IAF is the fourth largest air force in the world Technologies last year under which they have after the US, China and Russia. developed the audio guide app as a part of The IAF has over 60 airbases all over India. their CSR. The Hindon Air Force Station of the Indian Air Force is the largest in Asia and 8th largest 36.NHA, Google tie up for Ayushman Bharat in the world. Its motto 'Nabha Sparsham implementation Deeptham' meaning 'Touch the sky with glory' The National Health Authority (NHA) has is taken from the eleventh chapter of the joined hands with Google to collaborate and Bhagavad Gita. strengthen the implementation of the During its 'Raahat' mission in Uttarakhand government's flagship health scheme, flash floods. IAF made a world record in Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya aviation by rescuing almost 20,000 civilians. Yojana (AB PM-JAY. The two organizations will be working closely 38.Govt launches Ganga Aamantran Abhiyan to explore various user cases for increasing Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat process efficiencies in day-to-day applications. launched a unique initiative called 'Ganga Google will also support NHA in improving Amantran' to connect with the stakeholders of PM-JAY's digital presence and showcasing the river. It is a pioneering exploratory open-
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs water rafting and kayaking expedition on the about increasing the divestment target from 90 Ganga River to begin on Oct 10th and will thousand crore rupees to 1.05 lakh crore rupees continue till 11th of next month. for the current fiscal year, focusing on consolidation of public sector undertakings The expedition will start at Devaprayag and and strategic disinvestment. culminate at Ganga Sagar covering the entire stretch of over 25,000 kilometers of the River. This is the first ever effort by National Mission 41.PMJAY, first year: 90,000 cancer claims, for Clean Ganga to raft across the entire stretch Tamil Nadu tops list of the river and also the longest ever social In its first year, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya campaign undertaken through an adventure Yojana (PMJAY), the tertiary care arm of sporting activity to spread the message of Ayushman Bharat, has funded the treatment of River Rejuvenation and Water Conservation 90,000 cancer patients through 1.8 lakh on a massive scale. hospital admissions. This is according to data available with the 39.HRD minister lays stone for IIM campus in Union Health Ministry, which also shows that Amritsar every year there are 11.57 lakh new cancer Union Human Resource Development patients in India and 7.84 lakh cancer deaths. Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank laid the At any given point, there are 22.5 lakh Indians foundation stone of the campus of the Indian living with cancer. Institute of Management in Amritsar's Tamil Nadu, with 40,056 cases, tops the state Manawala. where the most cancer patients availed The IIM campus would come upon 60,000 treatment under PMJAY, followed by Kerala square meters and have state-of-the-art (22,000), Madhya Pradesh (19,455), facilities in the library, academic block and Chhattisgarh (15,997) and Gujarat (14,380). hostels. The allocation of 350 crore rupees has The figures reflect not just cancer incidence in been sanctioned for the first phase of the these states but also the availability of construction while an additional amount of treatment facilities and how well PMJAY is 250 crore rupees would be allocated for the performing in these states. The cancer care project. claims under PMJAY show a steep rise over the past year. In September 2018 — the 40.Cabinet approves new strategic scheme was launched on the 23rd of that disinvestment process month — there were just 906 hospitalization The Cabinet has approved a new process of claims across the country for cancer. In strategic disinvestment with a view to September 2019, the figure was 87,382. expediting privatization of select PSUs. The National Health Authority (NHA) has so The Cabinet approved the new policy under far sanctioned Rs 321 crore for cancer care. Of which the Department of Investment and the total cancer packages claimed, 30,376 are Public Asset Management, DIPAM under the for cancer of the reproductive system such as Ministry of Finance has been made the nodal the cervix, ovary, testes etc. 28,506 breast department for the strategic stake sale. cancer packages have been claimed while DIPAM and NITI Aayog will now jointly PMJAY has funded treatment of 21,379 GI identify PSUs for strategic disinvestment. The cancer cases and 14,639 of blood and blood decision has been taken with a view to vessels. NHA officials say these figures are in streamlining and speeding up the process. line with cancer incidence in the country. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during The NHA is responsible for the the presentation of the Budget had announced implementation of PMJAY under which 10.74
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs crore families will be entitled to an annual his French counterpart Florence Parly at health cover of Rs 5 lakh per family. Until aircraft maker Dassault Aviation facility in now, of the intended 50 crore beneficiaries, Merignac, southwestern France. Mr Singh over 10 crore e-cards have been issued. performed Shastra Puja on the new aircraft and To address this, under Ayushman Bharat, at undertook a sortie in the Rafale. the health and wellness centres (HWC), Indian Air Force is the fourth-largest in the screening has started for three types of cancer world and the Rafale Combat Aircraft will – oral, cervical and breast. Until August 2019, make even stronger to ensure peace and of the 76 lakh screened for oral cavity cancer, security in the region and also it marks a new 10,218 people are being treated. More than 53 milestone in the Indo-French strategic lakh women were screened for breast cancer partnership and indeed a new high in the and around 9,700 women are on treatment. bilateral defence cooperation, Defence More than 37 lakh women have been screened Minister Mr Rajnath Singh said. for cervical cancer and around 10,000 are on India had ordered 36 Rafale fighter jets from treatment. France in a deal worth 59,000 crore rupees in September 2016. All 36 jets are expected to 42.India International Cooperative Trade Fair arrive in India by September 2022. to be held in New Delhi About Rafale A three-day India International Cooperative The Rafale is a twin-jet fighter aircraft able to Trade Fair will be held in New Delhi. The operate from both an aircraft carrier and a first-ever such fair is aimed at promoting shore base. It is describe as a fully versatile cooperative to cooperative trade within India aircraft which can carry out all combat and abroad leading to enhanced rural and farm aviation missions to achieve air superiority and prosperity. air defence, close air support, in-depth strikes, Representatives from over 150 cooperative reconnaissance, anti-ship strikes and nuclear societies and 35 countries including, Australia, deterrence. Japan, China, Brazil, US, UK, Germany and The Rafale entered service with the French Iran are going to participate in the fair. He Navy in 2004. The Rafale jets intended for said, the event will offer a huge opportunity India are expected to come with certain for the industry and business houses from bespoke modifications for the IAF and have India and abroad to build an alliance, business been awaited as a crucial enhancement to networking, product sourcing and interact with India‘s Medium Multi-role Combat Aircraft primary producers of a wide range of products fleet. and service providers, Agriculture Minister The first Rafale jet will come with tail number Narendra Singh Tomar said. RB 001, with RB denoting the initials of Air This will be India's first and the largest Chief Marshal Rakesh Bhadauria who played a international cooperatives trade fair promising key role in striking the deal for the jets in his to usher in a new era of cooperative previous role as IAF deputy chief. excellence. The fair is expected to evolve a conducive environment for co-operative trade 44.Govt launches disaster warning device in the global arena. The government launched a device that will help provide information related to disaster 43.First set Rafale aircrafts delivered warnings when fishermen move away from the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh formally took coast beyond 10 to 12 kilometers. delivery of the first of the 36 French-made aircraft acquired by the IAF. Mr Singh 45.Gagan Enabled Mariner‟s Instrument for attended the handover ceremony along with Navigation and Information (GEMINI)
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs device will disseminate seamless and effective Mission being steered by the Ministry of emergency information and communication on Health. They will lose a substantial 20 per cent disaster warnings, Potential Fishing Zones, chunk of the funding from the Centre, over PFZ, and the Ocean States Forecasts to $440 crore, that had been tied to certain fishermen. conditions. Satellite-based communication is suitable to According to Health System Strengthening the dissemination of such emergency Conditionality report Bihar, Uttarakhand, West information. He said affordable satellite-based Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram are communication system should be made part of worst performers among the bigger States to the dissemination chain to deal with cyclones, have suffered the most penalties. Dadra and high waves and tsunamis, Science and Nagar Haveli, Haryana, Assam, Kerala and Technology Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said Punjab are top five states performed well. on the occasion, the Minister also inaugurated Parameters are: PFZ forecasts which will provide advisories to Upgrading district hospitals fishermen three days in advance. Running of primary health centers He stated that PFZ advisories have become Screening for non-communicable diseases part of the value chain of the fishing (NCDs) among people over 30 years community. Over six lakh fishermen are Availability of mental health services regularly accessing advisories directly through Digitizing human resources (HR) their mobiles to avoid wasting time for 80 per cent of the resource envelope earmarked searching shoals of fish. for the State would be certainly available, 20 per cent would depend on the State‘s 46.Innovation learning programme DHRUV performance on agreed conditionality‘s. The The ambitious Pradhan Mantri Innovation States which do not fulfil the criteria could lose Learning Programme, DHRUV, will kick start th up to 20 per cent of funding under the NHM. from Oct 10 from ISRO in Bengaluru and For example, of the 20 per cent incentive pool conclude on 24th of this month at IIT, Delhi. of Rs.246.61 crore that Bihar was supposed to Sixty brightest and talented students from receive, a penalty of Rs.155.75 crore will be Science, Mathematics and Performing Arts deducted, and only Rs90.87 crore will be have been chosen for the programme. released. In case of Delhi, while 20 per cent of It aims to further sharpen innovative the NHM fund accounts for Rs.28.44 crore, up imagination, skills and knowledge of the to Rs.7.48 crore will be deducted and Rs.20.96 students who are expected to contribute to crore will be available for release. bringing solutions to socio-economic, political The incentive for screening 30-plus population and environmental issues in the country. for NCDs was earned by 23 States. This After getting training, the students can includes 11 which were able to screen more contribute to making the vision of a 5-trillion than 15 per cent of the 30-plus population, and dollar economy a reality and also provide a therefore, earned full points. Seven have neither solution to climate change, Human Resource earned any incentive nor penalty against the set Development Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal indicator. Tamil Nadu has reported 100 per cent Nishank said. screening of 30-plus population, followed by Goa at 68 per cent and Daman & Diu at 57 per 47.14 States to pay penalty for not meeting cent, while the lowest was reported by Bihar National Health Mission norms and Madhya Pradesh (1 per cent). Nil Up to 14 States will pay dearly for not achievement was reported by Delhi and upgrading their health infrastructure in line Lakshadweep Islands. with the demands of the National Health
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs 48.Second Informal Summit between PM Modi, The two-year Fellowship programme will be Chinese Prez Xi Jinping to be held in delivered by IIMB‘s Centre of Public Policy Tamilnadu (CPP), an independent public interest-oriented Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu is location for policy think-tank engaged in research, second informal meeting between Prime teaching, training, and capacity-building. Minister Narendra Modi and China‘s President The programme will be launched on a pilot Xi Jinpin. After the success of first informal basis in Gujarat, Karnataka, Meghalaya, meeting between the two leaders in Wuhan in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. April 2018, this meet has raised the Those who have a graduate degree from a expectations of exploring new possibilities. recognized university and are citizens of India The old seaport town of Mahabalipuram, now in the age group of 21-30 years will be eligible known as Mamallapuram, is a UNESCO to apply for it. World Heritage site and the meeting between The launch of Mahatma Gandhi National the two leaders can open the doors for Fellowship Programme (MGNF) is in line with exploring the historical and cultural connection one of the objectives of bringing about between Mamallapuram and China. convergence of efforts of various governments Mamallapuram, a major sea port, was used to and programmes right at the district level establish trade links with South-East Asian The Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship countries, including China around 6th century. programme is aimed to identify and train a According to historians, Chinese used to visit group of young, committed and dynamic this place a long time ago for trade and individuals, who will leverage the IIMB pilgrimage. It is expected that the visit will ecosystem in management, entrepreneurship make these ancient cultural connections strong and public policy and work with the district and will help in increasing the people to administration in strengthening the process of people contact which has largely remained skilling to create a vibrant local district unexplored between two big Asian neighbors. economy Trade and tourism between Mamallapuram and China are expected to get a big fillip. 50.President Kovind presents prestigious Wuhan summit in 2018 opened the doors for Colours to Army Aviation Corps high level engagements at an informal level, a President Ram Nath Kovind today presented format in which the two leaders can engage in the prestigious President's Colours to the Army discussions on varying subjects. It remains to Aviation Corps in Nashik. Maharashtra be seen how Mamallapuram summit can move Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, Chief of beyond managing the differences to actively Army Staff General Bipin Rawat and other shaping and cementing bilateral relations for senior officers of Army, Navy and Air Force the world to see. were present on the occasion. The ceremony also saw march past by the soldiers of the 49.Govt collaborates with IIM Bangalore to Army Aviation Corps and fly past which launch Mahatma Gandhi National enthralled the audience. Fellowship About President's colors: The award of The Ministry of Skill Development and President's colors/standard is one of the Entrepreneurship (MSDE) announced its greatest honors bestowed upon an Air Force partnership with indian institute of Unit or Squadron in recognition of exceptional management (IIM) Bangalore to launch a new service rendered by it to the nation, both programe ‗Mahatma Gandhi National during war and in peace. Fellowship‘
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs 51.Govt launches Surakshit Matritva personalities for their contribution to the Aashwasan, SUMAN handmade-carpet industry. Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan along with several State 53.RBI gives final nod to Kerala govt for Health Ministers today launched Surakshit formation of Kerala Bank Matritva Aashwasan, SUMAN, initiative in The Reserve Bank of India has given its final New Delhi. The initiative was launched during nod to the Kerala Government for the the 13th Conference of Central Council of formation of the Kerala Bank. With its Health and Family Welfare. formation, the proposed Kerala Bank will be The initiative aims at assuring dignified, the largest banking network in the state. respectful and quality health care at no cost The Kerala Bank would be formed and zero tolerance for denial of services for amalgamating the District Co-operative Banks every woman and newborn visiting the public (DCBs) with Kerala State Co-operative Bank. health facility in order to end all preventable The final nod by the RBI was subjected to maternal and newborn deaths. It also provides some conditions. a positive birth experience to both mother and The government had claimed that the objective infant. of the formation of the Kerala Bank was to The target is to reduce the maternal mortality strengthen the cooperative sector, while the and child mortality. Opposition had alleged that it would destroy As per survey conducted in the recent past, the the traditional cooperative sector. number of cases of blindness in the country has decreased from 0.68 per cent to 0.38 per 54.National Diabetes and Diabetic Retinopathy cent. Survey, 2019 52.38th India Carpet Expo One in eight persons above 50 years in India is As many as 400 importers from 50 countries a diabetic; One in every 46 diabetics is blind; will participate in the 38th India Carpet Expo and one in seven has some form of impairment slated to begin at Sampurnanand Sanskrit in their vision due to high blood sugar levels, University ground, Varanasi. Union textile according to a diabetes and diabetic secretary Ravi Kapoor will inaugurate the retinopathy survey by the All India Institute exposition. of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in collaboration The Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India is organizing the mega expo from carried out between 2015 to 2019. October 11 to 15, to showcase a number of Of 56,771 persons over 50 years of age varieties of carpets, under the aegis of the assessed in 21 districts, up to 11.8 per cent Union Government. (6,717) were found to be diabetic. The highest India has 35 percent share in the global carpet prevalence of diabetes (over 20 per cent) was export and working towards increasing it to observed in Thrissur, Kerala (29.4 per cent), 50% in the near future. North Goa (24.7 per cent), Kapurthala in India exports carpets worth Rs 12,500 crore Punjab (22 per cent) and Virudhunagar in annually. In the next five years, the CEPC has Tamilnadu (21.2 per cent). set itself the target of doubling that figure. Of the total diabetic population of 6,717 The council has instituted an Export persons, 144 persons were blind and 923 Excellence Award for the year 2018-19 to be persons were visually impaired. ―Prevalence of given on October 11, 2019, under five blindness among diabetics was 2.1 per cent categories and will also present Lifetime and visual impairment 13.7 per cent,‖ states Achievement Awards to prominent the report.
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs In all the diabetics, 16.9 per cent had diabetic To acknowledge the unsung heroes of the retinopathy or damage to retina, 7 per cent had POSHAN Abhiyaan, who work tirelessly and diabetic maculopathy or damage to macula, a selflessly for the cause of nutrition like the part of the eye which provides central vision Anganwadi and ASHA workers, a system of and 3.6 per cent had sight-threatening diabetic ranking of states on health and nutritional retinopathy, the report estimated. Globally, parameters may be developed and for this, the diabetic retinopathy is responsible for 1.06 per NITI Aayog may develop a framework for the cent of blindness and 1.16 per cent of visual states to rank districts. impairment, according to 2015 estimates. According to the report placed by WCD The reason for diabetes leading to blindness ministry of the POSHAN Maah observed in and visual impairment was linked to poor September, 22 lakh programmes were held and blood sugar control among patients. While 3.66 crore activities were organised in most of patients surveyed (85.7 per cent) were different parts of the country. Village Health, on oral tablets for diabetic management, only Sanitation and Nutrition Day (VHSND) 39.5 per cent of known diabetics had programmes were also organised in 7.86 lakh controlled their random blood glucose to less places. than 200 mg per dL. The Women and Child Development Ministry Minister: Smriti Irani. 55.Poor awareness Up to 60.5 per cent had poor control of sugar. 57.Health Minister gives Kayakalp Awards to And a majority of the diabetics had never hospitals sought an eye check-up. ―Poor awareness Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan gave regarding the health, 90 per cent of known away Kayakalp Awards to different Central diabetics had never gone for fundus evaluation Government institutions, district hospitals, for diabetic retinopathy,‖ states the report. community health centres and private hospitals In India, there are an estimated 7.296 crore for their work in maintaining high standards of cases of diabetes in adults. While urban sanitation and hygiene in public health prevalence is between 10.9 to 14.2 per cent, facilities. rural prevalence is between 3 to 7.8 per cent In the Central Government institutions, All among population which is over 20 years and India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi there is much higher prevalence in population bagged a cash prize of three crore rupees, over 50 years. while Jawaharlal Institute of Post-graduate Medical Education & Research, Puducherry 56.WCD to develop Poshan-atlas received a cash award of 1.5 crore rupees. The Women and Child Development Ministry Besides, Post-Graduate Institute of Medical would develop a 'Poshan-atlas' to map crops Education & Research, Chandigarh and and food grains grown in different regions of Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi and AIIMS, the country in a bid to tackle malnutrition by Bhubaneswar was among others which were promoting regional cropping patterns and felicitated for maintaining sanitation and embracing local food that are rich in protein hygiene. The ministry, along with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Deendayal Research 58.Eminent Saxophone master Kadri Institute, is developing the Poshan atlas. Gopalnath passes away It was also decided in the meeting that a Padma Shri awardee and well known national advisory panel for agri-nutrition will Saxophonist Kadri Gopalnath passed away in be set up. Mangaluru after a brief illness. He was 69. He is survived by his wife and music director son
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Manikanth Kadri. His funeral rites will be held run banks and a liquidity squeeze that has hit this evening in Mangaluru. shadow lenders. An A grade artist in Akashwani, Gopalnath Panel not only will they review the held concerts in different countries and regulations, but suggest ways to strengthen recorded a number of CDs. He was considered them. If the committee suggests amendments as a pioneer in playing Carnatic ragas on his to any acts that govern such co-operative Saxophone. Together with jazz flautist James banks, those amendments can be made in the Newton, Gopalnath recorded Southern upcoming winter session of the Parliament. Brothers. His production East-West is a fusion This will help in streamlining the regulations, of western and Indian music. Film Director K if needed, and can also strengthen the Balachander used Kadri Gopalnath saxophone regulator. for his Tamil film which has music composed by A R Rahman. 60.New species of fish discovered in a well in Apart from Padma Shree, Gopalnath was Kozhikode conferred with Sangeetha Nataka Academy A research team led by the Kerala University Award, Karnataka Kalasri award among of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (Kufos) has others. discovered a new species of miniature well- dwelling subterranean fish from Kozhikode. 59.Panel to review regulations of multi-state co- The new species which has been operative banks named Pangio bhujia is the first species of Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on eel-loach in the world that has been discovered announced the formation of a high-level to be living in subterranean environments. Eel- committee to look into regulations that govern loaches are generally found in fast flowing multi-state co-operative banks, such as the streams in South and South East Asia. Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank A team comprising scientists from Kufos, (PMC). She also assured the bank‘s account IISER (Pune), Malabar Awareness and Rescue holders that she will speak to the Reserve Centre for Wildlife (MARC), Kannur and Bank of India (RBI) to examine if customers Natural History Museum, NHM (London) can withdraw more money. discovered this fish living in a six-meter-deep The RBI imposed banking restrictions on PMC homestead well used for drinking and bank in September, leaving thousands of irrigation, as well as from a channel account holders clueless about the fate of their connecting a pond to an adjacent paddy field money. in the village of Cherinjal in Kozhikode in The high-level committee will comprise two April. Subsequent studies on its anatomy and secretary-level officers from the economic genetic structure revealed that this fish affairs and banking departments of the finance represents a never-before known species of ministry, with a deputy governor-level eel-loach. representative from RBI, to review banking The new species has several unique characters regulations for multi-state cooperative banks. including the absence of dorsal fin, which has The PMC Bank is facing a crisis after an never been encountered in the genus Pangio to alleged Rs. 4,500-crore fraud came to light last which this new species belongs to, and is also month. unique among the order Cypriniformes and The PMC case has sparked renewed concerns highly unusual even among teleost or bony about India‘s banking sector, which has been fishes generally. rocked by a multi-billion dollar fraud at a state-run lender, the collapse of a major 61.SARAS Aajeevika Mela launched infrastructure lender, bad loan issues at state-
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs The SARAS Aajeevika Mela, organised by the registered on GeM. This will help MSMEs Ministry of Rural Development, is underway access easy credit and do better business with at India Gate Lawns in New Delhi. It will be Government Departments. formally inaugurated by Rural Development About GeM : It is an initiative of the Government Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. of India offering one stop platform The objective of this Mela to bring the rural facilitating online procurement of common use women Self Help Groups formed with support goods and services required by various of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National government departments, organizations, Public Rural Livelihoods Mission, under one platform Sector Units. GeM provides tools for Direct to show-case their skills, sell their products Purchase, bidding and reverse auction in a and help them build linkages with bulk transparent manner for government departments. buyers. Over 200 stalls have been set-up at the Mela 63.India Ratings lowers its FY20 GDP growth venue, where rural SHG craftswomen from 29 forecast to 6.1 pc States and UTs will show-case varied range of India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) on products like handicrafts, handlooms, natural revised its forecast of India's gross domestic food products and a food court with regional product (GDP) growth in current financial year cuisines. downward to 6.1 per cent following the Central Statistical Organization (CSO) 62.GeM signs MoU with Union Bank of India estimating Q1 growth to be 5 per cent, much Government e-Marketplace (GeM) signed a lower than Ind-Ra's estimate of 5.7 per cent. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with This is Ind-Ra's second downward revision. Union Bank of India (UBI) in New Delhi on The agency revised its GDP growth estimate to October 10, 2019. Through this partnership, 6.7 per cent from its earlier forecast of 7.3 per UBI will be able to offer an array of services cent as recently as in August. including transfer of funds through GeM Pool Although Ind-Ra had cited a slowdown in both Accounts (GPA), advising of Performance urban and rural consumption demand growth Bank Guarantees (e-PBG) and Earnest Money as one of the key reasons for the downward Deposit (EMD) to the registered users on the revision of the GDP in its August 2019 GeM portal. forecast, the CSO's first-quarter estimate The MoU will facilitate a cashless, paperless shows that the slowdown has been much and transparent payment system on the portal sharper than Ind-Ra's expectation. and will create an efficient procurement It crumbled to 3.1 per cent in Q1 FY20 as system for government entities. compared to 7.2 per cent a quarter ago and 7.3 The MOU was signed by S. Suresh Kumar, per cent a year ago. The GDP growth in H1 Addl. CEO, GeM and S. K. Mohapatra, Field FY20 is likely to be 5.2 per cent. Ind-Ra General Manager, Delhi, UBI in the presence expects it to recover to 6.9 per cent in H2 of Talleen Kumar, CEO, GeM and Ram FY20, mainly on account of the base effect. Kumar Jaglan, Head, Government Business The slowdown in consumption demand is Department, UBI. reflected in the Reserve Bank of India's Online integration for payments and various consumer confidence index as well which banking services is one of the priorities for declined to 89.4 in September 2019 (July GeM. GeM has already signed MoU with 14 2019: 95.7). Public Sector and private banks to enable this. The other key indicators that have worsened GeM is also working with others banks, lately are aggregate capacity utilisation TReDs, and SIDBI to provide invoice declining to 73.6 per cent, banking credit to financing and Bill Discounting to the MSMEs commercial sector turning negative at Rs 1.28
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs lakh crore and non-banking credit to presence indicates the health of the riverine commercial sector falling to Rs 2.19 lakh ecosystem. crore. The animal is known to make strange sounds when it breathes, earning it the sobriquet 64.Annual Ganges river dolphin census 'Susu'. ―Being a mammal, it has to come to the The annual Ganges river dolphin census, surface to breathe. It is also called a blind undertaken by World Wide Fund for Nature- dolphin because it doesn‘t have a crystalline India in collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh eye lens and uses echolocation to navigate and Forest Department along about 250-km-long hunt. It is crucial to find prey in the murky riverine stretch of Upper Ganga between waters of the Ganga. Like bats, they produce Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary and Narora high-frequency sounds which help them ‗see‘ Ramsar site began in Bijnor on Wednesday. objects when the sound waves bounce off Unlike previous years, when direct counting them. method was used, this year the tandem boat survey method is being used. 65.Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti The method developed by the renowned river inaugurates SARAS Aajeevika Mela and marine ecologist Gill Braulik, provides a Minister of State for Rural Development, more accurate count of the endangered species. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti inaugurated SARAS Here the officials use two inflated boats which Aajeevika Mela, at India Gate Lawns in New move in tandem to count the dolphins. After Delhi. The fair will run till 23rd of this month. collating the data, statistical tools are SARAS Aajeevika Mela is a testimony of employed to arrive at the final count. In this Nari-Shakti, as lakhs of poor women through process, announcement of the number of rural women Self Help Groups, SHG, are sightings will not be done on a daily basis.‖ transforming their lives and transforming rural Ms. Braulik, who is known for her work on India. 200 stalls have been set-up by nearly Indus river dolphins, is also participating in the 500 rural SHG craftswomen from 29 States census. and Union Territories. This year the upstream of Bijnor Ganga The objective of this Mela is to bring the rural barrage up to Balawali has also been included. women Self Help Groups formed with support It has added around 30 km to the area being of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National covered by the census which will conclude on Rural Livelihoods Mission, under one platform October 15. to showcase their skills, sell their products and WWF-India, said that last year the count was help them build linkages with bulk buyers. 33, including three calves. Starting from 22 in 2015, the number has been stable in the last 66.Chandi Prasad Bhatt to get Indira Gandhi few years. award for national integration The dumping of single-use plastic, industrial The 31st Indira Gandhi Award for National pollution, fishing and dredging as some of the Integration for the years 2017 and 2018 will be threats to dolphins in the region. The increase awarded to the pioneer of the Chipko in the number of barrages and dams is also Movement Chandi Prasad Bhatt for his affecting their growth as such structures services in promoting and preserving the impede the flow of water. national integration. From mythological significance to a tourist The award consists of a citation and cash of Rs attraction, the mammal is at the top of the 10 lakh to be given to the awardee by riverine ecosystem. It is among the four Congress president Sonia Gandhi on October ‗obligate‘ freshwater dolphins in the world. Its 31, the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs The 85-year-old Bhatt is an eminent Gandhian The aim of the event was to interact with environmentalist and was associated with the attending officers to help them understand the Chipko Movement in Uttarakhand. He has preparation for Census 2021, eliminate any been awarded for his continuous efforts for the doubts regarding the same and have an upliftment of poor and downtrodden people of interactive session on suggestions for all communities in the last six decades. improvement, the statement said. The Indian National Congress had proposed Training of national trainers is to start from the national integration award in its centenary October 14, 2019 and senior state officials year to give recognition to outstanding have been informed about the schedule of the contributions to this cause by an individual or training. an institution. The nationwide exercise will be carried out in Bhatt is a Ramon Magsaysay award recipient 16 languages and at a cost of Rs.12,000 crore. for the year 1982. He was also awarded Padma Shri in 1986, the Padma Bhushan in 2005 and 68.Sangam Youth Festival organized by Indian the Gandhi Peace prize in 2013. Army His published works include Pratikar Ke Over 1,500 students from 32 different colleges Ankur (Hindi), Adhure Gyan Aur Kalpanik and university participated in the ‗Sangam Vishwas Par Himalaya Se Cherkhani Ghatak Youth Festival‘ being organized by the Indian (Hindi), Future of Large Projects in the Army in collaboration with Jammu University Himalaya, Eco-system of Central Himalaya Campus organized from October 11 to October and Chipko Experience. 15 in a bid to spread the message of peace, prosperity, communal harmony and national 67.2021 census to be conducted through mobile integration. phone app During this festival, several events are being The all India conference of state coordinators organized so the students can showcase their and directors of Census Operations and talents and skills .Total number of 35 events, updation of National Population Register including outdoor and indoor activities, has (NPR), discussed the preparation for Census been planned. 2021 and how to eliminate doubts, if any, Students also showcased their performances in about the gigantic exercise. sports, cultural and fine arts performances. The 2021 census will be conducted through a Traditional folk dance and a display by the mobile phone application, moving away from military band were also performed in a the traditional pen and paper. patriotic fervor. The census will have its reference date as 69.9th edition of „Rashtriya Sanskriti March 1, 2021, but for snow-bound Jammu Mahotsav‟ inaugurated in Tehri, and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand Uttarakhand it will be October 1, 2020. Ministry of Culture has organized 3 day long Along with different aspects of the census, diversified cultural festival ‗Rashtriya discussion was held on updation of National Sanskriti Mahotsav‘ festival which was Population Register (NPR) in the country. inaugurated by Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, As the digital methodology to be used in the Shri Trivendra Singh Rawat, at Koti Colony, upcoming census, presentations were made on Near Tehri Lake, Uttrakhand, Mobile App for census — house listing, NPR The North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC), data collection and popular enumeration, Patiala has been entrusted with the besides census management and monitoring responsibility as the nodal agency to carry portal. forward the execution of the National Cultural Festival under the banner of the slogan ―EK
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs BHARAT SHRESHTHA BHARAT‖. Chief The Section enables the conduct of Minister Shri Trivendra Singh Rawat along manufacture and other operations in a customs with other dignitaries also visited cuisine and bonded warehouse. craft stalls and interacted with artists and The scheme has been modernized with clear artisans. and transparent procedures, simplified The inaugural day started with a glittering compliance requirements ICT-based colourful state‘s cultural parade followed by a documentation and account keeping, by issue Classical Singing performance by Rashi Pant of Manufacture and Other Operations in and Chirak Pant. Presentation of Nritya Natika Warehouse Regulations 2019. on Veer Bhad Singh Bhandari elated the A single application cum approval form is audience to their core. prescribed for uniformity of practice. The Just before the inauguration ceremony started jurisdictional Commissioner of Customs will respects were paid to River Ganga with a function as a single point of approval to set up Ganga Pujan ceremony. In the Dance segment, and oversee the operations of such units. There a folk dance performance of Gorwara Kunitha is no geographical limitation on where such (Karnataka), Phag (Haryana), Sidhi Dhamal units can be set up. The unit can import goods (Gujarat) and Chakri (Rajasthan) was (both inputs and capital goods) under a showcased. Beside this a dance drama ‗based customs duty deferment program. on shiva‘ by Padma Bhushan Saroja The duties are fully remitted if the processed Vaidyanathan and group along with a goods are exported. There will be no interest performance of Jagar Samrat Preetam liability and units will benefit through Bhartwan was also showcased. Audiences improved liquidity. GST compliant goods can were enthralled with the sound and light show be procured from the domestic market for use on water screen titled as The Tehri Show at in manufacturing and other operations in a Lake Venue. section 65 unit. A single digital account has Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav was conceived been prescribed for ease of doing business and by the Ministry of Culture in the year 2015, easy compliance. when the Ministry decided to organize it with The scheme will also enable efficient capacity an intent to showcase the rich cultural heritage utilization, as there is no limit on the quantum of the Country in all its rich and varied of clearances that can be exported or cleared to dimensions, viz Handicrafts, Cuisine, Painting, the domestic market. Sculpture, Photography, Documentation and CBIC has collaborated with Invest India to Performing Arts-Folk, Tribal, Classical and launch a dedicated microsite for providing Contemporary- all in one place. information and promoting the scheme and for So far, the Ministry of Culture has organized 8 facilitation of investors. The site can be RSM‘s i.e. 2 in Delhi, 2 in Karnataka, 1 each accessed at in Varanasi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs
71.RBI raises withdrawal limit to Rs 40,000 for PMC bank account holders 73.Arup Kumar Goswami new Chief Justice of Reserve Bank has enhanced the withdrawal High Court of Sikkim. limit for the account holder of Punjab and Hon‘ble Justice Arup Kumar Goswami has Maharashtra Cooperative Bank or PMC Bank been sworn in as the new Chief Justice of High to 40 thousand rupees from 25 thousand Court of Sikkim. Hon‘ble Governor Shri rupees. This is the third time; RBI has raised Ganga Prasad administered him the oath at the the withdrawal limit since its clamp down on lawn of New Raj Bhawan . PMC Bank last month. After retirement of Justice Vijai Kumar Bist in RBI after reviewing the bank's liquidity the month of September, the post of Chief position and its ability to pay its depositors, it Justice of High Court of Sikkim had fallen has decided to further enhance the limit. With vacant after the superannuation of Justice Vijai the revised relaxation, about 77 per cent of the Kumar Bist on 16 September this year. depositors of the bank will be able to withdraw Justice Arup Kumar Goswami had earlier their entire deposits. served as Acting Chief Justice of Gauhati High Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank, Court. which is among the top 10 urban cooperative banks, was placed under an RBI administrator 74.IHMCL, GSTN to sign MoU to link FASTag on September 23 for six months due to with GST e-way bill system massive under-reporting of dud loans. The The Indian Highways Management Company bank had come on regulatory radar after Ltd (IHMCL) and Goods and Services Tax Housing Development & Infrastructure Ltd Network (GSTN) sign a memorandum of (HDIL) and its directors failed to repay a Rs understanding (MoU) for integration of 4355 crore putting the bank under liquidity FASTag with GST e-way bill system. stress. The regulator had capped deposit The MoU will be inked at the ‗One Nation, withdrawals first at Rs 1,000, which was One FASTag‘ conference, which will be subsequently increased to Rs 10,000 and Rs inaugurated by Road Transport and Highway 25,000. Minister Nitin Gadkari. FASTag is a simple to use, reloadable tag 72.Dr Harsh Vardhan, Dutch Royal couple which enables automatic deduction of toll launches LOTUS-HR in New Delhi charges and lets vehicle pass through toll plaza The second phase of Local Treatment of Urban without stopping for cash transaction. Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse, LOTUS- The GST Council has already accorded ‗in- HR was launched at the Barapullah drain in principle‘ approval for this integration. New Delhi by Union Minister Harsh Vardhan The integration of e-way bill system with and the visiting Dutch Royal couple King FASTag will help revenue authorities track the Willem Alexander and Queen Maxima. movement of vehicles and ensure that they are LOTUS-HR is a water laboratory which is travelling to the same destination that the jointly supported by the Department of transporter or the trader had specified while Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and generating the e-way bill. Technology and Netherlands Organization for This would mean enabling the use of the same Scientific Research. FASTag, affixed on the windscreen of a The project aims to demonstrate a holistic vehicle, at every toll plaza in the country under waste-water management approach that will jurisdiction of different states /agencies and produce clean water which can be reused for other entities. This will help provide seamless various purposes. services to consumers across the country.
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs family of apps including WhatsApp and 75.Kais Saied new Tunisia's president Facebook Messenger. Following the program, Independent law professor Kais Saied win the participants will graduate to the GOAL Tunisia's presidential runoff, Saied won 77 alumni and will continue to receive support and percent of the vote. His opponent Nabil Karoui guidance from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs who was in jail for most of the campaign was and Facebook. forecast to won 23 percent. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs will also work Tunisia: Capital-Tunis, Currency-Tunisian with district administration and other Dollar government agencies to help secure qualified participants with a fellowship, so they can put 76.14 skills training centers to be set up across their newly learned skills to work. 9 cities More than 125 young women have enrolled in Union Skill Development and the program. Most of them are now using the Entrepreneurship Minister Mahendra Nath internet to highlight issues their communities Pandey have said that 14 Authorized World face and have expressed a desire to set up their Skills India Training Centers will be set up own business. across 9 cities for media and entertainment sector. These cities are Chandigarh, Chennai, 78.Food Safety Mitra scheme launched on the Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Mumbai, Pune, World Food Day Shillong and Trivandrum. Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh The new institutes will be set up for advanced Vardhan launched Food Mitra Scheme on skill training of candidates in media and world Food day (Oct 16th) which aims at entertainment sector and to further develop motivating and facilitating food business skilling eco-system for training candidates for operators (FBOs) and people for maintaining the international market. food hygiene. The scheme, which also aims to strengthen 77.Young women from Tribal Areas to receive 'Eat Right India' movement, was launched on Digital Skills Training World Food Day. Shri Arjun Munda, Union Minister of Tribal Food Safety Mitra will be a professionally Affair announced the second phase of GOAL trained person with certification from Food (Going Online as Leaders), a Facebook Safety and Standards Authority of India program aimed at inspiring, guiding and (FSSAI) who would assist in compliances encouraging tribal girls from across India to related to Food Safety and Standards Act. become village-level digital young leaders for The Food Safety Mitra will have three avatars their communities. - Digital Mitra, Trainer Mitra and Hygiene GOAL connects underprivileged young tribal Mitra. women with senior expert mentors in the areas It is estimated that through Food Safety Mitra, of business, fashion and arts to learn digital and more than 25 lakh FBOs can be engaged by life skills. In the second phase of the program, providing them services such as licensing, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Facebook registration, hygiene rating and training. together will digitally mentor 5000 young The scheme will create an ecosystem for women in India‘s tribal dominated districts. capacity building besides generating The program will include weekly one-to-one employment. Around 50,000 entrepreneurs are mentoring sessions, focused on a range of skills expected to join the Food Safety Mitra such as digital literacy, entrepreneurship and scheme. online safety. In total, more than 200,000 hours of guidance will be provided using Facebook
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs FSSAI has an online portal for the Food Safety The livestock census is conducted across the Mitra where any person desiring to join the country periodically since 1919. The census scheme can enrol. usually covers all domesticated animals and 79.World Food Day: headcounts of these animals are taken. The It is an international day celebrated every year 20th Livestock Census was carried out in around the world on 16 October in honor of about 6.6 lakh villages and 89 thousand urban the date of the founding of the Food and wards across the country. Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945. The day is celebrated widely 82.ICMR awards for excellence in biomedical by many other organizations concerned with research given to 46 scientists food security, including the World Food The Indian Council of Medical Research Programme and the International Fund for (ICMR) on honored 46 biomedical scientists Agricultural Development. who have done pioneering work in the area of 2019 Theme: "Our Actions Are Our Future, health research to solve various health issues. Healthy Diets for #ZeroHunger World" A total 39 awards for 2017 and 2018 were presented to 46 scientists, including 14 women 80.NH- 703 A A named as Shri Guru Nanak Dev scientists. Of the 39 awards, two were given to Ji Marg scientists belonging to underprivileged The road starting from Kapurthala connecting communities and one to a scientist who has Goindwal Sahib and terminating near Taran conducted research in under-developed areas. Taran in Punjab has been declared as new The awardees belong to ICMR, CSIR-labs, National Highway - 703 A A and named as AIIMS, New Delhi, PGI, Chandigarh, SGPGI, Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji Marg. Lucknow, IITs, JIPMER, Puducherry, The naming would be effective from next SCTIMST, Thiruvananthapuram, Lady month. The decision has been taken to mark Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi, state the 550th Birth Anniversary of Shri Guru and central universities and other reputed Nanak Dev institutions. The Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan 81.India's livestock population increases to over said appreciated ICMR's efforts in tackling the 535 million emerging and re-emerging infections like Zika India's livestock population has increased to and Nipah and congratulated its scientists for over 535 million showing an increase of 4.6 excellent work. per cent over Livestock Census-2012. The Department of Animal Husbandry and 83.Van Dhan Internship Programme to help Dairying released the 20th Livestock Census - Tribals 2019. Shri Arjun Munda, Union Minister of Tribal As per the livestock census, the share of cattle Affairs launched the ―Van Dhan Internship is around 36 per cent, goat is over 27 per cent, Programme‖ organised by TRIFED under buffaloes is over 20 per cent, sheep around 14 Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Shri Pravin per cent and pigs around two per cent. The Krishna, MD, TRIFED was present on the cow population is over 145 million, increasing occasion. by 18 per cent over the previous census. 18 interns (to be called Minister‘s interns) Among the states, West Bengal reported the from some of the reputed Institutes of Rural highest increase of over 23 per cent in Management/ Management Institutions/ livestock population, followed by Telangana, Institutes of Social Work/ Social Services of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. the country are participating in the ―Van Dhan Internship Programme‖. These interns have
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs been selected to go and work on Van Dhan The IAF contingent comprises of MiG-29 and programme in the field. These interns have an C-17 aircraft. MiG-29 will be exercising with inclination towards involving in matters Royal Air Force Oman‘s Eurofighter Typhoon, related to tribal livelihood. F-16 and Hawk. This exercise will enhance An advertisement was released on inter-operability during mutual operations 13th September, 2019 for these interns. After between the two Air Forces and will provide their selection through the walk- in- interview, an opportunity to learn from each other‘s best these interns are undergoing a one week practices. training programme. The period of internship The participation of the Indian Air Force in the is 6 months (extendable developing upon the exercise will also promote professional need of the organization and mutual interaction, exchange of experience and sustainability. operational knowledge. The Joint Exercise will These interns will work with the team of be concluded on the 26th of this month. TRIFED in various states and districts in tribal Oman: Capital-Muscat, Currency-Omani Rial areas in development of tribal welfare and NIN postal stamp to commemorate its inclusive growth (a dissertation has to be centenary celebrations submitted on conclusion of the internship). Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare They will support the TRIFED activities on Harsh Vardhan released a postal stamp to livelihood promotion, value addition of commemorate the centenary celebrations of NTFTs, marketing and credit linkages. They the city-based ICMR-National Institute of will develop tools and techniques on Nutrition (NIN) at a function held at Indian institutional development including Council of Medical Research in New Delhi. mechanism for determination of a just price or ICMR Director Balram Bhragava and NIN producer price of Minor Forest Products. Director R. Hemaltha were present on the Tribal Affairs Minister: Shri Arjun Munda occasion. The postal stamp has been brought out under 84.Tunnel on NH 44 in J&K to be named after the ‗Corporate My Stamp‘ scheme of India Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Posts. These stamps are of limited edition and Chenani- Nashri Tunnel on NH 44, in Jammu are made to order. Alongside these customized and Kashmir will be named after Dr. Shyama themed stamps, the organization has also opted Prasad Mukherjee. for printing its centenary logo. Informing this, in a tweet, Road, Transport and About 5,000 stamps with a face value of ₹5 Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said, it is the each have been printed and the India Posts humble homage to Mukherjee whose battle for would print an additional 1,000 sheets for sale Kashmir, One Nation One Flag has immensely online at e-post office and for display and sale contributed in national integration. at national and global philately exhibitions by the Department. 85.IAF begins Joint Exercise with Oman A one-time award instituted to commemorate Indian Air Force is participating in a Bilateral NIN‘s centenary called the ‗ICMR-NIN- Joint Exercise with Royal Air Force of Oman Centenary Award‘ was also conferred on C. (RAFO), named EX-EASTERN BRIDGE-V, Gopalan, the legendary nutrition scientist who at Air Force Base Masirah in Oman. passed away at the age of 101 on October 3. It The last exercise, EX-EASTERN BRIDGE-IV was presented posthumously to his son Sarath was held in 2017 at Jamnagar. For the first Gopalan at the function. time, MiG-29 fighter aircraft will be participating in an International Exercise 86.CJI Gogoi recommends Justice SA Bobde outside India.
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi sent a Folk dances and folk songs of different ethnic letter to the Centre recommending Justice SA groups and performance by rock bands will be Bobde, the senior-most judge of the Supreme the main attractions of the Festival which will Court, as his successor. showcase the rich cultural heritage of the State. Justice Gogoi, who was sworn in as the 46th Chief Justice of India on October 3, 2018, will 88.World steel elects Sajjan Jindal as vice demit the office on November 17. chairman Justice Gogoi as the Chief Justice has a tenure Global body World Steel Association (world of 13 months and 15 days while Justice Bobde, steel) has elected JSW Steel Chairman and who will be sworn in as CJI on November 18, Managing Director (CMD) Sajjan Jindal as its will have tenure of about 18 months. vice chairman. According to the Memorandum of Procedure, The association has also appointed Tata Steel this governs the appointment of members of CEO and MD T V Narendran and the higher judiciary, ―appointment to the office ArcelorMittal Chief L N Mittal as its members of the Chief Justice of India should be of the for 2019/2020 at the world steel General senior-most judge of the Supreme Court Assembly in Monterrey. The new officers are considered fit to hold the office‖. elected for a one-year period. Under this process, after receiving the CJI‘s The board has elected HBIS Group Co recommendation, the law minister puts it Chairman Yu Yong as its chairman. before the prime minister who advises the Sajjan Jindal and Andre Johannpeter, president on the matter. executive vice chairman, Gerdau S.A. have Sharad Arvind Bobde (born 24 April 1956) is been elected to the post of vice chairman. a judge of the Supreme Court of India. He is a The board also elected a 14-member Executive former Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Committee. Jindal, Newport, Yong and Court. He is also serving as the Chancellor of Johannpeter were also elected as members of Maharashtra National Law University, the committee. Mumbai and Maharashtra National Law Tata Steel's T V Narendran and NRI steel University, Nagpur. He is due to retire on 23 baron Lakshmi Niwas Mittal was elected as April 2021. With tenure of eight years in members. Supreme Court of India, he is in line to be World steel members represent approximately Chief Justice of India 85 per cent of the world's steel production, including over 160 steel producers, national 87.Shirui Lily Festival inaugurated in Manipur and regional steel industry associations and Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) steel research institutes. for Tourism and Culture Prahlad Singh Patel inaugurated Shirui Lily Festival, 2019 at Shirui 89.West Bengal government announces 'Biswa Vangayan Ground of Ukhrul in Manipur. Mr Bangla Sarad Samman 2019' Patel along with State Chief Minister N. Biren The state government announced ‗Biswa Singh inaugurated the Strength of Unity Statue Bangla Sarad Samman 2019‘ – an award as a mark of opening the third edition of the designed since 2013 to felicitate the best pujas four-day state festival. in and around Kolkata. Tourism Ministry has written a letter to The state government conferred 79 prizes in Human Resource Development Ministry to different categories to the pujas organized in send the students up to class 12 standard of Kolkata Municipal Corporation, Howrah Central Schools and Navodaya Vidyalayas to Municipal Corporation, Bidhannagar the North-East States in their tour Municipal Corporation, Dum Dum programmes. Municipality and Baranagar Municipality area.
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs This year the first prize for the best pandal, Secretariat, including related legislative best idol, best lighting best traditional puja and business to the Department of Law, Justice best thinking went to Babubagan, Selimpur Parliamentary Affairs for record. Palli, Hindustan Club Sarbojonin Durgapuja, J&K Reorganisation Bill 2019 was passed by Kumortoli Sarbojonin and Badamtala Ashar the parliament in the first week of August. Sangha respectively. In the ‗best of the best‘ J&K and Ladakh will be a UT from November category the state conferred awards to 27 pujas 1. where Barisha club bagged the best prize. The ‗Biswa Bangla Special Prize‘ was given to 22 91.Defence of Andaman and Nicobar Islands pujas of which Dakshin Kolkata Sarbojonin exercise 2019 (Danx-19) bagged the first prize. Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) has Apart from that the state government also conducted the second edition of Defense of announced four more prizes for best Andaman & Nicobar Islands 2019 (DANX- environment friendly puja, best Dhakeshree, 19), a large scale joint services exercise from best branding and best theme song. Baghajatin 14 Oct to 18 Oct 19. Spanning over a period B and C block was announced as the best of five days, components of the Indian Army, environment friendly puja whereas Bagbazar Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard carried out Sarbojonin, Alipore Sarbojonin and Suruchi mobilization and field maneuvers to validate Sangha were given awards for dhakeshree, defensive plans of Headquarters ANC towards branding and theme song respectively. pursuance of the Command‘s responsibility, namely ensuring territorial integrity of the 90.Legislative Council abolished in J&K A&N Islands. The Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Council, In addition to internal forces from ANC, the upper house of the Assembly, was accretional forces from Mainland comprising abolished as per Section 57 of the J&K ships and aircraft, Special Forces from the Reorganisation Bill, 2019, which reduced the newly formed Armed Forces Special State to the Union Territories of J&K and Operations Division (AFSOD), also Ladakh. participated in this edition. The Council, which had a strength of 36 members, also used to be a part of the 92.Rajnath Singh to inaugurate Col. Chewang Electoral College for the Rajya Sabha Rinchen Setu in Ladakh elections. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will attend the The Secretary of the Council has been directed inaugural ceremony of Col. Chewang Rinchen to transfer all records pertaining to the Council Setu which has been constructed at an altitude Secretariat, including related legislative of 14,650 feet in the forward area of Ladakh business, to the Department of Law, Justice region. This bridge has been built by the and Parliamentary Affairs. Border Roads Organization (BRO). The tenure of all 22 current Members of This Bridge is built on the strategically Legislative Council (MLCs) has also come to important road Durbuk Shyok Daulat Beg an end. Oldie in sub sector north in eastern Ladakh. The vehicles purchased for the council from The Bridge, which is 1400 feet span, is time to time are being transferred to the State constructed by the Border Road Organization. Motor Garages. The building along with According to BRO, micro pile technology was furniture and electronic gadgets will go to the used during the foundation of the bridge to Director, Estates. overcome the technological challenges in The Secretary, Council, has been directed to remote areas of Ladakh. The construction of transfer all records pertaining to the Council the Bridge was completed within 15 working
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs months using 6900 cubic meters of concrete aspirations and achievements – hence the term and 1984 metric tons of steel. ‗bridgital‘. It is named in honor of Colonel Chewang Rinchan who was one of the highly decorated 95.M Venkaiah Naidu presents Most Eminent officer in the Indian Army from Ladakh and he Senior Citizen Award to K Parasaran was awarde awarded the Maha Vir Chakara Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu presented twice. Most Eminent Senior Citizen Award to legal luminary and former Attorney General K. 93.Prahlad Singh Patel to inaugurate CCRT e- Parasaran at a function in New Delhi. Mr portal and YouTube Channel Parasaran was honoured with the award on the Union Minister of state for Culture and occasion of the Elder‘s Day celebration of Age Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel will inaugurate e- Care India, an organization working for the portal of Centre for Cultural Resources and welfare of the elderly. Training and YouTube Channel in New Delhi K. Parasaran (born 9 October 1927) is an Indian with an aim to take India to a newer digital lawyer. He was Advocate-General of Tamil pinnacle and to promote Indian culture. He Nadu during President's rule in 1976 and then, will attend the ―Digital Bharat - Digital Attorney General of India under Indira Gandhi Sanskriti‖ program organised by Rashtriya and Rajiv Gandhi. Parasaran was awarded the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training, Padma Bhushan in the year 2003 and Padma CCRT of the Ministry of Culture. Vibhushan in the year 2011. In June 2012, he In order to explore & understand the unknown received a presidential nomination to the Rajya aspects of India‘s lesser known places and Sabha, the upper house of India's parliament. their rural and semi-urban culture, CCRT has started publishing books from the series 96.Sudarshan Chakra Vahini of Indian Army ―Untold Tales of India‘s Cities‖. begins at Jaisalmer Knowledge of different regional cultures Two-day long manoeuvres by Sudarshan provides understanding of Indian traditions. Chakra Vahini of Indian Army started at CCRT has produced a documentary film Jaisalmer field firing range in Rajasthan. In ―Rahas‖ with this objective. this war exercise, the army is going to exhibit its strength regarding Agni Missile and 94.PM Modi releases book titled 'Bridgital artillery. Nation' Artillery, Arms and mechanized forces, Army Prime Minister Narendra Modi Released a air defense and helicopters of army aviation book titled 'Bridgital Nation' in New Delhi. are participating in this exercise to test mutual The book has been authored by Chairman, coordination. Endogenously manufactured Tata Sons, N Chandrasekaran and Roopa light helicopter Rudra and self-propelled Purushothaman. Eminent industrialist and artillery gun system K-9 vajra are also taking philanthropist Ratan Tata was present on the part in this exercise. occasion among others. About the Book: 97.Admission of girls in Sainik Schools to begin The book presents a powerful vision of the from 2021-22 academic session future where technology and human beings co- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on approved exist in a mutually beneficial ecosystem. It the proposal to allow the admission of girls in argues that instead of accepting technology as Sainik schools across the country from the replacement of human labour, India can use it 2021-2022 academic session. as an aid to generate more jobs. The cutting The decision was taken following the success edge digital tools can act as a bridge between of the pilot project started for admission of
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs girls in Sainik School, Chhingchhip in first training and performance programme of Mizoram two years ago. world famous KHON Ramlila, a masked form The decision is in line with the objective of the of Ramlila art of Thailand in collaboration Government towards greater inclusiveness, with Thai government. Artists, who will get gender equality, enabling greater participation training from experts of Thailand as part of of women in Armed Forces and strengthening cultural exchange programme between two the motto of ‗Beti Bachao Beti Padhao‘. nations, will perform at Grand Deepotsav The Sainik Schools are a system of schools in function which will be organised on 26th of India established and managed by the Sainik this month in Ayodhya. Schools Society under the Ministry of KHON Ramlila of Thailand is included in the Defense. They prepare future officers for the list of UNESCO‘s Intangible cultural heritage armed forces. At present, there are 31 Sainik and it‘s a form of masked dance depicting the Schools in the country. scenes of Ramlila. It has no dialogues and Earlier this year, Rajnath Singh had announced background voices narrate the whole story of that the government has plans to open five Ramayana. KHON Ramlila‘s performance is more Sainik schools at Amethi (Uttar also a visual delight famous for its beautiful Pradesh), Alwar (Rajasthan), Rudraprayag attire and golden masks. (Uttarakhand), Sambalpur (Odisha) and Group of officials of culture department of Warangal (Telangana). Thailand government and experts of KHON Ramlila will train 15 Indian artists in this form 98.RIL becomes first company to hit Rs 9 lakh of ancient Ramlila for one week. The trained crore in m-cap on BSE artists will perform at Deepotsav in Ayodhya Oil-to-telecom major Reliance Industries and later in the other parts of country also. (RIL) became the first company in India to hit the market capitalization of Rs 9 lakh crore. 100.Odisha's biggest trade fair to begin on Nov RIL was also the first company to reach Rs 8 12 lakh crore mark in August last year. Baliyatra, one of the biggest trade fairs of The market-cap of Mukesh Ambani-led Odisha, is scheduled to begin on November Company stood at Rs 9.03 lakh crore when the 12. The trade fair will continue for eight days. stock traded at Rs 1,428, up 2 per cent at 10.45 This year‘s Baliyatra will be jointly organized hours (IST) ahead of its September quarter by the Cuttack District Administration, District earnings due later in the day. This rise in share Cultural Council, and the Cuttack Municipal price helped the company reach the milestone. Corporation (CMC). IT giant TCS, which has seen some selling A preparatory meeting for the mega fair was lately, was at a distant second with a market- recently held under the chairmanship of cap of Rs 7.66 lakh crore. It was the second District Collector Bhabani Shankar Chayani at company to reach the Rs 8 lakh crore mark. Cuttack. As per a decision was taken at the Since RIL and TCS reached Rs 8 lakh crore meeting, the Administration will issue identity milestone, there has been a constant tussle cards to all stall owners at the fair that between the two to usurp the numero uno commemorates the ancient maritime glory of position, and RIL seems to be winning as of Odisha. There will be separate vending zones now. for small traders and vendors. It was decided to install an adequate number of 99.UP Culture Dept to organize training & CCTV cameras and watchtowers at the performance programme of KHON Ramlila fairground. The District Administration will The Culture Department of Uttar Pradesh open a temporary information centre at the government is going to organize the country‘s fair. Amid ban on usage of Single-Use
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Plastics, the administration has stressed on The museum project is being steered by the preparations with special focus on ensuring Intelligence Bureau (IB) in coordination with polythene-free celebration of the festival this the central armed police forces (CAPFs) that year. function under the command of the Union home ministry. 101.Ayurveda Palliative Care Unit inaugurated Police Commemoration Day history at Base Hospital, Delhi Cantt On October 21, 1959, twenty Indian soldiers Union Minister of AYUSH Shripad Yesso were attacked by the Chinese troops in Ladakh Naik inaugurated Ayurveda Palliative Care This altercation between the troops led to the Unit at Palliative Care Centre at base Hospital, death of ten policemen Delhi Cantonment, New Delhi. On this Seven of the others who were also imprisoned occasion, a Memorandum of Understanding and managed to escape from the Chinese (MoU) was also signed between Ministry of troops AYUSH and Ministry of Defense for the On November 28, 1959, the Chinese troops Integration of AYUSH under the health handed over the dead bodies of the martyred establishments of Directorate General of policemen to India Armed Forces Medical Services. Their cremation was held with full Police Ayurveda and Yoga can help the soldiers of honours at the Hot springs in Ladakh the Indian army to attain the best of physical Ever since the incident, October 21 is and mental health and can improve their celebrated as Police Commemoration Day in endurance. Ayurveda medicines and remembrance of the martyrs. Panchkarma procedures like Snehana and Swedana are very effective in treating work- 103.76th Year of Establishment of Azad Hind related musculoskeletal disorders Shripad said. Government Under the MoU, Ayurveda Units will also be Union Minister of state for Culture & Tourism established at Palliative Care Centre, Army Shri Prahlad Singh attended the 76th Research and Referral Hospital, Air Force anniversary of the formation of Azad Hind Hospital, Hindon, Ghaziabad and five Government on 21st October, 2019, at the Red identified Ex- Servicemen Contributory Health Fort, Delhi. Scheme Polyclinics in Delhi -NCR. Last year on 21st October 2018, Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, hoisted the 102. Police Commemoration Day National Flag at Red Fort and also unveiled National Police Commemoration Day is the plaque commemorating the 75th observed every year on October 21 to Anniversary of formation of Azad Hind remember remembering the brave policemen Government, formed by Netaji Subhas who sacrificed their lives while discharging Chandra Bose. their duties. Rich tributes are paid to the About Azad hind martyrs on this day. The Provisional Government of Free India or Last year Narendra Modi inaugurated India's more simply, Azad Hind was an Indian first national police museum in Delhi on the provisional government established in occasion of Police Commemoration Day 2018. occupied Singapore in 1943 and supported by The museum - depicting the history, artifacts, the Empire of Japan, Nazi Germany, Italian uniform and gear of central and state police Social Republic, and their allies. forces - is as an underground facility in the It was a part of a political movement premises of the national police memorial in originating in the 1940s outside India with the Delhi‘s Chanakyapuri. purpose of allying with the Axis powers to free India from British rule. It was established by
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Indian nationalists in exile during the latter through safe and detention free handling of part of the Second World War in Singapore trains at Tundla Junction. with monetary, military and political assistance from Imperial Japan. 105.DAC approves procurement of indigenous Founded on 21 October 1943, the government equipment for armed forces was inspired by the concepts of Subhas The Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) has Chandra Bose who was also the leader of the accorded approval for Capital Procurement for government and the Head of State of this the Defense forces amounting to over 3,300 Provisional Indian Government-in-exile. The crore rupees of indigenously designed and government proclaimed authority over Indian developed equipment. Maintaining its impetus civilian and military personnel in Southeast on the Make in India initiative, the DAC Asian British colonial territory and prospective accorded approval for three projects to be authority over Indian Territory to fall to the indigenously designed, developed and Japanese forces and the Indian National Army manufactured by the Indian industry. during the Japanese thrust towards India The projects will be progressed under the during the Second World War. The Make-II Category and will provide a boost to government of Azad Hind had its own indigenous research and development in the currency, court and civil code, and in the eyes Private Sector. With this, for the first time the of some Indians its existence gave a greater Ministry of Defense has offered complex legitimacy to the independence struggle Military equipment to be designed, developed against the British. and manufactured by the Indian private industry. 104.Indian Railways install Electronic The first two projects include third-generation Interlocking System on Grand Chord route Anti-Tank Guided Missiles and the Auxiliary Indian Railways has installed the most Power Units for the T-72 and T-90 Tanks. The advanced Electronic Interlocking System on Third-generation Anti-Tank Guided Missiles the Grand Chord route. The measure is would provide Fire and Forget and Top Attack expected to help Indian Railways speed up capabilities to the troops in an armored battle. trains and achieve the objective of reducing the The Auxiliary Power Units would enable travel time between Delhi and Howrah to incorporation of various upgrades to Fire about 12 hours from the existing 17 to 19 Control System and Night Fighting capabilities hours. of the Tanks. Grand Chord is part of the Howrah-Gaya- The third indigenous project pertains to Delhi line and Howrah-Allahabad-Mumbai discrete Electronic Warfare systems for the line. It acts as a link between Sitarampur in mountain and High-Altitude terrain, which West Bengal and Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay would be designed and developed by DRDO Junction, Uttar Pradesh, and covers a stretch of and manufactured by design cum production 450 kilometres falling in North Central partner from the Indian industry. Railway Zone. The new Electronic system has replaced 106.Siachen base camp open for tourism outdated 65-year old mechanical signaling Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has decided to system at Tundla Junction in Uttar Pradesh on open the entire area from Siachen base camp to the route. The work will go a long way in Kumar Post for tourism purposes. The step has improving punctuality of trains on New Delhi- been taken to boost tourism in Ladakh and Howrah mainline and benefits will be give people a window to appreciate the tough manifold during the incoming foggy season work done by Army jawans and engineers in extreme weather and inhospitable terrains.This
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs step will make people appreciate the efforts that candidates with two children only would put in by jawans, engineers and other workers. be eligible for government jobs, the policy The Siachen Glacier at the height of around warranted that existing government employees 20,000 ft in the Karakoram Range is known as should strictly follow the two-child norm. the highest militarized zone in the world where Other decisions taken by the Cabinet included the soldiers have to battle frostbite and high increasing bus fares by 25% and providing winds. The Glacier came under the strategic Rs.300 per month to widows under a scheme control of India in 1984 following 'Operation named after educationist Indira Miri. The Meghdoot'. scheme also entails a one-time grant of Rs.25,000 for women who became widows on 107.HRD Minister interacts with children for or after April 1. DHRUV programme Union Minister for Human Resources 108.IIT Jodhpur fabricates highly sensitive Development Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank device to detect lead interacted with children selected for ambitious A highly sensitive, portable device that can DHRUV programme at his residence in New detect the presence of lead in water even when Delhi. present in extremely small amount of 0.018 The Minister said, out of 25 crore students in parts per billion (ppb) has been fabricated by a India 60 talented students are selected under team of researchers from the Indian Institute of this programme. The government is polishing Technology (IIT) Jodhpur. The World Health these bright children with the right orientation Organization limit for lead in drinking water is to make them shine like the polar stars. 5 ppb. Minister of State for HRD Sanjay Dhotre and Besides being highly sensitive, the sensor is other senior officials of HRD ministry were also highly specific to lead even in the also present on this occasion. presence of other metals such as mercury, DHRUV is a unique programme to identify copper, zinc, cadmium and chromium. It takes talented students and mentor them in the center just about four seconds to detect lead. of excellence for 14 days so that they can The research was done in collaboration with reach their full potential and work for society. the Singapore-based Agency for Science, No govt jobs for those having more the 2 kids Technology and Research. Assam Assembly adopted a population policy, Fabricating the sensor the State Cabinet on decided to make The sensor is fabricated using silicon wafer as government jobs out of bounds for people with the base material. However, the crystal more than two children. structure of silica and gallium nitride/aluminum The policy will come into effect from January gallium nitride is different and so they 1, 2021. experience stress when grown on silicon. The Cabinet also adopted a new land policy The thermal expansion of silicon and gallium that will make the landless indigenous people nitride is different. As the layers are grown at eligible for 3 bighas (43,200 sq. ft.) of land for 1,000 degree C, it causes stress on the grown farming and half a bigha for constructing a material house. This will come with a rider: a To produce a layer of gallium nitride that is beneficiary can sell the land only after 15 years stress-free, the researchers produced a stack of of use. five layers of gallium nitride and aluminum The State Assembly had in September 2017 gallium nitride on the silicon wafer base (with passed the ‗Population and Women the percentage of aluminum in gallium nitride Empowerment Policy of Assam‘ seeking to reducing from 100% to 0%). encourage small family. Apart from specifying
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs This helped in producing an almost defect-free Software Product Registry at IT Ministry's gallium nitride layer at the top. A layer of MeitY Start-up Summit. AlGaN is then grown on the defect-free gallium BHIM app, nitride. a UPI based payment interface developed by The researchers then fabricated the source and National Payments Corporation of India drain terminals that allow the electrons to flow (NPCI) that allows real time fund transfer, was and then used a gate (akin to a valve) to launched in December, 2016. regulate the flow of electrons. In order to make BHIM app more feature-rich At the junction of the top layers of GaN and and effective it has been enhanced with a AlGaN, a two-dimensional electron gas is bunch of new functionalities. Some of the formed naturally, which is the conducting layer striking features marking BHIM 2.0 include a that moves the electrons from the source to the 'Donation' gateway, increased transaction drain. limits for high value transactions, linking Finally, the gate was functionalized to facilitate multiple bank accounts, offers from merchants, lead ion adsorption. When lead ions get option of applying in IPO, gifting money. adsorbed on the gate, the rate of flow of The new version of BHIM also supports three electrons increases leading to increased current additional languages -- Konkani, Bhojpuri and flow. Haryanvi over and above the existing 13. The amount of increase in current depends on MSH portal brings onboard key constituents the amount of lead ions that get adsorbed. of the tech startup ecosystem with startups, There is a slight increase in current even when technology incubation centres, Centres of lead concentration in water is as low as 0.01 Excellence (CoEs), mentors, VCs and angels ppb. The increase is more at higher lead together. It is also mandated to integrate concentration. existing programmes and innovation related Developing more sensors activities. Reasearchers are fabricating an array of The minister also launched an Indian software devices on a single chip to detect different products registry, which will act as a single heavy metal ions. We have already developed window portal to collate Indian software a cadmium ion sensor. product database. The cadmium sensor has higher sensitivity (0.255 ppb) than other electrochemical 110.Indian Railways to carry E-Commerce approaches and can detect cadmium in about 3 consignment seconds. The railways' initiative to rope in Amazon for The results of cadmium sensor were published transporting its goods by train was flagged off in April 2019 in the journal IEEE Electron by the Eastern Railways on, the Sealdah- Device Letters. Dankuni EMU local carried a consignment of the e-commerce giant on board. Under the pilot project, the consignment is 109.Govt launches BHIM 2.0 with new allowed to be carried in the vendor functionalities compartment, along with other vendors, in the The IT Ministry on Monday unveiled a slew of non-peak hours -- 11 am to 4 pm -- thus, new initiatives and programmes, including causing no disruption or inconvenience to the BHIM 2.0 that packs-in new functionalities, existing system. supports additional languages and has The project has initially been launched for a increased transaction limits. period of three months, where a total Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also consignment of 7 MT has been allowed to be launched a StartUp Hub portal and Indian carried per day.
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs The rate chargeable is the luggage rate at Rs V. D. douglasadamsi (after British author and 5,537 per day. satirist Douglas Noel Adams) The pilot project of booking consignments in VI. D. smithi (in honour of British EMU services was a first of its kind in the herpetologist Malcolm Arthur Smith) Indian Railways. The service allows Amazon to ferry goods faster and gives the railways an 112.Indian Army's exercise 'Sindhu Sudarshan' assured income, an official spokesperson said, in deserts of Rajasthan explaining the benefits of the contract. More than 40,000 troops will take part in the The railways will be benefitted through Indian Army's exercise codenamed 'Sindhu generation of revenue, without putting any Sudarshan' in the deserts of Rajasthan, from additional stress or burden on the existing November 29 to December 4. system, whereas Amazon will be benefitted The Indian Army will be carrying out this through a reduced transit time. exercise using its integrated battle groups The route viz. Sealdah to Dankuni was which are the new formations being raised by preferred by Amazon for quick movement of the force for war fighting in future. their consignment to the existing facility at The military exercise will be conducted to Dankuni. Upon success of the pilot project, evaluate the capability of the defense services other routes may also be taken up by Amazon to strike deep into enemy territory in an and other e-commerce companies may also be integrated air-land battle. interested. Over 40,000 troops will participate in an all- arms battle array of Divisions and Brigades 111.Six new lizard species found in Western carrying out offensive operations in deserts. Ghats This will provide the unique opportunity to Six new lizard species of Dravidogecko family employ entire mechanized formations have been identified in the Western Ghats by a consisting of Tanks and Infantry Combat group of scientists, who claim it to be a Vehicles in order to evaluate the capability to significant development as only one species of strike deep along Western Borders. the genus was known so far. The Exercise underscores Indian Army's Dravidogecko is a small-sized lizard species resolve to implement the integrated launch of that is typically found in wet forests located at Strike Corps in developed and desert terrain in mid to high elevations. Past studies indicate consonance with its enunciated pro-active that Dravidogecko anamallensis evolved strategy using Integrated Battle Groups (IBGs) around 58 million years ago, when the Indian along the Western Front. subcontinent separated from the African land. The exercise will witness the Army assessing Until recently, only one species of the operational efficiency of the Strike Corps Dravidogecko anamallensis was recognised to fight in the desert terrain and the Indian Air and believed to inhabit the southern stretch of Force (IAF) to provide intimate support in the mountain range. But now, the new study terms of destruction of targets and airlifting has found at least six more species of the troops. family in the region. The study and sample Unique in scope and scale, the exercise will collection was done over last four years. simulate battlefield conditions and focus on The six new species have been named as fine-tuning surveillance and destruction I. Dravidogecko septentrionalis, mechanisms to support precision strikes and II. D. janakiae (after botanist Janaki Ammal manoeuvres by network-enabled forces. from Kerala) The exercise showcasing a high degree of III. D. tholpalli synergy between the Army and Air Force will IV. D. meghamalaiensis be reviewed by Lieutenant General SK Saini.
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs The firing of the missiles has enhanced Air 113.Ayurveda Day to be celebrated on October force capability to engage the grounds targets 25 with pinpoint accuracy from a mobile The fourth Ayurveda Day is set to be platform. organized on October 25 at National Institute of Ayurveda (NIA) in Jaipur, Rajasthan. 115.Panchayati Raj Minister confers National "Dhanwantari Pujan and Panchayat Awards 2019 'National Dhanwantari Ayurveda Awards Minister of Panchayati Raj Narendra Singh 2019' ceremony will be held at NIA in the Tomar conferred the national Panchayat gracious presence of Om Birla, Speaker of Lok Awards, 2019 at a function in New Delhi. 246 Sabha as Chief Guest. Minister of State (IC) Awards were given to awardee Panchayats and for Ministry of AYUSH and Defence, Shripad States in various categories for their best Yesso Naik will also be present. performance at different levels, including the On this occasion, a National Conference delivery of services. 'Ayurveda for Longevity' will also be 195 awards were conferred under Deen Dayal organized on October 24. Union Minister of Upadhyay Panchayat Sashaktikaran Puraskar Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will be category, 20 Gram Panchayats in Nanaji the Chief Guest. Deshmukh Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India Puraskar category and 3 Gram Panchayats in decided to celebrate Ayurveda Day every year Gram Panchayat Development Plan Award on the day of Dhanvantari Jayanti (Dhanteras) category. since 2016. 22 Gram Panchayats were awarded in Child- On this occasion, Ministry also facilitates 3-4 Friendly Gram Panchayats Award and six Ayurveda experts with 'National Dhanwantari states were awarded under e-Panchayat Ayurveda Award' comprising of citation, Puraskar category. Ministry of Panchayati Raj trophy (Dhanwantari Statue) and a cash reward has been incentivizing the best performing of rupees five lakh. Panchayats as recommended by the State Ayurveda relies on a comprehensive program Governments since 2011-12. that includes conscious eating (Aahara), In 14th Finance Commission, over two lakh lifestyle (Vihar), sleep (Nidra), behavioural crore rupees have been allocated to Gram and psychological intervention for extension of Panchayats as against 65,000 crore rupees Longevity (healthspan). Rasayana Tantra, one given under 13th Finance Commission. of the eight branches of Ayurveda is dedicated The Minister also launched an App called to rejuvenation, regeneration, immune- ‗Gram Manchitra‘ which is a Geo-Spatial modulation, healthy ageing and enhances based decision support system for panchayats. longevity. Panchayati Raj Ministers from Karnataka, Chattisgarh, Assam and Tamil Nadu along 114.IAF fires two BrahMos missiles at Trak with representatives of Panchayati Raj Island in Andaman Nicobar Institutions across the country took part in the Two BrahMos surface to surface missiles were award ceremony. fired by Indian Air Force at Trak Island in the Andaman Nicobar group of islands. The twin firings have been carried out as a part of the 116.First national protocol to enumerate snow routine operational training. leopard population in India The missile engaged the designated mock Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate targets close to 300 Kilometres away. A direct Change Prakash Javedkar launched the first hit on the target was achieved in both cases. national protocol to enumerate the snow
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs leopard population in the country on the 118.Hunar Haat to provide employment occasion of International Snow Leopard Day. Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has The Day is celebrated on October 23 every said the Government will provide employment year to protect and conserve the snow leopards opportunities to lakhs of artisans, craftsmen and preserve the beautiful wildlife of the and traditional culinary experts through Hunar Himalayas. Haat in the next the 5 years. India is believed to have 400 to 700 snow Hunar Haat is programme to provide leopards spread across Himachal Pradesh, employment and employment opportunities to Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, master artisans. More than 2 lakh 50 thousand Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. master artisans, craftsmen and culinary experts Poaching is a major threat for the snow have been provided employment opportunities leopards. Project Snow Leopard is an initiative in the last 3 years. These include a large of the Environment Ministry which aims to number of women. safeguard and conserve India's unique natural Hunar Haat will be organized at North Central heritage of high altitude wildlife populations Zone Cultural Centre in Prayagraj from 1st to and their habitats by promoting conservation 10th of next month. through participatory policies and actions. All Hunar Haat, to be organized this year and Snow leopards play a critical role in their next year will be based on the theme of 'Ek ecosystem as top predators. Bharat Shresth Bharat'. Ministry has decided to organise about 100 'Hunar Haat' in 117.IFFI, Goa to celebrate Golden Jubilee the next five years across the country. Edition in November In the coming days, Hunar Haat will be International Film Festival of India, IFFI, Goa organized in various places, including Delhi, celebrates its Golden Jubilee Edition this year Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, beginning from 20th of next month. The list of Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Dehradun, Patna, films for Open-Air Screenings during 50th Bhopal, Bhubneshwar, Ajmer and other International Film Festival of India in Goa has places. been released. In all, 14 movies will be screened at the two venues. 119.Pankaj Kumar new CEO of UIDAI Old Classics- Padosan and Chalti ka Naam The government on appointed Pankaj Kumar, Gaadi will be a part of the Open-Air a 1987-batch IAS officer, as the new Chief Screenings during the 50th International Film Executive Officer of Unique Identification Festival of India in Goa. The theme is „The Authority of India (UIDAI), as part of a major Joy of Cinema‟ where select movies from the reshuffle in the top bureaucracy that saw the Comedy and related genre and the Indian appointments of new secretaries in crucial Panorama section will be screened for the ministries. audience. Kumar, the new UIDAI CEO, has been serving The screenings will be organized at two as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of venues - Joggers Park, Altinho, Panjim and Electronics and Information Technology. He Miramar Beach. The Jogger‘s Park will screen was transferred to the UIDAI in the rank and movies on comedy and related genres and pay of Secretary by temporarily upgrading the Miramar Beach will screen select movies of post. the Indian Panorama section. Open-Air Other appointments are: Screenings will be open to everyone and will Ashok Malik, who was press secretary to not require any registration and the entry will President Ram Nath Kovind until recently, as be free for all. Policy Advisor in the Ministry of External
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Affairs in the rank of Additional Secretary on wheels) to 50 trained women. This will create contract basis. direct employment to 700 people. Sanjeev Nandan Sahai, a 1986-batch IAS KVIC is also establishing a Lijjat Papad unit in officer of the Uttarakhand cadre, is the new Goa, which will create 200 direct jobs to the Secretary, Power. Sahai has been serving as local women. It may be noted that these Special Secretary in the ministry and will initiatives are first of its kind in Goa because succeed incumbent Subhash Chandra Garg there was no spinning and weaving activity, no upon his retirement on October 31. Lijjat Papad unit in Goa earlier. Jammu and Kashmir cadre IAS officer B R Further for the first time electric potter wheels Sharma, who has been serving as Secretary in the have been given to replace the traditional Border Roads Organisation (BRO) under the potter wheel which was highly labour Home Ministry, was appointed Chairman, Staff intensive and less efficient in terms of Selection Commission. Nagendra Nath Sinha, a production. KVIC has already helped 1,000 1987-batch IAS officer who is Chairman of people to get employment with these National Highways Authority of India, will take initiatives. Sharma‘s place in the BRO. Known for its picturesque beaches, natural Special Secretary, Internal Security, in Home landscapes and also as one of the preferred Ministry, Sanjeev Gupta, has been transferred to destinations of both national and international Inter State Council Secretariat of the ministry as tourists, KVIC in a short span of two months, its Secretary. identified beneficiaries from various villages Sailesh who holds charge as Secretary in MHA, such as Morjim, Old Goa, Panjim, Bicholim, will now be Secretary, Department of Public Sakhali, Mappasa, Dabhal and Madgaon and Enterprises in Ministry of Heavy Industries and organized trainings in pottery, bee keeping, Public Enterprises. spinning and Papad making. The move will Alok Tandon, a 1986-batch Uttar Pradesh-cadre assist the locals and help in creation of jobs. IAS officer, who is presently Secretary in the KVIC also participated in the vibrant Goa Department of Administrative Reforms and Public event as partner and put up 30 stalls to Grievances, was given additional charge of the showcase various Khadi and Village Industries post of Secretary, Department of Pensions and products from across the country. In the three Pensioners Welfare. days event a record sale of Rs. 60 Lakhs was Pramod Kumar Das who is Special Secretary, reported. Department of Expenditure in Ministry of Finance, was made Secretary, Minority Affairs Ministry. 121.Deepika Padukone, PV Sindhu Rajesh Bhushan, who is currently Additional ambassadors for Bharat Ki Laxmi Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, has now been made Bharat Ki Laxmi is an initiative by Prime Secretary, Coordination, in the Cabinet Secretariat. Minister Narendra Modi that aims at bringing commendable work done by women across the 120.KVIC to generate employment nation to light ahead of the Diwali festival. opportunities Actor Deepika Padukone and shuttler PV Khadi and Village Industries Commission Sindhu were named the ambassadors for (KVIC) and Goa Government and have joined Bharat Ki Laxmi, an initiative by Prime hands with an aim to generate employment Minister Narendra Modi that aims at bringing opportunities in Goa. The Chief Minister of commendable work done by women across the Goa along with the KVIC Chairman recently nation to light ahead of the Diwali festival. distributed electric potter wheels to 160 families and new models Charkhas (spinning 122.National Unity Day to be celebrated on Oct 31
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs National Unity Day will be celebrated on Oct CBSE conducted piloting of the test with 31st to mark the birth anniversary of Ironman 17,000 students of Class 9th and 10th across the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kevadia in Gujarat to pay homage to the great 124.Indian Railway launches One Touch leader at the Statue of Unity. ATVM for fast ticketing To celebrate the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Indian Railways has launched ‗one touch Bharat, celebrations will be held in more than ATVM‘ at 42 suburban stations of Central 600 districts of the country. Railway to render fast ticketing to millions of Home Minister Amit Shah will flag off the commuters over Mumbai Suburban Network. commemorative Run For Unity from New Railway passenger can avail the service of this Delhi's Major Dhyanchand National Stadium. new machine from today onwards at 42 suburban stations. This new machine will reduce the waiting time of the passengers and 123.CBSE, NCERT to launch 'Tamanna' allow passenger to avoid standing in long aptitude test for Class 9, 10 students queues. In a bid to help students make the right career The new machine is loaded with the user choices, the Central Board of friendly and uncomplicated procedure which Secondary Education (CBSE) and National will greatly ease the load on ticketing system Council for Educational Research and Training of Mumbai Suburban Network. A total of 92 (NCERT) have launched an online aptitude ATVMs has been installed at 42 suburban test called as ‗Tamanna‘ (Try and Measure stations. Aptitude and Natural Abilities). The salient features of one touch ATVM What is Tamanna? 1) Passenger can obtain a ticket in just two steps Tamanna is an aptitude test that aims at helping instead of earlier six steps on a regular ATVM. students of Class 9 and 10 make a better choice 2) One touch ATVM will show one screen of subjects, eventually helping them in making display for selecting single/return journey an informed decision while choosing subjects in tickets. Class 11 and 12. 3) The passenger can select desired station in the The CBSE (Know your aptitude) KYA exam distance slab, just press tab ―upto station‖ will assess a student's weaknesses and strengths either for journey tickets or return journey in academics. tickets. Tamanna provides information about strengths 4) The passenger can get platform ticket also with of students and there is no pass or fail in this single touch. test. CBSE KYA registration process 125.GIA presents „Report from Ground Zero‟ According to the CBSE circular, the registration on J&K, Ladakh process for KYA will begin from January 29, A delegation of Group of Intellectuals and 2020 on its official website - cbse.nic.in Academicians (GIA) presented a ‗Report from Students can appear for the test using the Ground Zero‘ on Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh school's log-in id on any working day. after setting aside of Article 370 to Dr Jitendra Details about use of aptitude test, dimensions Singh, Minister of State in PMO. measured in the test, construction and The delegation briefed Mr Singh about the standardization of the test, administration and findings of their observations after field study scoring and understanding the meaning of of the situation there. They briefed that aptitude test scores are available in the test common man across religions, sections and manual. various professional backgrounds in Jammu
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs and Kashmir has expressed happiness about f) During this period, about 20,149 family the decision of the Government to scrap quarters of different types were constructed Article 370. for police personnel. Founded in 2015, GIA is a group of g) Police Stations have increased from 15579 professional women and entrepreneurs, media to 16422. This includes Cyber Police persons and academicians committed to social- Stations whose number has risen from 84 justice and nation-building. to 120. h) Electronic surveillance has improved, as 126.Data on Police organization released there has been an addition of 2,10,278 Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri CCTV Cameras. Now this number, as per G Kishan Reddy releases Bureau of Police the latest count, is 2,75,468. Research and Development's (BPRD) flagship The ―Data on Police Organizations‖ (as on publication Data on Police Organizations 01.01.2018) will soon be available on the (DoPO 2018) BPR&D website www.bprd.nic.in, in The Data on Police Organization in India is an its ―What‘s New‖ section. important compilation of information on police infrastructure, manpower and other resources 127.ITBP to have two new commands from all States, Union Territories, CAPFs and The Union Cabinet on approved the proposal CPOs. This publication has proved very of cadre review of Group "A" General Duty useful for various policy analyses and resource (Executive) cadre and non-GD cadre of Indo- allocation decisions at both the MHA as well Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). as the State level. The publication is also It approved creation of two new commands - widely cited in several researches on police Western Command at Chandigarh and Eastern topics. Command at Guwahati - to be headed by Major highlights of the DoPO 2018 are as Additional Director General and assisted by under: Inspector General. a) For the one year, since the 2017 edition of The newly created posts will be filled up the DoPO, there has been an increase of according to recruitment rules. 19,686 Police personnel in the sanctioned In the GD cadre, there will be increase in strength of the State Police and 16,051 in Group 'A' posts from 1147 to 1207. the strength of CAPFs. Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force was b) There has been 20.95% increase in the conceptualized in the wake of the Chinese strength of Woman Police which pushed aggression on country's northern borders in up the total number of women personnel in 1962. the State Police Forces to 1,69,550. It The first cadre review of the force was held in brings the total percentage of women in the 1988 and the strength of the force was Indian Police to 8.73%. increased to 27,298. The second cadre review c) During this period, 1,24,429 Police was held in 2001 and the strength was personnel were recruited in the different increased to 32,386. The present strength of ranks. the force is 89,429. (ANI) d) An increase of 20.41% is noticed in the training expenditure on Police personnel 128.Data Security Council launches national during this period. repository of deep-tech capabilities e) The overall Police Population Ratio (PPR) Data Security Council of India (DSCI) at the state level stood at 192.95 policemen unveiled a platform that will enlist businesses per lakh population, which shows marginal and research entities working across 25 areas increase. like Internet of Things, Artificial intelligence
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs and machine learning in partnership with the These guidelines are intended to provide National Cyber Security Coordinator's office. transparent, consistent and predictable The platform, TechSagar, will provide regulatory pathways for nanopharmaceuticals actionable insights about capabilities of in India. various companies and startups, academia and The guidelines will facilitate translational research. It will allow targeted search, granular research in line with the regulatory navigation and drilldown methods using more requirements. They will also facilitate than 3,000 niche capabilities. decision-making by regulator during The repository, which currently features over clearances to newer products based on 4,000 entities, was launched by National nanotechnology and similarly for researchers Cyber Security Coordinator of India Rajesh to get clearance for their products to launch in Pant. market. TechSagar will be frequently updated with new entities and information to maintain its 130.Govt accords 'Maharatna' status to relevancy and usefulness. Hindustan Petroleum, Power Grid Corp This repository will enable targeted search of The government accorded 'Maharatna' status to India's tech capabilities and open gates for state-owned Hindustan Petroleum and Power innovation and collaboration across industry Grid Corporation, thus giving them greater and academia. operational and financial autonomy. Two separate orders to this effect were issued 129.DBT releases guidelines for evaluation of by the Department of Public Enterprises, under Nano pharmaceuticals the Ministry of Heavy Industry and Public Science and Technology Minister Harsh Enterprises. Vardhan released guidelines for the evaluation The grant of Maharatna status to the PSUs will of Nano pharmaceuticals, a move that is impart enhanced powers to their Boards to take intended to provide transparent, consistent and financial decisions. predictable regulatory pathways in the area. The Boards of Maharatna central public sector The guidelines are developed by Department enterprises (CPSEs) can make equity of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science investments to undertake financial joint and Technology, Indian Council of Medical ventures and wholly owned subsidiaries and Research (ICMR) and Central Drugs Standard undertake mergers and acquisitions in India Control Organization (CDSCO), Ministry of and abroad, subject to a ceiling of 15 per cent Health and Family Welfare. They are the of the net worth of the concerned CPSE, outcome of inter-ministerial efforts limited to Rs 5,000 crore in one project. coordinated by the DBT. The Boards can also structure and implement Nano carrier based targeted drug delivery is an schemes relating to personnel and human emerging field with the introduction of nano resource management and training. They can pharmaceuticals in the market. also enter into technology joint ventures or These nano formulations have higher efficacy, other strategic alliances, among others. lower toxicity and are safer than the The holding companies of a 'Maharatna' PSU conventional drugs. Indian researchers would are also empowered to transfer assets, float be facilitated to undertake research in line with fresh equity and divest shareholding in the regulatory guidelines and it is expected that subsidiaries, subject to the condition that the industry will be keen to participate from the delegation will only be in respect of the beginning of the research pipeline towards subsidiaries set up by the holding company. product development and commercialization. HPCL was incorporated in 1974 after the takeover and merger of erstwhile Esso
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Standard and Lube India through the Esso administration of ‗Integrity Pledge‘ to the (Acquisition of Undertaking in India) Act officers/staff of the Ministry by the Union passed by Parliament. Minister for Health and Family Welfare, to Power Grid Corporation of India Limited is fight against corruption and commit to highest India's largest electric power transmission standards of honesty and integrity. It is also utility firm. It is a listed company since 2007. proposed to award prizes to winners of the competitions to be conducted by this Ministry. 131.Satya Pal Malik appointed as Governor of The Central Vigilance Commission aims to Goa promote integrity, transparency and Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal accountability in public life. As part of its Malik has been transferred and appointed as efforts to promote probity in public life and to Governor of Goa. Former IAS officers Girish achieve a corruption free society, CVC Chandra Murmu and Radha Krishna Mathur observes Vigilance Awareness Week every will take his place as Lieutenant Governors of year. The observation of Vigilance Awareness Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh Respectively. Week creates greater awareness among public The two Union Territories will come to and encourages all the stakeholders to existence on October 31. collectively participate in prevention of and Satya Pal Malik was the former Governor of fight against corruption. Bihar. Malik was also given an additional During the week-long Vigilance Awareness charge Governor of Odisha for a couple of campaign, various activities like public months in 2018. Satya Pal Malik has interaction for redressal of their grievances, represented Aligarh Constituency from 1989 to usage of generic medicines, surprise 1991. He was a member of Rajya Sabha from inspections, conducting seminars, workshops, Uttar Pradesh from 1980-86 and 1986-1992. debates among students, faculty, children of Malik has also been a member of Uttar staff/ officers, poster competitions, essay Pradesh Assembly from 1974 to 1977. writing, quiz, painting competitions inculcating The new J&K lieutenant governor, Girish moral/ethical values, and other vigilance related Chandra Murmu, currently holds the post of awareness activities will be carried out in sync expenditure secretary in the Finance Ministry with the theme of the year 2019. These will and is a 1985 batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer. sensitize and motivate its officers and staff to He was the principal secretary to Narendra remain vigilant and transparent in their work in Modi when he was the chief minister of order to eradicate corruption in all spheres of Gujarat. life. Radha Krishna Mathur is a retired 1977 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) 132.Gandhinagar becomes first kerosene-free officer of Tripura cadre. Radha Krishna district of Gujarat Muthur retired as the chief information Gandhinagar district of Gujarat has become the commissioner (CIC) in November 2018. first Kerosene-free district of the state. Union Vigilance Awareness Week Home Minister Amit Shah has allotted one The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will thousand LPG connections to the women observe the Vigilance Awareness Week from beneficiaries of Gandhinagar district. 28th October to 2nd November, 2019 as per Cooking gas connections to the rural women directions of Central Vigilance Commission have been allotted under the Ujjwala Yojana. (CVC), Government of India. ONGC has completed this scheme at the cost The theme of the vigilance awareness this year of 6.13 crore rupees covering more than 75 is “Integrity- a way of life”. Vigilance thousand beneficiaries. Awareness Week will commence with the
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs The Home Minister also handed over 480 middle-income group houses to the 134.Manohar Lal sworn-in as CM of Haryana beneficiaries at Kudasan near Gandhinagar. for a second term These houses have been built by the Senior BJP leader Manohar Lal has been Gandhinagar Urban Development Authority - sworn-in as Chief Minister of Haryana. GUDA. Governor Satyadev Narayan Arya administered He also dedicated various drinking water him the oath of office and secrecy at a function schemes and gardens in Kudasan, Sargasan, at Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh. This is the second Raysan and Vaval in Gandhinagar district on consecutive term for Manohar Lal as Chief this occasion. Minister. Jannayak Janta Party leader Dushyant The foundation stones were laid for several Chautala was sworn-in as Deputy Chief development projects including one underpass Minister. and two roads. These projects will be In the 90-member assembly, the BJP has completed under the Gandhinagar Smart City emerged as the single largest party with 40 Yojana. seats. JJP has won 10 seats and independent 7. The inauguration of integrated control centre JJP extended support to BJP to form and distributed beneficiary cards for the government. schemes of widow women, old age persons and Ayushyaman Bharat Yojana was also 135.Ladakh organize 3-Day Ladakh Literature done. Festival Ladakh administration is organizing a 3-Day 133.Yogi Adityanath launches Mukhya Mantri Ladakh Literature Festival from 29th to 31st Kanya Sumangala Yojana October. The first-ever Ladakh Literature On the occasion of Dhanteras, Mukhya Mantri festival aims to celebrate the uniqueness of the Kanya Sumangala Yojana was launched in region in the fields of Art, Culture and Uttar Pradesh by Chief Minister Yogi Literature. There will be screenings of Ladakhi Adityanath. films, discussions on Heritage and The programme aims at empowering the girl presentations on History and Archeology of child for which an amount of 15 thousand Ladakh, during the festival. rupees will be provided to every family in To provide an opportunity to children, youth which a girl child takes birth. and women to participate in the 3 Day Ladakh In the presence of the governor of state Literature Festival several competitions and Anandiben Patel and Union Women and Child events like Calligraphy, Culinary art are also Development Minister Smriti Irani, the Chief incorporated. Minister launched the ambitious scheme by The first-ever Ladakh Literature Festival is transferring amount to the account of going to witness the transformation of Ladakh beneficiaries. from a division to Union Territory. To attract the visitors of all age groups, different Under the scheme, the state government will programmes are planned for three days. direct transfer funds in the account of the Along with local artists, literary personalities, registered girls in a phased manner when a girl historians, musicians and senior IAS officers child will complete various achievements, like who turned authors like Parvez Dewan, Anil vaccination, admission in class 1, 5 and 9, Swarup and Dr MK Ranjith Sinh are also graduation. On this occasion, Mr. Yogi also participating in the festival. launched the Kanya Sumangala web portal and gave away certificates and symbolic cheques 136.Lucknow-based school bags Guinness to some beneficiaries. World Record title
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs A Lucknow-based school has won the Officer-in-Chief released the brochure for the Guinness World Record for becoming the upcoming seminar. 'world's largest school' in terms of strength of Lieutenant General JP Nehra (Retd), Principal students. Advisor (Defence) of CII highlighted the City Montessori School (CMS) has won the crucial role played by DEFCOM over the global award for having 55,547 students in years in promoting collaboration between the 2019-20, as stated by CMS founder, Jagdish armed forces and the industry in the Gandhi. Information and Communications Technology Currently, the CMS has 18 branches and domain. approximately 56,000 students all over the city. 139.IIT Hyderabad researchers develop „bio- bricks‟ from Agricultural Waste Products 137.Yoga guru V Nanammal passes away at 99 Researchers from Indian Institute of Inspirational yoga teacher V Nanammal passed Technology Hyderabad and KIIT School of away on in Coimbatore. She was 99 years old. Architecture, Bhubaneshwar, have developed Known affectionately as "Yoga Grandma", bio-bricks for construction from agricultural Nanammal received the Padma Shri - one of waste products. Their development serves the India's highest civilian honors. dual purposes of waste management and Nanammal was confined to her bed for the development of eco-friendly, sustainable past 30 days after she suffered a fall. building materials. Nanammal has trained more than 10 lakh The team‘s bio-brick received a Special students in the course of her life. Recognition Trophy for sustainable housing at She became a popular figure on YouTube in Rural Innovators Start-Up Conclave 2019 her later years, still performing some of the organized recently by National Institute of most formidable yoga positions in her Rural Development and Panchayati Raj trademark pink sari. (NIRDPR), Hyderabad. 22 per cent of India‘s total annual CO2 138.DEFCOM 2019 emissions are by the construction sector. Clay DEFCOM seminar, jointly organized by the bricks, for example, not only use up fertile Corps of Signals and Confederation of Indian topsoil, but their manufacturing process also Industry (CII) has evolved over the years to emits significant amounts of carbon dioxide become a landmark symposium for into the atmosphere. collaboration between the Indian armed forces, Recognizing this problem, the Building academia, research and development Materials and Technology Promotion Council organizations, and the Industry on aspects (BMTPC) was set up in the 1990‘s by the pertaining to Information and Communications Central Government to develop eco-friendly Technology. and energy-efficient building materials, DEFCOM 2019 to be held on 26 and 27 providing impetus into repurposing November 2019 at Manekshaw Centre, New agricultural and industrial waste items into Delhi will seek to deliberate on the theme, construction materials. “Communications as a Decisive Catalyst for Repurposing of agricultural wastes is Jointness”. particularly important in India. More than 500 The curtain raiser ceremony for the event was million tons of agricultural waste is produced held on 22 October 2019 at India Habitat in the country every year. While some of this Centre and attended by senior officers of the is reused as fodder, 84 to 141 million-tons are Indian armed forces, academia and industry. burnt, which results in severe air pollution. Lieutenant General Rajeev Sabherwal, Signal
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Ar. Priyabrata Rautray and Ar. Avik Roy have Vehicles (PSLVs) missions for four found a new way to repurpose agricultural international customers. waste materials. They use it to manufacture The payloads will launch on PSLV‘s C47, C48 bricks, a commonly used construction item. and C49 missions, scheduled to launch in The process of making bio-bricks starts with November and December 2019 from Satish careful selection of the dry agro-waste like Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, Andhra paddy straws, wheat straws, sugarcane bagasse Pradesh. and cotton plant. The team decided to use dry The US Company that arranges such flights for sugarcane bagasse for the first sample. The agencies seeking to put their spacecraft into bagasse is first chopped to the desired size. orbits, these spacecraft will be accommodated Lime-based slurry is prepared, and the as minor secondary payload on the next three chopped agro-waste is added to the slurry and PSLV flights. mixed thoroughly by hand or mechanical In each of the three PSLV flights, ISRO will mixer, to create a homogenous mixture. have one of its earth observation satellites as This mixture is poured into moulds and the larger primary payload. rammed with a wooden block to make a ISRO will send the customer spacecraft to compact brick. These moulds are left to dry for their respective orbits on the PSLV-C47, a day or two, after which the sides of the where the Indian space agency‘s Cartosat-3 moulds are removed, and the brick is allowed will be the main payload), in November while to dry for fifteen to twenty days. It takes the other foreign satellites will be sent on approximately a month‘s time for these bio- board PSLV-C47 and PSLV-C48 in bricks to attain its working strength by air December. drying. Bio-bricks are not only more sustainable than 141.Disabled, people over 80 years of age can clay bricks, but are also carbon sinks because now vote through postal ballot they fix more carbon dioxide than they The disabled and people over 80 years of age produce during their lifecycle. can now cast their vote through postal ballot, For example, the research team used 900 the government said in a move that will help grams of sugarcane bagasse to make a single increase voter turnout. block. Burning this amount of the waste At present, voting through postal ballot is bagasse instead of repurposing it releases 639 available to armed forces and those assigned grams of carbon dioxide. Not only is this poll duties. release prevented in the making of bio-bricks, On the recommendation of the Election but the lime in each brick also absorbs 322.2 Commission, the Ministry of Law and Justice grams carbon dioxide from the air during has amended the Conduct of Election Rules, curing, which makes it a carbon-negative or 1961, on October 22, allowing senior citizens environmentally sustainable. and person with disabilities in the absentee The ‗Bio-Bricks‘ developed from Agricultural voter list. Waste Products by IIT Hyderabad and KIIT The absentee voter refers to a vote cast by Bhubaneshwar Researchers someone who is unable to go to the polling station. 140.14 small foreign satellites to launch by In both these categories there are people who ISRO are unable to reach the polling stations and The Indian Space Research Organization thus are unable to cast their votes. This will (ISRO) will launch 14 small satellites on board enable people from these two categories to cast the next three Polar Satellite Launching their votes with ease and will also thus increase the voter turnout.
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs The poll officer will attest the absentee voter in the case of senior citizens and person with 144.2,000-year-old trade center in Andhra disability in the form 13A. Pradesh In the last Lok Sabha elections, about 60.14 A maritime trade Centre based out of a per cent of absentee voters voted through e- fortified settlement near the banks of the postal ballot while in 2014, during the general Swarnamukhi River in Andhra Pradesh‘s election, this figure was just 4 per cent. Gottiprolu may have had a trade guild with its own army to protect its interests around 2,000 142.Women in Delhi to get free rides in public years ago, according to Archaeological Survey buses of India officials involved in the excavation of Women in Delhi will get free rides in public the site. buses starting. As per the plan, conductors will ASI superintending architect T. Sreelakshmi distribute pink tickets having face value of 10 said the second round of excavations at the site rupees each to women passengers for free- that is near Naidupeta, about 80 km from travel. The government will then reimburse the Tirupati and Nellore, would start in November transporters based on the number of such or December. tickets issued. The first round of excavation at the site, which There are around 3,700 DTC buses and 1,800 started in December last year and ended in buses under the cluster scheme of the Delhi September, unearthed a huge settlement Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System surrounded by a brick enclosure that may have (DIMTS). had a moat around it. Females will travel free in all Buses from The excavation unearthed brick-built structures 29.10.19. Notification has been issued. in elliptical, circular and rectangular shapes. Marshals will be deployed in all DTC and The size of bricks (43 to 48 cm) can be cluster buses to ensure safety of public, compared to those in the Satavahana/Ikshvaku especially women. Delhi Chief Minister period structures in the Krishna valley, Arvind Kejriwal announced this while according to the ASI. This means the site may addressing bus marshals at a training session date back to 2nd century to 1st century BCE. Currently, 3,400 bus marshals are already A four-armed 2-metre tall sculpture of Vishnu working and their strength will go up to 13 was unearthed at the site that can be dated thousand with the deployment of new back to the Pallava period (8th Century CE), marshals. The scheme was rolled out in June looking at its features like head gear and this year to curb incidents of violence and eve- drapery. teasing against women in the city. The excavation also unearthed a series of broken terracotta pipes that fit into each other, 143.RBI imposes Rs 35 lakh penalty on TMB pointing towards a form of drainage. The Reserve Bank has imposed a penalty of Rs This appears to be a trade Centre in south 35 lakh on Tamilnad Mercantile Bank for coastal Andhra Pradesh. We have found violating norms on frauds classification and evidence of its strategic location for trade. notification. Trade guilds used to control such centers and The RBI said in a release that it imposed the they used to have their own armies to protect fine via an order dated October 24, 2019. their interests. RBI penalized for non-compliance with certain provisions of directions issued by RBI on 145.Ayodhya creates Guinness record, 4.10 frauds classification and reporting by lakh diyas lit at Ram Ki Paidi commercial banks and select FIs directions The majestic Ram Ki Paidi wore a celestial 2016 look as 410,000 diyas or earthen lamps were lit
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs on the banks of the Saryu River in Uttar probationer civil servants has begun at the Pradesh‘s Ayodhya as part of the BJP Statue of Unity in Kevadia, Gujarat, where government‘s Deepotsav celebrations this year, around 500 newly recruited bureaucrats are breaking last year‘s Guinness World Record. undergoing six-day training. Fiji‘s minister Veena Bhatnagar, the chief guest World Bank president David Malpass at this year Deepotsav, or festival of lamps, lit addressed the probationers on the topic of the first earthen lamp as chief minister Yogi ―capacity building for civil servants‖ at Tent Adityanath and Governor Anandiben Patel and City, near the statue. several ministers of the state government Around 500 IAS/IPS/IRS/IFS probationers are looked on. participating in the foundation course of the Around 450,000 diyas were placed at the Ram Centre‘s Department of Personnel and Ki Paidi for a Guinness World Record on this Training at Tent City. Deepotsav and out of this, 410,000 diyas were Along with training and seminars by experts, successfully lit creating a Guinness World the government has also launched a new Record. While, 201,000 lakh diyas were lit in initiative under which each official will guide other parts of the temple town. a local youth from villages near the Statue of The moment Bhatnagar lit the first lamp; these Unity, which is located in a tribal area along volunteers at the ghat lit more than 400,000 the Narmada River. diyas giving heavenly look to the majestic ghat. Under the mentorship programme Nurture the A team from the Guinness World Record was Future, close to 500 civil service officials will present at the ghat to judge the event. be divided into teams to visit villages near The Yogi Adityanath government celebrated Kevadia and each official will take a youth Deepotsav in Ayodhya for the first time in under his wing and provide career and October 2017; about seven months after the professional guidance. Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in the The initiative will ensure a better and brighter state in March 2017. The event was also held future for the youth living in remote and rural last year. Kim Jung-sook, the first lady of South areas. Korea, was the chief guest at the event. Over the next five years, the initiative is The three-day Deepostav celebrations began in expected to cover nearly one lakh youth Ayodhya. On the second day, several cultural throughout the country as part of the events were organized at Guptar Ghat and foundation course of probationers who have Bhajan Sthal. Artists from Indonesia and Nepal just passed the civil services exam and joined performed Ram Lila. the country‘s elite bureaucracy. On the day of Diwali, saints will light 150,000 The new initiative is being launched from earthen diyas in the Ramkot area - all the Gujarat as the first common foundation course temples and houses in the periphery of the Ram for civil servants is being held in the State for Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid campus. the first time. The Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas had sought Aarambh will conclude on October 31, being a permission from the divisional commissioner of fit tribute to the Iron Man of India on his birth Faizabad division, Manoj Mishra, to light diyas anniversary, fondly celebrated as ‗Rashtriya at the disputed site and rest of the campus on Ekta Divas‘. It will be the first-event event Diwali. However, they were denied permission. recognizing the commitment, character and conduct of Sardar Patel. 146.Aarambh: First ever foundation civil service course 147.Nagaland partners with Madhya Pradesh The Centre‘s first-ever common foundation under 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat' course Aarambh (Beginning) for 2019 batch
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat' programme has months and would demit office on April 23rd, brought in the states of Nagaland and Madhya 2021. Pradesh as one to celebrate the spirit of His Warrant of Appointment was signed by national integration through a deep and President Ram Nath Kovind following which structured engagement between the two states. the Law Ministry issued a notification The Directorate of Higher Education of announcing Justice Bobde's appointment as the Government of Nagaland as the nodal next head of the Indian judiciary. department of 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat' A judge since 2000, Justice Bobde joined the has conducted various activities undertaken in Bombay High Court as an additional judge. He partnership with Madhya Pradesh. was appointed as the chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on October Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s idea of a 2012. In April 2013, he was elevated to the sustained and structured cultural connection Supreme Court. between citizens of different regions of the country through 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat' As per established procedure, Justice Gogoi has seen a positive impact between the state of had earlier this month written to the Law Nagaland and Madhya Pradesh. Minister recommending the name of Justice With Madhya Pradesh as a partner state, Bobde, the senior most judges as his successor. Nagaland under this programme has the endeavour of sharing and learning knowledge 149.Nirmala Sitharaman releases of culture through various activities commemorative coin of Paramahansa undertaken by the nodal department the State Yogananda directorate of Higher Education along with Art Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman t & Culture, Tourism, Industries and released a special commemorative coin on Commerce. Paramahansa Yogananda to mark his 125th Miss Vetanule Demo, Officer on Special Duty Birth Anniversary. (Administration & MHRD), also the Liaison Paramahansa Yogananda (5 January 1893 – 7 officer for 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat', March 1952), or Paramhansa Yogananda, born Directorate of Higher Education shared on the Mukunda Lal Ghosh, was an Indian monk, various activities, with the MoU signed yogi and guru who introduced millions to the between the two states. teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga Department of Art and Culture, Government of through his organization Self-Realization Nagaland organized Exchange of Cultural Fellowship (SRF) / Yogoda Satsanga Society troupes- Madhya Pradesh cultural troupes (YSS) of India. participated in the Hornbill Festival from 1st to A chief disciple of the Bengali yoga guru 10th December this year and Nagaland cultural Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri, he was sent by his Troupe participated in the Lokrang Festival lineage to spread the teachings of yoga to the held at Bhopal from 26th to 30th January last West, to prove the unity between Eastern and year. Western religions and to preach a balance between Western material growth and Indian 148.Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde appointed as spirituality. His long-standing influence in the 47th CJI American yoga movement, and especially the Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde was appointed as yoga culture of Los Angeles, led him to be the 47th Chief Justice of India. considered by yoga experts as the "Father of Justice Bobde will take oath as the CJI on Yoga in the West‖. November 18th, a day after incumbent Ranjan Gogoi demits office. He will have tenure of 17
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs 150.India to adopt Brazil model of human milk Corporation Limited (IRCTC). The OTP will bank be received as SMS on the registered mobile Taking inspiration from Brazil's success in the number of the passenger provided at the time field of human milk bank, India has decided to of booking. The passenger will be required to adopt a similar model in creating a wide share the OTP with the agent who booked the network of human milk banks. ticket for getting the refund amount. After returning from BRICS Health The objective of the scheme is to streamline Ministers' Conference in Brazil, Union the cancellation refund process further so that Minister of State for Health and Family cancellation amount is refunded timely to the Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey said, the customer by the agents. government has set a target of ensuring that at least 70 per cent infants have access to breast 153.Bangladesh-India Friendship Dialogue' at milk by the year 2025. The target would Cox's Bazar from Nov 1 subsequently be increased to 100 per cent. The ninth edition of Bangladesh-India Friendship Dialogue will be held at Cox Bazar 151.Human milk bank in Bangladesh from November 1. The two-day A human milk bank or breast milk bank is a dialogue will cover a wide range of issues like service which collects, screens, processes, and trade and investment, connectivity, dispenses by prescription human milk donated technology, energy, regional security, by nursing mothers who are not biologically extremism and sustainable development related to the recipient infant. The optimum among others. The dialogue aims to draw from nutrition for newborn infants is breastfeeding, learning and experiences in these sectors if possible, for the first year. between India and Bangladesh. Human milk banks offer a solution to the The interaction will be inaugurated by the mothers that cannot supply their own breast Speaker of Bangladesh Parliament Dr. Shirin milk to their child, for reasons such as a baby Sharmin Chowdhury while Foreign Minister being at risk of getting diseases and infections of Bangladesh Dr Abdul Momen will from a mother with certain diseases, or when a participate in the final day of the dialogue. child is hospitalized at birth due to very low Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of birth weight (and thus at risk for conditions Bangladesh Md. Shahriar Alam will chair the such as necrotizing enterocolitis), and the inaugural session. mother cannot provide her own milk during A number of academicians, lawmakers and the extended stay for reasons such as living far foreign policy experts from India and from the hospital. Bangladesh including National General Secretary of BJP Ram Madhav, Former Union 152.Indian Railways introduce OTP-based Minister M.J. Akbar, Finance Minister of cancellation refund system Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma, India's High Indian Railways have introduced a new One Commissioner to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Time Password (OTP) based refund system for Das will participate in the event. tickets booked through authorized railway The event is being organized jointly by the ticketing agents. The initiative is aimed at India Foundation and Bangladesh Foundation bringing in a transparent and customer-friendly for Regional Studies. The last session of the refund system for reserved e-tickets which are Bangladesh-India Friendship Dialogue was cancelled or which are fully wait-listed held at Guwahati in July, 2017. dropped tickets. This new system will be implemented by 154.Arunachal Pradesh: 7th edition of Tawang Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Festival begins
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs In Arunachal Pradesh, the 7th edition of the Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (31 October Tawang Festival began with much fanfare and 1875 – 15 December 1950), popularly known fervour in Tawang. United States‘ Ambassador as Sardar Patel, was an Indian politician. He to India Kenneth Juster declared the Festival served as the first Deputy Prime Minister of open. India. He was an Indian barrister, a senior leader of the Indian National Congress and a 155.Odisha govt inks LoU for 'drink from tap founding father of the Republic of India who mission' with UNICEF played a leading role in the country's struggle In a bid to provide quality drinking water to for independence and guided its integration every urban household in the state, Odisha has into a united, independent nation. In India and inked a Letter of Understanding (LoU) on elsewhere, he was often called Sardar, "drink from tap mission" with the United meaning "chief" in Hindi, Urdu, and Persian. Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Friday. He acted as Home Minister during the political To ensure the availability of safe water in each integration of India and the Indo-Pakistani and every urban areas, will adopt community- War of 1947. based water management system at ward-level, He was appointed as the 49th President of involving Women Self-help Groups, which Indian National Congress, organizing the party will ensure the household connection for every for elections in 1934 and 1937 while household, meter reading, billing, collection of promoting the Quit India Movement. water tariff, complaint management, filed He led the task of forging a united India, quality testing by using standard tools, etc. successfully integrating into the newly According to the Housing and Urban independent nation those British colonial Development Department, UNICEF will provinces that had been "allocated" to India. provide technical cooperation to the Besides those provinces that had been under government of Odisha for implementation of direct British rule, approximately 565 self- the "drink from tap" program which aims at governing princely states had been released providing piped quality drinking water supply from British suzerainty by the Indian to each household on a 24-hour basis, in first Independence Act of 1947. phase 1.20 lakh people are going to benefit. Threatening military force, Patel persuaded almost every princely state to accede to India. 156. National Unity Day being observed across His commitment to national integration in the the country newly independent country was total and National Unity Day - Rashtriya Ekta Diwas - uncompromising, earning him the sobriquet is being observed across the country today, on "Iron Man of India". the occasion of the 144th birth anniversary of He is also remembered as the "patron saint of the Iron Man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai India's civil servants" for having established Patel. Since 2014, October 31st is observed as the modern all-India services system. He is the National Unity Day and people from all also called the "Unifier of India‖. The Statue walks of life participate in the 'Run For Unity'. of Unity, the world's tallest statue, was Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid floral dedicated to him on 31 October 2018 which is tribute to Sardar Patel at the 'Statue of Unity' at approximately 182 metres (597 ft.) in height. Kevadiya in Gujarat. Later, he administered a pledge on national unity to a large gathering. 157.28th Vyas Samman conferred on Leeladhar The Prime Minister also witnessed the Jagoori 'Rashtriya Ekta Diwas Parade' by personnel of The 28th Vyas Samman for the year 2018 was Gujarat Police and central armed forces. conferred on well-known Hindi writer About Vallabhbhai Patel Leeladhar Jagoori at a function in New Delhi.
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Mr Jagoori has been chosen for the prestigious The BPM on 30th Oct every year is in vogue award for his poetry collection- Jitne Log since the signing of Border Peace and Utne Prem. Renowned Author and Scholar Tranquility agreement between both the Govind Mishra gave away the award to him. Nations on 07 Sep 1993. In the last 26 years, The Vyas Samman, started in 1991, is given the BPM mechanism has evolved into a vital by K K Birla Foundation for an outstanding platform for resolving local issues and literary work in Hindi authored by an Indian fostering mutual confidence amongst the citizen published during the last 10 years. It Border Guarding Troops of both the countries. carries award money of four lakh rupees along with a citation and plaque. 160.Air India depicts 'Ek Onkar' symbol on its aircraft 158.Datta Padsalgikar appointed as Deputy In a unique gesture to mark 550th Birth NSA Anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji, Air Former Mumbai Police Commissioner and India has depicted Sikh religious symbol 'Ek Maharashtra DGP Datta Padsalgikar has been Onkar' on the tail of one of its aircraft. The appointed as Deputy National Security flight is set to fly from Amritsar to Stansted in Advisor (NSA). The 1982-batch IPS officer the United Kingdom. Air India will fly its had earlier served in the Intelligence Bureau aircraft thrice a week on the Mumbai- (IB) for 26 years before he was picked as the Amritsar-Stansted route. Mumbai Police Commissioner in 2016. The international flight will facilitate Sikh He retired as the Director General of Police pilgrims visiting Punjab on the occasion of the (DGP) in 2018. Among other assignments, Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. The Padsalgikar had also served as DCP flag carrier airline will also increase the (Detection) in crime branch, and in EOW frequency of Delhi-Amritsar-Toronto flight (Economic Offences Wing). His last posting from thrice a week to daily starting March next was deputy Lokayukta for Maharashtra. He year. had worked with current National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval during his stint in 161.M Venkaiah Naidu unveils 15-point reform the IB. charter Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu unveiled a 159.Indian Army participates in Border 15-point reform charter as the basis for a new Personnel Meeting organized by PLA political normal to enable effective functioning Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) between the of Parliament and State Legislatures. Mr Naidu Indian Army and People's Liberation Army dwelt at length on the present pitfalls of was conducted by the People‘s Liberation Parliamentary democracy while delivering the Army on 30 October 2019 on the Chinese side first Arun Jaitley Memorial Lecture on at Bum La. Strengthening of Parliamentary Institutions in The Border Personnel Meeting was marked by the Country at Delhi University . Mr Naidu unfurling of both the National Flags followed called for a new political consciousness urging by a formal address by the delegation leaders all the stakeholders to review their mindset and discussion on various issues to enhance with regard to their roles and responsibilities. the existing mutual trust and bonhomie Expressing concern over poor attendance in between World's two largest armies. The the legislatures and the quality of debates, the mutual desire to enhance cooperation and Vice President urged the political parties to cordial relations was evident from the ensure attendance of at least 50 per cent of conducive environment that prevailed during their legislators all through the proceedings of the proceedings. the houses by adopting a roster system.
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs This suggestion came in the context of Parliament being forced to be adjourned due to lack of quorum of the required presence of 10 per cent of the strength of the Houses. Mr Naidu also advocated a thorough review of the Anti-Defection Law to rectify the grey International areas like incentivizing legislators to resort to 1. Walk for peace to mark Gandhi‟s 150th actions inviting expulsion from the party anniversary in Dubai besides providing for time-bound disposal of Four-Kilometer walk for Peace and Tolerance defection cases by the Presiding Officer. by people of different nationalities will mark the Gandhi Jayanti celebrations in Dubai. The 162.Delhi Police doubles 'PRAKHAR' anti- programme organized by the Indian Consulate street crime vans in Dubai along with the local community and Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik the host government will be organized at the flagged off 15 'PRAKHAR' vans, with the Zabeel Park in Dubai. Gandhi Bhajan and a latest addition taking the number of such meditation session will be other activities to special vehicles to curb street crimes in the mark the 150th Birth Anniversary celebrations national capital to 30. of Mahatma Gandhi. Painting and debate These patrol vans tasked especially to curb competitions are being organized by the Indian street crimes as well as crimes against women Consulate in various schools of the United in the vulnerable areas are specially designed Arab Emirates as well. and equipped with latest gadgets for quick Later in the week, a cycle rally will be transmission of information about any crime, organized in Ajman to commemorate the the officials said. occasion. Each 'PRAKHAR' van is also equipped with A special exhibition of photographs on, life Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) with inbuilt and principles of Mahatma Gandhi is also GPS besides the wireless set. The MDT being planned in Dubai and other Emirates of immediately transmits the calls related to street the UAE. crimes as soon as it is received in Command Room to the concerned nearest PRAKHAR' 2. Nepal releases coins to mark Guru Nanak van for immediate action. Dev's 550th birth anniversary These vans conduct intensive patrolling and To celebrate 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru dedicated checking at the vulnerable points in Nanak Dev, the Nepal Rastra Bank has issued the crime-prone areas of the districts. commemorative coins. In special ceremony With the latest induction, each district will coins of 2,500, 1,000 and 100 Nepali rupees now have two such vans to cover the were launched in Kathmandu. vulnerable stretches, The deterrent presence of Nepal Rastra Bank Governor Dr. Chiranjibi these patrol vans has substantially helped in Nepal and Indian Ambassador Manjeev Singh curbing crime, as the number of calls related to Puri released commemorative coins. incidents of snatching and robbery have Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee decreased in the localities covered by President Sardar Gobind Singh Longowal, 'PRAKHAR' MPVs during the one month. Jathedar of Akal Takht Giani Harpreet Singh and many other prominent Sikh leaders from Punjab also joined the launching ceremony.
A book titled "Sikh Heritage of Nepal" was
also released at this juncture. The book
published by Indian Embassy highlights
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Nepal's Sikh connection which dates back to Rarely heard audio clips of Mahatma Gandhi Guru Nanak Dev, who travelled through Nepal will be featured as part of an hour-long during his third Udasi. The book also television programme jointly hosted by the underlines the Sikh community's significant UNESCO and Doordarshan to commemorate contribution to the development of Nepal. the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation. 3. International Astronomical Union names The bilingual programme - 'Mahatma asteroid after Pandit Jasraj Lives'/'Bapu Zinda Hain' - telecasted on The International Astronomical Union (IAU) October 1 at 10 pm and repeated on October 2 has named an asteroid, discovered in 2006, after at 5 pm across the country on DD News. Indian classical singer Pandit Jasraj. The clips include his speech from 1947, before The asteroid, or more formally known as a the Independence, in which he addresses minor planet, is located between Mars and corporate leaders and exhorts them to give Jupiter, and was discovered on November 11, wealth for welfare of the society. Another clip 2006, by the Catalina Sky Survey, whose will be about Gandhi talking about music. telescopes are based in Arizona in the United The programme seeks to celebrate his ideas States. The privilege of naming a planet is first and teachings and how it has shaped the lives given to discoverers, who have 10 years to of people in the country and around the world. propose a name. Eleven speakers from different walks of life, The discoverer or team is expected to write a age and background have been chosen to share short citation, explaining the reasons for with the audience their personal experiences assigning the name, according to the IAU‘s and achievements, and how they have guidelines. integrated the Mahatma's vision and applied All names proposed are judged by the 15- his principles into their work and daily lives. member Working Group for Small Body The programme will be jointly hosted by Nomenclature (CSBN) of the IAU, comprising UNESCO New Delhi Director, Eric Falt, and professional astronomers with research interests renowned academician and historian Pushpesh in minor planets and/or comets from around the Pant. world. As of September, there are 5,41,131 numbered 5. Palestine issues commemorative stamp to minor planets of a total of 7,97,078 observed honor Gandhi's legacy and values bodies, with the rest being unnumbered minor Palestine has released a commemorative planets. postage stamp on Mahatma Gandhi, honoring Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj (b. 1930) is an his legacy and values, to mark the 150 birth exponent of Indian classical vocal music. Jasraj anniversary of the world leader. is the recipient of numerous awards, honours, Palestinian Authority's (PA) Minister of and titles, including the prestigious Padma Telecommunication and Information Vibhushan and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Technology Ishaaq Seder released the stamp in Award. His distinctive voice traverses a the presence of Representative of India PA remarkable four-and-a-half octave, reads an Sunil Kumar at a ceremony held at the IAU citation available on the California ministry in Ramallah. Institute of Technology‘s database on small The Indian mission in Ramallah has organized planetary bodies. several events over the past year to commemorate the world leader's 150th birth 4. UNESCO, DD host for TV show on anniversary, drawing a huge response from all Gandhi's 150th anniversary sections of the society.
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs 6. Indian Embassy in Moscow to organize The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet exhibition on mutual influences of Gandhi, (ACC), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Tolstoy Modi, approved the appointment of Bhalla for a Indian Embassy in Moscow in collaboration period of three years from the date of with the Russian State Duma will organize an assumption of charge of the post or until further exhibition dedicated to the mutual influences orders, whichever is earlier, the order said. of Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy on each Bhalla, an economist and columnist, in other's work. The exhibition, curated by December last year resigned as part-time renowned Gandhian scholar, Dr. Birad Yajnik, member of the Economic Advisory Council to will showcase the correspondence between the the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).He holds a PhD two great souls of the 20th century, tracing in Economics from Princeton University, a their relationship and the impact it had on their Masters in Public and International Affairs individual journeys. from Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton On the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary University, and a BSEE degree from Purdue of Gandhi, the exhibition juxtaposes Tolstoy's University. Bread Labor and Gandhi's Satyagraha, and their understanding of truth, kindness and love 9. India Economic Summit being the solution for this world. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and drones, environmental 7. 20 countries including India sign agreement reforms, infrastructure, gender parity, start-up to stop spread of fake news online unicorns, education and South Asia's economic Twenty countries, including France, Britain outlook will be on top of the agenda at the and India, have signed an agreement at the World Economic Forum's 33rd edition of the United Nations to stop the spread of fake news India Economic Summit beginning October 3 on-line. The signatories, also included South in New Delhi. Africa and Canada, committed to promoting Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina independently reported, diverse and reliable will co-chair the Summit with Singapore's information on the internet under an accord Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat. initiated by Reporters without Borders (RSF), Others co-chairing the Summit include a press freedom watchdog. Shobana Kamineni, Executive Vice Recently, Twitter shut down thousands of Chairperson of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, accounts worldwide for spreading Shailendra Singh, Managing Director of misinformation, including some artificially Sequoia Capital, India and Sania Mirza amplifying pro-Saudi messaging as part of a representing UN Women. regional propaganda war. Fake accounts from The summit will host more than 800 leaders China seeking to sow discord among protesters from 40 countries, comprising senior public in Hong Kong were also found. figures and leading representatives from civil society, arts and culture, science, business and 8. Surjit Bhalla appointed as Executive academia. Director for India at IMF The two-day event is jointly organized by the Economist Surjit S Bhalla was appointed as the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Executive Director for India on the board of the industry body CII. The theme of the summit is International Monetary Fund (IMF. 'Innovating for India: Strengthening South Bhalla (71) will succeed former RBI deputy Asia, Impacting the World'. governor Subir Gokarn, who died in the US on This week, leaders from across the world are July 30 after a brief illness. coming to New Delhi to tackle the big issues of today and collaborate on how to seize the
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs opportunities of tomorrow. Inclusive growth, Officials from both countries have been the environment and innovation are some of visiting the town to prepare for the meeting the strategic regional issues to be discussed. between the two leaders. State and Central We are looking forward to a productive government authorities and police are on their meeting said by Borge Brende, President, toes to make sure that no stone is left unturned World Economic Forum. for the summit‘s success. Plain clothes men and armed police guards 10. PM Modi, Mauritian counterpart jointly have already been deployed in the ancient, inaugurate projects quaint town and the premises housing the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mauritian ancient monuments are under a security Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth jointly blanket. inaugurated two landmark projects in Mauritius through video conferencing. These 12. Ecuador to quit OPEC in 2020 are Phase-1 of the Metro Express and a new Ecuador, one of the smallest members of the ENT Hospital. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, will leave the 14-nation bloc from Both these projects will serve the people of Jan. 1 due to fiscal problems. Mauritius and they are symbols of India‘s The Andean nation is attempting to increase strong commitment to the development of the crude production to raise more income and has Island nation. on multiple occasions broken its output quota India is already involved in a number of fixed by Opec. projects in Mauritius including Hospitals and The decision is based on the issues and Housing projects. In 2016, India provided a internal challenges that the country must take Special Economic Package of 353 million on related to fiscal sustainability. This measure dollars for the execution of five projects in the is in line with the national government's plan Indian Ocean country to reduce public spending and generate new income 11. Modi – Xi Second Informal Summit in Ecuador produces about 545,000 barrels per Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu day (bpd) of crude, but is struggling with tight Mamallapuram, located about 50 km from liquidity because of a wide fiscal deficit and Chennai, is set to play host to the second hefty foreign debt. informal summit between Modi and Xi It reached a $4.2 billion (3.42 billion pounds) Jinping(President of China) from October 11- deal with the International Monetary Fund in 13. The first such summit was held in Wuhan, February which allowed it to receive an China in 2018. immediate disbursement of $652 million and The town has been getting a facelift ahead of opened the door for an additional $6 billion in the high-profile meet, with the historic shore loans. Ecuador produces about 545,000 barrels temple and five rathas all set to get enlivened per day (bpd) of crude, but is struggling with with world class lighting and a dash of fresh tight liquidity because of a wide fiscal deficit green with pruned trees and trimmed and hefty foreign debt. landscape. Despite its decision to leave Opec, Ecuador The historic locations, with a proposed add-on will continue to support efforts to stabilize the feature of top class illumination, is expected to world oil market. provide a perfect setting for a memorable Ecuador joined Opec in 1973, withdrew in photo opportunity of the top leaders, official 1992, then rejoined in 2007. sources had earlier told PTI. Other small former Opec members have also left the organization for fiscal reasons.
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Indonesia suspended membership in 2016 as it Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval sought to increase oil exports. Command, based at Mumbai. About OPEC During the port call, the Commanding Officer The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting will pay courtesy calls on various dignitaries Countries (OPEC) is an intergovernmental and government officials at Reunion Island organization of 14 nations, founded on 14 including the Superior Commander of French September 1960 in Baghdad by the first five Naval Forces in Southern Indian Ocean, members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Prefect of Reunion Island and the Mayor of Le and Venezuela), and headquartered since 1965 Port in Vienna, Austria. As of September 2019, the Professional interactions between the French then 14 member countries accounted for an and Indian Navies are planned towards further estimated 44 percent of global oil production enhancing co-operation. In addition, social and 81.5 percent of the world's "proven" oil engagements, sports events and best practices reserves, giving OPEC a major influence on will also be shared between the two Navies, global oil prices that were previously the statement read. determined by the so called "Seven Sisters" France and India have traditionally enjoyed grouping of multinational oil companies. warm and friendly bilateral relations, sharing common values of democracy, development 13. Envoys of Five Nations Present Credentials and secularism which were upgraded to the to President of India level of a 'Strategic Partnership' in 1998. Ambassadors of Denmark, France, European There have been regular high-level exchanges Union, Mexico and Kazakhstan and interactions in numerous fields between presented credentials to the President of India, both countries. The Navies of both nations Shri Ram Nath Kovind, at a ceremony held at recently engaged in major Maritime Exercise Rashtrapati Bhavan. 'VARUNA 2019' in the Indian Ocean, The envoys who presented their credentials were: - involving the participation of carrier task 1. Mr Freddy Svane, Ambassador of Denmark groups from both sides and conduct of full- 2. Mr Emannuel Lenain, Ambassador of France spectrum naval operations. 3. Mr Ugo Astuto, Ambassador of the European Indian Navy ships are regularly deployed Union overseas as part of Navy's mission of building 4. Mr Federico Salas Lotfe, Ambassador of 'bridges of friendship' and strengthening Mexico international cooperation with friendly 5. Mr Yerlan Alimbayev, Ambassador of the countries. Republic of Kazakhstan 15. India, Bangladesh sign MoU for setting up 14. INS Tarkash arrives at Reunion Island in Coastal Surveillance Radar System France India and Bangladesh have signed a MoU that As part of Indian Navy's overseas deployment will enable Delhi to set up coastal surveillance to Africa, Europe and Russia, Indian Naval system radar in Bangladesh. Ship Tarkash arrived at St Denis, Reunion The two countries signed seven agreements in Island, France for a three-day visit. New Delhi yesterday after talks between Prime Commanded by Captain Sathish Vasudev, the Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh ship is a potent frontline frigate of the Indian counterpart Sheikh Hasina. Navy equipped with a versatile range of Both Prime Ministers welcomed the initiatives weapons and sensors. The ship is part of the for the development of closer Maritime Indian Navy's Western Fleet and under the Security Partnership and establishment of Operational Command of Flag Officer
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Coastal Surveillance Radar System in Nepal. Spiritual Head of Ramakrishna Ashram Bangladesh. Nepal Swami Ekarthananda and Deputy Chief The coastal surveillance system will pave way of Mission, Indian Embassy Dr Ajay Kumar for Indo-Bangladesh White Shipping also joined Durga Puja celebrations in Agreement in future. This will be useful amid Kathmandu. growing terror threats via seas. Other agreements signed by the two countries 17. Noble Prize in medicine include MoU for Standard Operating The Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine Procedure on the use of Chattogram and has been awarded to three scientists for Mongla Ports and MoU on withdrawal of 1.82 discovery of how cells sense and adapt to cusecs of water from Feni River by India for oxygen. drinking water supply scheme for Sabroom William G. Kaelin Jr, Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe town in Tripura. and Gregg L. Semenza have been jointly The two leaders also inaugurated through awarded the Nobel for their work of video-link three bilateral development identifying molecular machinery that regulates partnership projects including on import of the activity of genes in response to varying Bulk LPG from Bangladesh. levels of oxygen. The fundamental importance of oxygen has 16. Festival of Fulpati being celebrated in Nepal been understood for centuries, but how cells In Nepal, the festival of Fulpati is being adapt to changes in oxygen levels has long celebrated with gaiety and religious fervour been unknown. This year‘s Nobel Prize today. Fulpati is observed on the seventh day awarded work reveals the molecular of Dashain festival. In Nepali, "Ful" means mechanisms that underlie how cells adapt to flower and "Pati" means leaves and plants. variations in oxygen supply, Nobel Assembly There is a tradition in Nepal to bring nine at Sweden's Karolinska Institute said on types of Fulpati into homes on the seventh day awarding the prize of 9 million Swedish of Navaratri. It is believed that Fulpati crowns ($913,000). represents nine Goddess and they brings The discoveries made by the three men ―have health, wealth and prosperity to the homes. fundamental importance for physiology and The tradition started during the period of King have paved the way for promising new Prithvi Narayan Shah. The main function was strategies to fight anemia, cancer and many held at Hanuman Dhoka in Kathmandu, where other diseases.‖ Fulpati was brought to Dashainghar in a It is the 110th prize in the category that has traditional procession with Vedic rituals in the been awarded since 1901. morning. Medicine is the first of the Nobel Prizes To mark the occasion a special parade was also awarded each year. It will be followed by held at Army Pavilion in Kathmandu. physics prize, and chemistry. President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Prime This year‘s double-header Literature Prizes Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, Heads and will be awarded and the Peace Prize will also representatives of diplomatic missions, senior be announced. army and government officers attended the The economics prize will be awarded on Oct. programme. 14. Dashain is the biggest festival in Nepal. It began with the first day of Navratri but festive 18. WTO hosted first World Cotton Day fervour gained momentum from Fulpati. celebrations in Geneva Meanwhile, Durga Puja is also being World Trade Organization, WTO hosted the celebrated with gaiety and religious fervour in first World Cotton Day (WCD) celebrations in
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Geneva on Oct 7th. This event stems from the National Awardee weaver. The charkha will be application by the Cotton-4 countries (Benin, donated to the WTO after the event. Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali) to the United The India pavilion at the World Cotton Day Nations General Assembly for its official exhibition is being curated and designed by recognition of a World Cotton Day, reflecting NIFT, a pioneer institute of fashion education the importance of cotton as a global in India. Fabrics which have been given commodity. Geographical Indication like Venkatagiri, Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani Chanderi, Maheshwari and Ikkat sarees will be represented India in the five-day event of displayed along with many other traditional World Cotton Day being observed at Geneva Indian textiles and organic cotton fabrics. beginning today. The plenary session will be Between 2011 and 2018, India implemented a attended by heads of states, heads of Cotton Technical Assistance Programme international organizations and executives (Cotton TAP-I) of about 2.85 million US from the private sector. dollars for seven African countries namely World Cotton Day will celebrate the many Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad and also advantages of cotton, from its qualities as a Uganda, Malawi and Nigeria. natural fiber, to the benefits people obtain from its production, transformation, trade and 19. Nobel Prize in physics 2019: Award for the consumption. World Cotton Day will also study of the universe serve to shed light on the challenges faced by The Nobel Prize for Physics has been awarded cotton economies around the world because to James Peebles for theoretical discoveries in cotton is important to least developed, physical cosmology, and Michel Mayor and developing and developed economies Didier Queloz for discovering an exoplanet worldwide. orbiting a solar-type star. The World Cotton Day launch will give more This year‘s Nobel Prize in Physics rewards than 30 countries exposure to producers, new understanding of the universe‘s structure processors and businesses and more than 400 and history, and the first discovery of a planet participants will be celebrating cotton in orbiting a solar-type star outside our solar Geneva with thousand more around the world. system. The discoveries have forever changed A cotton exhibition is also being held where our conceptions of the world. TEXPROCIL, Handloom Export Promotion Council (HEPC), Cotton Corporation of India 20. India starts sharing maritime data (CCI) and the National Institute of Fashion The Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Technology (NIFT) will be setting up their Region (IFC-IOR) set up last year has started stalls. functioning as an information sharing hub of A sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi made out of maritime data and ―cuing incident responses‖ cotton will be displayed to commemorate the to maritime security situations through a 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the collaborative approach. Nation. The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion At the just concluded Goa Maritime Council (TEXPROCIL) will be displaying Conclave (GMC), National Security Adviser India‘s high quality cotton textiles at the Ajit Doval had offered countries in the IOR exhibition. use of the facility to track movement of vessels At the exhibition HEPC will be displaying on the high seas. hand woven products from prominent clusters Major centres of India and will also have a live The major centres with which regular demonstration of the charkha by Pitta Ramulu, exchange of maritime security information is being undertaken include Virtual Regional
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Maritime Traffic Centre (VRMTC), Maritime expedition in history, will be the first to Security Centre - Horn of Africa(MSCHOA), conduct a study of this scale at the North Pole Regional Cooperation Agreement on for an entire year. Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery Previous studies have been of shorter periods (ReCAAP), Information Fusion Centre- as the thicker sea ice sheets prevent access in Singapore (IFC-SG), and International winter. This research vessel has thus locked Maritime Bureau - Piracy Reporting Centre itself into a large sea ice sheet, before the (IMB PRC). winter, and will drift along with it. A suitable The IFC-IOR was inaugurated in December sea ice sheet (floe) was identified two days 2018 within the premises of the Navy‘s ago. Information Management and Analysis Centre Dr. Nandan, a remote sensing scientist, will (IMAC) in Gurugram. The IMAC is the single travel in a Russian icebreaker ship from the point center linking all the coastal radar chains Norwegian port of Tromso in November to to generate a seamless real-time picture of the join the Polar stern on its second leg. nearly 7,500-km coastline. The aim of the expedition will be to Several Indian Ocean littoral states have joined parameterize the atmospheric, geophysical, the coastal radar chain network. These include oceanographic and all other possible variables Maldives, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and in the Arctic, and use it to more accurately Seychelles. Bangladesh is set to join the forecast the changes in our weather systems. network and talks are on with Thailand as My role as a radar remote sensing specialist is well. to deploy radar sensors on the sea ice surface All countries which have signed white and accurately measure the ice thickness and shipping information exchange agreements its variations. with India are IFC partners. The center will Since his journey is during the Polar winter, he host liaison officers from partner countries. will not see sunlight until his return in March. Infrastructure to house them is currently being A graduate from the SCT Engineering College, set up. Thiruvananthapuram, he quit his IT job to take Presently, the exchange of information is being up MSc in Earth Observation Sciences at ITC, undertaken by virtual means, using telephone in Enshcede, The Netherlands, which he calls, faxes, emails and video conferencing completed with a gold medal. over Internet. His work became noticed when as part of the Cryosphere Climate Research Group at the 21. Multidisciplinary drifting observatory for University of Calgary, he was the lead author the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) of ground breaking studies, which found that expedition satellite measurements of seasonal sea ice that A native of Kerala‘s capital formed over the Arctic every year were likely Thiruvananthapuram, Vishnu Nandan, the 32- to be incorrect by a substantial degree, as the year-old polar researcher will be the only presence of salts on snow overlying sea ice Indian among 300 scientists from across the had led scientists to overestimate the thickness world aboard the multidisciplinary drifting of the Arctic sea ice. observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition, which will help the 22. Global Competitiveness Index researchers better understand the impact of India has moved down 10 places to rank 68th climate change and aid in improved weather on an annual global competitiveness index, projections. largely due to improvements witnessed by Spearheaded by the Alfred Wegener Institute several other economies, while Singapore has in Germany, MOSAiC, the largest ever Arctic
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs replaced the U.S. as the world‘s most 84th place, Bangladesh at 105th, Nepal at competitive economy. 108th and Pakistan at 110th place. India, which was ranked 58th in the annual Global economy unprepared for slowdown Global Competitiveness Index compiled by The WEF said the drop of 10 places in India‘s Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF), position to 68th place may look dramatic, but is among the worst-performing BRICS nations the decline in the country‘s competitiveness along with Brazil (ranked even lower than India score is relatively small. A number of at 71st this year). similarly-placed economies including Announcing its latest index, the WEF on Colombia, South Africa and Turkey improved October 9 India ranks high in terms of over the past year and hence have overtaken macroeconomic stability and market size, while India. The study highlighted that the global its financial sector is relatively deep and stable economy is unprepared for a major slowdown. despite the high delinquency rate, which The Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), contributes to weakening the soundness of its which was launched in 1979, maps the banking system. competitiveness landscape of 141 economies Ranked second for shareholder governance through 103 indicators organized into 12 India is ranked also high at 15th place in terms pillars. Singapore has become the world‘s of corporate governance, while it is ranked most competitive economy in 2019, pushing second globally for shareholder governance, the the U.S. to the second place. Hong Kong SAR WEF study showed. In terms of the market size, is ranked 3rd, Netherlands is 4th and India is ranked third, while it has got the same Switzerland is ranked 5th. rank for renewable energy regulation. China is ranked 28th (the highest ranked Besides, India also punches above its among the BRICS) while Vietnam is the most development status when it comes to improved country in the region this year at innovation, which is well ahead of most 67th place. The WEF said 10 years on from emerging economies and on par with several the global financial crisis, the global economy advanced economies. remains locked in a cycle of low or flat Low healthy life expectancy productivity growth despite the injection of The WEF said the healthy life expectancy, more than $10 trillion by central banks. where India has been ranked 109th out of total the 141 countries surveyed for the index, is 23. Saturn overtakes Jupiter as the planet with one of the shortest outside Africa and most moons significantly below the South Asian average. Twenty new moons have been found around Besides, India needs to grow its skills base, Saturn, giving the ringed planet a total of 82, while its product market efficiency is which beats Jupiter and its 79 moons. undermined by a lack of trade openness and Solar system‘s biggest planet Jupiter still has the labour market is characterised by a lack of the biggest moon. Jupiter‘s Ganymede is worker rights‘ protections, insufficiently almost half the size of Earth. By contrast, developed active labour market policies and Saturn‘s 20 new moons are minuscule, each critically low participation of women. barely 5km in diameter. With a ratio of female workers to male Astronomer Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie workers of 0.26, India has been ranked very Institution for Science and his team used a low at 128th place. India is also ranked low at telescope in Hawaii to spot Saturn‘s 20 new 118th in terms of meritocracy and moons over the summer. About 100 even tinier incentivisation and at 107th place for skills. moons may be orbiting Saturn, still waiting to In the overall ranking, India is followed by be found. some of its neighbors including Sri Lanka at
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Astronomers have pretty much completed the The researchers said that the phazolicin- inventory of moons as small as 5 kilometers producing microbe formed nodules on bean around Saturn and 1.6 kilometers around plant roots, and provided plants with nitrogen, Jupiter. making them grow more robustly than others. Seventeen of Saturn‘s new moons orbit the The microbes also defended plants from planet in the opposite, or retrograde, direction. harmful bacteria sensitive to phazolicin, the The other three circle in the same direction that study noted. Saturn rotates. They‘re so far from Saturn that The researchers said that the ability of the it takes two to three years to complete a single bacteria could eventually be exploited in orbit. beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils, peanuts, Just last year, Mr. Sheppard found 12 new soybeans, and other legumes. Using computer moons around Jupiter. The Carnegie simulations, the researchers found the atomic Institution had a moon-naming contest for structure of the antibiotic, and found that it them; another is planned now for Saturn‘s new targeted the bacteria‘s ribosome -- the protein moons. manufacturing component in cells The jury is still out on whether any planets beyond our solar system have even more 25. World Mental Health Day moons. For now, Saturn has the most known World Mental Health Day (10 October) is a moons. day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy against social stigma. 24. Researchers discover new antibiotic in It was first celebrated in 1992 at the initiative Mexican forest of the World Federation for Mental Health, a An international team of scientists have global mental health organization with discovered a new antibiotic produced by a soil members and contacts in more than 150 bacterium found in a tropical forest in Mexico, countries. a finding that may help develop new ways to This day, each October, thousands of tackle bacterial infections in both plants and supporters come to celebrate this annual humans. awareness program to bring attention to mental The study, published in the journal Nature illness and its major effects on peoples' life Communications, noted that the soil bacterium worldwide. In some countries this day is part could act as a ―plant probiotic,‖ providing of an awareness week, such as Mental Health friendly support to plants against infectious Week in Australia. microbes, and contribute to their health. World Mental Health Day was celebrated for The researchers, including those from Rutgers the first time on October 10 1992 at the University in the US, said that the new initiative of Deputy Secretary General Richard antibiotic — phazolicin prevented harmful Hunter. Up until 1994 the day had no specific bacteria from getting into the root systems of theme other than general promoting mental bean plants. health advocacy and educating the public. The researchers said that phazolicin was In 1994 World Mental Health Day was produced by an unidentified species belonging celebrated with a theme for the first time at the to a class of microbes called Rhizobium, suggestion of then Secretary General Eugene present in the roots of plants. Brody. The theme was ―Improving the The study noted that the microbe was found in Quality of Mental Health Services a tropical forest in Los Tuxtlas, Mexico, in the throughout the World‖. soil and roots of wild beans called Phaseolus World Mental Health Day is supported vulgaris. by WHO through raising awareness on mental health issues using its strong relationships with
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs the Ministries of health and civil society Asia Environmental Enforcement Award by organizations across the globe. WHO also the United Nations Environment Programme. supports with developing technical and The 1996-batch IFS officer, posted as Chief communication material. Conservator Forests in Lucknow and Theme for 2019: Mental Health Promotion Secretary, UP State Bio-diversity Board, is and Suicide Prevention known for his investigation and intelligence gathering on poachers. Pandey will receive the 26. Nobel Prize in Literature award on November 13 at the United Nations The 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature has been Conference Centre in Bangkok. announced along with the 2018 Prize. Excellent work in combating trans-boundary Austrian author Peter Handke has won the environmental crime by Mr Panday has been 2019 Prize while Polish writer Olga recognized by the selection panel. Tokarczuk has received the 2018 Prize. The purpose of the Asia Environmental Enforcement Awards is to publicly recognize Handke was honored for an influential work outstanding achievements by public that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the organizations and individuals in Asia to periphery and the specificity of human combat trans boundary environmental crime. experience. His notable works include "Short Letter, Long Farewell" and "A Sorrow 28. India to work with China, Pakistan to gauge Beyond Dreams". impact of climate change Tokarczuk was awarded for a narrative To better gauge the impact of climate change imagination that with encyclopedic passion on the Hindu Kush Mountains, which includes represents the crossing of boundaries as a the Himalayas, and spruce up data-gathering, form of life. Her first novel, "The Journey of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) the People of the Book," was released in will collaborate with meteorological agencies 1993. in China and Pakistan, among others, to She has also won the Booker International provide climate forecast services to countries Prize for her 2007 novel "Flights". Her 900- in the region. page "The Books of Jacob" was hailed as her Earlier this month, the IMD organized a magnum opus by the Swedish Academy. workshop to discuss ways to establish a Tokarczuk becomes just the 15th woman to regional climate center that will provide have won the prestigious distinction, out of forecasting services and climate analyses. 116 literature laureates honored since 1901. The Hindu-Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region is Tokarczuk and Handke each take home a considered the Third Pole [after the North and cheque worth nine million kronor, or 912,000 South Poles], and has significant implications US dollars. for climate. However, data-gathering here is The 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature was sparse. The discussion is going on a system announced along with the 2018 Prize as the whereby countries can share data and improve latter was delayed by a year following a forecasts and predictions. The WMO proposal scandal that included allegations of sexual was to have nodal centers in Islamabad, Delhi misconduct. and Beijing. Largest store of snow 27. IFS officer Ramesh Pandey selected for The HKH region spans Afghanistan, Asia Environmental Enforcement Award Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Kyrgyzstan, Senior Indian Forest Service officer Ramesh Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Pandey has been selected for the prestigious Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It traverses about 5 million square kilometers and hosts a large and
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs culturally diverse population. The Third Pole, Electronic Commerce, Rules of Origin and which contains vast cryospheric zones, is also Trade Remedies are yet to be settled. the world‘s largest store of snow and ice Ministerial guidance will be sought on these outside the polar region. issues during the Bangkok Ministerial round. Alongside forecasting weather over long The Ministers of participating countries will periods, the regional centers would provide data also discuss preparations for the 3rd Leaders services, training and capacity-building, Summit. research and development. During the two day meeting, Mr Goyal will A report by the Intergovernmental Panel on also hold a series of bilateral meetings with his Climate Change last month highlighted the counterparts from Japan, Singapore, China, threat to the HKH region from global warming. Australia and New Zealand during the Floods would become more frequent and severe Bangkok Ministerial. in the mountainous and downstream areas of The focus and emphasis of the meetings the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra river chaired by the Commerce Minister was on basins, because of an increase in extreme putting in place appropriate safeguards precipitation events. The severity of floods was including auto-trigger mechanism against expected to more than double towards the end sudden surge in imports from RCEP countries. of the century. About RCEP: The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei, Cambodia, 29. 9th RCEP Intersessional Ministerial Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Meeting to be held in Thailand Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will attend its six FTA partners (China, Japan, India, South the 9th Regional Comprehensive Economic Korea, Australia and New Zealand). Partnership, RCEP Intersessional Ministerial RCEP negotiations were formally launched in meeting at Bangkok in Thailand. This will be November 2012 at the ASEAN Summit in the last Ministerial before the 3rd Leaders Cambodia. Summit to be held on 4th of next month in Bangkok. 30. International Day of the Girl Child The 9th Intersessional Ministerial Meeting International Day of the Girl Child is an comes at a crucial stage where the RCEP is international observance day declared by the scheduled to be announced as concluded in United Nations; it is also called the Day of Girls November this year. and the International Day of the Girl. October The 28th round of negotiations for RCEP at 11, 2012, was the first Day of the Girl Child. the expert level was concluded at Da Nang in The observation supports more opportunity for Vietnam last month. In this round of girls and increases awareness of gender negotiations meeting of the Trade Negotiating inequality faced by girls worldwide based upon Committee was held in which senior officials their gender. This inequality includes areas such participated in negotiations regarding market as access to education, nutrition, legal rights, access on Trade in Goods, Trade in Services medical care, and protection from and Investment as well as on other areas like discrimination, violence against women and Rules of Origin, Intellectual Property and forced child marriage. The celebration of the Electronic Commerce. day also reflects the successful emergence of Out of 25 chapters, 21 chapters have been girls and young women as a distinct cohort in concluded. Crucial chapters of Investment,
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs development policy, programming, with various security challenges including campaigning and research. counter-terrorism. This year, theme: “Girl Force: Unscripted The Indian Army and Japanese Ground Self and unstoppable”, Defense Forces (JGSDF) comprising 25 soldiers each, will participate in the exercise 31. Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed wins Nobel aimed at sharing experience gained during Peace Prize various Counter-Terrorism Operations in Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has respective Countries. won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for his Exercise DHARMA GUARDIAN is an annual peacemaking efforts with Eritrea. training event, which is being conducted in Ethiopia and Eritrea, longtime foes who fought India since last year. In respect of Japan, it is a border war from 1998 to 2000, restored crucial and significant in terms of security relations in July 2018 after years of hostility. challenges faced by both the nations in the The prize will be presented in Oslo on Dec. 10. backdrop of global terrorism. The scope of this exercise covers platoon-level joint training on 32. India – Bangladesh Navies Undertake counter-terrorism operations in jungle and Coordinated Patrol in North Bay of Bengal urban scenario. The second edition of Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) of the navies of India and 34. India extends over 60 million dollar line of Bangladesh commenced in Northern Bay of credit to Comoros Bengal. India will extend a Line of Credit of over 60 Guided-missile destroyer INS Ranvijay and million US Dollars to Comoros in the field of ingeniously built missile Corvette INS Kuthar energy and maritime defense cooperation. are participating in the exercise along with BNS Both the countries have signed some important Ali Haider, and BNS Shadinota from agreements including cooperation in defense Bangladesh. The two-day patrol will be and energy sectors. India will extend a Line of followed by the maiden edition of Bilateral Credit of over 41.6 million US Dollars for Exercise of the navies of two countries at setting up of 18 MW Power Plant in Visakhapatnam during October 12-16. Moroni(Capital city of Comoros) and another The India Bangladesh CORPAT commenced in 20 million US Dollars for the procurement of 2018. The exercise aims at development of High-Speed Interceptor Boats. mutual communication and sharing of best practices between the two navies. 35. VP Venkaiah Naidu conferred with highest India and Bangladesh have a common territorial Civilian Honour of Comoros boundary of over 4000 km and a maritime Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu was boundary. This exercise will add a new conferred with 'The Order of the Green dimension to the India- Bangladesh maritime Crescent', the highest Civilian Honour of relations. Comoros, by the President of the Union of Comoros Azali Assoumani. 33. India, Japan to hold joint military exercise in Mizoram 36. India extends Line of Credit worth USD 30 India and Japan will hold a joint military mn to Sierra Leone exercise in Mizoram from 19th of October to India and Sierra Leone signed six agreements 2nd of November, 2019. The focus of the two- including extended a credit line of 30 million week-long exercise Dharma Guardian will US Dollars for rice cultivation. Vice President be to increase the interoperability between the Venkaiah Naidu and Sierra Leone President two forces and enhance coordination in dealing Julius Maada Bio in Freetown (capital of
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Sierra Leone) committed to further of the largest events of its kind in the Middle strengthening bilateral relations. East region. The two sides agreed that the United Nations The First Global Challenge seeks to encourage need to be reformed to reflect the realities of and empower youth with a passion for science, today and address current global challenges technology, engineering, and mathematics, .The two countries also signed a MoU for develop their skills and equip them with the Sierra Leone to participate in India's Pan- tools necessary to contribute to shaping the African tele-Education, tele-Medicine future. initiative e-Vidya Bharati and e-Arogya The Challenge aims to address the world‘s Bharati. most critical environmental issues such as India will soon initiate steps to set up the wastage of water and energy, sustainability Centre of Excellence in Information and pollution through a global robotics Technology in Sierra Leone. India will also be competition dispatching 1,000 Million Tonnes of rice to Sierra Leone, as a goodwill gesture, in the 39. Indo-US joint military exercise 'Vajra coming months. Prahar' The 10th edition of the joint military exercise 37. NASA launches satellite to explore where 'Vajra Prahar' between India and the US will air meets space be held at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) NASA launched a satellite to explore the in Seattle from October 13-28. mysterious, dynamic region where air meets 45-member Special Forces team from Indian space. The satellite - called Icon, short for Army will train alongside US Special Forces Ionospheric Connection Explorer- rocketed from 13 - 28 October, 2019. Last year, the into orbit following a two-year delay. It was exercise had taken place in Jaipur. dropped from a plane flying over the Atlantic 'Vajra Prahar' is a Special Forces joint training off the Florida coast. Five seconds after the exercise conducted alternately in India and the satellite's release, the attached Pegasus rocket US. ignited, sending Icon on its way. Bilateral military exercises and defence A NASA satellite launched last year, Gold, is exchanges are an important aspect of also studying the upper atmosphere, but from deepening bilateral defence cooperation much higher up. More missions are planned in between India and the US. coming years to study the ionosphere, including from the International Space Station. 40. Bangladesh, Nepal ahead of India Bangladesh and Nepal are estimated to grow 38. Dubai to host 2019 First Global DXB faster than India in 2019, according to the Challenge World Bank, which said that overall growth in Dubai to host the 2019 First Global DXB South Asia is projected to slow down this Challenge, a large gathering for creative young fiscal in line with a global downward trend. minds in the fields of robotics and artificial Growth in South Asia is projected to fall to 5.9 intelligence. per cent in 2019, down 1.1 percentage points To be held for the first time in the region from from April 2019 estimates, casting uncertainty 24th to 27th of October at the Festival Arena about a rebound in the short term. in Dubai, the event will bring together more The latest edition of the South Asia Economic than 1,500 youth from over 191 countries to Focus, Making (De) centralization Work, finds collaborate, create and compete for a better that strong domestic demand, which propped future. A press statement by the Dubai high growth in the past, has weakened, driving Government media office said that this is one a slowdown across the region.
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Imports have declined severely across South last year dissipate, it is projected to reach 3.3 Asia, contracting between 15 and 20 per cent per cent in 2020 and 3.7 per cent in 2021. in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In India, domestic demand has slipped, with 41. PM Modi to inaugurate Kartarpur private consumption growing 3.1 per cent in Corridor on November 8 the last quarter from 7.3 per cent a year ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate while manufacturing growth plummeted to the Kartarpur Corridor on November 8. This below 1 per cent in the second quarter of 2019 was announced by Food Processing Minister compared to over 10 per cent a year ago. Harsimrat Kaur Badal. The report noted that South Asia's current The Kartarpur Corridor will be the first visa- economic slowdown echoes the decelerating free corridor between India and Pakistan since growth and trade slumps of 2008 and 2012. Independence. The corridor will connect With that context in mind, the report remains Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur with Dera cautiously optimistic that a slight rebound in Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district of investment and private consumption could Punjab. jumpstart South Asia's growth up to 6.3 per cent in 2020, slightly above East Asia and the 42. Indian-American Abhijit Banerjee, Wife Pacific and 6.7 per cent in 2021. Esther Duflo Win Nobel for Economics In India, growth is projected to fall to 6.0 this The 2019 Nobel Prize for Economics has been fiscal year. Growth is then expected to jointly won by Indian-American Abhijit gradually recover to 6.9 per cent in fiscal year Banerjee, his wife, Esther Duflo, and 2021 and to 7.2 per cent in the following year. Michael Kremer of the United States for their In Bangladesh, the real GDP growth is experimental approach to alleviating global estimated at 8.1 per cent in 2019, up from 7.9 poverty. per cent in 2018, the report said, adding that 58-year-old Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee was the country's growth is projected at 7.2 per educated at the University of Calcutta, cent in 2020 and 7.3 per cent in 2021.The Jawaharlal Nehru University and Harvard garment industry of Bangladesh has benefitted University, where he received his PhD in immensely from the ongoing trade tensions 1988. He is currently the Ford Foundation between the US and China. International Professor of Economics at the In Nepal, GDP growth is projected to average Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 6.5 per cent over this and next fiscal year, 2003 he founded the Abdul Latif Jameel backed by strong services and construction Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), along with activity due to rising tourist arrivals and higher Esther Duflo and Sendhil Mullainathan, and he public spending. remains one of the lab‘s directors. In Afghanistan, with improved farming He is the author of a large number of articles conditions and assuming political stability and four books, including Poor after the elections, growth is expected to Economics which won the Goldman Sachs recover and reach 3 per cent in 2020 and 3.5 Business Book of the Year. He is the editor of per cent in 2021. In Bhutan, GDP growth is three more books and has directed two expected to jump to 7.4 per cent this fiscal documentary films. He also served on the U.N. year. In Maldives, growth is expected to reach Secretary-General‘s High-level Panel of 5.2 per cent in 2019. Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 In Sri Lanka, growth is expected to soften to Development Agenda. 2.7 per cent in 2019. However, supported by About Esther Duflo: recovering investment and exports, as the FBA is a French-American economist, who is security challenges and political uncertainty of the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Alleviation and Development Economics at 42. India offers help in rescue operation for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She Typhoon hit Japan is the co-founder and co-director of the Abdul The Navy has deployed INS Sahyadri and INS Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab. Kiltan to render assistance to Japan. Duflo is an NBER research associate, a board Typhoon Hagibis - whose name means "speed" member of the Bureau for Research and in the Philippine language Tagalog - lashed Economic Analysis of Development Japan with high winds and intense rain (BREAD), and director of the Center for Typhoon Hagibis was a large and powerful Economic and Policy Research's development tropical cyclone that was considered to be the economics program. most devastating typhoon to hit the Kanto Her research focuses on microeconomic issues region of Japan since 1958. in developing countries, including household Still recovering from the impacts of Faxai, behavior, education, and access to finance, Hagibis caused widespread damage across health, and policy evaluation. Japan, particularly in the Kanto region. As of In 2014, she won the Infosys Prize in Social 14 October 2019, 70 people have been Science-Economics for leading "a major shift confirmed dead and 14 went missing in Japan. in development economics Early on 12 October, Hagibis triggered a The Nobel committee in a statement said the tornado in Ichihara City. About half an hour research conducted by this year's laureates has before Hagibis made landfall, a magnitude 5.7 considerably improved the ability to fight earthquake occurred off the coast of Chiba global poverty. In just two decades, their new Prefecture, worsening the dangerous condition experiment-based approach has transformed even more. development economics, which is now a flourishing field of research. 43. BRICS Culture Ministers meeting held in Brazil 41. Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo Union Culture and Tourism Minister Prahlad jointly win Booker Prize Singh Patel have participated in BRICS Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo Culture Ministers‘ meeting held in Curitiba, have jointly won the 2019 Booker Prize after Brazil. judges flout the rules by declaring a tie. British India reaffirmed to contribute towards stronger Indian novelist Salman Rushdie's tragicomic bonds of friendship and cooperation in cultural 'Quichotte' was among the six books fields amongst member countries. He said, shortlisted for the prize. with rich cultural heritage and traditions, the The Booker rules say the prize must not be BRICS countries share understanding, respect divided, but the judges insisted they could not and interest to contribute towards stronger separate Atwood's - 'The Testament' and bonds of friendship and cooperation in the 'Girl, Woman, Other' by Evaristo, who is the fields of Arts, Museums and Galleries, first black woman to win the prestigious award Cultural Heritage, Archives, Literature, since its creation in 1969. Theatre for children and young people and The rules were changed after the last tie in Films. 1992, and organizers told this year's judges The Minister proposed to add another field of that they were not allowed to pick two cooperation under the aegis of BRICS Alliance winners. But after five hours of deliberations, on Literature envisaging BRICS Literary Peter Florence, the chair of the five-member Festival to enhance cooperation and exchanges judging panel, said, it was our decision to flout in the field of literature and promoting the rules. translation of literary works of famous writers and poets
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs About BRICS hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport, It is the association of five major emerging New Delhi. national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, The airline was founded by J. R. D. Tata as China and South Africa. Originally the first Tata Airlines in 1932; Tata himself flew its four were grouped as "BRIC" (or "the first single-engine de Havilland Puss Moth, BRICs"), before the induction of South Africa carrying air mail from Karachi to Bombay's in 2010. The BRICS members are known for Juhu aerodrome and later continuing to their significant influence on regional affairs; Madras (currently Chennai). After World War all are members of G20. Since 2009, the II, it became a public limited company and BRICS nations have met annually at formal was renamed as Air India. On 21 February summits. China hosted the 9th BRICS summit 1960, it took delivery of its first Boeing 707 in Xiamen on September 2017, while South named Gauri Shankar and became the first Africa hosted the most recent 10th BRICS Asian airline to induct a jet aircraft in its fleet. summit on 08 January 2018. The term does not include countries such as South Korea, Mexico 45. India wins four UNESCO heritage awards and Turkey for which other acronyms and The UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for group associations were later created. Cultural Heritage Conservation awards were announced at a ceremony held in Penang, 44. Air India becomes first airline in world to Malaysia, marking 20 years since its use Taxibot on A-320 aircraft institution. Air India has become the first airline in the Mumbai iconic 155-year-old Flora Fountain world to use a Taxibot on an A-320 aircraft and two other heritage landmarks in the with passengers on board. country's financial capital are among the four It is a step forward towards a cleaner sites that have been chosen from India for the environment. It will bring down the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural consumption of fuel by 85 per cent and reduce Heritage Conservation announced on Monday. engine wear and tear. The ignition will be List of awards: turned on only when the aircraft reaches the Award of Distinction: runway. Taxibots will be used for departing Vikram Sarabhai Library, Indian flights only. It will be significantly used during Institute of Management (IIM), taxiing of an aircraft. Ahmedabad, India Taxibot is a robot-used aircraft tractor for Keyuan Garden,Suzhou, China taxiing an aircraft from parking bay to runway Nelson school of Music, New Zealand and vice-versa. Air India Chairman and Award of Merit: Managing Director Ashwani Lohani flagged Our lady of Glory Church, Mumbai, off flight AI665 and it was carried to runway India using Taxibot at Terminal 3 of the Delhi Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, Mumbai, Airport - to Mumbai. It is a pilot-controlled India semi-robotic towbar-less aircraft tractor used Tseto Goenpa, Bhutan as alternate taxiing equipment. Guyue Bridge, China About Air India: Lyttelto Timeball Station, New Zealand Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, Honorable Mention: headquartered at New Delhi, It is owned by Flora Mountain, Mumbai, India Air India Limited, a government-owned Westpac Long Gallery, Australia enterprise, and operates a fleet of Airbus and
Boeing aircraft serving 94 domestic and The 5s Classroom, Australia international destinations. The airline has its Liddell Bros Packing Plant, China
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Sixteen projects from five countries - Australia, poverty, hunger, violence and fear at the Bhutan, China, India and New Zealand - have unveiling of a commemorative stone by Father been recognized by the international Jury of Joseph Wresinski, founder of the International conservation experts in this year's Awards. The Movement ATD Fourth World. In 1992, four jury met in August to review 57 entries from 14 years after Wresinski's death, the United countries across the Asia-Pacific region. Nations officially designated October 17 as Mumbai-based architect Vikas Dilawari, who was The International Day for the Eradication of the main consultant for the Flora Fountain Poverty. restoration project, was ecstatic and called it a This year marks the 27th anniversary of the "great moment for India" as it bagged four of the declaration by the General Assembly, in its 16 awards. resolution 47/196 of 22 December 1992, of 17 This year marked 20 years of the UNESCO October as the International Day for the Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation, Eradication of Poverty. This year also marks which was conceived in Penang, Malaysia, the 32nd anniversary of the Call to Action by during UNESCO's landmark 'Economics of Father Joseph Wresinski. Heritage' regional conference in 1999. 2019 Theme: Acting Together to Empower In celebration of the 20th anniversary, Children, their Families and Communities UNESCO co-organized the Asia-Pacific to End Poverty Heritage 20/20 Forum and 2019 Awards Ceremony with Think City in Penang. 48. Global Hunger Index 2019 India is ranked 102 of 117 countries in the 46. India, Japan to begin joint Air Force Global Hunger Index 2019, behind its exercise 'Shinyuu Maitri' neighbors Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The Indian Air Force will be carrying out a Seventeen countries, including Belarus, joint military exercise 'Shinyuu Maitri' with Ukraine, Turkey, Cuba and Kuwait, shared the Japanese Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) top rank with GHI scores of less than five, the from October 17 to 23. website of the Global Hunger Index that tracks The exercise will be held at Air Force Station, hunger and malnutrition said. The report Arjun Singh in Panagarh town in West Bengal. prepared jointly by Irish aid agency Concern C-130 J aircraft of the Special Operations Worldwide and German organization Welt Squadron of IAF and C-130 H of Tactical Hunger Hilfe. Airlift Squadron of JASDF will participate in In 2018, it was ranked 103 out of 119 the exercise. countries. In 2000, the country was ranked 83 The focus of the exercise will be to undertake out of 113 countries. Now, with 117 countries Joint Mobility and Tactical interoperability in the fray, it has dropped to 102. among the two forces. India‘s GHI score has also decelerated — from 38.9 in 2005 to 32 in 2010 and then from 32 to 47. 17 October: International Day for the 30.3 between 2010 and 2019. Eradication of Poverty The GHI score is calculated on four indicators — The International Day for the Eradication of The proportion of undernourished as a Poverty is an international observance percentage of population celebrated every year on October 17 The proportion of children under age of throughout the world. The first five suffering from wasting commemoration of the event took place in The proportion of children under age of Paris, France, in 1987 when 100,000 people five suffering from Stunting gathered on the Human Rights and Liberties The mortality rate of children under age of Plaza at the Trocadero to honor victims of five
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs The share of wasting among children in India The Excalibur artillery ammunition is capable rose from 16.5% in the 2008-2012 periods to of hitting targets within 50 kilometre range, 20.8% in 2014-2018, according to the report. with less than 2 meters error margin. Just 9.6% of all children between 6 and 23 The pinpoint accuracy of the Excalibur months of age are fed a ―minimum acceptable artillery ammunition will be advantageous for diet‖, ―India‘s child wasting rate is extremely the Indian soldiers stationed at the LOC high at 20.8%, the highest for any country in fighting the Pakistani army. The 48 this report said. Kilogramme Excalibur shell explodes in the Neighboring countries like Nepal (73), Sri air or uses PBXN-9 (polymer-bonded Lanka (66), Bangladesh (88), Myanmar (69) explosive) warhead to break through and Pakistan (94) are also in the ‗serious‘ reinforced structures or bunkers. hunger category, but have fared better at The Excalibur ammunition also uses GPS and feeding its citizens than India, according to the inertial navigation. report. China (25) has moved to a ‗low‘ In the Army Commander's Conference, issues severity category and Sri Lanka is in the like the creation of the new post of the Chief ‗moderate‘ severity category. of Defence Staff, and enhanced grants for However, India has shown improvement in army personnel who are out of service due to other indicators such as the under-5 mortality injuries and disabilities before 10 years of rate, prevalence of stunting among children service, were also discussed. and prevalence of undernourishment owing to In the conference, the army commanders were inadequate food, the report said. also briefed about the induction of indigenous Dhanush howitzer and how it can be used by 49. Chennai-Jaffna flight restarts the Indian Army in combat situations. After redeveloping Jaffna International Airport, Sri Lanka is looking at further 51. UAE announces 1st graduate-level, collaboration with India, especially south research-based AI university in world India, to develop the northern province. UAE announced the establishment of the Sri Lanka President M Sirisena inaugurated Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial the airport, which was redeveloped at Rs 1,950 Intelligence (MBZUAI), the first graduate- million (Sri Lankan rupee) of which India level, research-based AI university in the funded Rs 300 million (Sri Lankan rupee). An world. Alliance Air flight from Chennai touched MBZUAI will enable graduate students, down to mark the commencing of commercial businesses and governments to advance the operations at the airport after a gap of 40 years artificial intelligence field. following the LTTE-led civil war in the island The University is named after Sheikh nation. Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme 50. Indian army inducts precision-guided Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, who Excalibur artillery made in US has long advocated for the UAE‘s Indian Army acquired the American precision- development of human capital through guided Excalibur artillery and indigenous knowledge and scientific thinking to take the Dhanush howitzer to boost its firepower. nation into the future. Made by the American company Raytheon, the MBZUAI will introduce a new model of precision-guided Excalibur, acquired by the academia and research to the field of AI, army can annihilate targets at long ranges. providing students and faculty access to some of the world‘s most advanced AI systems to
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs unleash its potential for economic and societal Mahendra Singh Dhoni‘s Team Cashless development. India. The announcement was made at a press It will also conduct an outreach programme conference at the university campus in Masdar across multiple cities to educate merchants on City and was immediately followed by the first the benefits of accepting digital payments and meeting of the MBZUAI Board of Trustees. provide a platform for consumers to nominate MBZUAI will provide all admitted students merchants. with a full scholarship, plus benefits such as a With this, MasterCard envisages to equip 10 monthly allowance, health insurance, and million merchants in the country with digital accommodation. The University will work payments acceptance capabilities by 2020. with leading local and global companies to About MasterCard: secure internships, and will also assist students MasterCard is an American multinational in finding employment opportunities. financial services corporation headquartered in Graduate students can now apply to MBZUAI the MasterCard International Global via the University‘s website with registration Headquarters in Purchase, New York, United set to open in August 2020. The first class of States. The Global Operations Headquarters is graduate students will commence coursework located in O'Fallon, Missouri, United States, a at MBZUAI‘s Masdar City campus in municipality of St. Charles County, Missouri. September 2020. Throughout the world, its principal business is to process payments between the banks of 52. MasterCard launches „Team Cashless India‟ merchants and the card issuing banks or credit to push digital payments unions of the purchasers who use the Payment technology major MasterCard and its "MasterCard" brand debit, credit and prepaid brand ambassador MS Dhoni on launched to make purchases. campaign to bring more merchants and Current president and chief executive officer customers on board with an aim to boost (CEO) of MasterCard: Ajaypal Singh Banga digital payments in India. 2nd Indo-French knowledge summit The campaign - Team Cashless India - brings The second edition of the Indo-French consumers and merchants to forefront of the Knowledge Summit with a focus on higher digital payments dialogue. It encourages all education, research and innovation will take Indians to nominate one or more merchants place at the Universite de Lyon in France. who currently do not accept digital payments. The summit is being organized by the MasterCard will work together with Embassy of France in India, in partnership Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), with University de Lyon, Campus France, and acquirer banks and finance technology Emlyon Business School, on the French side, companies to support nominated merchants to and the Ministries of Science and Technology deploy digital payments acceptance and Human Resource Development (MHRD) infrastructure. on the Indian side. The event will be This is in line with Mastercard‘s endeavour to inaugurated by ministers from both the French create an ecosystem which encourages people and Indian governments. to use digital payments for their day-to-day The first Knowledge Summit was held during purchases, the company said. the 2018 state visit of French President Under Team Cashless India, anyone can either Emmanuel Macron to India. According to a nominate merchants online or give a missed French Embassy, it was a key moment for call to 9016861000. Indo-French cooperation as it drew up a road Mastercard will provide select nominated map for the following years, in partnership merchants and consumers with a chance to join with the corporate sector.
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Over 300 participants from the higher rungs of If Pakistan continues with the 'Grey List' or is Indian and French academia, research put in the 'Dark Grey' list, it would be very organizations, corporate houses, competitive difficult for the country to get financial aid clusters and startups, as well as public from the IMF, the World Bank and the authorities are expected at the second European Union which will make its financial Knowledge Summit in Lyon. condition more precarious. Around 15 agreements will be inked between The FATF Plenary noted that Pakistan French and Indian participants during this addressed only five out of the 27 tasks given to summit. During the March 2018 Knowledge it in controlling funding to terror groups like Summit, a very significant MoU was signed the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad. between France and India: the mutual Both these groups are responsible for a series recognition of academic qualifications in non- of attacks in India. professional degrees. Students graduating from In light of the additional fact of Pakistan's poor Indian institutions are thus eligible for further performance on its mutual evaluation, chances education in France, and vice versa. of Pakistan exiting the Grey List in the next The continued partnership efforts between few years are now reduced to nil and the India and France have resulted in a sharp possibility of a formal Black Listing in increase in Indian students choosing France for February 2020 is now highly probable. higher studies over the past two years. In the Pakistan was placed on the Grey List by the process, the target of welcoming 10,000 Indian FATF in June last year. It was given a plan of students to France by 2020 will already be action to complete it by October 2019 or face attained this year, giving rise to a revised aim the risk of being placed on the blacklist with of doubling this figure by 2025. Iran and North Korea. Business schools and engineering colleges About FATF: from India and France have actively pursued The Financial Action Task Force (on Money cooperation. There are already more than 550 Laundering) (FATF), also known by its French partnerships currently recognized by the name, Groupe d'action financière (GAFI), is an Embassy of France in India, involving about intergovernmental organization founded in 120 French and 150 Indian institutions. A 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop dozen others already have permanent offices in policies to combat money laundering. In 2001 India, such as Sciences Po and ESC Rennes. its mandate expanded to include terrorism financing. It monitors progress in 53. FATF retains Pak on Grey List implementing the FATF Recommendations Pakistan continues to be on the Grey List of through "peer reviews" ("mutual evaluations") the international terror financing watchdog of member countries. The FATF Secretariat is Financial Action Task Force. Islamabad has housed at the OECD headquarters in Paris. been warned of action for its failure to combat Grey List: FATF grey lists a country which it money laundering and terror financing. The considers as a safe haven for terror funding decision of FATF was taken after the and money laundering. Though, inclusion in completion of its five-day plenary session in the list is not as severe as being black listed. It Paris. is a warning to the country to tackle the issues. By making this decision public, the FATF has If the country is not actively tackling money given notice to the global financial institutions laundering or terror funding, it will black that they need to prepare to red flag the listed. So far, only two countries have been jurisdiction and ready their systems for the black listed, they are Iran and North Korea. eventuality in February 2020.
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs 54. Buddhist circuit train between India and Mr Modi's vision of FIT India Movement and Nepal Eat Right campaigns. The Indian Railways will run its first Buddhist The deliberations of the G20 Health Ministers Circuit train between India and Nepal from focused on four major global health issues like October 19 to October 26. the achievement of Universal Health Coverage, The train journey will cover sites significant to response to population ageing, management of Gautam Buddha's life in both India and Nepal. health risks and health security management According to the Indian Railways Catering and including Anti-Microbial Resistance and its Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the Buddhist containment. circuit train will cover important Buddhist India shared its vision for projected 20 per cent destinations such as: Lumbini - the birthplace elderly population by 2050. He also told the of Buddha, Bodhgaya - the place of G20 countries about the efforts made by India enlightenment, Sarnath - the place of to provide accessible, affordable, and high- Buddha's first sermon and Kushinagar - the quality long-term comprehensive health care place of Buddha's Nirvana. The train will services to an ageing population. originate and terminate at Safdarjung railway India also made a mention of public health station in New Delhi. measures to tackle Dementia and the The new rake consists of four 1st AC coaches government's commitment to ensure dignity with as many as 96 seats, two 2nd AC coaches with care for its elderly. This opportunity was having 60 seats, two exclusive dining cars with also utilized to have bi-lateral meetings with a capacity of 64 guests in each and one pantry Italy, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the car for passengers. United States of America. The train will be covered with thematic vinyl wrap promoting national tourism. 56. India, Philippines agree to work closely to The train will be equipped with personal defeat and eliminate terrorism digital lockers, foot massagers, shower, India and the Philippines have committed to cubicles, and separate sitting area with single- work closely to defeat and eliminate terrorism seated sofas, CCTV cameras, and smoke in all its forms and manifestations. In Joint detection alarm system for better safety. press statements after delegation-level talks There will be an onboard hygienic kitchen car with President Rodrigo Duterte of Philippines, and dining car facility. Passengers can choose President Ram Nath Kovind said, both from an assortment of fresh hot meals, countries have been the victims of terrorism. including vegetarian and non-vegetarian The Philippines and India have also agreed to options. Packaged drinking water, tea and deepen defense and maritime security coffee will be available at all times. partnership and to make it a key pillar of their bilateral cooperation. The President conveyed 55. G20 Okayama Health Ministers' New Delhi's readiness to cooperate with Conference Manila to strengthen the Space programme. India has highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Both sides are exploring to start direct flights, Modi's vision of 'Sab Ka Saath - Sab Ka Vikas which will give a boost to connectivity. The - Sab Ka Vishwas' for inclusive health along two countries will set up a group of experts to with scheme -- Ayushman Bharat, at the on- research and document their ancient ties. going two-day G20 Okayama Health Ministers' After the talks, India and the Philippines Conference in Japan. signed four agreements covering maritime Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh domain, security, tourism, science and Vardhan, who represented India at the technology and culture. conference in Okayama City, also highlighted
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs 57. Interpol to hold general assembly in India year term. Widodo, popularly known as in 2022 Jokowi, took oath at a ceremony in the capital, India will host the 91st Interpol General Jakarta. Assembly in 2022 after a proposal received the Re-elected in polls that took place in 17th overwhelming support of member countries at April, the 58-year-old was sworn into office this year's congregation at Santinago in Chile. along with 76-year-old vice president Maruf A proposal in this regard was given to Interpol Amin, who replaces Widodo's vice president in Secretary General Jürgen Stock by Union his first term, Jusuf Kalla. Home Minister Amit Shah when the two met Widodo clinched victory with 55.5 percent of in New Delhi during Mr Stock's official visit the vote in the April presidential election. in August. The 91st Interpol General Assembly in India in 59. Sri Lanka removed from FATF's Grey List the year 2022 will be held as part of Sri Lanka has been removed from the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of Indian Financial Action Task Force (FATF) list of Independence. countries at risk for money laundering. The International Criminal Police FATF in Paris informed the removal of Sri Organization (Interpol) had hosted the general Lanka's name from the blacklist commending assembly, where representatives of all member the new measures taken by the country on countries converge, in India in 1997. financial security. Rishi Kumar Shukla, the director of the CBI Sri Lanka was first included in the blacklist in that represents Interpol in India as the 2011. By 2012, Sri Lanka was listed in the list country's national central bureau, moved the as a dangerous country with no commitment to proposal in the ongoing 88th general assembly the financial security plan. The statement said in Santiago following which it was put to vote. the government together with the Central Bank The general assembly of Interpol is an annual and other financial institutions has taken exercise hosted by member countries. All several measures since 2016 to ensure the major decisions affecting general policy, the financial security of the country. resources needed for international cooperation, As a result, Sri Lanka has declared a working methods and finances are deliberated cooperating state in 2016 and the FATF put Sri and discussed by representatives. Lanka on a grey list from November 2017. Sri Based in Lyon, France, Interpol is an Lanka set out a sound framework to bring the international police cooperation organization commitment of all the stakeholders to enhance with 194 member states and 100 years of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering experience of international cooperation in the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) policing. standards in order to improve its compliance The organization has 90-million records spread and the country rating. It reported the progress across 17 databases. Equipped with secure achieved in the implementation of the action global data communication channel I-24/7, plan regularly to the FATF. incident response teams, command and control Centre, a worldwide network of NCBs, the 60. Renowned painter Kalidas Karmakar dies organization assist law enforcement agencies in Dhaka of member countries. Internationally acclaimed painter of Bangladesh Kalidas Karmakar passed away in 58. Indonesia's President Joko Widodo sworn in Dhaka. He was 73. Karmakar had suffered a for final term cardiac arrest in the afternoon at his residence. Indonesia's President Joko Widodo has been Born on January 10, 1946, in Faridpur district, sworn into office for his second and final five- he completed his graduation from the
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Government College of Fine Arts and Crafts in A small video screen mounted behind Pepe's Kolkata in 1969. green plastic exterior acted as a mouth, An icon of modern art in Bangladesh, Kalidas allowing researchers to tele-operate the robot was awarded Shilpakala Padak in 2016 and the to speak to the pupils and draw their attention Ekushey Padak in 2018 by the Government of to a poster outlining the steps of effective hand Bangladesh for his contribution to fine arts. washing. Solo exhibitions of his works were held in A set of moving eyes helped bolster the Dhaka and many countries, including the US, illusion that Pepe was paying attention to the India, Japan, Iran, and Hong Kong. children's actions. Apart from painting he was also known for his The researchers found that the robot helped installation work in which he used diverse pupils to wash their hands more effectively materials like wood, pottery, brass, utensils and more consistently, boosting their rates of and others. hand washing by 40 per cent. Kalidas was prolific in using new mediums Pupils spent on average twice as long washing and style for his art work while maintaining their hands after Pepe's arrival. his signature style. He called his work alluvial The outcomes from the research project were art meaning the art of the delta land which presented on Global Handwashing Day, gave expression to the precarious nature of the marked on October 15 every year, at the 28TH alluvial land and its people, their struggles and IEEE International Conference on Robot and hopes. Human Interactive Communication in New Karmakar also experimented with performance Delhi. art which combined artist's body as an object Hand-washing is one of the most effective of art along with his painting defenses against the spread of diarrhea and respiratory infections, which cause the deaths 61. India-UK collaboration creates a hand- of around 1,300 young children each day washing robot. around the world 320 of which are in India Collaboration between researchers from the alone, according to figures from WaterAid UK and India has resulted in a new robot India and the World Health Organization. which encourages children to wash their The study also followed up with a hands. questionnaire completed by 45 of the pupils The robot, named Pepe, was recently used by who interacted with Pepe and the findings pupils at a primary school in Kerala as a fresh revealed more than 90 per cent of the students approach to hygiene. liked the robot and said they would like to see None of the children had ever interacted with "Pepe" again after school vacation. anything like a robot before, but they were The project is the second social robot research excited to interact with this relatively simple project conducted by the University of machine, which clearly had a positive effect on Glasgow and Amrita University. their efforts to keep their hands clean. Last year, they introduced a four wheeled Dr Amol Deshmukh, from the University of robot to help residents of Ayyampathy in Glasgow's School of Computing Science, who southern India carry 20-litre bottles of water led the project in partnership with colleagues from the local well to their homes. from the Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham 62. Astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica University in Kerala. Meir complete first all-female spacewalk Pepe was mounted to the wall above a hand NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina washing station at the Wayanad Government Koch conducted the first all-female spacewalk Primary School, which has around 100 pupils outside of the International Space Station. The aged between five and 10. spacewalk officially began at 7:38 a.m. ET and
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs lasted for seven hours and 17 minutes, ending at 2:55 p.m. ET. The spacewalk went well, 64. 4th Asean-India Business Summit according to both astronauts, and they were The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, even able to accomplish some get-ahead tasks addressed the India-Philippines Business on the station. Conclave and the 4th ASEAN-India Business This was the fourth spacewalk for Koch and Summit in Manila, Philippines. the first for Meir. Based on their position on India‘s ―Make in India‖ and next-generation the platform, the astronauts were able to see infrastructure programmes and the Philippines‘ the Earth pass beneath their feet. ―Build, Build, Build‖ infrastructure initiative The first woman to conduct a spacewalk was present immense opportunities for companies Russian cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya in and investors on both sides. 1984, followed closely by NASA astronaut The real gain has been collaboration in the IT- Kathy Sullivan. An additional 12 US women BPO segment. have conducted 40 spacewalks over the past 35 India-Philippines have seen two-way years. Koch and Meir were the 13th and 14th, investment grow in infrastructure and energy respectively. sectors. More prospects wait to be converted into concrete projects, from airport terminals, 63. India-Myanmar Naval Exercise commence LNG pipelines to waste management onboard INS Ranvijay solutions. The opening ceremony of the second edition of The Indian pharma and healthcare sectors offer 'India Myanmar Naval Exercise' IMNEX-2019 immense value to the Philippines. There is was conducted onboard INS Ranvijay. scope to enhance partnership in several other Myanmar naval ships UMS Sin Phyu Shin (F- areas - from trade, investment, services, 14) and UMS Tabinshweti (773) arrived at agriculture, engineering to new technologies. Visakhapatnam and would engage in President noted that ASEAN-India trade has professional interaction with Indian Navy jumped significantly in the past few years. personnel for sharing of expertise on various However, he said, we still have a long distance maritime issues between both the navies. to cover to reach the target of US$ 200 billion The harbor phase of IMNEX-19 scheduled till by 2022. October 20 includes visits to Indian Naval units, training and maintenance facility at 65. Indo-Maldives joint military exercise Visakhapatnam. Ekuverin– 2019 concludes During Sea Phase scheduled from October 20 Indo-Maldives joint exercise ‗Ex Ekuverin – to 22, INS Ranvijay, a guided-missile 2019‘ closing ceremony held at Foreign destroyer and INS Kuthar, a missile corvette Training Node, Aundh military station in the will be carrying out a joint exercise with city. Myanmar ships UMS Sin Phyu Shin, a frigate The 14-day joint training commenced on and UMS Tabinshweti, a corvette in the Bay of October 7. It included joint training of the Bengal. contingents in counter-insurgency and counter- The joint exercise will encompass a variety of terrorism operations in the semi-urban operations including anti-air and surface firing environment under the UN mandate, exercises, flying exercises using integral developing interoperability and cohesion helicopter and seamanship evolutions at sea. between both the contingents. The joint exercises this year have increased in As part of validation exercise held troops of scope and complexity and are a testimony of both the armies carried out specialized joint growing maritime cooperation between the counter-terrorist operations which were two navies. witnessed by dignitaries of both the armies.
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs The validation exercise was reviewed by The research, published recently in the journal Major General JJ Mathews of the Indian Army Chemical Communications, was led by in the presence of senior Army officers of both Konstantinos Gerasopoulos of APL‘s Research the participating countries. The Maldivian side and Exploratory Development Department. was represented by Brigadier General Wais How it works Waheed. The exercise concluded on October The team has announced the discovery of a 20 with a ceremonial closing ceremony. new class of ―water-in-salt‖ and ―water-in- During the exercise, the troops shared best bisalt‖ electrolytes—referred to as WiS and practices being followed by both nations in WiBS, respectively. The University said that varied terrain. The exercise provided an this new class of electrolytes, when opportunity to both the armies for greater incorporated in a polymer matrix, reduces understanding and strengthening mutual trust water activity and elevates the battery‘s energy and cooperation. capabilities and life cycle while ridding it of 66. Chile President declares state emergency in the flammable, toxic, and highly reactive Santiago solvents present in current Li-ion batteries. It‘s Chile's President Sebastian Pinera has declared a safe, powerful alternative. a state of emergency in Santiago and gave the Li-ion batteries have emerged as the energy military responsibility for security after a day storage vehicle of choice for portable of violent protests over an increase in the price electronics, electric vehicles, and grid storage. of metro tickets. These safety advancements, the university Protestors clashed with riot police throughout release, mark a significant step forward in in several parts of the capital, Santiago, and transforming the way Li-ion batteries are the subway system was shut after attacks on manufactured and used in electronic devices. stations in some of the worst violence the city Li-ion batteries are already a constant presence has seen in years. At least 16 buses were in our daily lives, from our phones to our cars, torched and a dozen metro stations totally and continuing to improve their safety is destroyed. paramount to further advancing energy storage The President has appointed Major General technology. Li-ion battery form factors were Javier Iturriaga del Campo as the head of not changed much since their national defense. Objective of the state of commercialization in the early 1990s; we still emergency is to ensure public order and peace use the same cylindrical or prismatic cell for the inhabitants of Santiago. types. The liquid electrolyte and required The state of emergency is initially for 15 days hermetic packaging have a lot to do with that. and restricts freedom of movement and 68. India to sign Agreement on Kartarpur assembly. General Iturriaga said the military India and Pakistan are all set to sign a would patrol major trouble spots in the city of memorandum of understanding (MoU) on seven million but would not impose a curfew October 23 for the opening of the Kartarpur at present. corridor that will link two important Sikh shrines on either side. 67. Lithium-ion battery that won‟t catch fire India has asked Pakistan to reconsider its Lithium-ion batteries are vulnerable to fire and demand of charging $20 service fee a pilgrim. explosion, which often happens without The corridor is being built by both nations to warning. This is because they are built with connect Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur and flammable and combustible materials. Now, Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan‘s the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory Kartarpur, the final resting place of Guru has developed a Lithium-ion battery that will Nanak, to commemorate the 550th birth not catch fire.
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs anniversary of the founder of Sikhism on in the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity November 12. (GFSEC) Ministerial meeting. Presently, Japan In view of the long-pending demand of the holds the Chair of this Global Forum. pilgrims to have visa-free access to Gurudwara The proposed GFSEC meeting will involve Kartarpur Sahib and in the interest of policy discussions. Further, the Minister will operationalization of the corridor in time have a meeting with his Japanese counterpart, before the 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Isshu Sugawara to discuss issues of bilateral Nanak falling on the 12th of next month, India collaboration in the fields of energy as well as has agreed to sign the Agreement. steel. Pakistan has been once again urged to Pradhan will also have meetings with Japanese reconsider its insistence to levy service fee on steel industries to discuss strengthening pilgrims. It said India will be ready to amend collaborative investments in India. In addition, the Agreement accordingly at any time. meetings of the Minister with his counterparts The Government of India has taken the from other countries are also scheduled, on the initiative to put in place the state of art sidelines of the Ministerial meeting. infrastructure and open the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor on the auspicious occasion of the 70. 11years for Chandrayaan-1 launch: 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji Chandrayaan-1, India's first mission to Moon, so that the pilgrims from India and those was launched successfully on October 22, holding Overseas Citizen of India Card can 2008 from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota. The undertake visit to the holy Gurudwara spacecraft was orbiting around the Moon at a Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan. height of 100 km from the lunar surface for chemical, mineralogical and photo-geologic 69. GFSEC ministerial meeting mapping of the Moon. The spacecraft carried Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and 11 scientific instruments built in India, USA, Steel Dharmendra Pradhan will be visiting UK, Germany, Sweden and Bulgaria. Russia and Japan from October 22 to 26. After the successful completion of all the During his visit, Pradhan will have meetings major mission objectives, the orbit has been with Sergey Tyrtsev, First Deputy Minister for raised to 200 km during May 2009. The Development of the Russian Far East and satellite made more than 3400 orbits around Arctic, and with Igor Sechin, CEO of Rosneft. the moon and the mission was concluded when He will also visit the shipbuilding Complex, the communication with the spacecraft was Zvezda and the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project lost on August 29, 2009. in Russia‘s Far East. Possible areas of PSLV-C11 was chosen to launch collaboration in other sectors like coking coal, Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, was an updated and shipping routes will also be discussed. version of ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Engineers India Ltd will sign a memorandum Vehicle standard configuration. Weighing 320 of understanding (MoU) with the Russian tonne at lift-off, the vehicle used larger strap- National Chamber of Engineers. The MoU will on motors (PSOM-XL) to achieve higher strengthen the symbolic bilateral energy payload capability. cooperation as the technical expertise of both Findings: organisations will help EIL in providing its Chandrayaan's moon mineralogy mapper has services for upcoming projects across the confirmed the magma ocean hypothesis, hydrocarbons value chain in Russia. meaning that the moon was once completely Pradhan will also visit Tokyo at the invitation molten. of the Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade The Terrain mapping camera on board and Industry from October 25-26 to participate Chandrayaan-1, besides producing more than
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs 70,000 three dimensional images, has recorded have also been found at a Neolithic cemetery close images of the landing site of US spacecraft to Jebel Buhais, in the Emirate of Sharjah. Apollo 15. Facts ISRO said interesting data on lunar polar areas What is orange, yellow, red level weather was provided by Lunar Laser Ranging warning? Instrument (LLRI) and High Energy X-ray The India Meteorological Department (IMD) Spectrometer (HEX) of ISRO as well as is an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (Mini- of the Government of India. It is the principal SAR) of the USA. agency responsible for meteorological Another ESA payload - Chandrayaan-1 observations, weather forecasting and imaging X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS) - seismology. IMD issues color level weather detected more than two dozen weak solar warning. The colors are: flares during the mission duration. The Yellow: Be aware. Severely bad weather is Bulgarian payload called Radiation Dose possible over the next few days and could Monitor (RADOM) was activated on the day affect people in the area concerned. Yellow of the launch itself and worked till the means that you should plan ahead thinking mission's end. about possible travel delays, or the disruption A Chandrayaan-1 moon mission payload has of your day-to-day activities. The Met Office enabled scientists to study the interaction is monitoring the developing weather situation between the solar wind and a planetary body and Yellow means keep an eye on the latest like moon without a magnetic field, a meeting forecast and be aware that the weather may convened by ISRO was told. change or worsen, leading to disruption of In its 10-month orbit around the moon, your plans in the next few days. Chandrayaan-1's X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS) Orange: Be prepared. There is an increased has detected titanium, confirmed the presence likelihood of severely or extremely bad of calcium, and gathered the most accurate weather affecting people in the area concerned, measurements yet of magnesium, aluminum which could potentially disrupt people's plans and iron on the lunar surface. and possibly cause travel delays, road and rail closures, interruption to power and the 71. World‟s oldest known natural pearl potential risk to life and property. Means discovered on Abu Dhabi Island people need to be prepared to change plans and The oldest known natural pearl in the world protect themselves, their family and has been discovered by Abu Dhabi community from the impacts of the severe archaeologists working at a Neolithic site on weather based on the forecast from the Met Marawah Island, just off the coast of Abu Office. Dhabi. Red: Take action. Extremely bad weather is Dubbed the ‗Abu Dhabi Pearl‘, it was found in expected. Red means people in the areas layers that have been radiocarbon dated to concerned should take action now to keep 5,800-5,600 BCE, during the Neolithic period. themselves and others safe from the impact of Discovery is a proof that pearls and oysters the weather. Widespread damage, travel and were being used in the UAE nearly 8,000 years power disruption and risk to life are likely. ago, and represents the earliest known You must avoid dangerous areas and follow evidence for pearling yet discovered anywhere the advice of the emergency services and local in the world. authorities. Prior to the Abu Dhabi Pearl discovery, the earliest known pearl in the UAE came from a 72. First India-Bangladesh Stakeholders' meet Neolithic site in Umm Al Qaiwain. Ancient pearls
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs India-Bangladesh stakeholders' meeting was postponed out of respect for the victims and held at Guwahati. The two-day summit aims to their families. ―reconnect, revitalize and recreate‖ the age-old link between the Northeast and Bangladesh. A 74. United Nations WFP launches 'Feed Our large delegation from Bangladesh is in the city Future' cinema ad campaign to discuss issues related to trade and The United Nations World Food Programme connectivity with their Indian counterparts. (WFP) has launched a cinema advertisement Asian Development Bank country director campaign 'Feed Our Future' to raise awareness Kenichi Yokoyama made a presentation on and take steps against hunger and malnutrition Prospects of Indo-Bangladesh Cross-border in India. Trade in the Light of Recent Developments, The campaign launch event included a panel where he highlighted facts and figures related to discussion hosted by TV host Mini Mathur, exports, imports and balance of trade between which had actor-director Nandita Das and the two countries. He also talked about the filmmakers Neeraj Ghaywan and Anubhav ongoing connectivity projects in India and Sinha sharing their perspectives over cinema Bangladesh. and social change. Participating in the India-Bangladesh Through a partnership with Facebook, the stakeholders' meeting in Guwahati, Mr Munshi event took place via a live broadcast from the said better connectivity would enhance social network's Mumbai office. consumers' welfare through access to goods at competitive prices and enhance opportunities 75. President lays foundation stone for Sri for exporters. Sathya Sai Sanathana Samskruti Project Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi President Ram Nath Kovind laid the requested India to withdraw the ban on the foundation stone for Sri Sathya Sai Sanathana export of onions. He said India is the second- Samskruti Project at Sai no Sato, Kakegawa, largest trading partner of Bangladesh and both Japan. the countries registered impressive growth in Sai no Sato will be developed as a temple on recent years. the lines of Akshardham and Swaminarayan Temple to promote Indian traditional culture. 73. Naruhito formally proclaimes ascension to The President also attended a banquet hosted the throne in his honor by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of In Japan, Emperor Naruhito has formally Japan. proclaimed his ascension to the throne in an elaborate ceremony. The emperor, 59, 76. 18th Non-Aligned Movement Summit officially began his reign in May after the Vice President, M. Venkaiah Naidu will lead abdication of his father, the then-Emperor the Indian delegation at the 18th Summit of Akihito. Heads of State and Government of the Non- But, after a series of traditional rituals inside Aligned Movement (NAM) to be held at Baku, the imperial palace in Tokyo, his ascension has Azerbaijan on 25th to 26th of this month. now been formalized. The Summit will be preceded by Senior As about 2,000 people looked on, the curtains Officials Meeting and Ministerial Meeting. of the Imperial Throne called 'Takamikura' The theme for the Summit is -Upholding the were opened, revealing Emperor Naruhito Bandung Principles to ensure concerted and dressed in a traditional robe. adequate response to the challenges of the The ceremony comes as Japan reels from the contemporary world. The Ten Principles of effects of Typhoon Hagibis, which left almost Bandung, a political statement encapsulating 80 people dead .A celebration parade was the need to promote world peace and
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs cooperation were formulated at the Asian- With this technique, large amounts of African Conference in 1955. renewable energy can be stored. The theme is significant as it relates to the The study noted that dielectric capacitors forthcoming 65th anniversary of Bandung generally have ultrahigh power density making Principles in 2020 and the 60th anniversary of them suitable for technologies such as motor the establishment of the Movement in 2021. drives, and space vehicle power systems. The Summit will focus on a whole gamut of These require accumulating energy over a contemporary issues such as Terrorism, threats period of time and then releasing it very to peace and security, UN reform, climate quickly. change, sustainable development, economic Until now, such capacitors were limited by the governance and south-south cooperation. low amounts of energy they could store. This The participation of the Vice President would finding promises a significant impact on the further strengthen India‘s engagement with field of pulse power applications and could NAM and its member countries. Mr Naidu will produce a step-change in the field of dielectric deliver the national statement at the NAM capacitors, so far limited by their low energy Summit and hold bilateral meetings with other storage density. Heads of States and Governments including the President of the host country, on the 78. October 24: UN Day sidelines. The name "United Nations", coined by then India is one of the founding members of the US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was first Non-Aligned Movement which was used in UN's declaration of Jan.1, 1942, during established in 1961 with 29 members. It has World War-II, when representatives of 26 since grown to 120 members to become one of nations extended their support to continue the largest groupings of nation-states. fighting together against the axis powers. On April 25, 1945, in San Francisco (US), 50 77. Researchers developed renewable energy countries met and started drafting UN's storage device charter, which was adopted on June 25, 1945. Researchers have developed a new dielectric The charter took effect on Oct. 24, 1945, when capacitor- a device that stores energy like a the UN began operations. battery, taking inspiration from a French Maintaining international peace and security, pastry. The croissant is made by folding protecting human rights, delivering multiple layers of dough. humanitarian aid, promoting sustainable The researchers, including those from Queen development, and upholding international laws Mary institute of London in the United are among UN's objectives. Kingdom, found that by pressing and folding a Next year marks UN's 75th anniversary. polymer film capacitor, they were able to store 2019 theme: Our planet our future 30 times more energy than the best-performing commercially available dielectric capacitor. 2019 ozone hole is the smallest on record: The study was published in the journal Nature NASA Communications. This is the highest energy The ozone hole over Antarctica is the smallest density ever reported in a polymer film observed since 1982, due to abnormally warm capacitor. The advance may pave the way for temperatures in the upper atmosphere that efficient, low-cost, and environmentally- dramatically limited ozone depletion in friendly electric energy storage systems for September and October this year, according to wind and solar sources. NASA and NOAA satellite measurements. Storing energy can be tricky and expensive, However, the researchers at NASA and The especially with renewable energy sources. National Oceanic and Atmospheric
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Administration (NOAA) cautioned that this is Satellites, including NASA's Aura satellite, the due to warmer stratospheric temperatures and NASA-NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting not a sign that atmospheric ozone is suddenly Partnership satellite and NOAA's Joint Polar on a fast track to recovery. Satellite System NOAA-20 satellite, measure The annual ozone hole reached its peak extent ozone from space. of 16.4 million square kilometers on The Aura satellite's Microwave Limb Sounder September 8, and then shrank to less than 10 also estimates levels of ozone-destroying million square kilometers for the remainder of chlorine in the stratosphere. September and October. Ozone is a highly reactive molecule comprised 79. Science and Technology Cooperation of three oxygen atoms that occurs naturally in between India and USA small amounts. Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Roughly seven to 25 miles above Earth's Narendra Modi has approved the proposal for surface, in a layer of the atmosphere called the Agreement on Science and Technology stratosphere, the ozone layer is a sunscreen, Cooperation between India and the United shielding the planet from potentially harmful States of America. ultraviolet radiation that can cause skin cancer The agreement will open a new chapter in and cataracts, suppress immune systems and bilateral relations as both sides will leverage also damage plants. complementary strengths spurred by a The Antarctic ozone hole forms during the significant convergence of mutual interests in Southern Hemisphere's late winter as the science and technology. returning Sun's rays start ozone-depleting The Agreement would provide an opportunity reactions. to promote 'high quality' and 'high impact' These reactions involve chemically active research and innovation partnerships as well as forms of chlorine and bromine derived from broadening and expanding relationships man-made compounds. between the extensive scientific and The chemistry that leads to their formation technological communities. involves chemical reactions that occur on the surfaces of cloud particles that form in cold 80. India jumps 14 places on World Bank's stratospheric layers, leading ultimately to Ease of Doing business ranking runaway reactions that destroy ozone India has jumped 14 places to take the 63rd molecules. position on the World Bank's ease of doing In warmer temperatures fewer polar business ranking. The country was 77th among stratospheric clouds form and they don't persist 190 countries in the previous ranking. In its as long, limiting the ozone-depletion process. Doing Business 2020 report, the World Bank This is the third time in the last 40 years that commended the reform efforts undertaken by weather systems have caused warm the country. temperatures that limit ozone depletion, said India has improved its rank in 7 out of 10 Susan Strahan, an atmospheric scientist with indicators and has moved closer to Universities Space Research Association, who international best practices. Significant works at NASA. improvements have been registered in Similar weather patterns in the Antarctic resolving insolvency, dealing with stratosphere in September 1988 and 2002 also Construction Permits, Registering Property, produced atypically small ozone holes. Trading across Boards and Paying Taxes NASA and NOAA monitor the ozone hole via indicators. India has improved its rank by 79 complementary instrumental methods. positions in last five years.
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs World Bank has recognized India as one of the the fact that 78% of the adult population has top 10 performers on the list for the third time wealth below $10,000 says the CSRI report. in a row. India has been adjudged the 9th best India is a large contributor to the global performing nation in a list, which also features wealthy list. The country has 827,000 adults in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Pakistan and the top 1% of global wealth holders, which is a China. 1.6% share. Estimates, 4,460 adults have Importing and exporting became easier for wealth over $50 million and 1,790 have more companies for the fourth consecutive year. than $100 million. India now ranks 68th globally in trading across The growth in household debt for India was border indicators and is performing one of the highest globally at 11.5% versus significantly better. On providing relief to global average of 4%. Still, it is below that for taxpayers' index, India jumps six places in the developed nations. According to the World Bank's ease of doing business rankings. Wealth Report, personal debt for India is India continues to maintain its first position estimated to be at $1,345, or 8% of gross among South Asian countries. assets. In the neighborhood, China has moved up to Although indebtedness is a severe problem for 31st position from the 46th rank while many poor people in India, overall household Pakistan rose from 136th place to become the debt as a proportion of assets is lower than in 108th easiest to do business in nation. most developed countries. The rankings are based on samples and audits For India, the growth in financial assets was done in Mumbai and Delhi only (the World just 1.4% to $37 billion. The growth was Bank has said it would be covering Bengaluru below global average of 2%. For India, and Kolkata too from next year). personal wealth in India is dominated by New Zealand and Somalia retained their 1st property, other real assets and less of financial and 190th spot respectively. assets. Non-financial assets grew by 7% to $708 billion. Globally, non-financial assets 81. India contributes 7% to global wealth rise, rose by 3.7% to $ 6.7 trillion. says Credit Suisse report Global wealth has risen by $9 trillion to $360 82. World Bank Project to Support Climate trillion in 2019, according to the Credit Suisse Resilient Agriculture Small holder Farmers Research Institute (CSRI). India has made a in Odisha contribution of $625 billion (nearly 7% of The Government of India, Government of total) to the global wealth. The biggest Odisha and the World Bank signed a US$165 contribution has come from the US at $4 million loan agreement to support smallholder trillion (45% of total) and China at $1.9 trillion farmers strengthen the resilience of their (21% of total). production systems as well as diversify and The average wealth per adult globally stood at improve the marketing of their produce, for $70,849, according to the 10th edition of increased income. the Global Wealth Report published by CSRI. The Odisha Integrated Irrigation Project for Wealth per adult for India at $14,569 is nearly Climate Resilient Agriculture will be 80% below the global average. The US and implemented in rural areas vulnerable to Europe have the highest wealth per adult at droughts and largely dependent on rainfed $417,694 and $153,973, respectively. agriculture. It will benefit about 125,000 While wealth has been rising in India, not smallholder farmer households from 15 everyone has shared in this growth. There is districts of Odisha managing 128,000 ha of still considerable wealth poverty, reflected in agricultural land. The project will strengthen the resilience of smallholder farmers against
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs adverse climate by improving access to Sri Lanka, with support from the UN resilient seed varieties and production Environment Programme (UNEP), convened a technologies, diversifying towards more two-day event at which member states came climate-resilient crops, and improving access together to adopt what is being called the to better water management and irrigation ―Colombo Declaration‖ with an ambition to services. halve nitrogen waste by 2030. The Government of India is implementing While a critical element for building structures several missions under the National Action of living organisms and an essential element Plan on Climate Change, which also for the survival of all living things, nitrogen extensively leverages adaptation of climate- overuse has negative impacts on the planet, smart agricultural practices and biodiversity and is a contributor to the climate technologies. The project in Odisha is among crisis. several such initiatives supported by the Humanity‘s very existence depends on government in our commitment to achieve the nitrogen. Over time, we have learned how to sustainable agriculture-related targets of the harness its power. Pulling nitrogen from the air SDGs by 2030. and fixing it in soil is one reason why the The loan agreement was signed by human population has expanded so rapidly. Shri Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional The evidence is clear in that the air we breathe, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, the water we drink, the food we eat, the soil on behalf of the Government of we invade, and the oceans regulating global India; Shri Surendra Kumar, Principal temperature enabling our bodies to function, Secretary, Water Resources Department on are being rapidly polluted. behalf of the Government of Odisha; and As part of the Declaration, environment Mr Junaid Ahmad, Country Director, India on ministers and officials representing the behalf of the World Bank. governments of more than 30 countries The project will support the rehabilitation of endorsed United Nations plans for a campaign 532 water tanks - expected to irrigate 91,435 on sustainable nitrogen management called ha; promote productivity improvements at the ―Nitrogen for Life‖, which stems from the farm level; support farmers to reduce the Sustainable Nitrogen Management Resolution current emphasis on food grains (especially which was adopted during the fourth session of paddy and wheat) and increase the share of the UN Environment Assembly held from 11 – high-value and more nutritious products like 15 March 2019 at the UNEP headquarters in fruits and vegetables; and provide marketing Nairobi, Kenya. support to farmers who are able to generate a Member states recognized the urgency of marketable surplus. addressing nitrogen management in meeting The project will also support aquaculture in biodiversity goals, while offering huge rehabilitated tanks, help farmer‘s access economic opportunities in reducing reactive affordable and quality fingerlings, and nitrogen that is wasted every year, as well as disseminate improved aquaculture practices reducing eutrophic zones affecting fishing and and post-harvest management. tourism industries. The $165 million loan from the International The Colombo Declaration has been developed Bank for Reconstruction and Development with the technical support of the International (IBRD), has a 6-year grace period, and a Nitrogen Management System (INMS), a joint maturity of 24 years. activity of the UNEP and the International Nitrogen Initiative supported by the Global 83. Colombo Declaration calls for tackling Environmental Facility. global nitrogen challenge
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs For the first time governments have agreed to cooperation and interoperability between the work together on a major quantitative global two armies. goal for improved nitrogen management. The aspiration to halve nitrogen waste by 2030 86. Bangladesh to hold world's second largest offers a $100 billion opportunity to mobilize Muslim congregation innovation for the nitrogen circular economy, Bangladesh will hold the first phase of Bishwa while contributing to environment, health and Ijtema, the second largest congregation of livelihoods. Muslim community after Hajj, from January About the UN Environment Programme 10 to 12 next year in Dhaka. The second phase The UN Environment Programme is the of the Ijtema will be held from January 17 to leading global voice on the environment. It 19. provides leadership and encourages This was announced on Monday by the State partnership in caring for the environment by Minister for Religious Affairs Sheikh Md inspiring, informing and enabling nations and Abdullah. peoples to improve their quality of life without The decision was taken in the preparatory compromising that of future generations. meeting held under the chairmanship of Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal in Dhaka. 84. Brazil plans visa-free entry for Indian Bishwa Ijtema is an annual event which is held travellers in a 160 acre field on the bank of the Turag Brazil is working to implement a policy to River at Tongi on the outskirts of Dhaka since facilitate faster entry for Indian travellers into 1967. the country, the Embassy of Brazil confirmed Bishwa Ijtema means world congregation and after President Jair Bolsonaro said the South it draws in Muslims from about 150 countries. American country intended to allow Indian In 2010, 5 million people were estimated to travellers to visit without a visa. take part in the Bishwa Ijtema. It is a gathering President Bolsonaro announced that he that focuses on prayer and meditation and is intended to bring in measures that would allow not open for political discussions. greater contact with India and China and end visa requirements for the citizens of the two 87. Emergency declared in California as countries. Brazil has already ended visa wildfires rage requirements for the citizens of the United The Governor of the US state of California, States, Canada, Japan and Australia. Gavin Newsom, has declared a state of The announcement from Brazil came ahead of emergency because of raging wildfires. The the upcoming BRICS summit that will be held Kincade fire located in Sonoma County, north in Brazil which is expected to boost intra- of San Francisco, first started on October 23. It BRICS ties. is the largest fire currently burning in the state. More than 15,800 acres of land has already 85. India-France joint Army exercise to begin been scorched and as of late Sunday, the fire from Oct 31 was only 5 per cent contained. About 2,000 The bilateral 'Exercise SHAKTI' between the fire personnel were assigned to battle the armies of India and France will be conducted wildfire. from 31st October to 13th November 2019 at Along with other smaller fires in northern Foreign Training Node in Mahajan Field California, 180,000 people have been forced to Firing Ranges, Rajasthan. evacuate the region as homes and business are The joint exercise will focus on counter at high risk with the fast-moving blazes. terrorism operations in semi-desert terrain. The exercise aims at enhancing understanding, So far this year more than 207,600 acres have
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs been scorched by wildfires. This is down of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Mr Modi significantly from 1.8 million acres burned in expressed hope that it will give them a clear 2018. view of the development and governance priorities of the region. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi killed by the US Special Forces 89. US Air Force space plane back on Earth Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the elusive chief of the after two-year mission Islamic State, has been killed by the US Special The US Air Force's mystery space plane is Forces in a raid in northwest Syria. back on Earth, after 780 days in orbit President Trump confirmed the death of the following a record-breaking two-year mission. ISIS leader during a press conference at the The X-37B landed at Kennedy Space Centre of White House. National Aeronautics and Space He was the founder and leader of ISIS. The Administration in Florida. The Air Force is most ruthless and violent terror organization mum about what the plane did in orbit after anywhere in the World. The United States has launching aboard a SpaceX rocket in 2017. been searching for Baghdadi for many years. The mission sets a new endurance record for Capturing or killing Baghdadi has been the top the reusable test vehicle. This latest mission national security priority of my administration. has successfully completed its objectives. This Despite being hunted by the world's best was the fifth spaceflight by a vehicle of this intelligence agencies and the US authorities sort. No. 6 is planned next year with another offering a whopping USD 25 million reward for launch from Cape Canaveral. information leading to his capture, Baghdadi has proved to be incredibly elusive. 90. Belgium gets first female PM Baghdadi joined Al-Qaeda in Iraq, which Belgian Budget Minister Sophie Wilmes has merged with other Islamist groups to form the been chosen as the country's new caretaker Islamic State of Iraq. He became the group's prime minister -- a first for a woman. leader in 2010 after his predecessor was killed The 44-year-old still has to be sworn in by by US forces. King Philippe. Michel(former PM), who is set He renamed the group to the Islamic State of to take over as European Council president on Iraq and Levant, widely known as ISIL or ISIS December 1, had he intended to step down by in 2013 and announced his "caliphate" in 2014. the beginning of November. Belgium has not had a fully functioning 88. EU Parliamentary delegation to visit J&K federal government since a coalition headed up The European Union Parliamentary delegation by Michel collapsed in December 2018. He is to visit Jammu and Kashmir. This is a major has stayed on as caretaker premier ever since. diplomatic outreach by the government to The political situation was further complicated counter Pakistan's narrative on the situation in by a very fragmented result of parliamentary the valley and to give them a clear view of elections in May. India's development and governance priorities. Wilmes, who is seen as an ally of Michel's and Ahead of their visit, Members of European was first elected to parliament in 2014, was Parliamentarian (MEPs) met Prime Minister chosen by a ministerial committee. Narendra Modi in New Delhi. Mr. Modi Belgium has a reputation for political crises. In categorically told them that an urgent action 2010-2011 it was without a government for was needed against those supporting and 541 days a record. sponsoring terrorism. He said, the visit should give the MPs a better understanding of the 91. 3 Indian-origin CEOs among top 10 best- cultural and religious diversity of the regions performing heads
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Adobe's Shantanu Narayen, Mastercard‘s Fernandez, a 60-year-old law professor, Ajay Banga and Microsoft‘s Satya Nadella Fernandez gained 47.2 per cent of the vote are among the top 10 best-performing chief with 71.6 per cent of ballots counted, executives in the world, according to a incumbent President Mauricio Macri secured Harvard Business Review (HBR) list. The 41.34 per cent. list relies on objective performance measures According to Argentine legislation, the victory over a chief executive‘s entire tenure in the first round is secured for the candidate On the 6th spot is Adobe CEO Shantanu who will gain either more than 45 per cent of Narayen, followed by MasterCard CEO Ajay the vote or more than 40 per cent with a 10 Banga, ranked 7th and Microsoft chief Satya percentage points lead over the closest Nadella on the 9th spot. The list also features opponent. India-born CEO of DBS Bank Piyush Gupta on the 89th spot. Apple CEO Tim Cook is 93. India, Saudi Arabia signed 12 MoUs ranked 62nd. India and Saudi Arabia have agreed to The list also includes Nike CEO Mark Parker establish a Strategic Partnership Council, ranked 20, JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie resolved to strengthen cooperation in Dimon (23), Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn combating terrorist operations and signed 12 Hewson (37), Disney CEO Robert Iger (55) MoUs in various areas of mutual interests, and Soft Bank head Masayoshi Son (96). taking the bilateral relationship to the next Ranking has been based not only on financial level. The Strategic Partnership Council performance but also on environmental, social, Agreement was signed by Prime Minister and governance (ESG) ratings. Modi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who has been the Bin Salman in Riyad last night. top CEO every year since 2014 on the basis of The Council will be an all-encompassing financial performance alone, failed to make bilateral mechanism which will cover an entire this year‘s list owing to Amazon‘s relatively spectrum of relationship between the two low ESG scores. countries. Prime Minister‘s day long visit to The HBR took into account three metrics for Saudi Arabia was intense on engagement & each CEO‘s tenure - the total shareholder high on deliverables. return (including dividends reinvested) Prime Minister Modi also held delegation level adjusted by country and by industry and talks with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. change in market capitalization (adjusted for On the sidelines, PM met with the King of dividends, share issues, and share Jordan who was here to attend the Future repurchases), measured in inflation-adjusted Investment Initiative Forum. The two leaders USD. exchanged views to strengthen bilateral ties The 2019 list has four female CEOs in the top across various sectors. 12 MoUs related to half of the rankings, up from three in 2018 and security, defense, civil aviation, renewable just two in previous years. energy sector, & capacity building was signed during the visit. 92. Peronist Fernandez wins Argentine The two sides also agreed to establish a presidential election Strategic Partnership Council, which will be Peronist candidate Alberto Fernandez won headed by the top leadership on either side. Argentina's presidential election representing Ahead of the visit, Saudi Arabia released 450 the Front of All alliance, bringing to an end the prisoners as a special gesture. crisis-plagued rule of market-friendly Prime Minister Modi addressed the Future incumbent Mauricio Macri. Investment Initiative Forum, which was attended by the Crown Prince too. Prime
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Minister in his address reiterated his Argentine diplomat Rafael Grossi was government's resolve to make India a five appointed to succeed late Yukiya Amano as trillion economy. the new director-general of the International He highlighted to the international investors Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a United the prospect of India as an investment Nations' nuclear watchdog. destination & said that by 2024, India will He will be appointed for a term of four years invest 100 billion dollars in refineries, and assume office no later than January 1, pipelines & gas terminals to create energy 2020. The 58-year-old will be the sixth head of infrastructure. the IAEA since it was founded more than six decades ago. 94. UK museum names blind beetle after Greta Grossi is a nuclear and diplomatic veteran Thunberg from Buenos Aires in Argentina. He graduated Britain's Natural History Museum on named a from the Argentine Foreign Ministry's tiny, blind and wingless beetle after climate National Foreign Service Institute and the activist Greta Thunberg. University of Geneva in 1985. The honey-coloured insect, measuring less than The IAEA had appointed Grossi as its assistant one millimeter, was discovered in the Kenyan director-general in 2010 for a stint of three capital Nairobi in the 1960s. Its formal years. scientific name is Nelloptodes gretae. It belongs He has been Argentina's ambassador to to the Ptiliidae family of beetles which includes Austria, Slovakia and Slovenia and the some of the smallest insects in the world. permanent representative to international But it apparently remained nameless until the organisations in Vienna since 2013. venerable London museum's scientific associate He headed the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which Michael Darby stepped in. is a multinational export control regime, the About Greta Thunberg Convention on Nuclear Security and was Greta Thunberg is a Swedish teenage deputy to the head of the OPCW between 2014 environmental activist on climate change and 2016. whose campaigning has gained international Grossi will preside over the 2020 Review recognition. Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Thunberg first became known for her activism Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons at the in August 2018 when, at age 15, she began UN headquarter in New York from April to spending her school days outside the Swedish May. parliament to call for stronger action on global warming by holding up a sign saying (in 96. MIT researchers develop new technology to Swedish) "School strike for climate". Soon, remove carbon dioxide from air other students engaged in similar protests in MIT Researchers from the Massachusetts their own communities. Together, they Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US have organized a school climate strike movement developed a new technology to capture carbon under the name Fridays for Future. dioxide from a stream of air, virtually at any After Thunberg addressed the 2018 United concentration level, an advance that may pave Nations Climate Change Conference, student the way for new strategies to reduce strikes took place every week somewhere in atmospheric greenhouse gas levels. the world. In 2019, there were at least two Researchers said that while most methods of coordinated multi-city protests involving over removing carbon dioxide from a stream of gas one million students each. required higher concentrations such as those found in the flue emissions from fossil fuel- 95. Rafael Grossi appointed chief of IAEA based power plants, the new method could
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs take out the gas even when it was present in Ecological and Inclusive Transition Govt. of very low concentrations. France, is the Co-President of the Assembly. In a study, published in the journal Energy and As on date 81 countries of the 121 prospective Environmental Science, the researchers member countries have signed the Framework described the device as a large, specialized Agreement of the ISA. Of these, 58 countries battery with a stack of electrodes that absorbs have ratified the same. The Assembly will be carbon dioxide from the air passing over its attended by the Ministers and delegates from surface as it was being charged up, and then member States, Observer States, ISA Partners, released the gas as it was being discharged. and other invitees. Over 400 delegates are The study noted that a chemical reaction takes expected to participate in the Assembly. place at the surface of each of a stack of The first Assembly of the ISA was attended by electrodes as the battery charges. The 78 countries, and they had affirmed their researchers said that the electrodes are coated determination to accelerate the deployment of with a compound called polyanthraquinone solar energy worldwide for achieving universal compounded with carbon nanotubes. energy access at affordable rates. The study noted that the electrodes have a Recognizing that ISA has a major role in natural affinity for carbon dioxide and readily achieving Sustainable Development Goals, and reacted with its molecules in the airstream or objectives of the Paris Agreement on Climate feed gas. The device operates at room Change, and that the ISA initiative would temperature and normal air pressure. benefit the world at large, during the first Greatest advantage of this technology over Assembly of the ISA an Indian resolution to most other carbon capture or carbon absorbing extend the Membership of the organization to technologies is the binary nature of the all countries that are Members of the United adsorbent's affinity to carbon dioxide. The new Nations was adopted. system is energy efficient compared to existing The ISA is an Indian initiative that was methods -- consistently using about one launched by the Prime Minister of India and gigajoule of energy per ton of carbon dioxide the President of France on 30 November 2015 captured. at Paris, France on the side-lines of the COP- 21, with 121 solar resource rich countries lying 97. MNRE Hosts 2nd Assembly of International fully or partially between the tropic of Cancer Solar Alliance (ISA) and tropic of Capricorn as prospective The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is members. hosting the second Assembly of International The overarching objective of the ISA is to Solar Alliance (ISA) on 30 and 31 October collectively address key common challenges to 2019 New Delhi. While on 30 October 2019, the scaling up of solar energy in ISA member coordination and consultation meetings on countries. It also aims to undertake joint different aspects of ISA programmes and efforts required to reduce the cost of finance initiatives will be held, the Assembly would and the cost of technology, mobilize meet on 31 October 2019. investments needed for massive deployment of The Assembly is the supreme decision making solar energy, and pave the way for future body of the ISA, and gives directions on technologies adapted to the needs. various administrative, financial and ISA has been positioned to help create the programme related issues. Shri R.K. Singh, conditions that would make funding, Minister for New and Renewable Energy and developing and deploying solar applications on Power is President of the ISA Assembly and a large scale a reality. ISA is now perceived as Ms Brune Poirson, Minister of State for the key to achieving the 2030 Sustainable
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Development Goals and objectives of the Paris serves and precision returns that had Millman Agreement on Climate Change. scrambling across the baseline. Recent Grand Slam tournaments winners in 2019: Tournaments Men Singles Women Sports Singles Austalian open Novak Naomi Osaka 1. India lifts SAFF U-18 C‟ship title for first Djokovic time French open Rafael Nadal Ashleigh Barty In Football, India defeated Bangladesh by 2-1 Wimbeldon Novak Simona Halep in the final of SAFF Under-18 Championship Djokovic 2019 to lift the title in Kathmandu today. US open Rafael Nadal Bianca India's Ninthoinganba Meetei was declared Andreeschu Most Valuable Player of the championship.
This is India's maiden SAFF U-18 trophy. 4. Mithali Raj becomes to complete 20 yrs in India remained runners up in 2015 and international cricket finished third in 2017. Host Nepal had lifted India women's cricket captain Mithali Raj earlier two editions of the Championship but became the first female player to last more could not qualify for semifinals this time. than 20 years in international cricket.
She achieved the feat while leading India to an 2. Surender Singh creates three world records emphatic eight-wicket win over South Africa at World Powerlifting C‟ ship Women in the first ODI at Vadodara. Surender Singh of India created three world
records at the ongoing World Powerlifting Mithali, who made her ODI debut against Ireland on June 26, 1999, completed 20 years Championship in Berlin, Germany. Surender and 105 days in the 50-over format. The right- bagged gold medal in 110 kg category, Classic handed batswoman has played 204 ODIs till Raw and the Best Lifter Award in Classic Raw now, the most by a female. 36-year-old Mithali and Single Ply. Three-time World Champion who retired from T20 cricket last month has Mukesh Singh went on to add another feather also played 10 Tests and 89 T20 Internationals to his cap by winning yet another gold only to for India. be known as 4-time World Champion.
On the first day of the championship, Indian 5. Manju Rani wins Silver on Debut at contingent bagged a total of 4 gold and 1 silver Women's World Boxing Championships medal. Manju Rani wins silver at the Women's World
Boxing Championships after losing her 48kg 3. Novak Djokovic clinches Japan Open title final to Russian opponent Ekaterina Paltceva World number one Novak Djokovic clinched with a scoreline of 4-1 at Ulan-Ude in Russia. the Japan Open tennis title today defeating Despite the loss, this was a historic campaign Australian qualifier John Millman 6-3, 6-2 in for Manju, who became matches Mary Kom's straight sets. feat after reaching the final at Worlds in her Djokovic, playing in his first Japanese debut. Back in 2011, it was Mary Kom first competition, dominated throughout the game, who had qualified for the final in her debut to claim the trophy at the Ariake Colosseum at campaign. Apart from these two, Sonia Tokyo. Chahal, Sonia Lather, Saweety Boora, Djokovic grabbed an early break in the first set Sarjubala Devi and Usha Nagisetty had also to take a 3-1 lead with a series of sizzling made it to the final in their maiden appearance at the World Championships.
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs Manju was the only Indian on the finals day of Sudchoeichom 21-18, 21-16 in 34 minutes to the Worlds and with this, India finished their bag the gold medal. Women's World Boxing Championships In women's singles, Ira Sharma finished campaign with silver and three bronze. second best. Second seeded Indian men's doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Saurabh 6. Sourav Ganguly set to be new BCCI Sharma settled for the runners-up position President Former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly 8. Lionel Messi wins sixth Golden Shoe award has been unanimously nominated as the new Lionel Messi has been presented with the President of the Board of Control for Cricket European Golden Shoe for the sixth time, in India, BCCI. Board member Rajiv Shukla extending his own record as another incredible tweeting the names of new administrative La Liga campaign was recognized on heads for BCCI this afternoon. Wednesday. BCCI members have also selected Jay Shah as Messi earned the award, which is given to the Secretary and Arun Dhumal as Treasurer. All player who scores the most league goals across these candidates are expected to be elected Europe's top divisions, by finding the net 36 unopposed at the Board's Annual General times in 34 La Liga appearances in 2018-19. Meeting to be held on 23rd of this month. His efforts helped Barca to successfully defend At an informal meeting in Mumbai, all the the La Liga title as he claimed the Golden affiliated units of the BCCI finalized the Shoe for the third successive season. names of the new office-bearers. A consensus The Argentina superstar was presented with between the state units of BCCI was built for the Golden Shoe at a ceremony in Barcelona, former India captain and Cricket Association where his sons Thiago and Mateo handed him of Bengal (CAB) President Sourav Ganguly as the latest trophy in a career laden with them. the front runner for the post of BCCI With six Golden Shoes to his name, Messi has president. two more than Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 47-year-old Ganguly was the chairman of the won the award four times, last doing so in BCCI technical committee and has been a 2014-15. media personality for many years. Jay Shah is the son of Union Home Minister Amit Shah 9. Indian boxers clinch 21 medals at Asian while Dhumal is the younger brother of MoS Junior C‟ships Finance and former BCCI president Anurag Indian boxers at the Asian Junior Thakur. Championships clinched 21 medals, including six golds and nine silvers, to end with the best 7. Priyanshu Rajawat claims men's singles medal haul among 26 competing countries in title at Bahrain International Series Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. Indian shuttler Priyanshu Rajawat claimed the The Indian men's squad fetched two golds, men's singles title at the Bahrain International three silvers and an equal number of bronzes, Series Badminton at Isa Town. Seventeen year while the women claimed four gold, six silver old Rajawat beat Jason Anthony Ho-Shue and three bronze medals. The team ended top from Canada in the finals 16-21, 21-7, 21-12 in terms of medals won but finished second in the summit clash. behind Uzbekistan (20) which had a better Top-seeded Indian mixed double pair of Juhi gold count of eight. Dewangan and Venkat Gaurav Prasad also The gold-medalists among men were finished at the top. They defeated Thailand's Vishvanath Suresh (46kg) and Bishwamitra Pannawat Theerapanitnun and Kanyanat Chongtham (48kg). The top women finishers for the country were reigning national
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OCTOBER-2019 JNANAGANGOTHRI Monthly Current Affairs champion Kalpana (46kg), Preeti Dahiya ahead with 146/1, 23 overs. Mayank Agarwal (60kg), Tanshbir Kaur Sandhu (80kg) and 69 and K L Rahul 52 not out and Abhimanyu Alfiya Tarannum Pathan (80kg). Mithun 5/34 starred for Karnataka in the final The silver medals were claimed by Yogesh in Bengaluru. The final was called off due to Kagra (63kg), Jaydeep Rawat (66kg) and persistent rains. Rahul (70kg). Among the women, Tamanna (48kg), Tannu (52kg), Neha (54kg), Khushi 12. Tiger Woods equals world record for most (63kg), Sharvari Kalyankar (70kg) and Khushi career titles (75kg) picked up silver medals. Tiger Woods made history when he won the Zozo Championship in Japan for his 82nd US 10. Praveen Kumar becomes first Indian man PGA Tour victory, equaling Sam Snead's 54- to win gold at Wushu World year-old record. The 15-time major winner Championships held off the challenge of home favorite Hideki Praveen Kumar became the first Indian man to Matsuyama to win by three shots at the win a Wushu World Championships gold, tournament. beating Russel Diaz of Philippines in the 48kg category in Shanghai. The Indian saw off his 13. ICC bans Shakib Filipino opponent 2-1 in the men's Sanda event Bangladesh captain and world number one of the 15th World Wushu Championships. ODI all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was on Praveen had earlier defeated Uzbekistan's handed a two-year suspension by the ICC for Khasan Ikromov 2-0 in the semi-final on failing to report three corrupt approaches, Tuesday to set up the summit clash with Diaz. including one at the IPL, by a suspected Indian Among other Indians in the fray, Poonam bookie, ousting him from the upcoming tour of (women's 75kg) and Sanathoi Devi (women's India. 52kg) secured silver medals while Vikrant Twelve months of that ban is a suspended Baliyan bagged the bronze in the men's 60kg sentence which will come into effect if Shakib category. fails to comply with the anti-corruption code India finished third overall in the of the world body. championship in event with a gold, two silvers The one-year ban that he has to serve will keep and a bronze. him out of next year's Indian Premier League Wushu is a Chinese martial art which (IPL) and also the World T20 to be held in combines full-contact kickboxing, including Australia from October 18 to November 15 the close-range punches and kicks, with wrestling, same year. takedowns, throws, sweeps and kicks catch. Shakib is currently at No. 3, No. 1 and No. 2 in the ICC all-rounder‘s' rankings for Tests, ODIs 11. Karnataka crowned Vijay Hazare Trophy and T20Is respectively. 2019-20 champions Karnataka was crowned the 2019-20 Vijay Hazare Champions as they beat Tamil Nadu by nine wickets in the Vijay Hazare Trophy at Bengaluru. Abhimanyu Mithun and Mayank Agarwal put on a masterclass performance as Karnataka won their fourth Vijay Hazare Trophy title with a dominant display against Tamil Nadu via VJD method. As per VJD method, Karnataka should have been 86/1 in 23 overs. Karnataka were well
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