Monthly Current AffairsTitle Capsule & Quiz

OctoberTitle 2019

and a host of other weaponry to showcase its military might.  On 1st October 1949, Mao Zedong announced the formation of the PRC, after communist forces won a bloody civil war. International Day of the Older Persons: 01 Palestine issues a commemorative stamp to October honour Mahatma Gandhi on 150th birth anniversary

The International Day of Older Persons is observed on October 1 every year. Palestine has released a commemorative postage  The day is observed to raise problems faced by the elder persons and to promote the stamp on Mahatma Gandhi, honouring his legacy and values, to mark the 150 birth anniversary of the world development of a society for all ages. leader.  2019 Theme: ‘The Journey to Age Equality’.

China celebrates 70 years of communism with a  Palestinian Authority's Minister of Telecommunication and Information massive military parade Technology Ishaaq Seder released the stamp in Ramallah.  Palestine's issuance of the commemorative stamp comes in honour of Gandhi's memory, legacy, and values that guided and shall continue to guide humanity.

World Teacher’s Day: 05 October

China celebrated its 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with a massive military parade on 1 October.

 It is China’s most important and high-profile event of the year.  The main event of the celebrations of the day was the largest parade held by the Chinese World Teachers' Day, also known as International military involving 15,000 troops and a Teachers Day, is an international day held annually display of the nation's latest nuclear and on October 5. hypersonic missiles, besides stealth aircraft

 It is observed to commemorate the adoption  It is the anniversary of the establishment of of the 1996 ILO/ UNESCO recommendation the Universal Postal Union in 1874 in the concerning the status of teachers, their rights Swiss Capital, Bern. and responsibilities.  It was declared World Post Day by the UPU  This year's theme for the teachers' day is Congress held in Tokyo, Japan in 1969. "Young Teachers: The Future of the  Posts in many countries use the event to Profession". introduce or promote new postal products and services. Festival of Fulpati being celebrated in Nepal World Mental Health Day: 10 October

In Nepal, the festival of Fulpati is being celebrated with gaiety and religious fervour. World Mental Health Day is observed on 10 October  Fulpati is observed on the seventh day of every year. Dashain festival.  In Nepali, "Ful" means flower and "Pati"  The day is observed every year to global means leaves and plants. mental health education, awareness and  There is a tradition in Nepal to bring nine advocacy against social stigma. types of Fulpati into homes on the seventh  It was first celebrated in 1992 at the initiative day of Navaratri. of the World Federation for Mental Health, a  It is believed that Fulpati represents nine global mental health organization with Goddess and they brings health, wealth and members and contacts in more than 150 prosperity to the homes. countries.  Dashain is the biggest festival in Nepal.  Theme: “suicide prevention”

World Post Day: 09 October International Day of The Girl Child: 11 October

International Day of the Girl Child is an important observance held every year on October 11. World Post Day is celebrated every year on 9 October.

 There are several other names of the day, such as Day of Girls, World Girl Child Day, International Girl Child Day and International Day of The Girl.  The aim behind this international observance declared by the United Nations (UN) and first celebrated in 2012 is to raise girls' issues worldwide.  The observation supports more opportunities World Arthritis Day is observed every year on 12 for girls and increases awareness of gender October. inequality faced by girls worldwide based upon their gender.  The day is meant to raise awareness about  Theme : GirlForce: Unscripted and arthritis, a condition that is characterised by unstoppable inflammation in bones and joints.  World Arthritis Day is meant to educate Singapore will become the first country to ban ads people about problems faced by people with for sugary drinks arthritis, how the condition affects their day- to-day lives and what can be done for treatment and prevention of arthritis.

World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD): 12 October

Singapore will become the first country in the world to ban advertisements for the most unhealthy sugary drinks. World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is an annual  The health ministry called the ban as its latest awareness day observed every year on 12 October. move to combat rising diabetes rates.  Products deemed "less healthy" must now  The aim of this day is to highlight the need display labels grading their nutritional and for the conservation of migratory birds and sugar content. their habitats.  Those considered to be most unhealthy will  It has a global outreach and is an effective be banned from appearing in ads across all tool to help raise global awareness of the media platforms, including broadcast, print threats faced by migratory birds, their and online channels. ecological importance, and the need for international cooperation to conserve them. World Arthritis Day: 12 October  Theme: ‘Protect Birds: Be the Solution to Plastic Pollution’

Dubai prepares to host 2019 First Global DXB Challenge

their exposure to disasters and raising awareness about the importance of reining in the risks that they face.  2019 Theme: Reduce disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services

World Standards Day: 14 October Dubai prepares to host the 2019 First Global DXB Challenge, a large gathering for creative young minds in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence.

 The event will bring together more than 1,500 youth from over 191 countries to collaborate, create and compete for a better future. World Standards Day (or International Standards  The First Global Challenge seeks to Day) is celebrated internationally each year on 14 encourage and empower youth with a passion October. for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, develop their skills and equip  The aim of World Standards Day is to raise them with the tools necessary to contribute to awareness among regulators, industry and shaping the future. consumers as to the importance of  The Challenge aims to address the world’s standardization to the global economy. most critical environmental issues such as  Around the globe, it is celebrated by the wastage of water and energy, sustainability members of IEC (the International Electro- and pollution through global robotics technical Commission), ISO (The competition. International Organization for Standardization) and ITU (The International International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction: 13 Telecommunication Union). October  2019 theme: Video standards create a global stage

International Day of Rural Women: 15 October

The International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction is observed on 13 October every year.

 The aim of this day is to promote a global culture of risk-awareness and disaster International Day of Rural Women is celebrated reduction. every year on 15 October.  The day celebrates how people and communities around the world are reducing

 The day recognizes rural women’s  Notably, in 2010, the United Nations importance in enhancing agricultural and declared October 15 to be World Students' rural development worldwide. Day.  The first International Day of Rural Women  Mr Kalam died of a cardiac arrest while was observed on 15 October 2008. delivering a lecture to the students of IIM  2019 Theme: Rural Women and Girls Shillong on July 27, 2015. Building Climate Resilience World Food Day: 16 October Bangladesh becomes 2nd fastest growing economy in South Asia

World Food Day is celebrated every year around the Bangladesh has become the second-fastest growing world on 16 October in honour of the date of the economy in South Asia after Bhutan. founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945.  World Bank in its report 'South Asia Economic Focus, Making (De)  The day raises awareness and action on Centralization Work' says that GDP growth hunger to ensure food security and nutritious rate of the country is projected to moderate to diet for all. 7.2 per cent this fiscal year and 7.3 per cent  2019 theme: ‘Our Actions Are Our Future in 2020 in Bangladesh. Healthy Diets for A #ZeroHunger World’  In Bhutan, GDP growth is expected to jump to 7.4 per cent this fiscal year. Kais Saied wins Tunisia presidency election  Growth in South Asia is projected to fall to 5.9 per cent in 2019.

World Students' Day 2019: 15 October

Tunisia's election commission said a preliminary count shows conservative law professor Kais Saied has won the country's presidential election by a World Students' Day is celebrated every year on significant margin. October 15 on former president APJ Abdul Kalam's birthday.  The commission reported that Saied received 72.71% of the vote.  The day is commemorated on his birth  His opponent, media mogul Nabil Karoui, got anniversary because Dr Kalam was a 27.29%. dedicated teacher.

 The 61-year-old Saied is an independent  Devotees of Lalon from across the country outsider but has support from moderate party and the world have congregated at the shrine Ennahdha, which won Tunisia's to participate in the three-day-long parliamentary election last week. programme which is being organised by the Lalon academy and the culture ministry of Points to Remember Bangladesh.  Lalon is believed to be born in 1774 though  Capital: Tunis no written records exist.  Currency: Tunisian dinar  It is said that Lalon was born Hindu but he was raised by a Muslim family after he was International Poverty Eradication Day: 17 abandoned by his own family when he got October infected with smallpox and thrown into a river.  Lalon was a prominent Bengali philosopher, Baul saint, mystic, songwriter, social reformer and thinker from the Indian subcontinent.

UAE announces the establishment of 1st graduate-level, research-based AI university in the world The United Nations' International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is observed on October 17 each year since 1993.

 It aims to promote awareness about the need to eradicate poverty and destitution worldwide, particularly in developing countries.  2019 theme: ‘Acting together to empower children, their families and communities to end poverty’. UAE announced the establishment of Mohamed bin Death Anniversary of Lalon Shah observed in Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence Bangladesh (MBZUAI), the first graduate-level, research-based AI university in the world.

 MBZUAI will enable graduate students, businesses and governments to advance the artificial intelligence field.  The University is named after Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.  MBZUAI will introduce a new model of academia and research to the field of AI, The 129th death anniversary of the mystic Fakir providing students and faculty access to some Lalon Shah is being observed in Bangladesh. of the world’s most advanced AI systems to

unleash its potential for economic and  A proposal in this regard was given to societal development. Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock by Union Home Minister Amit Shah when the China signs deal to lease ‘Tulagi’ island two met in New Delhi during Mr Stock's official visit in August.  The 91st Interpol General Assembly in India in the year 2022 will be held as part of celebrations of the 75th anniversary of Indian Independence.  The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) had hosted the General assembly, where representatives of all member countries converge, in India in 1997.  Based in Lyon, France, Interpol is an international police cooperation organisation A Chinese company signed an agreement to lease an with 194 member states and 100 years of entire island in the Solomon Islands. experience of international cooperation in policing.  Tulagi, an island about two square kilometres (0.8 square miles) with a population of 1,200. World Statistics Day:20 October  It is the site of a former Japanese naval base and was the scene of fierce fighting in World War II.  The agreement with China Sam mentions developing a refinery on the island, but its potential for dual use as a Chinese military base is certain to raise concerns with the United States and Australia.

Interpol to hold the general assembly in India in 2022

World Statistics Day was celebrated for the first time on 20 October 2010 worldwide.

 World Statistics Day is celebrated every five years.  2019 Theme: Better Data, Better Lives  India celebrates its statistics day on 29 June, the birthday of the legendary statistician India will host the 91st Interpol General Assembly in Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis. 2022 after a proposal received the overwhelming support of member countries at this year's Sri Lanka removed from FATF's Grey List congregation at Santiago in Chile.

 The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 developing world states that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc.

World’s oldest known natural pearl discovered on Abu Dhabi Island

Sri Lanka has been removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) list of countries at risk for money laundering.

 FATF in Paris informed the removal of Sri Lanka's name from the blacklist commending the new measures taken by the country on financial security.  Sri Lanka was first included in the blacklist in 2011.  By 2012, Sri Lanka was listed in the list as a The oldest known natural pearl in the world has been dangerous country with no commitment to discovered by Abu Dhabi archaeologists working at the financial security plan. a Neolithic site on Marawah Island.

18th NAM Summit: Baku, Azerbaijan  Dubbed the ‘Abu Dhabi Pearl’, it was found in layers that have been radiocarbon dated to 5,800-5,600 BCE, during the Neolithic period.  The Emirates News Agency said that the discovery is a proof that pearls and oysters were being used in the UAE nearly 8,000 years ago, and represents the earliest known evidence for pearling yet discovered anywhere in the world.  Prior to the Abu Dhabi Pearl discovery, the earliest known pearl in the UAE came from a 18th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is scheduled to Neolithic site in Umm Al Qaiwain. take place at Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan from 25-26 October 2019. Mole Day: 23 October

 The 18th NAM Summit will be preceded by the Preparatory Ministerial Meeting on 23-24 October and Senior Officials Meeting on 21- 22 October 2019.  The Summit will consider the report of Preparatory Ministerial Meeting, review the progress achieved in the implementation of outcomes of 17th Summit held in 2016 and conclude with the adoption of the Baku Declaration.

Mole Day is celebrated among chemists, chemistry  polio-free certification along with the entire students, chemistry enthusiasts and Design & South-East Asia Region of WHO on 27th Technology teachers and students on October 23, March It was initiated by Rotary International between 6:02 a.m. and 6:02 p.m. over a decade ago to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk, who developed a vaccine  It marks the date 6:02 10/23 in the American against poliomyelitis. style of writing dates.  India received 2014 by WHO.  The time and date are derived from the  January 2017 marks six years since the last Avogadro number, which is approximately case of polio was reported in India. 6.02×1023, defining the number of particles (atoms or molecules) in one mole (mol) of World Day for Audiovisual Heritage: 27 October substance, one of the seven base SI units.

Japanese Emperor Naruhito formally proclaims ascension to the throne

The World Day for Audiovisual Heritage takes place every 27 October.

 This commemorative day was chosen by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, In Japan, Emperor Naruhito has formally proclaimed Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 2005 his ascension to the throne as the 126th emperor in to raise awareness of the significance and an elaborate ceremony. preservation risks of recorded sound and audiovisual documents.  The emperor officially began his reign in  The theme for World Day for Audiovisual May after the abdication of his father, the Heritage 2019 is “Engage the Past Through then-Emperor Akihito. Sound and Images”.  But, after a series of traditional rituals inside the imperial palace in Tokyo, his ascension Bangladesh to hold the world's second-largest has now been formalised. Muslim congregation 'Bishwa Ijtema' in January  The ceremony comes as Japan reels from the 2020 effects of Typhoon Hagibis, which left almost 80 people dead.  A celebration parade was postponed out of respect for the victims and their families.

World Polio Day: 24 October

World Polio Day is celebrated on 24 October annually to raise awareness about the polio disease and efforts for eradication. Bangladesh will hold the first phase of Bishwa Ijtema, the second largest congregation of Muslim

community after Hajj, from January 10 to 12, 2020 connectivity, technology, energy, regional in Dhaka. security, extremism and sustainable development among others.  The second phase of the Ijtema will be held  The dialogue aims to draw from learning and from January 17 to 19. experiences in these sectors between India  Bishwa Ijtema is an annual event which is and Bangladesh. held in a 160-acre field on the bank of the Turag River at Tongi on the outskirts of World’s first blockchain-based carbon trading Dhaka since 1967. exchange in Singapore  Bishwa Ijtema means world congregation and it draws in Muslims from about 150 countries.

World Stroke Day: 29 October

Singapore-based AirCarbon Pte launched the worlds’ first blockchain-based carbon trading exchange.

 This will allow airlines and other corporate World Stroke Day is observed on October 29 to buyers to buy as well sell tokens backed by underscore the serious nature and high rates of carbon offset credits approved by the stroke, raise awareness of the prevention and International Civil Aviation Organisation. treatment of the condition, and ensure better care and  The company is applying to the Monetary support for survivors. Authority of Singapore for a recognized market operator license and targets for the  Since June 2019, World Stroke Organisation exchange to be fully operational in 2020. (WSO) has started a campaign to raise  The AirCarbon Exchange will finance the awareness about the risk of stroke to each and registration costs of some carbon-mitigation every individual worldwide. projects at no charge to developers to help  For this, supporting members, partners and generate credits to trade. communities aim to arm people with information and the tools to protect them from strokes.

'Bangladesh-India Friendship Dialogue' at Cox's Bazar PIO cards to continue as valid travel document till The ninth edition of Bangladesh-India Friendship March 2020 Dialogue will be held at Cox Bazar in Bangladesh from November 1.

 The two-day dialogue will cover a wide range of issues like trade and investment,

 Exhibitors can avail early bird discounts by booking space on the website before the 31st of next month.

Kerala leads the School Education Quality Index

Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) cards along with valid foreign passport will be considered for exit/entry into India till 31st of March 2020.

 Government of India advisory has said that the Bureau of Immigration (BoI) will now accept PIO cards as valid travel document till 31st of March next year along with valid foreign passport The School Education Quality Index, SEQI prepared  The Indian Immigration Check Post(s) will by NITI Aayog was launched by NITI Aayog Vice continue to consider all PIO cards valid for Chairman and CEO in New Delhi. exit/entry into India till 31st of March next year.  Kerala has bagged the number one rank  Earlier, all PIO cardholders were advised to followed by Rajasthan in overall convert their cards to Overseas Citizenship of performance. India (OCI) cards by 30th of September this  In incremental performance ranking, year. Haryana is number one followed by Assam and Uttar Pradesh. Rajnath Singh launches the website of DefEXpo  In small states category, Manipur has claimed the top spot followed by Tripura and Goa in overall performance.

Planet named after Pandit Jasraj

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched the website of 11th edition of DefEXpo, to be held in Lucknow from 5th to 8th February 2020. Pandit Jasraj has been bestowed with a surreal, rare and a universal honour from International  The website, www.defexpo.gov.in provides Astronomical Union (IAU). online services to exhibitors, besides hosting informative content about the product profile  Minor Planet 2006 VP32 discovered on of Defence Public Sector Undertakings and November 11, 2006, has been named as Ordnance Factories. 'Panditjasraj'.

 The planet, Panditjasraj is in our Solar System and is situated between Mars and Jupiter.  This is a proud moment for India as Pandit Jasraj, with this honour, is the 1st Indian Musician, to join the galaxy of immortal composers such as Mozart, Beethoven and Tenor Luciano Pavarotti.  Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj is an exponent of Indian classical vocal music. India celebrates 150th Birth Anniversary of the  Jasraj is the recipient of numerous awards, Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi. honours, and titles, including the prestigious Padma Vibhushan and the Sangeet Natak  A series of activities are being organized Akademi Award. across the country and by the Indian Missions abroad. Lal Bahadur Shastri Jayanti: 02 October  Prime Minister Narendra Modi leads the nation in the remembrance of Bapu at Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad.

Smriti Irani inaugurates world's largest Charkha in Noida

Lal Bahadur Shastri, India's second Prime Minister's birth anniversary is celebrated on October 2, coinciding with Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary.

 Lal Bahadur Shastri dedicated his entire life towards the welfare of the poor. World's largest Charkha (spinning wheel) made of  Impressed with Mahatma Gandhi's ideals, he used plastic waste was inaugurated in Noida on the became a loyal follower and joined the Indian eve of Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary. independence movement in the 1920s.  A strong Congressman, Lal Bahadur Shastri  The 1,650-kg spinning wheel was held various portfolios and became India's inaugurated by Union Minister Smriti Irani, first Railway Minister in 1951. Gautam Buddh Nagar MP Mahesh Sharma, Noida MLA Pankaj Singh and Noida India celebrates 150th Birth Anniversary of Authority CEO Ritu Maheshwari. Mahatma Gandhi  The spinning wheel has been installed in Sector 94 near the Mahamaya flyover.  The 'charkha', which symbolises Gandhi's dream of Swadeshi (self-sufficing and self- reliance), measures 14ft, 20ft and 8ft and is made of 1,250 kg of used plastic.

Shri Ram Vilas Paswan launches ‘Consumer IRCTC to compensate Lucknow-Delhi Tejas App’ Express passengers for the delay

IRCTC will compensate passengers of the new Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Lucknow-Delhi Tejas Express in case of delay in the Public Distribution Shri Ram Vilas Paswan launched train schedule. the ‘Consumer App’ in Krishi Bhawan.  An amount of 100 rupees will be paid in case  The app aims to provide a one-stop solution the delay is for over an hour and 250 rupees for consumer grievance redressal at the palm for delay of over two hours. of every consumer across the nation via  This is the first of its kind offer from any mobile phones. national carrier.  Shri Paswan said that complaint status will be  It is in addition to the 25-lakh rupees free monitored on a daily basis by the ministry insurance that will be given to passengers of and on a weekly basis by him personally. the train.

SBI becomes the first Indian bank to have an Home Minister Amit Shah flag off Delhi-Katra office in Australia Vande Bharat Express

The State Bank of India opened its Melbourne office, becoming the first Indian bank to have a branch in Home Minister Amit Shah flagged off the Vande the Australian state of Victoria. Bharat Express at New Delhi Railway Station.

 The Melbourne office will assist the growing  The first commercial run of the Delhi-Katra trade and investment relations between Vande Bharat Express will be on 5 October Victoria and India and is the outcome of the and booking of tickets is now open on the state's 10-year India Strategy - our shared IRCTC website. future.  The train will bring down the travel time  The two-way merchandise trade between between Delhi and Katra, the last station on Victoria and India was to the tune of 1.76 the way to Vaishno Devi temple, to eight billion Australian dollars in 2018. hours from the current 12 hours.

 The first Vande Bharat Express was flagged  This target was set to replace 1.34 crore off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi which conventional street lights with energy- runs between Delhi and Varanasi. efficient LED lights by March 2019.

A 36-hour non-stop special session of UP Assam’s Bongaigaon District Admin launches Legislature begins ‘Plants for Plastic Campaign’

In Uttar Pradesh, 36-hour non-stop special session of In Assam, the Bongaigaon District Administration state Legislature began on 2 October at 11 AM. has launched Plants for Plastic Campaign to remove the harmful plastics from the eco-system.  This special session is being organised to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma  The campaign aims to encourage people to Gandhi. collect and remove plastic from their houses,  Both the houses are under discussions on commercial establishments and educational sustainable development goals -SDGs institutions. adopted by the United Nations.  Assam Forest Minister Parimal Suklabaidya has welcomed the initiative. India achieves one-crore LED street light mark  Under the Plants for Plastic initiative, any person can deposit one-kilogram plastic in the municipality office at Bongaigaon and get a valuable sapling for free.

Rajasthan bans certain categories of pan masala

The number of LED street lights in the country has doubled from 49 lakh in March 2018 to 1 crore on October 1, 2019.

 These lights are being installed under the

Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP) that was launched on January 5, 2015. The Rajasthan government announced a ban on pan  The objective of this program is to replace all masala containing magnesium carbonate, nicotine, conventional street lights with smart and tobacco, mineral oil and flavoured 'supari' in the energy-efficient LED street lights by March state. 2019.

 With this, Rajasthan has become the third  The Indian Army and the Maldives National state after Maharashtra and Bihar to Defence Forces have been conducting announce such a move. Exercise Ekuverin meaning ‘Friends’ in the  All such products will now be banned in the Dhivehi language since 2009. state under the Food Safety Act.  The 14 days Joint Exercise held alternatively  Production, storage, distribution and sale of in India and Maldives. these products will not be allowed in the  The last exercise was held in 2018 at state. Northern Area Headquarters, Lh Maafilaafushi of Maldives. ISRO to celebrate 'World Space Week' Indo-Mongolian Joint Exercise Nomadic Elephant 2019

As a part of World Space Week program, Indian 14th edition of Indo-Mongolian joint military Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has joined training, Exercise Nomadic Elephant-XIV, being hands with seven academic institutions across conducted over a period of 14 days, will commence Karnataka to spread information and knowledge from 05 Oct 2019. about the benefits of space science and technologies to the student community.  The exercise will be conducted from 05 Oct 19 to 18 Oct 19 at Bakloh in Himachal  The programme will start on October 4 and Pradesh. will continue till October 10.  The Mongolian Army is being represented by  The one day program consists of various officers and troops of the elite 084 Air Borne competitions for students, an exhibition of Special Task Battalion while Indian Army is satellite models, posters, videos and talks being represented by a contingent of a depicting the past, present, and future of battalion of Rajputana Rifles. Indian space program.  The Joint Exercise will enhance defence co-  Over the years, World Space Week has operation and military relations between the emerged as the largest space event with two nations. thousands of programs being organised all  It is an ideal platform for the armies of both over the world. nations to share their experiences & best practices and gain mutually during the joint Indo Maldives joint Exercise ‘Ekuverin - 19’ training.

The tenth edition of the Joint Military Exercise INS Tarkash at St Denis, Reunion Islands, France ‘Ekuverin’ between the Indian Army and the Maldives National Defence Force will be organised from 07 to 20 October 2019 at Aundh Military Station in Pune, Maharashtra.

 The partnership with Biz2Credit will start from the US market and will aid its efforts to provide hotel owners with fast financing efficiently for a wide range of purposes, including renovation, redesign, infrastructure upgrade and investment in technology for improved revenue management and operations.  OYO, as the world's third-largest hotel chain, As part of Indian Navy's Overseas Deployment to is using technology, business expertise and Africa, Europe and Russia, Indian Naval Ship talent to create beautifully designed and Tarkash arrived at St Denis, Reunion Island, France comfortable living spaces. on 03 Oct 19 for a three-day visit. Rajnath Singh to fly Rafale sortie on October 8  INS Tarkash, commanded by Captain Sathish Vasudev, is a potent frontline frigate of the Indian Navy equipped with a versatile range of weapons and sensors.  The ship is part of the Indian Navy's Western Fleet and under the Operational Command of Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, based at Mumbai.  France and India have traditionally enjoyed warm and friendly bilateral relations, sharing common values of democracy, development Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will fly a sortie in a and secularism which was upgraded to the Rafale fighter jet on October 8 from a French airbase level of a 'Strategic Partnership' in 1998. in Paris.  The Navies of both nations have recently engaged in one of the most complex and  Singh is scheduled to travel to Paris on major Maritime Exercise 'VARUNA 2019' in October 7 on a three-day visit, primarily to the Indian Ocean. receive the first of 36 Rafale fighter jets.  The ceremony to hand over the first Rafale jet OYO announces a partnership with Biz2Credit will take place on October 8, the foundation day of the Indian Air Force.  India had signed an inter-governmental agreement with France in September 2016 for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around Rs 58,000 crore.

Ministry of Tourism launches Audio Guide facility App ‘Audio Odigos’ for 12 sites of India

OYO, the world's third-largest and fastest-growing On the second day of nationwide ‘Paryatan Parv chain of hotels, homes, and spaces, has partnered 2019’ Shri Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary, Ministry of with Biz2Credit. Tourism launched the Audio Guide facility Audio Odigos for 12 sites of India (including Iconic Sites).  Biz2Credit will provide working capital and commercial real estate loans to existing and potential hotel partners.

 Audio guide Odigo offers Government of India verified content, with visuals & voice over support.  With Audio Odigos, tourists will now enjoy a more enriching experience and take back historical insights of the Indian culture and heritage.  The Audio Odigos app contains an inbuilt map of the site for smooth navigation during the tour.  Listeners will be offered various versions of history like Synopsis, detailed history and Country's largest PSU oil refiner and retailer Indian odcasts. Oil Corporation has taken up various initiatives to support the government's drive to eliminate single- Aditya files nomination papers, first Thakarey to use plastic by converting these toxic wastes to enter the poll fray productive use.

 These initiatives were launched to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatama Gandhi and as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.  The company will use its refinery operations to convert the single-use plastic waste into a specialised bitumen that can be used for the construction of roads and highways.  A pilot project has been done at Faridabad via Aditya Thackeray files nomination from Worli the creation of a ‘Single Use Waste Plastic’ constituency in Mumbai for the forthcoming based bituminous road. Maharashtra Assembly polls.  The company will commercially supply the specialised bitumen for use in road  He becomes the first member of Thakarey construction going ahead. family to join the electoral fray.  Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thakarey filed his The Indo-Kazakhstan military exercise begins in nomination papers from the Worli seat for the Uttarakhand upcoming Assembly elections in Maharashtra.  Aditya is the first in his family to contest elections since his grandfather Bal Thackeray founded the party.  The Worli seat is considered a safe seat for the Shiv Sena.  In the 2014 Assembly polls, the Sena won 63 out of the total 288 seats, second only to BJP's 122. The fourth edition of annual military exercise Indian Oil launches drive to turn plastic waste KAZIND-2019 between India and Kazakhstan army into bitumen commenced at Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand.

 The aim of the exercise is joint training of  Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr troops in counter-insurgency and counter- Harsh Vardhan displayed some of the popular terrorism operations in both jungle and products like flower pots, pencils, chakkar mountainous terrain. and sparklers, developed by CSIR.  Exercise KAZIND-2019 can be termed as a  He announced that the products developed by facade of long-standing strategic ties between CSIR are available in the market for India and Kazakhstan. consumers and for the sellers.  As part of the exercise, important lectures,  New formulations for reduced emission light demonstrations and drills related to counter- and sound emitting crackers with a 30 per insurgency and counter-terrorism operations cent reduction in particulate matter using will be conducted. Potassium Nitrate as an oxidant.

Uttarakhand CM launches ‘Urjagiri’ awareness Rajnath Singh approves a four-fold increase in campaign to stop power theft funds to families of battle casualties

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has given in- Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat principle approval to the enhancement of monetary launched an awareness campaign ‘Urjagiri’, which assistance to Next of Kin of all categories of Battle aims at stopping power theft and saving. Casualty from two lakh rupees to eight lakh rupees.

 The Chief Minister emphasised on the need  This is a four-time increase in monetary to speed up the process for wider awareness assistance for Battle Casualties. to avoid power loss in Uttarakhand.  The amount will be granted under the Army  The officers of power departments should Battle Casualties Welfare Fund. ensure that no power theft occurs so that  This fund is in addition to the various existing honest customers do not have to bear the schemes for the welfare of Next of Kin and brunt of power theft. children of battle casualties in the form of  He also instructed the officers of UPCL additional ex gratia. Vigilance Cell to effectively stop the power theft. 1. Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated National e- Assessment Centre (NeAC) in New Delhi CSIR comes up with improved formulations for green crackers Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated National e-Assessment Centre (NeAC) in New Delhi. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has come up with new and improved  The setting up of NeAC of the Income Tax formulations in the manufacture of sound-emitting Department is a momentous step towards larger crackers and other fireworks keeping in view the objectives of better taxpayer service, reduction of pollution hazard and health risks. grievances in line with the Prime Minister’s

vision of Digital India and promotion of ease of  Tamil Nadu, with 40,056 cases, tops the state doing business. where the most cancer patients availed treatment  The Income Tax Department is ushering in a under PMJAY, followed by Kerala (22,000), paradigm shift in its working by introducing Madhya Pradesh (19,455), Chhattisgarh (15,997) faceless e-assessment to impart greater and Gujarat (14,380). efficiency, transparency and accountability in the assessment process. 4. India’s first e-waste clinic to be set up in Bhopal  This is another initiative by CBDT in the field of ease of compliance for the taxpayers.

2. 50th IFFI 2019 to be held in Goa from November 20-28

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

 The clinic would enable segregation, processing The 50th International Film Festival of India, IFFI 2019, and disposal of waste from both household and will be held from November 20-28 in Goa. commercial units.  Electronic waste will be collected door-to-door or  Over 200 best films from 76 countries, 26 feature could be deposited directly at the clinic in films and 15 non-feature films in the Indian exchange for a fee. Panorama section will be screened at the film festival. 5. Mukhyamantri Suposhan Yojana launched in  Around 10 thousand people and film lovers are Chhattisgarh expected to participate in the Golden Jubilee edition of the festival.  IFFI is celebrating its Golden Jubilee edition, 12 prominent films in different languages that have completed 50 years this year, will also be showcased.

3. PMJAY first year, 90,000 cancer claims, Tamil Nadu tops the list

In its first year, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), the tertiary care arm of Ayushman Bharat, has funded the treatment of 90,000 cancer patients through 1.8 lakh hospital admissions. On the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel launched  This is according to data available with the Union 'Mukhyamantri Suposhan Yojana' to eradicate Health Ministry, which also show that every year malnutrition among children and women. there are 11.57 lakh new cancer patients in India and 7.84 lakh cancer deaths.  He called for community participation for the  At any given point, there are 22.5 lakh Indians scheme to be a success. living with cancer.

 Baghel made a voluntary contribution of Rs The Air Force Day is celebrated every year on 21000 for the scheme. October 8, the day Indian Air Force was officially  The target of the scheme is to make Chhattisgarh established in 1932. malnutrition-free in three years.  This year, the IAF Day is special as the first WTO hosts first World Cotton Day celebrations of 36 long-awaited Rafale fighter jets will be in Geneva received by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in France.  The Indian Air Force will also be showcasing its Chinook and Apache helicopters for the first time.  Both these helicopters were acquired from the United States and inducted within in the last few months.

Vice President to embark on a two-nation tour to Africa The first-ever World Cotton Day (WCD) was hosted by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva on October 7, 2019.

 This event stems from the application by the Cotton-4 countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali) to the United Nations General Assembly for its official recognition of a World Cotton Day, reflecting the importance of cotton as a global commodity.  Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani Continuing India’s engagement with Africa, the Vice representing India in the five-day event of President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu will World Cotton Day being observed at Geneva. embark on a tour to Comoros and Sierra Leone on  As one of the world’s largest producers and October 10. consumers of cotton, India supports the World Cotton Day as an opportunity to  This will be the first-ever visit by such a high- recognise the significance of cotton as a level Indian dignitary to Comoros, an global commodity. archipelago situated off the Southeast coast of Africa and to Sierra Leone. 87th Air Force Day: 08 October 2019  The present visit is the second one by the Vice President of India to Africa.  Earlier in November 2018, Shri Naidu had visited Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Malawi as part of strengthening bilateral ties with those countries.

Points to remember

 Comoros Capital: Moroni  Sierra Leone Capital: Freetown

India to shift to BS-VI vehicular emission norms  Google will also support NHA in improving by April 2020 PM-JAY's digital presence and showcasing relevant content to the 50 crore entitled beneficiaries.

Jal Shakti Minister Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat launches Ganga Aamantran

The Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar Minister informed that the country will shift to BS-VI vehicular emission norms from BS-IV by April 2020.

 Bharat Stage Six (BS-VI), is a revolutionary The ‘Ganga Aamantran Abhiyan’ is a pioneering and step in the transformation of fuels. historic exploratory open-water rafting and kayaking  He added that there has been an 80% expedition on the Ganga River to be held between reduction in Particulate Matter emissions and 10th October 2019 to 11 November 2019. a 30% reduction in Nitrogen Oxides emissions in BS-IV heavy-duty diesel  Starting at Devprayag and culminating at vehicles compared with BS III norms. Ganga Sagar, the expedition will cover the  Nearly ₹60,000 Cr were spent on switching entire stretch of over 2500 km of the Ganga over to BS-VI fuels. River.  The expedition will draw attention to the National Health Authority and Google tie-up for ecological challenges being faced by Ganga. Ayushman Bharat implementation  The expedition will encompass the five Ganga basin states including Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal with stops at Rishikesh, Haridwar, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Sonepur and Kolkata.

Dr Harsh Vardhan launches eDantseva website and mobile application

The National Health Authority (NHA) has joined hands with Google to collaborate and strengthen the implementation of the government's flagship health scheme, Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY).

 The two organizations will be working closely to explore various use cases for increasing process efficiencies in day-to-day applications.

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare launched the ‘eDantseva’ website and mobile application, the first-ever national digital platform on oral health information and knowledge dissemination.

 This marks an important milestone as e- DantSeva will reach out to more than one billion people with one click in the form of a Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on the dedicated website and mobile application. occasion of Mahanavmi introduced the ‘Mukhya  The Union Health Minister also released the Mantri Kanya Sumangala Yojana’. Braille booklet and Voice over on Oral Health Education.  This program aims at empowering the girl  e-DantSeva contains information about the child for which an amount of 15 thousand National Oral Health Program. rupees will be provided to every family in which a girl child takes birth. India gets the first tranche of Swiss bank account  This amount shall be sufficient to adequately details facilitate the girl child.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2019: October

India has received the first tranche of details about financial accounts of its residents in Swiss banks under a new automatic exchange of information framework between the two countries. October is observed as Brest Cancer Awareness Month worldwide.  It marks a significant milestone in the fight against black money suspected to be stashed  This month creates awareness about the abroad. importance of early detection and treatment  India figures among 75 countries with which of breast cancer. Switzerland's FTA has exchanged  According to the World Health Organisation information on financial accounts within the (WHO) breast cancer is by far the most framework of global standards on AEOI. common cancer in women worldwide, both  This is the first time that India has received in developed and developing countries. details from Switzerland under the AEOI framework. 20 new moons discovered around Saturn

UP CM Yogi Adityanath introduces Mukhya Mantri Kanya Sumangala Yojana

 RB stands for the newly appointed IAF chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhaduria, in recognition of his role in striking the Rafale deal in 2016.

3-day India International Cooperative Trade Fair to be held in New Delhi from Oct 11

Astronomers have announced that they have discovered 20 more moons around Saturn, bringing its total number to 82.

 Now it has the most number of moons around any planet in the solar system.  Saturn’s retinue now surpasses Jupiter’s 79 known natural satellites.  Of Saturn’s 20 newfound moons, 17 are retrograde, meaning they orbit in the opposite direction that Saturn rotates. A three-day India International Cooperative Trade  Three orbits in the same direction that Saturn Fair will be held in New Delhi from 11th of this spins. month.

India gets its 1st of 36 Rafale fighter jets from  The first-ever such fair is aimed at promoting France cooperative to cooperative trade within India and abroad leading to enhanced rural and farm prosperity.  Representatives from over 150 cooperative societies and 35 countries including, Australia, Japan, China, Brazil, US, UK, Germany and Iran are going to participate in the fair.

Telangana Police ‘Hawk-Eye’ integrated with cab apps Defence Minister Rajnath Singh received the first of the 36 long-awaited Rafale fighter jets on behalf of the Indian Air Force (IAF).

 India had signed an agreement with France for the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of Rs. 59,000 crore in September 2016.  The first batch of four jets will come next May 2020.  During this, Defence Minister sat in the rear The Telangana Police have made it compulsory to cockpit while a French pilot flew the link its “Hawk-Eye” app containing an “emergency customised aircraft with tail number RB-01. button” to every company or individual offering Internet-based cab service.

 When a commuter in distress presses the  It aims to further sharpen innovative button, the message will be transmitted to imagination, skills and knowledge of the Telangana police’s Hawk-Eye app through a students who are expected to contribute to back-end operational workflow that will pass bringing solutions to socio-economic, on location and other details of the cab to the political and environmental issues in the police. country.  The late-hour working conditions in the IT and other service industries necessitated such Govt collaborates with IIM Bangalore to launch an app-based facility to ensure the security of Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship women.  The emergency button will be integrated in such a way as to alert police patrol system.

Govt launches GEMINI disaster warning device

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) announced its partnership with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) - Bangalore to launch a new programme 'Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship'.

The government launched a device that will provide  The two-year Fellowship programme will be information related to disaster warnings when delivered by IIMB’s Centre of Public Policy fishermen move away from the coast beyond 10 to (CPP). 12 kilometres.  The programme will be launched on a pilot basis in Gujarat, Karnataka, Meghalaya,  Gagan Enabled Mariner’s Instrument for Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Navigation and Information (GEMINI)  Those who have a graduate degree from a device will disseminate seamless and recognised university and are citizens of effective emergency information and India in the age group of 21-30 years will be communication on disaster warnings. eligible to apply for it.  On the occasion, PFZ forecasts were also inaugurated which will provide advisories to PM Modi’s new aircraft with missile defence fishermen three days in advance. systems will land in June 2020

Innovation learning programme DHRUV starts

The ambitious Pradhan Mantri Innovation Learning Programme, DHRUV, kick-started from ISRO in Bengaluru and will conclude on 24th of this month at IIT, Delhi.

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

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two brand-new and its six FTA partners (China, Japan, India, special aircraft that will reach India next year may be South Korea, Australia and New Zealand). placed under the Indian Air Force rather than Air India. Govt launches SUMAN initiative

 The two long-haul Boeing 777-300ER aircraft are being customised at Boeing’s Dallas facility and are expected to arrive in New Delhi on June 2020.  Missile defence systems that will make the aircraft as secure as the Boeing 747-200B used by US President Donald Trump.  It will be India’s first dedicated aircraft for the three dignitaries - the President, Vice President and Prime Minister. Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan along with several State Health Piyush Goyal to attend 9th RCEP Intersessional Ministers launched Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan, Ministerial Meeting in Thailand SUMAN, initiative in New Delhi.

 The initiative was launched during the 13th Conference of Central Council of Health and Family Welfare.  The initiative aims at ensuring dignified, respectful and quality health care at no cost and zero tolerance for denial of services for every woman and newborn visiting the public

health facility in order to end all preventable Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will attend the 9th maternal and newborn deaths. Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, RCEP Intersessional Ministerial meeting in First National Hindi Science writers conference Bangkok, Thailand. begins in Lucknow

 This will be the last Ministerial before the 3rd Leaders Summit to be held on the 4th of next month in Bangkok.  The 9th Intersessional Ministerial Meeting comes at a crucial stage where the RCEP is scheduled to be announced as concluded in November this year.  Points to Remember

 The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed free trade In Uttar Pradesh, the first 2-day long National Hindi agreement (FTA) between the ten member Science writers conference started in Lucknow. states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei, Cambodia,  The aim of this conference is to release Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the science writing from the clutches of English Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and to promote the use of Hindi and other vernacular languages.

 More than one thousand science writers from provided if half a kilogram of plastic is across the country are expected to take part in brought to the cafe. this conference.  The café has been inaugurated by Health  A dedicated website Minister of Chhattisgarh T. S. Singh Deo. WWW.VIGYANLEKHAN.COM has been  The collected garbage will be sold at Solid- prepared for this event. Liquid Resources Management Centre.  The collected plastic waste would further be 38th India Carpet Expo started in Varanasi turned into granules and will then be used in the construction of roads in the city.  Ambikapur is Chhattisgarh’s first dustbin- free city.  The city has been hailed as the second cleanest city in the country in Swachhata rankings.

NASA launches a satellite to explore where air meets space

The Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) is organizing the 38th India Carpet Expo (15th in Varanasi) from 11th- 14th October 2019 in Sampurnanand Sanskrit University Ground in Varanasi.

 The aim of this Expo is to promote the cultural heritage and weaving skills of Indian hand-made carpets and other floor coverings for the visiting overseas carpet buyers. NASA launched a satellite to explore the mysterious,  The Expo is organized twice a year in dynamic region where air meets space. Varanasi and Delhi.  India Carpet Expo is one of the largest  The satellite called ‘Icon’, short for handmade carpet fairs in Asia. Ionospheric Connection Explorer- rocketed  Indian handmade carpet industry is number into orbit following a two-year delay. one in the international handmade carpet  It was dropped from a plane flying over the market both in terms of value and volume. Atlantic off the Florida coast.  India exports 85-90% of its total carpet  A NASA satellite launched last year, Gold, is production. also studying the upper atmosphere, but from much higher up. ‘Garbage Cafe' in Chhattisgarh's Ambikapur to provide a free meal in exchange for plastic waste Mamallapuram 2nd informal summit: PM Modi welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping The first-of-its-kind 'Garbage Cafe' commenced in Ambikapur city of Chhattisgarh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, wearing the traditional Tamil attire of 'Veshti', welcomed  In this unique Cafe', poor people and rag Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mamallapuram, also pickers will get free food in exchange for one known as Mahabalipuram, for the second informal kilogram of plastic, while breakfast will be India-China Summit.

 Earlier, Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Chennai for his historic second Informal Summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  Both the leaders visited the UNESCO- Heritage listed places like Arjuna's Penance, Pancha Rathas and the Shore Temple in Tamil Nadu.

India and Comoros sign MoUs on Defence Cooperation, health, culture and arts The Army Commander’s Conference, an apex level biannual event, is held in April and October every year.

 The conference facilitates conceptual level deliberations culminating in important policy decisions.  The latest edition of the Army Commander’s Conference will be held at New Delhi from 14 to 19 October 2019.  The focus of the exhibition will be to promote indigenization through ‘Make in India’. India and Comoros signed 6 MoUs including one on defence cooperation. Mobile App, ‘mHariyali’ Launched for ‘Environment Protection in Government  Other MoUs sought to cement cooperation in Colonies’ the fields of health and medicine, arts and culture and Tele-education (e-Vidya Bharati) and telemedicine (e-Arogya Bharati).  MoUs on exemption of Visa for Diplomatic and Official Passport holders for short visits and protocol on foreign office consultations were also signed.  The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu and the President of the Union of the Comoros, Mr Azali Assoumani witnessed the signing of these MoUs. Shri Hardeep S Puri, Minister of State for Housing &  In an extraordinary gesture of friendship, the Urban Affairs launched the mobile app, ‘mHariyali’. Comorian President conferred the ‘Order of the Green Crescent’, the highest civilian  The app is aimed to encourage Public honour of the Union of the Comoros, on the engagement in planting trees and other such Vice President. Green drives.  People can now upload information/photos of Army Commander’s Conference any plantation done by them, which is linked to the app and will be displayed on the website www.epgc.gov.in.  The App provides for automatic geotagging of plants.

 This app will also enable nodal officers to periodically monitor the plantation. The App is user-friendly and works on any android mobile phone.

‘SARAS Aajeevika’ Mela underway at India Gate Lawns in New Delhi

India jumped two levels to 7th position in the Brand Finance Nation ranking of 2019.

 As per the latest report by independent brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance, India has jumped to the seventh position from 9th last year, after recording a solid 19 per cent The SARAS Aajeevika Mela, organised by the growth in brand value to USD 2.6 trillion. Ministry of Rural Development, is underway at India  The list was topped by the United States of Gate Lawns in New Delhi. America (USA) with 7.2% growth in brand value to $27,751 bn.  The event will carry on till October 23.  Claiming second position, China continues to  It was formally inaugurated by Rural grow at a very healthy rate, recording an Development Minister Narendra Singh impressive 40 per cent increase in brand Tomar. value to US$19.5 trillion.  The objective of this Mela to bring the rural women Self Help Groups formed with the Prahlad Singh Patel participates in BRICS support of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- Culture Ministers' meeting in Brazil National Rural Livelihoods Mission, under one platform to showcase their skills, sell their products and help them build linkages with bulk buyers.  Over 200 stalls have been set-up at the Mela venue, where rural SHG craftswomen from 29 States and UTs will show-case varied range of products like handicrafts, handlooms, natural food products and a food court with regional cuisines.

India jumps to 7th spot in Brand Finance Nation Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism ranking Prahlad Singh Patel participated in BRICS Culture Ministers' meeting held in Curitiba, Brazil.

 Mr Patel asserted that BRICS for India is a valuable forum for consultation, coordination and cooperation on contemporary global issues of mutual interest.

 He also proposed to add literature as another  The Indian Army and the Japanese Ground field of cooperation between the countries to Self Defence Forces (JGSDF), comprising 25 enhance cooperation in the field of literary soldiers each, will participate in the exercise. works.  The exercise is an annual training event which is being conducted in India since 2018. India extends Line of Credit worth USD 30 mn to  The scope of this exercise covers platoon- Sierra Leone for rice cultivation level joint training on counter-terrorism operations in the jungle and urban scenario.

PM Modi becomes the most followed leader on Instagram

India and Sierra Leone signed six agreements including extended a credit line of 30 million US Dollars for rice cultivation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the most- followed elected world leader on photo-sharing app Instagram.  Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio committed to further strengthening bilateral relations.  He is ahead of US President Donald Trump, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and  Mr Naidu reached Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone on the second leg of his ongoing five- former president Barack Obama. day visit to the West African countries.  With 30 million followers, PM Modi leads the list of world leaders on Instagram, with  Mr Naidu's visit marks the first high-level visit from India to the two African countries. Joko Widodo coming in a close second with 25.6 million followers on the popular app. India, Japan to hold joint military exercise  Barack Obama comes in third with 24.8 ‘Dharma-Guardian’ 2019 million followers while, Donald Trump, trails behind with 14.9 million followers.

Points to Remember

 Barack Obama is the most followed politician with 107.5 million followers on his personal Twitter.  He is followed by US President Donald Trump with 62.6 million followers on his own personal Twitter.  Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India A joint military exercise Dharma-Guardian 2019 will is the third most followed politician with 50 be conducted between India and Japan at the Counter million followers. Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School, Vairengte in Mizoram from October 19 to November 2.

10th edition of ‘Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav’  The meeting has been organised to roll out under the Ministry of Culture inaugurated in the process for having a unified electronic Jabalpur system across the country.  Under this system the same FASTag affixed on the windscreen of a vehicle can be used to pay toll across all toll plazas in the country.

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

The Governor of Madhya Pradesh Shri Lalji Tandon in the presence of Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (I/C), Shri Prahalad Singh Patel inaugurated the 10th Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh.

 Ministry of Culture, Government of India is Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh inaugurated the 41st organising the 10th edition of Rashtriya DRDO Directors Conference in New Delhi. Sanskriti Mahotsav under the Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat initiative in Madhya Pradesh  He said that DRDO has played a significant from 14th to 21st October 2019. role in ensuring the technological  The National Cultural festival will display advancement of our forces and safeguarding diverse forms of folk, art and culture of 22 our country. states.  Chiefs of the three forces & DRDO Chairman  The concept of National Cultural Festival G Satheesh Reddy were also present on the was conceived in the year 2015. occasion.  The festival is being organized in Madhya Pradesh for the second time. Indian railways start 9 Sewa Service trains to connect small towns with closest major cities Nitin Gadkari inaugurates conference on 'One Nation One Tag – FASTag' in New Delhi

The Indian railways started 9 Sewa Service trains to Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari connect small towns with their closest major cities. inaugurated a conference on 'One Nation One Tag – FASTag' in New Delhi.  It will ease the hassle of travelling for daily passengers.

 These trains will provide better rail  The Global Hunger Index measures and connectivity between smaller and satellite tracks hunger globally, by region and by towns and important cities. country.  The focus of GHI 2019 is Climate Change Air India becomes the first airline in the world to and Hunger, exploring the impact of extreme use Taxibot on A-320 aircraft weather on food production, nutrition and food security.  With a score of 30.3, India suffers from a level of hunger that is serious.  Seventeen countries, including Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey, Cuba and Kuwait, shared the top rank with GHI scores less than five.

Andhra Pradesh CM launches 'YSR Rytu Bharosa - PM KISAN' scheme

Air India has become the first airline in the world to use a Taxibot on an A-320 aircraft with passengers on board.

 Taxibot is a robot-used aircraft tractor for taxiing an aircraft from parking bay to runway and vice-versa.  Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani flagged off flight AI665 and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan it was carried to the runway using Taxibot at Reddy launched 'YSR Rytu Bharosa - PM KISAN' in Terminal 3 of the Delhi Airport. Nellore.  It will bring down the consumption of fuel by 85 per cent and reduce engine wear and tear.  Under the scheme, the state government will  The ignition will be turned on only when the give input subsidy of Rs 13,500 to farmers in aircraft reaches the runway. the state.  Out of the amount, The Centre will be India is 102 in Hunger Index of 117 nations contributing Rs 6000 under PM KISAN Yojana.  The state government will credit Rs 7500 in May, Rs 4000 in October and Rs 2000 in January.

India to gift 75,000 MT of wheat to Afghanistan

India has slipped from 95th rank in 2010 to 102nd in 2019 on the Global Hunger Index (GHI).

India will gift 75,000 metric tonnes of wheat to President Kovind to visit Philippines, Japan from Afghanistan in November as announced by Oct 17 to Oct 23 Ambassador Vinay Kumar.

 The Indian envoy made these announcements while speaking at the 37th anniversary of the Afghan Red Crescent Society's (ARCS) Special Week.  India sent its maiden cargo of wheat to Afghanistan through the Chabahar port in Iran, bypassing Pakistan, in October 2017.  The Indian government has supplied 1.1 million tonnes of wheat for the people of President Ram Nath Kovind will be on a two-nation Afghanistan on a grant basis. visit to the Philippines and Japan from October 17th to 23rd October. ‘Food Safety Mitra’ scheme launched on the World Food Day  Mr Kovind is visiting Japan to attend the enthronement ceremony of the Emperor of Japan Naruhito.  In May 2019, Naruhito became the 126th Emperor of Japan.  The President will be in the Philippines from October 17th to 21st and in Japan from October 21st to 23rd.

Points to remember

On the occasion of World Food Day, Union Minister  Philippines Capital: Manila for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan  Japan Capital: Tokyo launched Food Safety Mitra Scheme, Eat Right Jacket and Eat Right Jhola. India ranks 82nd on the World Giving Index

 Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has introduced the scheme of Food Safety Mitra (FSM) through which it plans to engage motivated individuals with the food safety ecosystem at ground level.  An FSM is an individual professional certified by FSSAI who assists in compliances related to FSS Act, Rules & Regulations with three avatars- Digital Mitra, Trainer Mitra and Hygiene Mitra depending India ranked 82 spots among the 128 countries upon their respective roles and surveyed in the World Giving Index (WGI). responsibilities.  During the event, the Minister also launched  It is an aggregate of trends for each country Eat Right Jhola which is a reusable, washable that emerged in surveys conducted by CAF and bio-degradable bag. over the past decade (2009 to 2018).

 According to the WGI, the USA stood at the  The 9.2-kilometre-long tunnel was top followed Myanmar, New Zealand and inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Australia. Modi in 2017.  The average figures for India over the past  The bi-directional tunnel reduces the decade show that 34 per cent people helped a distances between Jammu and Srinagar by 30 stranger, 24 per cent donated money and 19 km. It is also known as the Patnitop tunnel. per cent volunteered or donated their time.  Mukherjee died in the police custody on June 23, 1953, after he was arrested by the Jammu Textiles Secretary Inaugurates Indian and Kashmir police for entering the erstwhile Handicrafts and Gifts Fair (IHGF)- Delhi Fair state without a permit.

Mastercard joins hands with MS Dhoni to build 'Team Cashless India'

Textiles Secretary, Ravi Capoor, inaugurated the 48th edition of the Indian Handicrafts and Gifts Fair Mastercard along with legendary cricketer Mahendra (IHGF) at the India Expo Centre & Mart at Greater Singh Dhoni launched on a nationwide initiative to Noida. accelerate the acceptance and adoption of digital payments.  Overseas buyers from 110 countries are in India to source home, lifestyle, fashion,  Titled 'Team Cashless India', the initiative furniture and textiles products from around brings consumers and merchants to the 3200 Indian exhibitors who are participating forefront of the digital payments dialogue. in the Fair that will be on from 16-20 October  The campaign encourages all Indians to 2019. nominate one or more merchants who  Theme: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle currently do not accept digital payments.  Mastercard will work together with the Chenani-Nashri tunnel to be renamed after Confederation of All India Traders, acquirer Shyama Prasad Mukherjee banks and fin-tech companies to support nominated merchants to deploy digital payments acceptance infrastructure.

20th Livestock Census – 2019

The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying released the 20th Livestock Census -2019.

 India's livestock population has increased to The Chenani-Nashri tunnel, the longest tunnel in over 535 million showing an increase of 4.6 Jammu and Kashmir, will be renamed after Bharatiya per cent over Livestock Census-2012. Jana Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mukherjee.

 As per livestock census, the share of cattle is Eastern Air Command conducts fighter around 36 per cent, the goat is over 27 per operations exercise at 6 civilian airfields cent, buffaloes is over 20 per cent, sheep around 14 per cent and pigs around two per cent.  The cow population is over 145 million, increasing by 18 per cent over the previous census.  Among the states, West Bengal reported the highest increase of over 23 per cent in livestock population, followed by Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.  The livestock census is conducted across the The Eastern Air Command of the Indian Air Force country periodically since 1919. launched fighter operations from six civilian airfields  The census usually covers all domesticated under its area of command. animals and headcounts of these animals are taken.  The exercises will be conducted in two phases. Tribal Affairs Minister, Arjun Munda announced  Six civilian airfields where the operations the second phase of GOAL will take place are Dimapur, Imphal, Guwahati, Kolkata, Pasighat and Andal.  Sukhoi Su-30MKI and Hawk 132 aircraft will be participating in the exercise.  The exercise is aimed at familiarizing the Indian Air Force crew with the procedure of flying at busy civilian airfields and coordinate with the civilian airport staff.

India, Oman begin joint training exercise 'EX Minister of Tribal Affairs, Arjun Munda announced EASTERN BRIDGE-V' the second phase of GOAL (Going Online as Leaders).

 GOAL is a Facebook program aimed at inspiring, guiding and encouraging tribal girls from across India to become village- level digital young leaders for their communities.  Launched earlier this year in March, GOAL connects underprivileged young women from tribal areas with senior expert mentors in the areas of business, fashion and arts to learn Indian Air Force (IAF) kick started its bilateral joint digital and life skills. exercise with Royal Air Force Oman (RAFO),  In the second phase of the program, the named 'EX EASTERN BRIDGE-V' at Air Force Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Facebook will Base Masirah. digitally mentor 5000 young women in India's tribal-dominated districts, together.

 The IAF contingent comprises of Mig 29 UPG (upgrade) combat aircraft along with C- 17 Globemaster transport aircraft.  The Royal Air Force of Oman will be fielding Eurofighter Typhoon, F-16 and Hawk 200 combat aircraft in the exercise.  For the first time, MiG-29 fighter aircraft will be participating in an international exercise

outside India.  Last time, the bilateral exercise was held in The US Chamber of Commerce's Global Innovation 2017 at Jamnagar. Policy Center (GIPC) and Industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry NITI Aayog launches India Innovation Index (FICCI) in partnership with US-India Business 2019 Council (USIBC) on hosted the second edition of the India-US Dialogue on Intellectual Property (IP) in New Delhi.

 It was organised to discuss ways to deepen bilateral strategic cooperation between the two countries on Intellectual Property policy.  The event saw the participation of leaders from the US and Indian government as well as the Indo-U.S. business community.

NITI Aayog with Institute for Competitiveness as the India ranked third in 2019 ‘Hurun Global knowledge partner released the India Innovation Unicorn List’ Index (III) 2019.

 Karnataka is the most innovative major state in India.  Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana, Haryana, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh form the remaining top ten major states respectively.  The top ten major states are majorly concentrated in southern and western India. The Hurun Research Institute has released the  Sikkim and Delhi take the top spots among inaugural Hurun Global Unicorn List 2019. the northeastern & hill states, and union territories/city-states/small states  It is a ranking of the world’s billion-dollar respectively. tech ‘start-ups’ founded in the 2000s and not  Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, yet listed on a public exchange. Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh are the most  This is the first year of the list and follows efficient states in translating inputs into from the sixth quarterly Hurun China output. Unicorn Index.  China ranked at the top spot by 206 The second edition of US-India IP dialogue, companies followed by the US with 203. concludes in New Delhi

 India was placed third with 21 unicorns, led The Andhra Pradesh Government has launched a by payments solutions platform One97 scheme called ‘YSR Navodayam’. Communications ($10 billion) and followed by cab aggregator Ola Cabs ($6 billion);  The scheme aims to bail out micro, small and online educator Byju’s ($6 billion) and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the State travel-stay finder OYO Rooms ($5 billion). and provide them financial relief by restructuring their bank loans before March National Institute of Nutrition centenary stamp 31, 2020. released  Under the scheme, about 80,0000 MSMEs in the State would be benefited as their bank loans, that are subject to a ceiling of Rs 25 crores, would be restructured.  They would get more financial support and more time to pay back the loan.

Kerala extends maternity leave benefits to teachers, other staff of private educational institutions A special commemorative postal stamp of the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad was released by Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Harsh Vardhan.

 The stamp has been brought out under the “Corporate My stamp” scheme of India Posts.  These stamps are of limited edition and are made to order. Kerala is extending maternity leave benefits to  Alongside these customised themed stamps, teachers and other staff of private educational the NIN also opted for printing its centenary institutions. logo.  The National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) is  The Central Government has approved the Indian Public health, Nutrition and Kerala Government’s decision to bring these Translational research centre located in teachers and employees under the Maternity Hyderabad. Benefit Act.  When the amendment to the Act comes into Andhra Pradesh CM launches a scheme for force, Kerala would become the first state in MSMEs the country to provide maternity benefits in the private educational sector.  Employees covered under the law can avail 26 weeks’ maternity leave with salary.

Defence exports soar by seven times in two years, reach 2 billion

India's defence exports have grown seven times in India observes Police Commemoration Day or the last two years, reaching a value of two billion National Police day on 21 October every year. dollars.  On this day in 1959, 10 police personnel were  The country is working out modalities to killed in a Chinese attack and the become a hub in top-class defence production commemoration day is observed to mark the with efforts being made to increase defence incident. exports to five billion dollars in the near  Last year, on this day, the National Police future. Memorial in New Delhi was dedicated to the  440 companies in the private sector have nation by PM Modi. taken up defence production in the last five years. Two-day long manoeuvres by Sudarshan Chakra Vahini of Indian Army begins at Jaisalmer Odisha's biggest trade fair to begin on Nov 12

Two-day long manoeuvres by Sudarshan Chakra Baliyatra, one of the biggest trade fairs of Odisha, is Vahini of Indian Army started at Jaisalmer field scheduled to begin on November 12. firing range in Rajasthan.

 The trade fair will continue for eight days.  In this war exercise, the army is going to  This year’s Baliyatra will be jointly exhibit its strength regarding Agni Missile organized by the Cuttack District and artillery. Administration, District Cultural Council,  Artillery, Arms and mechanized forces, and the Cuttack Municipal Corporation Army air defence and helicopters of army (CMC). aviation are participating in this exercise to  A preparatory meeting for the mega fair was test mutual coordination. recently held under the chairmanship of  Endogenously manufactured light helicopter District Collector Bhabani Shankar Chayani Rudra and self-propelled artillery gun system at Cuttack. K-9 vajra are also taking part in this exercise.

Police Commemoration Day: 21 October India-Myanmar Naval Exercise: IMNEX-2019

 The entire stretch from Siachen base camp to Kumar Post has been thrown open for tourism.  The move will give a boost to tourism in Ladakh and allow people to appreciate the tough work done by Army jawans and engineers in extreme weather and inhospitable terrains.  The Siachen Glacier at the height of around 20,000 ft in the Karakoram range is known as the highest militarized zone in the world The opening ceremony of the second edition of 'India where the soldiers have to battle frostbite and Myanmar Naval Exercise' IMNEX-2019 was high winds. conducted onboard INS Ranvijay in Visakhapatnam. President Kovind attend Japan's Emperor  Myanmar naval ships UMS Sin Phyu Shin Naruhito's enthronement ceremony (F-14) and UMS Tabinshweti (773) arrived at Visakhapatnam and would engage in professional interaction with Indian Navy personnel for sharing of expertise on various maritime issues between both the navies.  The harbour phase of IMNEX-19 scheduled till October 20 includes visits to Indian Naval units, training and maintenance facility at Visakhapatnam.  During Sea Phase scheduled from October 20 to 22, INS Ranvijay, a guided-missile destroyer and INS Kuthar, a missile corvette President Ram Nath Kovind attended the will be carrying out a joint exercise with enthronement ceremony of Japan's Emperor Myanmar ships UMS Sin Phyu Shin, a frigate Naruhito. and UMS Tabinshweti, a corvette in the Bay of Bengal.  Naruhito is the 126th monarch according to Japan's traditional order of succession. World's highest battlefield Siachen now open to  The President arrived in Tokyo after tourists concluding his five-day state visit to the Philippines.  The president visited a Buddhist temple in Tokyo where he planted a Bodhi sapling, which he carried from India.  This is the first presidential visit to Japan from India after a gap of 29 years.

Rajnath Singh inaugurates 'Col Chewang Rinchen Setu' in eastern Ladakh

Centre announced that the world's highest battlefield Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on inaugurated 'Col Siachen has been open to tourists. Chewang Rinchen Setu', a strategically important bridge, over Shyok river in Ladakh region.

 The 430-meter-long bridge has been built by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and connects Durbuk and Daulat Beg Oldie in Eastern Ladakh.  It will not only provide all-weather connectivity in the region but also be a strategic asset in the border areas.

 The construction has been completed in record 15 months. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired  Col Chewang Rinchen, born on November defence minister Rajnath Singh gave the nod for 11, 1931, at Sumur, Nubra Valley in Ladakh procurement of indigenous defence equipment worth region, is known as the "Lion of Ladakh" for Rs 3300 crore to give a push to the Make in India’ his extraordinary acts of courage in defending initiative. Leh and Partapur sector.  The three projects, which got the go-ahead, Union Culture Minister launches E-Portal, include two third-generation anti-tank guided YouTube Channel of CCRT missiles and the auxiliary power units for the T-72 and T-90 tanks.  The third-generation anti-tank guided missiles would provide 'fire and forget' and 'top attack' capabilities to the troops in an armoured battle.  The third indigenous project pertains to discrete electronic warfare (EW) systems for the mountain and high altitude terrain, which would be designed and developed by DRDO and manufactured by design cum production partner from the Indian industry.

Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel launched the E- Government launches BHIM 2.0 Portal of Centre for Cultural Resources and Training, CCRT ‘Digital Bharat Digital Sanskriti' and CCRT YouTube Channel in New Delhi.

 This will enable the dissemination of cultural education through digital interactive medium into the classrooms all over the country.  The Minister specifically stressed that each and every child has a latent talent which needs to be identified.  CCRT should provide a platform for specifically dropout children so that they can join the mainstream and pursue their dreams. In a major thrust for the digital and cashless payments ecosystem in India, the Central Defence Ministry clears indigenous projects government launched the BHIM 2.0 Universal worth Rs 3300 crore Payments Interface (UPI).

 Developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in 2016, the BHIM 2.0 comes loaded with a host of functionalities, including support for additional languages, and also enhanced transaction limits.  The new version of BHIM supports three additional languages - Konkani, Bhojpuri and Haryanvi - over and above the existing 13.  The new developments in the application also include options of investing and applying in Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), gifting of More than 40,000 troops will take part in the Indian money, linking multiple bank accounts etc. Army's exercise codenamed 'Sindhu Sudarshan' in  The application also comes equipped with a the deserts of Rajasthan, from November 29 to dedicated gateway for donations. December 4. IAF fires 2 BrahMos missiles at Trak Island in  The Indian Army will be carrying out this Andaman Nicobar exercise using its integrated battle groups which are the new formations being raised by the force for warfighting in future.  Over 40,000 troops will participate in an all- arms battle array of Divisions and Brigades carrying out offensive operations in deserts.

HRD Minister interacts with children for DHRUV programme

Two BrahMos surface to surface missiles were 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 routine operational training.  The missile engaged the designated mock targets close to 300 Kilometres away.  A direct hit on the target was achieved in both Union Minister for Human Resources Development cases. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank interacted with children  The firing of the missiles has enhanced Air selected for ambitious DHRUV programme at his force capability to engage ground targets with residence in New Delhi. pinpoint accuracy from a mobile platform.  The Minister said, out of 25 crore students in Over 40,000 troops to participate in Indian India 60 talented students are selected under Army's exercise 'Sindhu Sudarshan' this programme.  The government is polishing these bright children with the right orientation to make them shine like the polar stars.

 DHRUV is a unique programme to identify Instagram, Snapchat, Helo, and Twitter, in terms of talented students and mentor them in the downloads on the Google Play Store. centre of excellence for 14 days so that they can reach their full potential and work for  The Sensor Tower Report 2019 ranked society. TikTok as the most downloaded social media app worldwide for September 2019 with 2-day India-Bangladesh Stakeholders' Meet close to 60 million installs. underway in Guwahati  Downloads from India constitute about 44 per cent of its total downloads.  Facebook was the second most installed app, with the highest installs from India at 23 per cent.  Instagram, Likee, Snapchat were among the top five apps in terms of overall downloads.

Google achieves 'quantum supremacy'

The two-day India-Bangladesh Stakeholders' Meet started in Guwahati with a focus on trade and connectivity.

 The focus is on improving its connectivity with the neighbouring country to get the best of the rest under Act East Policy for the host Assam.  A 70-member delegation from Bangladesh is participating in the meet, while a similar top- Google has officially announced that it has achieved level team will represent the host nation. quantum supremacy with its advanced processor that  The idea of the meet is to put Assam at the was able to surpass the world's most powerful focus point of India's trade expansion with supercomputer. the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as well as Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.  Google says that its 54-bit Sycamore processor was able to perform a calculation TikTok surpasses Facebook, Instagram in app in 200 seconds that would have taken the downloads world's most powerful supercomputer 10,000 years.  The search giant has made the details of its research public for the scientific community to fully scrutinize its achievement.

M. Venkaiah Naidu to lead the Indian delegation at 18th Non-Aligned Movement Summit

Vice President, M. Venkaiah Naidu will lead the

Indian delegation at the 18th Summit of Heads of Video creating and sharing app, TikTok, has State and Government of the Non-Aligned surpassed top social networking apps including Movement (NAM) to be held at Baku, Azerbaijan on 25th to 26th of this month.

 The Summit will be preceded by Senior IAF chief leaves for Oman to witness joint Officials Meeting and Ministerial Meeting. exercise 'Eastern Bridge'  The theme for the Summit is ‘Upholding the Bandung Principles to ensure concerted and adequate response to the challenges of the contemporary world’.  India is one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement which was established in 1961 with 29 members.  It has since grown to 120 members to become one of the largest groupings of nation-states.

Prakash Javadekar launches first national protocol to enumerate snow leopard population in Chief of Indian Air Force (IAF) Air Chief Marshal India RKS Bhadauria left for Oman on an official visit to witness the ongoing Indo-Oman Joint Exercise ‘Eastern Bridge’

 ‘Eastern Bridge is a joint military exercise between the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) and the Indian Air Force at RAFO base in Masirah, Oman.  The IAF MiG-29s (upgraded) is participating with Hawks, F-16 and Eurofighter Typhoons of Omani Air Force in the exercise.  For the first time, MiG-29 fighter aircraft are Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate participating in an international exercise Change launched the first national protocol to outside India. enumerate the snow leopard population in the country on the occasion of International Snow Government hikes minimum support price of Leopard Day. Rabi crops for 2020-21

 International Snow Leopard Day is celebrated on October 23 every year to protect and conserve the snow leopards and preserve the beautiful wildlife of the Himalayas.  India is believed to have 400 to 700 snow leopards spread across Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.  Project Snow Leopard is an initiative of the Environment Ministry which aims to The Union Cabinet has decided to hike Minimum safeguard and conserve India's unique natural Support Price, MSP, for Rabi crops for marketing heritage of high altitude wildlife populations season 2020-21. and their habitats by promoting conservation through participatory policies and actions.  MSP of wheat has been increased by 85 rupees per quintal to 1,925 rupees per quintal.

 While MSP of Gram has been increased by  Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit 255 rupees, barley 85 rupees, mustard oil 225 Kevadia in Gujarat to pay homage to the great rupees and sunflower 270 rupees per quintal. leader at the Statue of Unity.  The move will help increase farmers' income.  To celebrate the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, celebrations will be held in more than Ayurveda Day 2019: 25 October 600 districts of the country.

President Kovind lays foundation stone for Sri Sathya Sai Sanathana Samskruti Project in Japan

The fourth Ayurveda Day is being organised on October 25 at National Institute of Ayurveda (NIA) in Jaipur, Rajasthan. President Ram Nath Kovind laid the foundation stone for Sri Sathya Sai Sanathana Samskruti Project  Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India decided to celebrate Ayurveda Day every at Sai no Sato, Kakegawa, Japan. year on the day of Dhanvantari Jayanti (Dhanteras) since 2016.  Sai no Sato will be developed as a temple on the lines of Akshardham and Swaminarayan  On this occasion, Ministry also facilitates 3- 4 Ayurveda experts with 'National Temple to promote Indian traditional Dhanwantari Ayurveda Award' comprising culture. of citation, trophy (Dhanwantari Statue) and  In the evening, the President also attended a a cash reward of rupees five lakh. banquet hosted in his honour by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan and returned to India. National Unity Day to be celebrated on Oct 31 India and Pakistan ink agreement on Kartarpur corridor

National Unity Day will be celebrated on 31st of this month to mark the birth anniversary of Ironman Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

 Preparations are in full swing to celebrate the day in a grand manner.

India and Pakistan inked an agreement on Kartarpur corridor.

 The agreement relates to the modalities for operationalisation of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor at Zero Point, International Boundary, Dera Baba Nanak.  The corridor will be operational throughout

the year, except on notified days.  Indian pilgrims of all faiths and persons of The Global Bio-India 2019, one of the largest Indian origin can use the corridor and the biotechnology stakeholders conglomerate will be travel will be Visa Free. held for the first time in India at New Delhi from 21st  India continues to pursue the issue of all- to 23rd November 2019. weather connectivity through the corridor.  India for the first time is hosting a mega event Chenani Nashari Tunnel renamed after Dr for the biotech community to attract Syama Prasad Mookerjee investments, showcase our indigenous strengths and more importantly fuel the hopes and aspirations of the indigenous talent pool.  The event has been structured to bring together stakeholders from 30 countries, 250 start-ups, 200 exhibitors.  The event is expected to strengthen the indigenous research capabilities, bio- entrepreneurship, investments and last-mile- delivery of technology across rural India and tier-2, 3 cities. Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari and Shri Jitendra Singh announced the PM Modi to be on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia renaming of Chenani Nashri Tunnel on NH 44 in from Oct 28 Jammu & Kashmir as Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Tunnel.

 This 9 km tunnel is the longest such state of art tunnel in the country, connecting Udhampur to Ramban in Jammu.  Constructed at a cost of Rs 2500 crore, it cuts down 31 km of travel distance and reduces

the travel time between the two points by about two hours, in addition to substantial Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two-day savings in fuel cost. visit to Saudi Arabia starting from October 28.

New Delhi to Host First ‘Global Bio-India 2019’  During the visit, Mr Modi will attend the Summit from 21st - 23rd November session of Future Investment summit in Riyadh on 29th of this month.  The Prime Minister will meet the King of Saudi Arabia and hold delegation-level talks with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

 During the visit, the Prime Minister will also  The newly created posts will be filled up launch the RuPay card in Saudi Arabia. according to recruitment rules.  Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force was Disarmament Week: 24-30 October conceptualised in the wake of the Chinese aggression on the country's northern borders in 1962.

Yogi Adityanath to launch Kanya Sumangala Yojana

Disarmament Week is an annual event that is observed from 24 October to 30 October in various parts of the world.

 The observance revolves around raising public awareness of the dangers of the arms race and the need for international disarmament.  An important focus of this week is trying to Uttar Pradesh government launched its flagship convince nations to only keep the weapons scheme Kanya Sumangla Yojna. they need for an adequate police force.  The scheme will provide an amount of 15 ITBP to have two new commands thousand rupees in a phased manner to every family in which a girl child takes birth.  The scheme has been designed in a way that parents have to take care of the girl child’s health and education to get the benefit.  Funds will be released in instalments when a girl child completes various achievements, like vaccination, admission in class 1, 5 and 9, graduation.

 At birth Rs. 2000 will be transferred into account and if a girl has completed all her The Union Cabinet approved the proposal of cadre first-year vaccinations on April 1, 2019, she review of Group "A" General Duty (Executive) cadre will be entitled to 1 thousand rupees. and non-GD cadre of Indo- Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). BJP wins Maharashtra with Shiv Sena, emerges single-largest party in Haryana  It approved the creation of two new commands - Western Command at Chandigarh and Eastern Command at Guwahati - to be headed by Additional Director General and assisted by Inspector General.

Godavarthi Venkata Srinivas accredited as India's High Commissioner to the Gambia

The results for 286 Assembly constituencies of Maharashtra were declared with the BJP securing a total of 105 seats and its alliance partner Shiv Sena, 56 seats.

 As per the Election Commission, BJP Diplomat Godavarthi Venkata Srinivas has been secured 105 seats, Shiv Sena (56), Congress appointed as India's next High Commissioner to the (44) and the Nationalist Congress Party (54). Gambia.  The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 40 seats in the Haryana Assembly election,  Srinivas, who is already serving as the Congress 31 and Dushyant Chautala-led Ambassador to Senegal, was concurrently Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) bagged 10 out of accredited as the High Commissioner to the total 90 seats. Gambia, with residence in Dakar.  He is a 1993-batch Indian Foreign Service Govt Accords 'Maharatna' Status to Hindustan (IFS) officer. Petroleum, Power Grid Corp Indian Army celebrates infantry day on 27 October

The government accorded 'Maharatna' status to state- Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended greetings to owned Hindustan Petroleum and Power Grid soldiers on Infantry Day. Corporation.  Infantry Day is observed on October 27.  Two separate orders to this effect were issued  This day marks the landing of first Indian by the Department of Public Enterprises, troops in Jammu and Kashmir in 1947 to push under the Ministry of Heavy Industry and back Pakistan supported intruders. Public Enterprises.  Planes carrying Indian troops took off from  The grant of Maharatna status to the PSUs the Safdarjung airport here to land at will impart enhanced powers to their Boards Srinagar. to take financial decisions.

BASIC countries urge developed nations to including police, fire, women helpline and adhere to commitments under the Paris ambulance. Agreement to fight climate change  Several states and Union territories have already adopted a single emergency helpline number '112'.  Dial 100 will also continue working and gradually it will die down when people become aware of the new number.

Grand Diwali celebrations at Ayodhya set a world record; over 5 lakh 51 thousand Diyas lit

BASIC countries have urged developed nations to adhere to the commitment made under the Paris Agreement and provide finance and technology to the developing world.

 In a joint statement, the BASIC, a bloc of four large countries, Brazil, South Africa, India and China, emphasized that the global In Uttar Pradesh, Grand Diwali celebrations at climate action should promote climate justice Ayodhya have set a world record as over 5 lakh 51 by recognizing fundamental equality of all thousand earthen lamps or Diyas. people in accessing economic growth and sustainable development.  The Diyas were lit on the banks of the holy  After the conclusion of two-day 29th BASIC river Saryu and other places in Ayodhya Ministerial meeting on climate change at town. Beijing in China, the countries reaffirmed  This is the third consecutive year of and emphasized the need for people's Deepotsav in Ramnagari. participation and climate-friendly lifestyle  Last year more than 3 lakh earthen lamps for addressing the challenge of climate were lit at Saryu river in Ayodhya. change.  The state government has given this Ayodhya  Minister for Environment and Forests Deepotsav the status of a State Fair. Prakash Javadekar along with Ministers from  Hence the whole management and expenses China, South Africa and Brazil attended the on Deepotsav are borne by the state Ministerial meeting. government. Uttar Pradesh Emergency service number Indo-French Joint Exercise ‘Shakti-2019’ changes from 100 to 'Dial 112'

In Uttar Pradesh, the traditional emergency service number Dial 100 is replaced by 112.

 Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched the services of new number - 112, in a ceremonial function at Lucknow.  The new single helpline number 112 is an integration of all immediate assistance

Series of 'Exercise SHAKTI' between India and World Bank Group President David Malpass France commenced in the year 2011. calls on PM Narendra Modi

 As part of Exercise SHAKTI - 2019, French Army troops arrived in India on 26 October 2019 for training with Indian Troops.  The bilateral training exercise will be conducted at the Foreign Training Node at Mahajan Field Firing Ranges, Rajasthan.  A contingent of the Sikh Regiment of Sapta Shakti Command will represent Indian Army in this exercise.  The bilateral exercise will be conducted from The President of the World Bank Group David 31 October 2019 to 13 November 2019. Malpass called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. PM Modi embarks on 2-day visit to Saudi Arabia  Mr Malpass is on a four-day visit to India.  He delivered the keynote address on the role of the financial sector in development at the fifth edition of the NITI Aayog Lecture series in New Delhi.  This is the first trip of Mr Malpass to India after assuming charge in April this year.

Gujarati community across the globe celebrates the new year- Bestu Varas Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on a two- day visit to Saudi Arabia.

 He looks forward to his participation in the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Forum where he would be speaking about the growing trade and investment opportunities for the global investors in India as the country marches forward to a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024.  The FII Forum is also known as the 'Davos in Gujarati community across the globe is celebrating the Desert' which has been hosted by Riyadh New year Bestu Varas. since 2017 to project the Kingdom as a potential investment hub in the region.  As per Gujarati calendar Vikram Samvat,  Modi is paying a visit to the Kingdom at the New year is celebrated on the first day of invitation of Saudi King Salman Bin Kartik month. Abdulaziz Al Saud.  Bestu Varas also marks the day to forgive  The visit would witness the Prime Minister others and forget bad memories and start with holding talks with Saudi Crown Prince new enthusiasm. Mohammed Bin Salman and launching the RuPay card in the country. Air quality in Delhi deteriorates to a hazardous level

building of honest, non-discriminatory and corruption-free society.  The CVC has requested all the central government Ministries and organisations to conduct activities relevant to the theme both within their organisation and as outreach activities for citizens.

The air quality turned hazardous in Delhi as the Disabled, people over 80 can vote through postal citizens defied the Supreme Court-enforced two- ballot hour limit for bursting crackers on Diwali.

 According to government agencies, at 11 p.m., Delhi's overall Air Quality Index, AQI, stood at 327.  AQI at Mother Dairy in Patparganj area and National Malaria Institute, Dwarka was recorded at 999 and 763 respectively.  The levels of PM 10 tiny particulate matter had reached as high as 515 micro-grams per The people over 80 years of age and Persons with cubic metre in Anand Vihar during the day. Disability can now cast their votes through postal  An AQI between 301-400 is considered very ballot. poor, and 401-500 severe. Above 500 is a severe-plus emergency category.  However, such voters will have both the  Twenty-five of the 37 air quality monitoring stations in the capital recorded their AQI in choices available either voting through postal the very poor category or beyond. ballot by following due procedure or going to the polling station on polling day for voting.  On the recommendations of the Election CVC observes vigilance awareness week from Oct Commission, the Ministry of Law and Justice 28 to Nov 2 has amended the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, allowing senior citizens and person with disabilities in the absentee voter list.  The person will make an application in a new Form 12 D, which will reach the Returning Officer within 5 days following the date of notification of election.  After the receipt of such application, the elector will be issued a postal ballot paper, The Central Vigilance Commission, CVC is which will be deposited in the specified observing vigilance awareness week starting from centre after the recording of the vote. Oct 28 till 2nd November, to promote probity in public life through citizen participation. Three Indian-origin CEOs in Harvard Business Review's top 10 best-performing CEOs  The theme for the vigilance awareness week is 'Integrity - A way of life'.  This theme would help to draw the attention of all sections of society especially the youth to the significance of ethical conduct in the

 Saudi Arabia has been one of the largest and reliable suppliers of India's energy needs.

Nirmala Sitharaman releases special commemorative coin of Paramahansa Yogananda

Three Indian-origin CEOs have been featured in a list of world's top 10 best-performing chief executives.

 'The Best-Performing CEOs in the World, 2019' list compiled by the Harvard Business Review (HBR) features 100 CEOs and has

been topped by American technology company NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has released a  Among the top 10 chief executives on the list, special commemorative coin on Paramahansa three spots have been occupied by the Indian- Yogananda to mark his 125th Birth Anniversary. origin CEOs.  On the 6th spot is Adobe CEO Shantanu  Paramahansa Yogananda was a great son of Narayen, followed by MasterCard CEO Ajay India, who became so recognized globally. Banga, ranked 7th and Microsoft chief Satya  He was an Indian monk, yogi and guru who Nadella on the 9th spot. introduced millions to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his PM Modi delivers the keynote address at Saudi organization Self-Realization Fellowship Arabia's FII Forum in Riyadh (SRF) / Yogoda Satsanga Society (YSS) of India.

Odisha govt inks LoU for 'drink from tap mission' with UNICEF

PM Modi addressed the third session of Saudi Arabia's Future Investment Initiative Forum.

 He talked about India's economy, its challenges and opportunities for equitable In a bid to provide quality drinking water to every growth and prosperity. urban household in the state, Odisha has inked a  Before addressing the third session of Saudi Letter of Understanding (LoU) on "drink from tap Arabia's Future Investment Initiative Forum, mission" with the United Nations Children's Fund PM Modi met the top Saudi leadership and (UNICEF). two countries and signed several agreements to boost the bilateral relations.

 Providing quality drinking water to every troupes- Madhya Pradesh cultural troupes household in the state is one of the top participated in the Hornbill Festival from 1st priorities of the government. to 10th December this year and Nagaland  To ensure the availability of safe water in cultural Troupe participated in the Lokrang each and every urban area, the government Festival held at Bhopal from 26th to 30th will adopt a community-based water January last year. management system at ward-level.  It involves Women Self help Groups, which National Unity Day: 31 October will ensure the household connection for every household, meter reading, billing, collection of water tariff, complaint management, filed quality testing by using standard tools, etc.

Nagaland partners with Madhya Pradesh under 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat'

The ‘Rashtriya Ekta Diwas’ or the National Unity Day is celebrated on October 31, which is the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

 He was an Indian politician who played an instrumental role in India’s struggle for independence.  In 2014, it was decided that October 31 be

celebrated as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas. Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat' programme has brought  Last year, the government unveiled the in the states of Nagaland and Madhya Pradesh as one ‘Statue of Unity’, sculpted in his honour, in to celebrate the spirit of national integration through the state of Gujarat. a deep and structured engagement between the two  The colossal statue of the First Deputy Prime states. Minister and Home Minister of independent India stands at a height of 182 metres and is  Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s idea of a the tallest in the world. sustained and structured cultural connection between citizens of different regions of the India to adopt Brazil model of the human milk country through 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha bank Bharat' has seen a positive impact between the state of Nagaland and Madhya Pradesh.  With Madhya Pradesh as a partner state, Nagaland under this programme has the endeavour of sharing and learning knowledge of culture through various activities undertaken by the nodal department the State directorate of Higher Education along with Art & Culture, Tourism, Industries and Commerce.  Department of Art and Culture, Government of Nagaland organized Exchange of Cultural

The Centre has set a target of ensuring at least 70 per cent infants to have access to breast milk by the year 2025.

 Target will subsequently be increased to 100 per cent.  India has taken inspiration from Brazil's success in the field of human milk bank decided to adopt a similar model in creating a In a unique gesture to mark 550th Birth Anniversary wide network of human milk banks. of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji, Air India has depicted Sikh religious symbol 'Ek Onkar' on the tail of one of its Jammu and Kashmir bifurcation aircraft.

 The flight is set to fly from Amritsar to Stansted in the United Kingdom.  Air India will fly its aircraft thrice a week on the Mumbai-Amritsar-Stansted route.  The international flight will facilitate Sikh pilgrims visiting Punjab on the occasion of the Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

Kerala Governor inaugurates Ayurveda summit

The state of Jammu and Kashmir has been bifurcated into two Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh with effect from 31 October.

 IAS officers Girish Chandra Murmu have been appointed the new Lieutenant Governor (LG) for the Union territories (UTs) of Jammu and Kashmir.  Also and R K Mathur has been appointed as As many as 400 industry leaders and delegates from the LG for Ladakh. SAARC, GCC and African countries have gathered  They administered the oath of office by the in Kochi for the third edition of ‘Global Ayurveda Jammu and Kashmir Chief Justice Gitta Summit 2019’. Mittal  According to the Act, the UT of Jammu and  The two-day summit organized by CII will Kashmir will have a legislature like deliberate on the theme “Mainstreaming Puducherry while Ladakh will be a UT Ayurveda through Startups, Innovation and without legislature like Chandigarh and both Branding”. the UTs will be headed by two separate  Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan Lieutenant Governors (LG). inaugurated the summit.

Air India depicts 'Ek Onkar' symbol on its IIIT Hyderabad researchers create first-ever aircraft to mark Guru Nanak's 550th birth Indian Brain atlas anniversary

insurance cover of Rs 15 lakh to Rs 50 lakh and an overdraft facility up to three times of monthly net salary.  The features are also applicable for pensioners of Indian Army up to the age of 70 years.  The bank will provide customised banking experience for serving and retired personnel Researchers at the International Institute of of the Indian Army. Information Technology Hyderabad said that the first-ever Indian Brain Atlas (IBA) has been created. RBI cuts repo rate by 25 bps to 5.15%

 They stated that the next step is to prepare atlases for different age groups to study age- related effects on brain anatomy.  The average brain size of an Indian was smaller in height, width and volume in comparison to people of the Caucasian and eastern races.  The immediate implication of this finding can be seen in treatment outcomes of neurological problems or brain-related The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) ailments - like dementia, Alzheimer’s of the Reserve Bank of India slashed the short-term disease, Parkinson’s disease etc. lending rate, the repo rate, by 25 basis points in its fourth bi-monthly policy review.

 The repo rate now stands at 5.15 per cent, the lowest since March 2010.  The RBI cut its estimate of economic growth in the current fiscal to 6.1 per cent from its Bank of Baroda signs MoU with Indian Army for earlier estimate of 6.9 per cent. customised services Auto component major Minda to acquire Germany's Delvis for EUR21 million

Bank of Baroda (BoB) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Army under which the bank would offer customised services along with a host of facilities to account holders. Leading auto component manufacturer Minda Industries is acquiring 100 per cent equity capital of  The MoU includes handsome free personal Germany-based Delvis Group for 21 million euros accident insurance cover, free air accident (about Rs 163 crore).

 The Delvis Group is engaged in automotive of 75 per cent stake in Reliance Nippon Life lighting design and engineering. Asset Management from Reliance Capital.  It comprises of Delvis GmBH and its two  Nippon Life entered Reliance AMC first by wholly-owned subsidiaries: Delvis Products buying a 26 per cent stake in 2012 and now and Delvis Solutions. owns as much as 75 per cent, making it the  Minda has a diversified product portfolio that single largest promoter. encompasses safety, security and restraint systems. GST Council forms 12-member panel to suggest  These products cater to two- and three- compliance, revenue reforms wheelers, passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles and after-market.

Govt sets up a high-level panel to check money laundering activities

Government has constituted a 12 member committee of officers to suggest measures to augment Goods and Services Tax revenue.

 The panel comprising state-level GST The government set up a high-level inter-ministerial commissioners and central government committee chaired by the revenue secretary, Ajay officials has been asked to suggest urgent Bhushan Pandey for better coordination among measures to arrest the fall in tax revenues and various departments and law enforcement agencies suggest steps to be taken to improve revenue to prevent money laundering activities. collection.  The panel comprises state GST  The 19-member Inter-Ministerial commissioners of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Coordination Committee (IMCC) has five Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Punjab secretaries, including from ministries of besides central government officials finance and external affairs, and chiefs of including Principal Commissioner of GST various regulatory authorities. and Joint Secretary (Revenue).  The committee would also work on the  This development took place ten days after development and implementing policies on the collection for the month of September anti-money laundering and countering the was found to dip to ₹91,916 crores, the lowest financing of terrorism. after February 2018.  The Government has set a target of collecting Reliance Mutual Fund renamed as Nippon India over ₹1 lakh crore every month during the Mutual Fund current fiscal.

Reliance Mutual Fund is renamed as Nippon India RBI gives final nod to Kerala govt for the Mutual Fund. formation of Kerala Bank

 The name change came after Nippon Life Insurance of Japan completed the acquisition

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

India, ADB sign 190 million dollar loan agreement for improving road connectivity in The Reserve Bank of India has given its final nod to Rajasthan the Kerala Government for the formation of the Kerala Bank.

 With its formation, the proposed Kerala Bank will be the largest banking network in the state.  Kerala Bank would be formed amalgamating the 13 District Co-operative Banks (DCBs) with Kerala State Co-operative Bank.  The government had claimed that the objective of the formation of the Kerala Bank India and Asian Development Bank, ADB have is to strengthen the cooperative sector. signed 190 million dollar loan agreement for improving road connectivity in Rajasthan. GeM signs MOU with Union Bank of India  The agreement was signed to upgrade 754 kilometres of state highways which will benefit about 26 million people in 14 districts of Rajasthan.  For the benefit of commuters and pedestrians, particularly women and children, the project provides for constructing more than 200 bus stops.

Government e-Marketplace (GeM) signed a Retail inflation spikes to 3.99% in September Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Union Bank of India (UBI).

 Through this partnership, UBI will be able to offer an array of services including transfer of funds through GeM Pool Accounts (GPA), advising of Performance Bank Guarantees (e- PBG) and Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) to the registered users on the GeM portal.  The MoU will facilitate a cashless, paperless and transparent payment system on the portal Retail inflation spiked to 3.99 per cent in September and will create an efficient procurement this year mainly due to higher prices of food items. system for government entities.

 Government data showed that the consumer  Karur Vysya Bank is a 103-year-old price index (CPI) based inflation was scheduled commercial bank headquartered at registered at 3.28 per cent in August this year. Karur in Tamil Nadu.  Also, Wholesale inflation eased to more than  It has a total business of about Rs 1.1 lakh three-year low of 0.33 per cent in September crore with a deposit base of Rs 60,000 crore this year mainly due to falling prices of fuel and a loan book of Rs 50,000 crore. and certain food articles.  Since its entry in 2012, Home Credit India has spread its operations over 179 cities ICICI Bank introduces an FD with free health across 20 states and emerged with the largest insurance penetration is below Rs 10,000 category with a customer base of one crore.

FPIs pour in Rs 5,072 crore in Indian Capital markets

ICICI Bank launched a new fixed deposit (FD) scheme ‘FD Health’ that will offer the dual benefit of an FD along with free critical illness coverage with a Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), have infused a net sum assured of Rs 1 lakh. sum of 5,072 crore rupees into the Indian capital markets this month so far amid the government's  This offering is a first in the industry and efforts to revive domestic demand. provides the advantage of safety and growth of a fixed deposit along with protection of  As per the latest depositories data, foreign critical illness cover which will provide investors put in a net sum of 4,970 crore financial help if needed. rupees in the equities and a net 102 crore  The insurance coverage is free for the first rupees in the debt market during 1st to 18th year i.e. no additional premium needs to be of this month. paid by the deposit holder.  FPIs had invested about 6,558 crore rupees in  If required, the policy may be renewed by the the domestic capital markets (both equity and deposit holder from the second year by debt). paying the premium. Government approves the in-principle merger Home Credit, Karur Vysya Bank tie-up for joint for BSNL and MTNL lending partnership The Union Cabinet approved the proposal for revival The India arm of Netherlands-based Home Credit of BSNL and MTNL. Group has tied up with Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) for joint lending to tap the large unbanked customer base  The Cabinet approved administrative across the country. allotment of spectrum for 4G services to BSNL and MTNL so as to enable these PSUs to provide broadband and other data services.

 The spectrum will be funded by the government by capital infusion in these PSUs at a value of Rs 20,140 crore.  The GST of Rs 3,674 crore for the spectrum value will also be borne by the government.  By using this spectrum allotment, BSNL and MTNL will be able to deliver 4G services, compete in the market and provide high- speed data using their vast network including in rural areas. India has jumped 14 places to take the 63rd position  The minister said that the BSNL and the on the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking. MTNL will also raise long-term bonds of Rs 15,000 crore for which sovereign guarantee  The country was 77th among 190 countries in will be provided by the government. the previous ranking.  BSNL and MTNL will restructure their  In its Doing Business 2020 report, the World existing debt with these resources. Bank commended the reform efforts undertaken by the country. GeM Partners with Federal Bank for payment-  India has improved its rank in 7 out of 10 related services indicators and has moved closer to international best practices.  New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong topped the list this year.

India ranks 32nd on Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index

The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Federal Bank to offer a number of services.

 These serviced including the transfer of funds India has marginally improved its ranking to 32nd through GeM Pool Accounts (GPA), advising position in terms of providing pension and retirement of Performance Bank Guarantees (e-PBG) benefits to citizens compared to last year. and Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) to the registered users on the portal.  The country’s score in the Melbourne Mercer  The MoU will facilitate a cashless, paperless Global Pension Index (MMGPI) 2019 rose to and transparent payment system on the portal 45.8 from 44.6 last year. and would create an efficient procurement  The MMGPI, which covers 37 countries, is system for government entities. based on how they fare on providing pension and retirement benefits to citizens across India jumps 14 places on World Bank's Ease of different income groups. Doing business ranking  India stood at 32nd position in 2019 out of 37 countries, while it was ranked at 33rd place in 2018 out of 34 countries in the list.

 In the overall list, the Netherlands had the  The RBI said in a release that it imposed the highest index value (81.0), while Thailand fine via an order dated October 24, 2019. had the lowest value (39.4).  It stated that the bank has been penalised for non-compliance with certain provisions of New World Bank Project to Support Climate directions issued by RBI on frauds Resilient Agriculture for Farmers in Odisha classification and reporting by commercial banks and select FIs directions 2016.

UPI crosses 1 billion transactions mark in October

The Government of India, Government of Odisha and the World Bank signed a US$165 million loan agreement.

 It has been signed to support smallholder India's own domestic payment interface Unified farmers strengthen the resilience of their Payments Interface (UPI) has announced that it has production systems as well as diversify and achieved the double milestone of one billion improve the marketing of their produce, for transactions as well as has crossed 100 million users increased income. in October.  The Odisha Integrated Irrigation Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture will be  This achievement makes it the fastest implemented in rural areas vulnerable to adoption of any payments system anywhere droughts and largely dependent on rainfed else in the world. agriculture.  UPI has emerged as one of the major payment  It will benefit about 125,000 smallholder alternatives to debit, credit and e-wallets. It farmer households from 15 districts of has over 141 banks on board right now. Odisha managing 128,000 of agricultural  UPI is a payment interface of the National land. Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), an umbrella organisation for operating retail RBI imposes Rs 35 lakh penalty on TMB payments and settlement systems in India.

K S Dhatwalia appointed as chief spokesperson of govt

Kuldeep Singh Dhatwalia, an Indian Information The Reserve Bank has imposed a penalty of Rs 35 Service (IIS) officer, was appointed as the principal lakh on Tamilnad Mercantile Bank for violating spokesperson of the Union government. norms on frauds classification and notification.

 Dhatwalia, a 1984-batch IIS officer, has been The Reserve Bank of India has superseded the Board posted as the new principal director general of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank of the Press Information Bureau (PIB), the Limited, Mumbai and appointed Jai Bhagwan Bhoria publicity wing of the central government. as the bank's administrator with all powers of the  The officer, who has succeeded Sitanshu Kar, board. will function as the principal spokesperson of the government of India.  The amount of withdrawal from the bank allowed to depositors has been increased Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Bhadauria takes from one thousand to ten thousand rupees. charge as IAF Chief  The RBI's directives will remain in force for a period of six months.

Economist Surjit Bhalla appointed as executive director for India at IMF

Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria took charge as the 26th Chief of the Indian Air Force. The government-appointed Economist Dr Surjit S  He succeeds Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, Bhalla as Executive Director for India at who retired after 41 years of service in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a period of IAF. three years.  Air Marshal Bhadauria was commissioned in the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force in  In December last year, Bhalla had resigned as June 1980 and has held various command, a part-time member of EAC-PM (Economic staff and instructional positions. Advisory Council to the Prime Minister).  An alumnus of the National Defence  He was amongst the economists who had Academy, Bhadauria won the coveted Sword hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for of Honour for standing first in the overall demonetisation in 2016. order of merit.  The Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria is one of Mallikarjuna Rao appointed as Punjab National the few Air Force pilots to fly a Rafale jet. Bank’s new MD

RBI appoints Jai Bhagwan Bhoria as administrator for PMC Bank

S S Mallikarjuna Rao has been appointed the new Managing Director of Punjab National Bank, the country's second-largest public sector bank.

 Rao, who was the Managing Director & CEO of Allahabad Bank, will be at the helm of PNB till September 18, 2021.  He had been the chief executive of Allahabad Bank since September 2018. Digital infrastructure provider, Tata  Prior to that, Rao was the executive director Communications has named Amur S at Syndicate Bank from September 2016. Lakshminarayanan as Managing Director and Group  He also now has to deal with the proposed Chief Executive Officer designate of the company. merger of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India with PNB, which will  As MD and CEO Designate, post the three-way amalgamation from April Lakshminarayanan will advise the interim 1 2020. management committee of Tata Communications. Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi has been appointed as  Lakshminarayanan comes with 35 years of the next High Commissioner of India to Niue experience in a broad range of leadership roles across industries and regions across the world.

Vijay Patil elected president of Mumbai Cricket Association

Shri Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi, presently High Commissioner of India to New Zealand, has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to Niue, with residence in Wellington.

 He is an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) Officer of the 1991 batch. Vijay Patil and Sanjay Naik were elected unopposed as President and Secretary of the Mumbai Cricket Points to Remember Association.

 Niue Capital: Alofi  The President, Vice-President and Secretary  Currency: New Zealand dollar were elected unopposed while polls were held for the posts of Treasurer, Joint Tata Communications names Amur Secretary and nine members of the Apex Lakshminarayanan as Managing Director and Council. Group CEO  Mr Amol Kale was elected as the Vice- President.  Mr Vijay Patil is the son of former Governor and Congress Politician Dr DY Patil.

6. Justice Lingappa Narayana Swamy takes oath as Former India leg-spinner Anil Kumble has been Himachal Chief Justice appointed the head coach of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kings XI Punjab for the 2020 edition.

 The 48-year-old is also being put in charge of "all cricket-related affairs" of the team for the foreseeable future, co-owner of the franchise Mohit Burman has confirmed.  The appointment makes Kumble the only Indian coach in the IPL.  Earlier, Kumble served as a mentor for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), whom Justice Lingappa Narayana Swamy was sworn in as the he also led to the IPL final in 2009, as captain. Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. AK Mendiratta appointed as new Union Law  He was administered the oath of office by Secretary Governor Bandaru Dattatraya in a simple but impressive ceremony held at Raj Bhawan in Shimla.  Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur was present on the occasion.

7. Indrajit Mohanty was sworn in as the new Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court

Governor Kalraj Mishra administered the oath of office to Sitting District & Sessions Judge (North East) of the newly appointed Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice Delhi's Karkardooma Courts Anoop Kumar Indrajit Mohanty Mendiratta has been appointed as the new Union Law Secretary.  Mohanty, who is now the 37th Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court, took the oath in  It is the first time a sitting judge has been English. appointed as Law Secretary.  Chief Secretary D B Gupta read out the  AK Mendiratta has been appointed till March appointment warrant issued by President 30, 2023, or until he attains the age of 60, Ramnath Kovind. whichever is earlier. Kings XI Punjab appoints Anil Kumble head  The post of Law Secretary has been vacant coach for IPL season 2020 since December 2018, when Suresh Chandra resigned after the Centre decided against extending his tenure.

Anup Kumar Singh appointed as Director- General of NSG

Senior IPS officer of Gujarat cadre Anup Kumar Indonesian President Joko Widodo has been sworn Singh has been appointed as Director-General of the into office for his second and final five-year term. National Security Guard (NSG).

 Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, took  The appointment of Mr Singh, who is a oath at a ceremony in the capital, Jakarta. 1985-batch IPS officer, was approved by the  Re-elected in polls that took place on 17th Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. April, the 58-year-old was sworn into office  His appointment will be from the date of along with 76-year-old vice president Maruf joining the post and up to 30th of September, Amin. 2020.  Widodo clinched victory with 55.5 per cent of the vote in the April presidential election. Sudhaker Shukla appointed as whole-time member of IBBI Rajasthan Royals appoints Andrew McDonald as new head coach

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Sudhaker Shukla as a Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Whole-Time Member (WTM) of the Insolvency and Royals have appointed Australian coach and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI). cricketer Andrew Barry McDonald as new head coach for a tenure of three years.  With this appointment, the Governing Board of IBBI is complete, which can have a total  The former Australian all-rounder has strength of 10. outstanding credentials and has coached  The Governing Board Members of IBBI Leicestershire, Victoria, and the Melbourne consists of a Chairman, 3 WTM, four ex Renegades. officio members and two part-time members.  The 38-year-old played four Tests for Australia, had guided Victoria to the title win Indonesia's President Joko Widodo sworn in for in Sheffield Shield in his first year as senior the final term coach.  McDonald has been a part of the IPL in the past and has played for Delhi Daredevils in 2009 IPL before being signed up by Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2012-2013.

Arvind Singh appointed the chairman of AAI

Senior BJP leader Manohar Lal has been sworn-in as Chief Minister of Haryana.

 Governor Satyadev Narayan Arya administered him the oath of office and Senior IAS officer Arvind Singh has been appointed secrecy at a function at Raj Bhavan in as the chairman of Airports Authority of India. Chandigarh.  This is the second consecutive term for  Singh is at present working in his cadre-state Manohar Lal as Chief Minister. Maharashtra.  Jannayak Janta Party leader Dushyant  He has been appointed as the chief of AAI in Chautala was sworn-in as Deputy Chief the rank and pay of additional secretary. Minister.  In the 90-member assembly, the BJP has Sukhbir Sandhu appointed as NHAI Chairman emerged as the single largest party with 40 seats. JJP has won 10 seats and independent 7.

Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde appointed as 47th CJI

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed Sukhbir Singh Sandhu as the Chairman of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

 Sandhu is a 1988 batch IAS officer from the Uttarakhand Cadre. Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde was appointed as the  He was the additional secretary at the 47th Chief Justice of India. department of education and will replace NN Sinha, who was appointed as the secretary,  Justice Bobde will take oath as the CJI on department for border management. November 18th, a day after incumbent Ranjan Gogoi demits office. Manohar Lal sworn-in as Haryana CM for 2nd  He will have a tenure of 17 months and would term demit office on April 23rd, 2021.  He was appointed as the chief justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on October 2012.

 In April 2013, he was elevated to the Senior IPS officer Anup Kumar Singh has taken Supreme Court. charge as the new Director General (DG) of National Security Guard (NSG). Argentine diplomat Rafael Grossi appointed IAEA chief  A 1985-batch IPS officer of the Gujarat cadre, Singh's appointment was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  The NSG is a counter-terrorism unit under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It was raised in 1984.

Argentine diplomat Rafael Grossi was appointed to succeed late Yukiya Amano as the new director- Sachin Tendulkar gets the most effective general of the International Atomic Energy Agency Swachhata Ambassador award (IAEA), a United Nations' nuclear watchdog.

 He will be appointed for a term of four years and assume office no later than January 1, 2020.  Grossi is a nuclear and diplomatic veteran from Buenos Aires in Argentina.  He headed the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which is a multinational export control regime, the Convention on Nuclear Security and was deputy to the head of the OPCW President Ram Nath Kovind presented the most between 2014 and 2016. effective Swachchta Ambassador award to cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on the occasion of 150th birth Points to Remember anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

 IAEA HQ: Vienna, Austria  Sachin Tendulkar has been promoting cleanliness drives in India for almost 10 Anup Kumar Singh takes charge as new DG of years. National Security Guard  On September 18, 2011, during Support My School telethon’, Sachin Tendulkar helped raise crores more than the target set for creation of basic facilities in 140 government schools across India, particularly toilets for girl students.

Jaipur, Jodhpur, Durgapura cleanest stations in India: Railways survey

England cricketer Ben Stokes bagged the Three railway stations in Rajasthan bagged top Professional Cricketers' Association Players' Player honours in the railways' cleanliness survey unveiled of the Year award. by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal.  Stokes won the award for his exceptional  Jaipur, Jodhpur and Durgapura were the top performance in the ICC Cricket World Cup three ranking railway stations among 720 2019. stations.  The all-rounder amassed 465 runs including  Andheri, Virar and Naigaon railway stations 84 (not out) in the final against New Zealand. were the top three among 109 suburban  The flamboyant all-rounder has featured in stations. 95 ODIs, 23 T20Is and 57 Test for England.  North Western Railway followed by South East Central Railway and East Central Greta Thunberg and Divina Maloum awarded Railway are the top three railway zones. children’s international peace prize

President of India presents Vayoshreshtha Samman

The international organisation for the defence of children’s rights KidsRights awarded it's

International Children’s Peace Prize to the Swedish The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, climate activist Greta Thunberg (16) and Divina presented the Vayoshreshtha Samman. Maloum (14) from Cameroon.

 It is a scheme of National Awards for senior  The award ceremony will take place on citizens of the Ministry of Social Justice and November 20 near The Hague (Netherlands) Empowerment. on World Children’s Day.  Speaking on the occasion, the President said  Both winners were selected from among 137 that senior citizens are important parts of our candidates from 56 countries for the prize. social and national life. 2019 Nobel Prize in Medicine Ben Stokes wins PCA Player's Player of Year award

 Pandey will receive the award on November 13 at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok.  The purpose of the Asia Environmental Enforcement Awards is to publicly recognise outstanding achievements by public organisations and individuals in Asia to combat transboundary environmental crime. The 2019 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to scientists William G Kaelin, Jr, Nobel prize in physics awarded for discoveries in Peter J Ratcliffe and Gregg L Semenza. cosmology

 The Nobel Committee announced that they received the award jointly for their discoveries of "how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability”.  The jury said that they established the basis for our understanding of how oxygen levels affect cellular metabolism and physiological function.  The three will share the Nobel prize sum of Nobel Prize 2019 for Physics has been announced. nine million Swedish kronor or about 9 Lakh 14 thousand US dollar.  Three scientists, James Peebles, Michel  It is the 110th prize in the category that has Mayor and Didier Queloz have won the Prize been awarded since 1901. for their contribution to the understanding of the evolution of the universe and earth's place IFS officer Ramesh Pandey selected for Asia in the cosmos. Environmental Enforcement Award by UNEP  One half of the award was given to James Peebles for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology and the other half jointly to Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar- type star.  They will share a 9-million kronor cash award, a gold medal and a diploma.

Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded for the development of Lithium-ion batteries Senior Indian Forest Service officer Ramesh Pandey has been selected for the prestigious Asia Environmental Enforcement Award by the United Nations Environment Programme.

 The 1996-batch IFS officer, posted as Chief Conservator Forests in Lucknow and Secretary, UP State Bio-diversity Board, is known for his investigation and intelligence gathering on poachers.

The 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been  Abiy was honoured "for his efforts to achieve awarded to John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley peace and international cooperation, and in Whittingham and Akira Yoshino. particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring  They have been awarded "for the Eritrea," development of lithium-ion batteries".  Ethiopia and Eritrea, longtime foes who  The batteries power everyday products such fought a border war from 1998 to 2000, as smartphones, laptops and even electric restored relations in July 2018 after years of vehicles. hostility.  At 97, John B Goodenough is the oldest person to receive a Nobel Prize. Chandi Prasad Bhatt to get Indira Gandhi award for national integration Nobel Prize in Literature awarded to Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk for 2018 and to Austrian author Peter Handke for 2019

The 31st Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration for the years 2017 and 2018 will be awarded to the pioneer of the ‘Chipko Movement’ Chandi Prasad Bhatt. The 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature has been announced along with the 2018 Prize.  The award will be presented for his services in promoting and preserving the national  Austrian author Peter Handke has won the integration. 2019 Prize while Polish writer Olga  The award consists of a citation and cash of Tokarczuk has received the 2018 Prize. Rs 10 lakh to be given to the awardee by  Tokarczuk becomes just the 15th woman to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on October have won the prestigious distinction, out of 31, the death anniversary of former Prime 116 literature laureates honoured since 1901. Minister Indira Gandhi.  The 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature was  The 85-year-old Bhatt is an eminent announced along with the 2018 Prize as the Gandhian environmentalist and was latter was delayed by a year following a associated with the Chipko Movement in scandal that included allegations of sexual Uttarakhand. misconduct.  Bhatt is a Ramon Magsaysay award recipient for the year 1982. Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed wins Nobel Peace  He was also awarded the Padma Shri in 1986, Prize the Padma Bhushan in 2005 and the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2013. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for his peacemaking efforts Indian-American Abhijit Banerjee, wife Esther with Eritrea. Duflo and Michael Kremer of the United States win Nobel for Economics

separate Atwood's - 'The Testament' and 'Girl, Woman, Other' by Evaristo, who is the first black woman to win the prestigious award since its creation in 1969.  The rules were changed after the last tie in 1992, and organisers told this year's judges that they were not allowed to pick two winners.

India wins four UNESCO heritage awards The 2019 Nobel Prize for Economics has been jointly won by Indian-American Abhijit Banerjee, his wife, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer of the United States ‘for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty’.

 58-year-old Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee was educated at the University of Calcutta, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Harvard University, where he received his PhD in Four Indian sites have been chosen from India for the 1988. UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage  He is currently the Ford Foundation Conservation. International Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  The UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for  In 2003 he founded the Abdul Latif Jameel Cultural Heritage Conservation awards were Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), along with announced at a ceremony held in Penang, Esther Duflo and Sendhil Mullainathan, and Malaysia, marking 20 years since its he remains one of the lab’s directors. institution.  The four winners from India, include one Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo from Ahmedabad - Award of Distinction for jointly win Booker Prize Vikram Sarabhai Library, Indian Institute of Management (IIM); and three from Mumbai - Award of Merit for Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue and Our Lady of Glory Church; while Honourable Mention for Flora Fountain.

Jennifer Aniston to receive People's Icon Award 2019

Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo have jointly won the 2019 Booker Prize.

 British Indian novelist Salman Rushdie's tragicomic 'Quichotte' was among the six books shortlisted for the prize.  The Booker rules say the prize must not be divided, but the judges insisted they could not

'Friends' star Jennifer Aniston is set to receive the People's Icon Award at the 2019 People's Choice Awards.

 The actress would be the second-ever recipient of the title.  Last year, Melissa McCarthy accepted the trophy for the inaugural award.  Fifty-year-old Aniston has played the most Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt starrer 'Gully Boy', iconic, unforgettable characters and has walked home with the best film from India award in conquered comedy and drama on both the the regional finals at the Asian Academy Creative small and big screen. Awards ceremony.

Kiran Uniyal achieves individual Guinness World  The film draws inspiration from the lives of records Mumbai street rappers Vivian Fernandes aka Divine and Naved Shaikh aka Naezy and revolves around the underground rap movement in India.  Apart from the Zoya Akhtar-directorial film, Netflix's 'Delhi Crime,' also bagged several awards in various categories.  Actor Shefali Shah won Best Actor in a leading role award followed by Richie Mehta for Best Direction and Best Original Screenplay, Beverley Mills for Best Editing and Best Original Programme by a streaming Kiran Uniyal, w/o a serving Colonel of Indian Army service. has created Individual Guinness World Records for  The Karavan Production for Netflix series is “The most full contact knee strikes in three minutes based on the 2012 Delhi gang-rape case that (one leg) (female), 263 strikes” & “The most full took place in the neighbourhood of Munirka, contact knee strikes alternate legs in one minute in South Delhi. (female),120 strikes”. Khasi director Pradip Kurbah wins big at Busan  The earlier records were of 177 strikes and International Film Festival 2019 102 in female category respectively.  The objective of both her records was to promote martial arts for girls and women safety and self-defence.  While creating the record for the most full contact knee strikes for three minutes, she surpassed the existing male category record of 226 knee strikes.  She has so far achieved 15 World Records, Two-time National Film Award (India) winner including 10 Guinness World Records in Pradip Kurbah won the prestigious Kim Ji-seok Martial Arts, Fitness and Social Work. award at the Busan International Film Festival 2019 for his Khasi film ‘Market’. 'Gully Boy,' 'Delhi Crime' win big at Asian Academy Creative Awards

 Kurbah’s film ‘Iewduh’, or ‘Market’ in Minister of Panchayati Raj Narendra Singh Tomar English, is a feature film set in a local market conferred the national Panchayat Awards, 2019 at a of Shillong and delves into the everyday lives function in New Delhi. of the people who work and live there, their hopes, joys and sorrows.  246 Awards were given to awardee  At the 61st and 63rd National Film Awards, Panchayats and States in various categories Kurbah received the award for the best Khasi for their best performance at different levels, film award for his films ‘Ri – Homeland of including the delivery of services. Uncertainty’ and ‘Onaatah – Daughter of the  195 awards were conferred under Deen Dayal Earth’ respectively. Upadhyay Panchayat Sashaktikaran Puraskar category, 20 Gram Panchayats in Nanaji M Venkaiah Naidu presents Most Eminent Senior Deshmukh Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Citizen Award to K Parasaran Puraskar category and 3 Gram Panchayats in Gram Panchayat Development Plan Award category.  22 Gram Panchayats were awarded in Child- Friendly Gram Panchayats Award and six states were awarded under e-Panchayat Puraskar category.  The Minister also launched an App called ‘Gram Manchitra’ which is a Geo-Spatial based decision support system for Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu presented Most panchayats. Eminent Senior Citizen Award to legal luminary and former Attorney General K. Parasaran. President Kovind confers first National Corporate Social Responsibility Awards  Mr Parasaran was honoured with the award on the occasion of the Elder’s Day celebration of Age Care India, an organization working for the welfare of the elderly.  Vice President said that the Award is a fitting recognition of Mr Parasaran’s exceptional contribution to the field of law and justice as well as his extraordinary personality.

Panchayati Raj Minister confers National President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the first Panchayat Awards 2019 National Corporate Social Responsibility Awards to the companies for their outstanding contribution in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

 Commending the efforts of Ministry of Corporate Affairs for initiating the National CSR Awards in the year of Gandhiji’s 150th birth anniversary, he said, these awards will be conferred every year on 2nd October.

 Every fiscal year since 2014-15, the corporate sector has set aside more than Rs

10,000 crore for social welfare and various  Renowned Author and Scholar Govind social sectors like education, environment, Mishra gave away the award to him. health, poverty eradication, sanitation and  The Vyas Samman started in 1991, is given safe drinking water have benefitted from this by KK Birla Foundation for an outstanding effort. literary work in Hindi authored by an Indian citizen published during the last 10 years. Nawazuddin Siddiqui wins big at 2019 Cardiff  It carries award money of four lakh rupees International Film Festival along with a citation and plaque.

Sumit Nagal wins men's singles title ATP Challenger Tournament

Nawazuddin Siddiqui has been bestowed with the Golden Dragon Award at this year's Cardiff International Film Festival in the UK.

 Cardiff Festival also honoured veteran Hollywood actor Judi Dench with the Lifetime Achievement Award.  Moreover, the actor was also part of the festival's official jury along with Indian TV In Tennis, Sumit Nagal has won the men's singles actor Divyanka Tripathi Dahiya among title of ATP Challenger Tournament at Buenos Aires others. in Argentina.

28th Vyas Samman conferred on Leeladhar  He defeated local favourite Facundo Bognis Jagoori in straight-sets 6-4, 6-2 in an hour and 37- minute match to claim the 54,160 US dollars prize money.  The 22-year-old from Haryana, seeded seventh, outclassed 8th seed Bognis of Argentina to become first Indian to win on South American clay court.  Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju congratulated Sumit calling it a Brilliant performance. The 28th Vyas Samman for the year 2018 was conferred on well known Hindi writer Leeladhar Annu Rani becomes 1st Indian to qualify for Jagoori. women's javelin throw final

 Mr Jagoori has been chosen for the prestigious award for his poetry collection- Jitne Log Utne Prem.

Annu Rani became the first Indian to qualify for the Maj Abdul Quadir Khan of the Corps of Signals women's javelin throw final in World Athletics brought laurels to India by winning a Silver Medal at Championships with the best attempt of 62.43m the prestigious 53rd Asian Body Building and which is a National Record. Physique Sports Championship held at Batam, Indonesia.  She finished fifth in the qualifying round of World Athletics Championships in Doha, a  Commissioned in Jun 2014, he took to Body place above the current World Record holder Building with fervour in spite of an extremely Barbora Spotakova. busy regimental schedule.  Annu Rani had smashed her own national  He participated in the Indian Body Building record during the qualification round of the Federation (IBBF) selection trials held at World Athletics Championships. Khammam, Telangana in July 2019 and got selected to represent India. Wilson Singh-Satish Kumar pair wins gold at Asian Age Group Championships Nida Dar first Pakistani woman cricketer to sign with an overseas T20 team

In Swimming, India's N Wilson Singh and Satish Kumar Prajapati produced impressive performances to win a gold medal in 10 metres platform synchronised event at the ongoing 10th Asian Age Group Championships. Nida Dar became the first woman from Pakistan to sign a deal with an international cricket league.  The duo scored 290.19 scores to beat Uzbekistan's Zaynetdinov Marsel and  She will feature for Sydney Thunder in the Khasanov Botir, who scored 280.53 points. upcoming Women's Big Bash League.  India, thus, extended their total tally to 60  The flamboyant all-rounder has featured in medals (17 gold, 23 silver and 20 bronze) in 71 ODIs and 96 T20Is for Pakistan. the prestigious championships, which is the  She has amassed 904 runs in ODIs and 1086 largest aquatic event in Asia. runs in T20Is with a strike of 60.38 and 96.27 respectively. Maj Abdul Quadir Khan won Silver Medal in 53rd Asian Body Building

 Thunder is yet to lay their hands on the  Winning the FIDE women's Grand Prix WBBL trophy since winning the maiden tournament held in Skolkovo in Russia edition of the showpiece event. recently, Humpy gained 17 ELO points and has climbed to the third spot with a global World Women's Boxing Championship begins in rating of 2,577. Russia  The top two slots are occupied by two Chinese players Hou Yifan (2,569 points) and Ju Wenjun (2,586 points).  In the Open section, former world champion and Indian GM V. Anand is ranked ninth with 2,765 points while the reigning world champion Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen has continued his dominance at the number one spot with 2,876 points.

The World Women's Boxing Championship begins India's first-ever floating basketball court opens at Ulan Ude in Russia. in the Arabian Sea

 The best female boxers in the world will compete in the 11th edition of the championships, the most prestigious boxing titles in the word.  India will play with a ten-member squad comprising experienced and young boxers.  Six-time champion M C Mary Kom will start

as a strong medal contender for India yet again in the 51-kilogram category. The National Basketball Association brought to India  The spotlight will also be on former the first-ever Floating Basketball Court in the champion and Mary Kom's contemporary L Arabian Sea near Bandra Worli Sealink in Mumbai. Sarita Devi in 60-kilogram category.  NBA India on December 20, 2018, had India's Koneru Humpy moves to World No.3 in announced that the first-ever NBA game in women's chess the country would be organized in October in Mumbai.  The NBA India Games 2019 will feature the Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers.

Harmanpreet Kaur becomes first Indian to reach 100 T20Is

India's woman chess Grand Master (GM) Koneru Humpy has moved to the third spot in the latest rankings released by International Chess Federation (FIDE).

Harmanpreet Kaur became the first Indian to play 100 T20 International matches.

 Harmanpreet, who captains India in the shortest format of the game, turned up for the team in their sixth T20I against South Africa in Surat.  Harmanpreet Kaur is among 10 female

players who have reached the three-figure mark in terms of appearances. India's Avinash Sable qualified for Tokyo Olympics  The Indian female player closest to her is in men's 3000m steeplechase event by shattering his Mithali Raj, who retired from T20Is in own national record for the second time in three days. September, with 89 appearances.  Overall, Harmanpreet has two more  He finished 13th in the final of the World appearances in T20Is than MS Dhoni and Championships in Doha. Rohit Sharma, who have played the highest  Avinash, a farmer's son from Mandwa village number of matches for India in men's cricket. in Maharashtra, clocked 8 minutes 21.37 seconds to breach the Olympics qualifying Jadeja becomes fastest left-arm bowler to take standard of 8:22.00 seconds. 200 Test wickets  In the men's 20km race walk event, national record holder K T Irfan finished a disappointing 27th in 1 hour 35 minute 21 seconds.  The 29-year-old Irfan has already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.

8. Surender Singh creates three world records at World Powerlifting Championship

India spinner Ravindra Jadeja picked up his 200th Test wicket in 44th game and became the fastest left- arm bowler to reach the milestone.

 He eclipsed the feat of Sri Lanka spinner Rangana Herath, who had reached the landmark in his 47th Test match.  The 30-year-old cricketer from Saurashtra Surender Singh of India created three world records at the had made his Test debut against England ongoing World Powerlifting Championship in Berlin, back in 2012. Germany.  Jadeja has also scalped 178 ODI wickets from 156 games and 33 wickets in 44 T20Is.  Surender bagged a gold medal in 110 kg category,  In fact, he has been India’s first-choice Classic Raw and the Best Lifter Award in Classic spinner in recent times in away games. Raw and Single Ply.  Three-time World Champion Mukesh Singh won Avinash Sable qualifies for Tokyo Olympics in yet another gold only to be known as 4-time men's 3,000 m steeplechase event World Champion.

 On the first day of the championship, Indian  With this win, Simone Biles becomes the contingent bagged a total of 4 gold and 1 silver event's most decorated woman. medal.  US gymnastics star Simone Biles won a record 21st medal at the world gymnastics 9. Novak Djokovic clinches Japan Open title championships.  Biles' 15th career gold medal brings her a total of 21 medals, breaking a tie with the Russian gymnast Svetlana Khorkina for the most medals by a woman at the world championships.

Bastian Schweinsteiger announces retirement from soccer

World number one Novak Djokovic clinched the Japan Open tennis title defeating Australian qualifier John Millman 6-3, 6-2 in straight sets.

 Djokovic, playing in his first Japanese competition, dominated throughout the game, to claim the trophy at the Ariake Colosseum at Tokyo.  Djokovic never faced a breakpoint, while German World Cup champion Bastian Millman managed to survive only one of four Schweinsteiger has announced his retirement from break points during the match. soccer.

10. Rohit Sharma breaks Akram's 23-year-old  Schweinsteiger spent a majority of his career record of most sixes in a Test Match with European giants Bayern Munich, where he won eight Bundesliga titles and seven Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma surpassed Wasim Akram German cups as well as the Champions to hit the most number of sixes in a Test match. league in 2013.  The 35-year-old made over 300 appearances  He achieved the feat on day four of the first Test for the Bavarian side, scoring 45 goals from match between India and South Africa. 2002-2015.  The right-handed batsman broke the 23-year-old record previously held by Akram. Mithali Raj becomes 1st female player to  The former Pakistan cricketer had hit twelve sixes in a match against Zimbabwe in Sheikhupura. complete 20 years in international cricket  Rohit whacked 13 sixes in the first Test and smashed two centuries in both the innings.

Simone Biles wins 15th world title as US claim team Gold

US gymnastics star Simone Biles clinches a record- extending 15th world championship title as the US wins world gymnastics team Gold in Stuttgart, Germany.

India women's cricket captain Mithali Raj became  Third-seeded Mary Kom lost 1-4 to second the first female player to last more than 20 years in seed Cakiroglu, who is the reigning European international cricket. Championships and European Games gold- medalist.  She achieved the feat while leading India to  The Indian contingent sought a review of the an emphatic eight-wicket win over South decision but the appeal was turned down by Africa Women in the first ODI at Vadodara. the International Boxing Association's  Mithali, who made her ODI debut against (AIBA) technical committee. Ireland on June 26, 1999, completed 20 years  This bronze is her first world medal in the and 105 days in the 50-over format. 51kg category.  The right-handed batswoman has played 204 ODIs till now, the most by a female. Eliud Kipchoge becomes the first person to run a marathon in under two hours Kohli scored the most double hundreds for an Indian batsman

Skipper Virat Kohli scored his seventh double ton Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge has successfully completed and he now has the most number of 200 plus scores the first-ever marathon under two hours in the for an Indian batsman. Austrian capital of Vienna.

 He achieved the feat on the second day of the  The 34-year-old ran forty-two kilometres in 1 second Test match between India and South hour, 59 minutes and 40 seconds at Vienna's Africa at the Maharashtra Cricket Prater-Hauptallee - an achievement once Association Stadium in Pune. considered beyond human's reach.  Kohli surpassed Virender Sehwag in the list  Kipchoge was on target to break the record for the most number of double hundreds for during the first half of Vienna's Prater Park an Indian batsman. on, after completing 21 kilometres in 59.35  Sehwag had six scores of 200 plus in Test minutes. cricket.  During the race, Kipchoge followed behind a  He also became the first Indian to score 40 car and was assisted by an army of 30 hundred as skipper. pacemakers.

MC Mary Kom settles for bronze in World Simone Biles breaks the record for most world Women's Boxing Championships medals won by any gymnast

Six-time champion M C Mary Kom settled for a Simone Biles broke the all-time record for most bronze medal in the World Women's Boxing medals by any gymnast at the world championships Championships after losing to Turkey's Busenaz by winning the balance beam competition at the Cakiroglu in an intense semifinal bout at Ulan Ude World Gymnastics Championship in Stuttgart, in Russia. Germany.

 It’s the 24th world championship medal for  Lakshya rallied from a game deficit to defeat Biles, breaking a tie on 23 with the Yusuke Onodera of Japan 15-21, 21-14, 21- Belarusian men’s gymnast Vitaly Scherbo. 15 in a final that lasted 63 minutes.  Biles scored 15.066 on the beam after a near-  Lakshya, currently ranked 72nd, had won the flawless routine. Belgian Open last month and reached the finals of Polish Open this year. Manju Rani settles for silver medal in World  He had also won the Asian Junior Women's Boxing Championship Championships, a silver at Youth Olympic Games and a bronze medal at World Junior Championships last year.

ICC changes super over the rule for all its major events

The Indian women's boxing contingent ended the World Boxing Championships campaign with a record four medals after Manju Rani bagged the silver in the 48kg category final. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has changed the super overrule for all its major events.  19-year-old Manju lost the gold-medal bout 1-4 against 2nd seed Ekaterina Paltceva of  The decision came after the uproar over the Russia but still managed to finish as the best outcome of the men's World Cup final this Indian performer in this edition. year when England was declared winners  This was Manju's maiden appearance at the against New Zealand on boundary count. World Championships.  As per new rule, in case of a super over the  India finished with one silver and three tie, there will be a repeated super over until bronze medals after Jamuna Boro, Lovlina one team has more runs than the other. Borgohain and MC Mary Kom clinched the  In July this year, England won their first-ever bronze medals in their respective categories. World Cup title. In the final, the winner was not decided after the 50-over and super over Lakshya Sen wins maiden BWF World Tour title action, both of which were tied.  In the end, England was announced as the winner as they had hit more boundaries, 26, as compared to New Zealand's 17 boundaries in the match.

Sourav Ganguly set to be new BCCI President

Former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly has Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen clinched his maiden been unanimously nominated as the new President of BWF World Tour title by winning the Dutch Open the Board of Control for Cricket in India, BCCI. men's singles at Almere in the Netherlands.  Board member Rajiv Shukla tweeted the names of new administrative heads for BCCI.

 BCCI members have also unanimously  The 33-year old replaced India cricketer selected Jay Shah as Secretary and Arun Smriti Mandhana and is now four points Dhumal as Treasurer. ahead of the opener.  47-year-old Ganguly was the chairman of the  India all-rounder Shikha Pandey is at the BCCI technical committee and has been a tenth spot, moving up two places. media personality for many years.  Jay Shah is the son of Union Home Minister Mumbai's Yashasvi Jaiswal, youngest cricketer Amit Shah while Dhumal is the younger to score 200 in One Day cricket brother of MoS Finance and former BCCI president Anurag Thakur.

Priyanshu Rajawat claims men's singles title at Bahrain International Series

Mumbai teenager Yashasvi Jaiswal created history as he became the youngest cricketer in the world to score a double century in One Day cricket.

 He became the youngest batsman to score a double century in List A (One-Day) cricket.  Playing in his debut Vijay Hazare season, the Indian shuttler Priyanshu Rajawat claimed the men's 17-year-old scored 203 off 154 balls against singles title at the Bahrain International Series Jharkhand at Alur, Karnataka. Badminton at Isa Town. Lionel Messi receives his sixth Golden Shoe  Seventeen-year-old Rajawat beat top-seed Jason Anthony Ho-Shue from Canada in the FC Barcelona striker Argentina's Lionel Messi finals 16-21, 21-7, 21-12 in the summit clash. received the 2018/19 Golden Shoe, the sixth of his  Top-seeded Indian mixed double pair of Juhi career and the third consecutively. Dewangan and Venkat Gaurav Prasad also finished at the top.  The 36 goals in 34 games that he scored last  They defeated Thailand's Pannawat season in the league have served to ensure a Theerapanitnun and Kanyanat new European Golden Shoe and a Sudchoeichom 21-18, 21-16 in 34 minutes to continuation of his records. bag the gold medal.  The Argentinian was already the only player  In women's singles, Ira Sharma finished in history to get five Golden Shoes. second best.  It should be remembered that he won the first in the 2009/10 season (34 goals), then two in Amy Satterthwaite becomes world-number one 2011/12 (50 goals) and 2012/13 season (46 in ODI goals), and now he has accumulated three more consecutively: 2016/17 (37 goals), New Zealand's Amy Satterthwaite became the world 2017/18 (34 goals) and 2018/19 (36 goals). number one ODI batter in the latest ICC Women's player rankings. RCB becomes the first IPL team to hire a woman in support staff

 Last year, India lost 4-3 to Britain in the penalty shootout after the teams were tied 2- 2 after regulation time.

Hockey India names women squad for FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) appointed Navnita Gautam as their Sports Massage Therapist and became the first Indian Premier League team to have a woman in the support staff.

 Navnita will work with Evan Speechly, the Head Physiotherapist and Basu Shanker, Hockey India named an unchanged women squad, to Strength and Conditioning Coach. be led by Rani Rampal, along with the men's team  She will be responsible for performing for the upcoming FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers. specialized techniques pertaining to the preparation, motivation, overall supervision and all individual physical ailments relating  Goalkeeper Savita will be the vice-captain of to the team. the women's squad.  The 18-member men's squad will be captained by Manpreet Singh and seasoned Indian junior hockey team loses to Great Britain forward S V Sunil will be his deputy. in Sultan of Johor Cup  The men's team has two goalkeepers in P R Sreejesh and Krishan Bahadur Pathak.  The winners of the Qualifiers will ensure a place in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Indian boxers clinch bumper tally of 21 medals, including six golds at Asian Junior Championships

Indian junior hockey men's team lost a second consecutive final to Great Britain in the Sultan of Johor Cup as it succumbed to a 1-2 loss at Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

 The first three-quarters of the match went Indian boxers at the Asian Junior Championships, goalless. clinched a bumper tally of 21 medals, including six  Indian forward Gursahibjit Singh broke the golds and nine silvers, to end with the best medal deadlock in the 49th minute with a goal from haul among 26 competing countries in Fujairah, a penalty corner. United Arab Emirates.  However, Britain struck back through Stuart Rushmere's drag-flick in the 50th minute.

 The Indian men's squad fetched two golds, good start in the 7th CISM World Military Games in three silvers and an equal number of bronzes, Wuhan, China. while the women claimed four gold, six silver and three bronze medals.  Panghal beat Douglas Andrade of Brazil 4-1,  The team ended top in terms of medals won while Chirag (56kg) defeated Zambia's but finished second behind Uzbekistan (20) Katanga Christopher 5-0. which had a better gold count of eight.  India had sent a contingent of 54 participants in nine sports, Archery, boxing, diving, Kuhoo Garg-Dhruv Rawat win Egypt modern pentathlon, shooting, track and field, International mixed doubles title gymnastics and tennis in the competition.  A total of 9,308 military personnel from 109 countries are competing in the World Military Games.

2024 Olympic Games logo unveiled in Paris

In badminton, Kuhoo Garg and Dhruv Rawat put up a brilliant effort to win the mixed doubles title at the Egypt International 2019 in Cairo.

 The unseeded Garg and Rawat held their nerves for a tight 21-16, 22-20 victory over the third seeds Utkarsh Arora and Karishma Wadkar in an all-Indian final. The logo for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games unveiled  Garg, however, failed to have double delight at a ceremony in the French capital. as she later went down in the women's doubles final with Sanyogita Ghorpade.  The circular design with Paris 2024 in the art deco style which was in vogue in 1924 when India off to a good start at World Military Games Paris last hosted the Games, also incorporates in China the lips and outline of Marianne, the personification of the French Republic since the revolution in 1789.  The 2024 Summer Olympics are scheduled to take place from 26 July to 11 August 2024 in Paris, France.

Sourav Ganguly took over as the 39th president of BCCI in Mumbai

One of India's most decorated captains Sourav Ganguly took over as the 39th president of the BCCI In Boxing, World Championships silver medallist in Mumbai at its Annual General Meeting, AGM. Amit Panghal won his opening bout in the men's flyweight (52kg) category as the boxers gave India a

 This will end the 33-month reign of the  Previously, He had bagged two gold medals Supreme Court-appointed Committee of for the Indian contingent in the ongoing Administrators (CoA). World Military Games.  Ganguly is the unanimous nomination for the  He won the first gold in the disabled men's post of BCCI president along with Union 100m IT1 event and won another gold in the Home Minister Amit Shah's son Jay as the disabled men's 400m IT1 event. secretary.  Former BCCI president and current MoS Praveen Kumar becomes first Indian man to win Finance Anurag Thakur's younger brother gold at Wushu World Championships Arun Dhumal is the treasurer.

Anandan Gunasekaran bags two gold medals for India at the World Military Games

Praveen Kumar became the first Indian man to win a Wushu World Championships gold, beating Russel Diaz of Philippines in the 48kg category in Shanghai. Para-Athlete Anandan Gunasekaran bagged two gold medals for the Indian contingent in the ongoing  The Indian saw off his Filipino opponent 2-1 World Military Games in Wuhan, China. in the men's Sanda event of the 15th World Wushu Championships.  He won the first gold in the disabled men's  Among other Indians in the fray, Poonam 100m IT1 event and won another gold in the (women's 75kg) and Sanathoi Devi (women's disabled men's 400m IT1 event. 52kg) secured silver medals while Vikrant  Gunasekaran had completed the 100m IT1 Baliyan bagged the bronze in the men's 60kg race in just 12 seconds. category.  In 2008, he lost one of his legs while serving  India finished third overall in the in the LOC. championship in event with a gold, two  He had managed to win one gold and one silvers and a bronze. silver in the last edition of the World Military  Wushu is a Chinese martial art which Games. combines full-contact kickboxing, including close-range punches and kicks, with Aneesh Kumar Surendran Pillai bags third gold wrestling, takedowns, throws, sweeps and for India at World Military Games kicks catch.

Aneesh Kumar Surendran Pillai bagged the third Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty bag gold medal for India in the ongoing World Military silver in the doubles event at French Open Games here at Wuhan, China. In Badminton, India's top men's doubles pair of  He won the gold in disabled men's shotput Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost to IT1 event and he finished with a score of world No.1 pair of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and 12.76. Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in the finals of the French Open in Paris.

 The Indian duo settled for silver after losing  One year of the punishment has been the final 18-21, 16-21. suspended after he accepted three charges of  Satwik and Chirag had won their maiden breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code. Super 500 title at the Thailand Open earlier in  Shakib was found guilty for not reporting to August this year. the ICC that he was approached by the  It was the first time that an Indian men's bookies. doubles pair reached a World Tour 750 final.  He was approached by the bookies during the home tri-series against Zimbabwe and Sri Tiger Woods equals world record for most career Lanka last year in January. Titles  Bookies approached him during the Indian Premier League match between Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kings XI Punjab in April 2018.

India to play its first-ever Day-Night Test

In Golf, Tiger Woods equalled the PGA Tour record of 82 tournament wins with victory at the Zozo Championship.

 The 43-year-old world number 10 had seven holes to finish in Japan as he matched fellow The Indian cricket team will play its first-ever Day- American Sam Snead's record, set in 1965. Night Test match against Bangladesh.  It was his first event since having his fifth knee operation nine weeks ago.  The Test is scheduled to be held at the Eden Gardens from November 22-26 and will be  In April, Woods won his first major for 11 years with victory at the Masters, leaving him the second game of a two-match series. three short of Jack Nicklaus' record of 18  The match will start at 2 pm (IST) and will major titles. comprise a Tea and Dinner break.

ICC bans Bangladeshi cricketer Shakib Al Hasan

Veteran actor Viju Khote passes away

Bangladesh Test and T20 Captain Shakib Al Hasan have been banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) from all cricket for two years.

Veteran actor Viju Khote passed away in Mumbai. Padma Shri awardee and well known Saxophonist Kadri Gopalnath passed away after a brief illness.  He had acted in more than 300 Hindi and Marathi films.  An A grade artist in Akashwani, Gopalnath  He gained fame for his character Kaliya in the held concerts in different countries and blockbuster film Sholay. recorded a number of CDs.  Khote was popular for his comedy roles in  He was considered as a pioneer in playing many films including Andaz Apna Apna, Carnatic ragas on his Saxophone. Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak.  Apart from Padma Shree, Gopalnath was conferred with Sangeetha Nataka Academy Celebrated opera singer Jessye Norman passed Award, Karnataka Kalasri award among away others.

Renowned painter Kalidas Karmakar dies in Dhaka

Celebrated opera singer Jessye Norman, an American soprano who showcased her majestic the voice in performances around the world, died. Internationally acclaimed painter of Bangladesh  The Grammy winner died ‘surrounded by Kalidas Karmakar passed away in Dhaka. loved ones’ at a New York hospital due to septic shock and multi-organ failure after  An icon of modern art in Bangladesh, Kalidas complications from a 2015 spinal cord injury. was awarded Shilpakala Padak in 2016 and  A pioneering young black woman in the the Ekushey Padak in 2018 by the white world of classical music, Norman Government of Bangladesh for his quickly became beloved for her seemingly contribution to fine arts. effortless soaring voice and effervescent  Solo exhibitions of his works were held in personality. Dhaka and many countries, including the US, India, Japan, Iran, and Hong Kong. Eminent Saxophone master Kadri Gopalnath passes away Former Gujarat CM Dilip Parikh passes away

Former Gujarat Chief Minister Dilip Parikh passed Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi unveiled the away. book “Bridgital Nation” and presented its first copy to Shri Ratan Tata in New Delhi.  He served as the 13th Chief Minister of Gujarat during 1997-98 when he was with  The book has been written by Shri N Rashtriya Janata Party - RJP. Chandrasekaran and Ms Roopa Purushottam.  Parikh started his political career as a BJP  The book presents a powerful vision of the MLA. future where technology and human beings  An industrialist by profession, he also served co-exist in a mutually beneficial ecosystem. as President of the Gujarat Chamber of  It argues that instead of accepting technology Commerce and Industry. as the replacement of human labour, India can use it as an aid to generate more jobs. Former SC Judge and Karnataka Lokayukta N Venkatachala passes away Bibek Debroy pens translations of mythological texts Markendya Purana and The Bhagavad Gita

Former Karnataka Lokayukta and former Supreme Court Judge N Venkatachala passed away. Economist and author Bibek Debroy have come out  Justice Venkatachala was appointed as a with English translations of two Hindu mythological judge of the Supreme Court in July 1992. texts "Markendya Purana" and "The Bhagavad Gita",  He retired from his post in July 1995. publishers Penguin announced.  He served as Lokayukta of Karnataka following his retirement from the judiciary.  The book is a special bilingual edition of the foundational text on "dharma" and the Hindu philosophy.  It features a "verse-for-verse translation, providing the original Sanskrit verses alongside the English rendition".

PM Modi releases a book titled 'Bridgital Nation' Monthly Quiz October 2019

Q. International Day of the Older Persons is observed every year on ______.

28 September

29 September

30 September Association of Indian Universities

02 October Q. Who among the following has been appointed as

01 October the principal spokesperson of the Union government? Q. According to Government of India, PIO cards Anshu Gupta will continue as valid travel document till March 2020. PIO stands for ______. Vartika Nanda

Personal Identification Official Vivek Agnihotri

Personal International Official K S Dhatwalia

Persons of Indian Origin None of these

Persons of International Origin Q. Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Bhadauria took charge

None of these as the ______Indian Air Force Chief.

24th Q. The 11th edition of DefEXpo will take place from 5th to 8th February at ______. 25th

Pune 26th

Jaipur 27th

Lucknow 28th

New Delhi Q. The Reserve Bank of India has appointed

Manesar ______as the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank’s administrator. Q. The School Education Quality Index in India is N. S. Srinath launched by ______. Dr M.P. Singh University Grants Commission Shri K. P. Singh Election Commission of India Jai Bhagwan Bhoria National Human Rights Commission of India M S Arora NITI Aayog

Q. Who among the following has won the men's 29 September singles title of ATP Challenger Tournament at 30 September Buenos Aires in Argentina? 1 October Divij Sharan 2 October

Prajnesh Gunneswaran 3 October Saketh Myneni Q. Lal Bahadur Shastri Jayanti is observed every year on Sumit Nagal ______.

Yuki Bhambri 29 September

30 September Q. Recently, Viju Khote passed away. He was a famous ______. 1 October

Singer 2 October

Poet 3 October

Writer Q. Lal Bahadur Shastri served as the first ______of India. Actor Commerce and Industry Minister Film Director Railway Minister Q. Recently discovered minor planet 2006 VP32, Agriculture Minister that has been named as 'Panditjasraj’, is located between which of the following two planets? Home Minister Defence Minister Mars and Jupiter Q. In 2019, India is celebrating ______Birth Earth and Mars Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Mercury and Venus 100th Venus and Earth 75th Jupiter and Saturn 150th China celebrated its 70th anniversary of the founding Q. 110th of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on ______.

140th Arvind Virmani

Q. Smriti Irani has inaugurated the world's largest Rathin Roy

Charkha made of used plastic waste in ______. Surjit Bhalla

Agra Ashima Goyal

Lucknow Bibek Debroy

Noida Q. Who among the following has become the first Indian Pune to qualify for the women's javelin throw final in World Athletics Championships? Gandhinagar Richa Singh Q. Who among the following has launched ‘Consumer App’ to provide a one-stop solution for consumer Annu Rani grievance? Sanjana Pal

Harsimrat Kaur Badal Ankita Negi

Piyush Goyal Shakshi Chaudhary

Narendra Singh Tomar Q. Wilson Singh and Satish Kumar won a gold medal at Ravi Shankar Prasad 10th Asian Age Group Championship. They are associated with which of the following sports? Ram Vilas Paswan Carrom Q. Which of the following Indian bank has become the first Indian bank to have an office in Australia? Swimming

Punjab National Bank Volleyball

Indian Bank Table Tennis Badminton State Bank of Indian

Canara Bank Q. Recently, Jessye Norman passed away. She was a famous ______. Bank of Baroda Actor Q. Who among the following has been appointed as the executive director for India at International Monetary Swimmer Fund (IMF)? Scientist

Singer Q. In October 2019, The number of LED street lights in

Footballer the country has crossed ______mark under the Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP). Q. Which of the following country has issued a 50 Lakh commemorative stamp to honour Mahatma Gandhi on 150th birth anniversary? 1 Crore

Sudan 2 Crore

Palestine 5 Crore

Indonesia 75 Lakh

Singapore Q. Which of the following district of Assam has launched

Vietnam ‘Plants for Plastic Campaign’?

Q. IRCTC will compensate in case of delay in the train Guwahati schedule of Tejas Express between ______and Silchar ______. Tezpur Lucknow - Delhi Bongaigaon Delhi-Ahmedabad Jorhat Mumbai-Pune Q. Which of the following state has become the third Delhi-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra state to ban on pan masala containing magnesium Mumbai- Goa carbonate, nicotine, tobacco, mineral oil and flavoured 'supari'? Q. Which of the following state has started a 36-hour Uttar Pradesh non-stop special session to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi? Jharkhand

Rajasthan Sikkim

Maharashtra Uttarakhand

Uttar Pradesh Rajasthan

Jharkhand Q. Which of the following bank has signed an MoU with

Gujarat the Indian Army for customised services?

Punjab National Bank Dibrugarh

Bank of Baroda Q. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has

Allahabad Bank joined hands with which of the following state’s seven academic institutions for ‘World Space Week’ program? Canara Bank Andhra Pradesh Indian Bank Karnataka Q. Who among the following has been appointed as the Tamil Nadu new Managing Director of Punjab National Bank? Maharashtra Pallav Mahapatra Uttar Pradesh S S Mallikarjuna Rao

P. S. Jayakumar Q. Joint Military Exercise ‘Ekuverin-19’ between the Indian Army and the Maldives National Defence Force Karnam Sekar will be organised at ______. B Sriram Pithoragarh Who among the following has won the most effective Q. Shimla Swachchta Ambassador award? Pune Aamir Khan Chennai Sourav Ganguly Kohima Sachin Tendulkar Q. ‘Nomadic Elephant 2019’ is a joint military exercise Rohit Sharma between India and ______. Salman Khan Laos According to the railways' cleanliness survey, Which Q. Mongolia of the following station has won the cleanest stations in Indonesia India title? Vietnam Indore Sri Lanka Jaipur

Kolkata

Jamshedpur

Q. OYO has partnered with which of the following Surjeet Barnala organisation to meet the capital and commercial real Abdul Qadir Khan estate loans to existing and potential hotel partners? Akshay Chaudhary Afinoz Ashfaq Khan Cash Suvidha Q. Who among the following has become the first Biz2Credit Pakistani woman cricketer to sign with an overseas T20 Creditbazzar.com team?

None of these Bismah Maroof

Q. In October 2019, Which of the following Indian Naval Anam Amin

Ship has arrived at St Denis, Reunion Island, France for a Aiman Anwer three-day visit? Ghulam Fatima INS Kadambh Nida Dar INS Tej Q. Who among the following has won Professional INS Chetak Cricketers' Association Players' Player of the Year award? INS Tarkash Ben Stokes INS Bahadur Virat Kohli

Q. Vayoshreshtha Sammans are presented to ______. Rohit Sharma

Writers David Warner

Sports Persons Steve Smith

Senior Citizens Q. Which of the following country is the host for World Journalists Women's Boxing Championship 2019?

Coaches China

Q. Who among the following has won a silver medal at Thailand the 53rd Asian Body Building and Physique Sports Vietnam Championship in Indonesia? Russia Mohd Salman France

Q. Indian Air Force day is observed on ______. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation

4 October Bharat Petroleum

5 October Hindustan Petroleum

6 October Q. The annual military exercise KAZIND-2019 between India and Kazakhstan army commenced at Pithoragarh in 7 October Uttarakhand. It is the ______edition of this exercise. 8 October 2nd Q. Ministry of Tourism launched audio guide facility app 3rd named as ______for 12 sites of India. 4th Audio Tour 5th Virtual Sound Tour 6th Audio Odigos Q. Which of the following state government has Audio Travel launched ‘Urjagiri’ awareness campaign to stop power None of these theft?

Q. Who among the following has become the first Uttar Pradesh member of Thakarey family to join the electoral fray? Himachal Pradesh Aditya Thackeray Uttarakhand Tejas Thackeray Punjab Rahul Thackeray Madhya Pradesh Aishwarya Thackeray Q. According to the new monetary policy by RBI, the None of these new repo rate stands at ______.

Q. In October 2019, Which of the following company 5.25% has announced to convert the single-use plastic waste into 5.50% a specialised bitumen? 5.15% Indian Oil 5.75% Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited 5.85%

Q. Recently, Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi has been 05 October appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to 06 October Niue. The capital of Niue is ______. 07 October Pago Pago Q. Which of the following country is the celebrating Adamstown festival of Fulpati? Alofi Bhutan Avarua Bangladesh Noumea Nepal Q. Recently, Amur Lakshminarayanan has been named as the Managing Director and Group CEO of ______. China

Bharti Airtel Sri Lanka

Tata Communications Q. Which of the following organisation has

Reliance Communications launched green crackers, keeping in view the pollution hazard and health risks? Facebook India Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Tata Steel Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Q. India’s Koneru Humpy is related to which of the following sports? Bureau of Indian Standards

Badminton Central Pollution Control Board

Chess None of these

Polo Q. Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh approves a Swimming ______increase in funds to families of battle

Table Tennis casualties.

Q. World Teacher’s Day is observed every year on 2 times ______. 3 times

03 October 4 times

04 October 5 times

6 times Mithali Raj

Q. Who among the following has been elected as the Harmanpreet Kaur president of Mumbai Cricket Association? Jhulan Goswami

Vijay Patil Deepti Sharma

Rahul Nair Smriti Mandhana

Ajay Tripathi Q. Who among the following has become the fastest Rajat Shukla left-arm bowler to take 200 Test wickets?

Ankur Singh Rana Wahab Riaz

Q. Who among the following has been awarded Ravindra Jadeja children’s international peace prize by KidsRights? Mitchell Starc

Greta Thunberg Shakib Al Hasan

Divina Maloum None of these

Malala Yousafzai Q. Recently, Who among the following has qualified 1 and 2 for Tokyo Olympics in men's 3,000 m steeplechase event in World Championships, Doha? 1, 2 and 3 Davinder Singh Kang Q. India's first-ever floating basketball court has been opened in ______. Shivpal Singh

Puri Muhammed Anas Yahiya

Kolkata Jabir M.P.

Mumbai Avinash Sable

Chennai Q. Who among the following has inaugurated National e-Assessment Centre (NeAC) in New Kochi Delhi? Q. Who among the following has become the first Amit Shah Indian to play 100 T20 International matches? Nirmala Sitharaman

Rajnath Singh New Delhi

Nitin Gadkari Q. Which of the following state has launched

Piyush Goyal ‘Mukhyamantri Suposhan Yojana’ on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi? Q. Which of the following state will host 50th Bihar International Film Festival of India, IFFI 2019? Madhya Pradesh Sikkim Karnataka Goa Assam Karnataka Chhattisgarh Assam

Andhra Pradesh Q. Justice Lingappa Narayana Swamy took oath as the Chief Justice of ______. Q. Which of the following has topped in the number Bombay High Court of treatment of cancer patients under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY)? Chhattisgarh High Court

Tamil Nadu Himachal Pradesh High Court

Kerala Jharkhand High Court

Madhya Pradesh Manipur High Court

Chhattisgarh Q. In October 2109, Who among the following has

Gujarat been sworn in as the new Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court? Q. India’s first e-waste clinic to be set up in which Indrajit Mohanty of the following Indian city? Sanjay Yadav Mumbai S. Manikumar Bhopal Gita Mittal Indore Ajai Lamba Gandhinagar

Q. Recently, Surender Singh created three world Q. The first-ever World Cotton Day (WCD) was hosted records. He is associated with which of the following by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in ______on sports? October 7, 2019.

Swimming Berlin

Badminton Geneva Munich Powerlifting Italy Steeplechase Paris Long Jump Q. Air Force Day is celebrated every year on ______. Q. Who among the following has won the Japan Open title? 5 October 6 October Roger Federer 7 October Dominic Thiem 8 October Andy Murray 9 October Novak Djokovic Q. The Indian Air Force was officially established John Millman in______. Q. Who among the following has broke Wasim 1942 Akram record to hit the most number of sixes in a 1924 Test match? 1937 Virat Kohli 1932 Rohit Sharma 1964 Hardik Pandya Q. Indian Vice President is on a visit to the African Shikhar Dhawan country, Sierra Leone. What is the capital of Sierra Joe Root Leone?

Porto-Novo

Dakar

Freetown Q. Who among the following has launched ‘eDantseva’

Conakry mobile application for oral health information?

Monrovia Prakash Javadekar

Ramesh Pokhriyal Q. India will shift to BS-VI vehicular emission norms by ______. Harsh Vardhan

January 2020 Arjun Munda

April 2020 None of these

June 2020 Q. Which of the following state government has

July 2020 launched ‘Mukhya Mantri Kanya Sumangala Yojana’?

None of these Madhya Pradesh

Q. National Health Authority has tied up with ______Uttar Pradesh for the implementation of Ayushman Bharat Jharkhand

IBM Maharashtra

Google Haryana

Facebook Q. Who among the following has won the 2019 Nobel

TCS Prize for Physiology or Medicine?

Wipro William G Kaelin

Jr Peter J Ratcliffe Q. ‘Ganga Aamantran Abhiyan’ is a rafting and kayaking expedition from ______to Gangasagar. Gregg L Semenza

Haridwar A and B

Gangotri All of These

Devprayag Q. World Post Day is observed every year on ______.

Kanpur 06 October

Varanasi 07 October

08 October

09 October Chennai

10 October Kolkata

Q. Which of the following month is observed as Brest New Delhi

Cancer Awareness Month worldwide? Gandhinagar

August Varanasi

September Q. In October 2019, Which of the following state police October has made it compulsory to link its “Hawk-Eye” app with every cab service? November Andhra Pradesh December Jharkhand Q. According to a recent announcement, Astronomers have discovered ______moons around Saturn. Tamil Nadu

8 Telangana

12 Maharashtra

15 Q. Which of the following auto component manufacturing company will acquire Germany's Delvis 20 for EUR21 million? 25 Minda Q. India got its 1st of ______Rafale fighter jets from Bosch ______. Bharat Forge Limited 36, USA Amtek 25, France JBM Group 28, Russia Q. Who among the following heads the 19-member 36, France Inter-Ministerial Coordination Committee (IMCC) to 25, USA check money laundering activities?

Q. Which of the following city will host the India J. Satyanarayana International Cooperative Trade Fair? Subhash Chandra Garg

Ajay Bhushan Pandey Q. The government has launched a device named as

Ajay Narayan Jha ______that will provide information related to disaster warnings. G. C. Murmu CHETNA Q. Who among the following has been selected for Asia GEMINI Environmental Enforcement Award by United Nations Environment Programme? GAGAN

Ajay Tripathi NISTHA

Rajat Jaishankar None of these

Ramesh Pandey Q. The ambitious Pradhan Mantri Innovation Learning

Pratap Jha Programme, DHRUV has been started from ______.

None of these Defence Research and Development Organisation

Q. Who among the following has won Nobel prize in Indian Space Research Organisation physics for the year 2019? Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi

James Peebles Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited

Michel Mayor State Bank of India

Didier Queloz Q. Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship

A and B (MSDE) has partnered with which of the following institute to launch a new programme named as 'Mahatma A, B and C Gandhi National Fellowship'? What is the theme of World Mental Health Day? Q. Indian Institute of Management (IIM) - Bangalore

Mental Disorder is not a curse Indian Institute of Management (IIM) - Indore

Suicide prevention Indian Institute of Management (IIM) - Calcutta

Young people and mental health Indian Institute of Management (IIM) - Lucknow

Support mental health Indian Institute of Management (IIM) - Shillong

None of these Q. Which of the following will become first dedicated aircraft for the three dignitaries of India i.e. President, Vice President and Prime Minister?

Boeing 747-200B Hammer throw

Boeing 747-8 Q. Bastian Schweinsteiger has announced retirement. He

Boeing 777-300ER was associated with which of the following sports?

Airbus A380-800 Soccer

None of these Hockey

Basketball Q. Which of the following mutual fund has been renamed as the Nippon India Mutual Fund? Badminton

Axis Bluechip Fund Cricket

JM Core Mutual Fund Q. Who among the following has become the 1st female

Reliance Mutual Fund player to complete 20 years in international cricket?

Kotak Standard Mutual Fund Harmanpreet Kaur

None of these Jhulan Goswami

Deepti Sharma Q. The 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded for ______. Mithali Raj

For the synthesis of ammonia from its elements Smriti Mandhana

For their work in thermochemistry Q. What is the theme of International Day of The

For their work on sex hormones Girl Child 2019?

For their contribution to carbocation chemistry Empower Girlforce

For the development of lithium-ion batteries GirlForce: Unscripted and unstoppable

Q. Simone Biles, Who recently won 15th world title is Provide equal space to Girl child associated with which of the following sports? GirlPower: Towards a better Future Chess None of these Badminton Q. Which of the following will become the first Long Jump country to ban ads for sugary drinks? Gymnastics China

France Indore

Singapore Lucknow

Denmark Patna

Canada Q. In October 2019, the 38th India Carpet Expo is being organised in ______. Q. Which of the following country is the host for the 9th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, Mirzapur RCEP Intersessional Ministerial meeting? Varanasi Cambodia Gaya Indonesia Agra Laos Jaunpur Thailand Q. India’s first 'Garbage Cafe' has been inaugurated Japan in ______.

Q. Recently, the Government has launched a health Sikar care initiative to provide healthcare for maternal and Ambikapur newborn children named ‘SUMAN’ initiative. SUMAN stands for ______. Vadodara

Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan Deoghar

Shashakt Matritva Abhiyaan Indore

Sampoorn Matrshakti Abhiyaan Q. In October 2019, Government has constituted a ______member committee of officers to suggest Sugam Matrshakti Abhiyaan measures to augment Goods and Services Tax None of these revenue.

Q. Which of the following city is the host for first 5 National Hindi Science writers conference? 17 Varanasi 12 Agra 6

19 Q. Recently, PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Pancha Rathas and the Shore Temple before 2nd Q. The Reserve Bank of India has given its final nod informal summit. These both places are located in to the Kerala Government for the formation of the ______. Kerala Bank by amalgamating the ______District Co-operative Banks (DCBs). Jharkhand Karnataka 13 Telangana 7 Tamil Nadu 2 Andhra Pradesh 19 Q. Which of the following country has presented its 21 highest civilian honour ‘Order of the Green Crescent’ to Q. Who among the following has won has won the Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu?

Nobel Prize in Literature 2019? Angola

Olga Tokarczuk Algeria

Peter Handke Comoros

Kazuo Ishiguro Seychelles

Bob Dylan Burundi

Patrick Modiano Q. In October 2019, Which of the following city will host the Army Commander’s Conference? Q. In October 2019, NASA launched a satellite named as Dehradun ______to explore the dynamic region where air meets space. Chennai

Trile New Delhi

Icon Bhopal

Axon Agra

Deco Q. Shri Hardeep S Puri launched a mobile app named as

Bile ______, for ‘Environment Protection in Government Colonies?

mHariyali Uganda

Meri Colony Q. Who among the following will get the 31st Indira

Harit Colony Gandhi Award for National Integration for the years 2017 and 2018? mVraksharopan Medha Patkar None of these Chandi Prasad Bhatt Q. In October 2019, Which of the following city hosted Gaura Devi for SARAS Aajeevika Mela? Sunderlal Bahuguna Chennai Anupam Mishra New Delhi

Mumbai Q. Recently, Kadri Gopalnath passed away. He was associated with which of the following musical Kolkata instrument? Pune Saxophone Who among the following has been appointed as the Q. Harp head coach of Kings XI Punjab for IPL season 2020? Trumpet Rahul Dravid Flute VVS Laxman Violin Ricky Ponting Q. World Arthritis Day is observed every year on Anil Kumble ______. Jacques Kallis 10 October Q. Abiy Ahmed wons Nobel Peace Prize 2019. He is the 11 October Prime Minister of which of the following country? 12 October Kenya 13 October Nigeria 14 October Tanzania

Ethiopia Q. World Migratory Bird Day is observed every year on ______.

10 October Germany

11 October Denmark

12 October Q. In October 2019, Government e-Marketplace

13 October (GeM) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with which of the following bank? 14 October Dena Bank Q. Which of the following city will host the 2019 Axis Bank First Global DXB Challenge? Indian Bank London Bank of Baroda Paris Union Bank of India New Delhi Q. In October 2019, Asian Development Bank, Dubai ADB has signed a 190 million dollar loan agreement Abu Dhabi for improving road connectivity in______. India ranked at ______in the Brand Finance Q. Uttar Pradesh Nation ranking of 2019. Jharkhand 5th Jammu and Kashmir 7th Sikkim 14th Rajasthan 19th Q. Who among the following has the most number 21st of 200 plus scores for an Indian batsman? Which of the following country topped the in the Q. Rohit Sharma Brand Finance Nation ranking of 2019? Virat Kohli China MS Dhoni USA Shikhar Dhawan France Rishabh Pant

Q. Which of the following country is the host for 10 October

World Women's Boxing Championships 2019? 11 October

France 12 October

India 13 October

Russia 14 October

Indonesia Q. In October 2019, Which of the following country China hosted BRICS Culture Ministers' meeting?

Q. Who among the following has become the first Russia person to run a 42 kilometres marathon under two South Africa hours? India Mo Farah Brazil Kenenisa Bekele China Haile Gebrselassie Q. India extends Line of Credit worth USD 30 mn Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich to Sierra Leone for the cultivation of ______. Eliud Kipchoge Wheat International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction is Q. Rice observed every year on ______. Maize 10 October Cotton 11 October None of these 12 October Q. Dharma-Guardian is a joint military exercise 13 October between India and ______. 14 October Japan World Standards Day is observed every year on Q. Thailand ______. Vietnam

Nepal Q. Manju Rani is associated with which of the

China following sports?

Wrestling Q. Who among the following has become the most- followed elected world leader on photo-sharing app Badminton Instagram? Boxing Barack Obama Long Jump Donald Trump Shooting Narendra Modi Q. Who among the following has won maiden the Joko Widodo BWF World Tour title by winning the Dutch Open

Justin Trudeau men's singles at Almere in the Netherlands? Sourabh Verma Q. The 10th edition of Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav has been inaugurated in ______. Lakshya Sen

Ranchi Ajay Jayaram

Patna B. Sai Praneeth

Jabalpur Parupalli Kashyap

Aurangabad Q. What is the theme of International Day of Rural

Nasik Women 2019? Rural Woman and Human Rights Q. Who among the following has broke the record for most world medals won by any gymnast by Challenges and opportunities in climate-resilient winning 24 medals? agriculture Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by Simone Biles 2030 Shannon Miller Rural Women and Girls Building Climate Resilience Aly Raisman None of these Nastia Liukin Q. According to 'South Asia Economic Focus, Making Shawn Johnson (De) Centralization Work' report by World Bank, Which

of the folloiwng is the fastest growing economy in South ICICI Bank Asia? Yes Bank India IDFC Bank Bangladesh Q. Who among the following has won the 2019 Nobel Bhutan Prize for Economics?

Nepal Abhijit Banerjee

Pakistan Esther Duflo

Q. In October 2019, Which of the following city hosted Michael Kremer ‘One Nation One Tag – FASTag’ conference? A and B Mumbai A, B and C Chennai Q. Who among the following has won the 2019 Booker New Delhi Prize?

Pune Margaret Atwood

Indore Bernardine Evaristo

Q. In September 2019, Retail inflation stood at A. S. Byatt ______. A and B 3.42% A, B and C 3.55% Q. According to the new rule of ICC, In case of a super 3.68% over the tie, the winner will be announced on the basis of

3.99% ______.

3.14% Team with greater number of boundaries will be declared as the winner Q. Which of the following bank has launched a new fixed A repeated super over until one team has more runs deposit (FD) scheme ‘FD Health’ that will offer the dual than the other benefit of an FD along with free critical illness coverage? Team with a lesser number of wickets in super over will Axis Bank be declared as the winner HDFC Bank

Team with lesser number of wickets in the entire match Ending World Hunger by 2030 is Possible including super over will be declared as the winner Our Actions Are Our Future Healthy Diets for A None of these #ZeroHunger World

Q. Who among the following has been had been Invest in food security and rural development unanimously nominated as the new President of the Board Change the future of food of Control for Cricket in India, BCCI? None of these Anil Kumble Q. Who among the following has inaugurated 41st Rahul Dravid DRDO Directors Conference in New Delhi? Sourav Ganguly Amit Shah Sachin Tendulkar Narendra Modi Virender Sehwag Rajnath Singh

Q. Who among the following has won men's singles title Nirmala Sitharaman at Bahrain International Series? Nitin Gadkari Amit Rathore Q. In October 2019, Indian railways have started 9 Dhruv Rawat special ______trains to connect small towns with closest Priyanshu Rajawat major cities.

Aakash Yadav Sugam Service

Siddhanth Gupta Sewa Service

Q. World Students' Day is observed every year on Saarthi Service

______. Parivahan Service

10 October Tejas Service

15 October Q. Which of the following airline has become the first 11 October airline in the world to use Taxibot on A-320 aircraft?

16 October Jet Airways

13 October SpiceJet

Q. What is the theme of World Food Day 2019? Air India

IndiGo Chennai

Emirates Kozhikode

Q. What is India’s rank on the Global Hunger Index Panaji

(GHI) 2019? Mumbai

87 Hyderabad

94 Q. In October 2019, Amy Satterthwaite became the 102 world number one in ODI rankings after defeating India cricketer Smriti Mandhana. Amy plays international 105 cricket for which of the following country? 111 Australia Q. Which of the following state has launched ‘YSR Rytu South Africa Bharosa - PM KISAN’ scheme? England Telangana New Zealand Andhra Pradesh Bangladesh Maharashtra Q. What is the theme of International Poverty Jharkhand Eradication Day 2019? Assam Acting together to empower children, their families Q. In October 2019, Kais Saied has won the presidential and communities to end poverty election of which of the following country? Coming together to build an inclusive world of universal Tunisia respect for human rights

Egypt Answering the Call of October 17 to end poverty

Turkey We Can End Poverty

Libya None of these

Yemen Q. Recently, Which of the following country observed the death anniversary of the mystic Fakir Lalon Shah? Q. Recently, ‘Our Lady of Glory Church’ has won the UNESCO’s Award of Merit. It is located in which of the Pakistan following Indian city? Afghanistan

Bangladesh Q. Which of the following country has topped the World

Nepal Giving Index?

Myanmar France

Q. India will gift ______of wheat to Afghanistan in USA November 2019. China

50,000 metric tonnes New Zealand

25,000 metric tonnes Vietnam

75,000 metric tonnes Q. The longest tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir, Chenani-

1,00,000 metric tonnes Nashri tunnel will be named after ______.

1,50,000 metric tonnes Ram Manohar Lohia

Deendayal Upadhyaya Q. Who among the following has launched the ‘Food Safety Mitra’ scheme? Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Harsh Vardhan Shyama Prasad Mukherjee

Ramesh Pokhriyal Vallabhbhai Patel

Prakash Javadekar Q. What is the theme of 48th edition of the Indian

Arjun Munda Handicrafts and Gifts Fair (IHGF)?

None of these Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Promote Handicrafts Q. President Ram Nath Kovind will be on a two-nation visit to the Philippines and Japan. What is the capital of North Eastern, an integral part of India the Philippines? Towards a better future of Handicrafts Jakarta None of these Phnom Penh Q. Mastercard has joined hands with who among the Manila following to build 'Team Cashless India'?

Yangon Rohit Sharma

Naypyidaw Virat Kohli

M.S. Dhoni Q. Tribal Affairs Minister, Arjun Munda announced the

Sachin Tendulkar second phase of GOAL (Going Online as Leaders) in partnership with ______. Hardik Pandya Flipkart Q. Who among the following has become the youngest Facebook cricketer to score 200 in One Day cricket? Twitter Mohit Jangra Instagram Harsh Tyagi TikTok Ayush Badoni In October 2019, The Eastern Air Command of the Yashasvi Jaiswal Q. Indian Air Force launched fighter operations from Anuj Rawat ______civilian airfields under its area of command. Which of the following country has announced the Q. 3 establishment of 1st graduate-level, research-based AI 4 university in the world? 6 France 8 Russia 11 UAE

USA Q. 'EX EASTERN BRIDGE-V' is a joint training exercise between India and ______. India UAE Q. According to 20th Livestock Census - 2019, India's Oman total livestock population stands approximately at ______. Iran

325 million Afghanistan

426 million Saudi Arabia

535 million Q. The India arm of Home Credit Group has tied up with

826 million ______for joint lending to tap the large unbanked customer base across the country. 652 million

Indian Bank None of these

Karur Vysya Bank Q. Who among the following has won the 2018/19

Bank of Baroda Golden Shoe award?

Union Bank of India Lionel Messi

State Bank of India Antoine Griezmann

Cristiano Ronaldo Q. Who among the following has become the first sitting judge that has been appointed as Law Secretary? Kylian Mbappé

Ajay Singh Tripathi Paul Pogba

AK Mendiratta Q. Which of the following country has signed a deal

Rahul Jaishankar to lease ‘Tulagi’ island in the Solomon Islands?

A P Ranawat Russia

B L Kohli Japan

Q. Who among the following will receive the People's China Icon Award at the 2019 People's Choice Awards? USA George Clooney Israel Courteney Cox Q. According to NITI Aayoh’s India Innovation Jennifer Aniston Index 2019, Which of the following state is the most Angelina Jolie innovative state in India?

None of these Madhya Pradesh

Q. Who among the following has created individual Jharkhand Guinness World Records for ‘The most full contact knee Karnataka strikes in three minutes’ (one leg) (female)? Gujarat Seema Khatri

Rajni Singh Telangana

Kiran Uniyal

Asha Sharma

Q. In October 2019, The second edition of US-India Jharkhand

Intellectual Property dialogue took place in Assam ______. Karnataka Jaipur Andhra Pradesh New Delhi Gujarat Kolkata Q. Which of the following is set to become the first Pune state in the country to provide maternity benefits in Mumbai the private educational sector?

Q. India ranked ______in 2019 Hurun Global Uttar Pradesh

Unicorn List. Himachal Pradesh

3rd Jharkhand

5th Kerala

8th Tamil Nadu

11th Q. Which of the following film has won the best film 17th from India award in the regional finals at the Asian Academy Creative Awards ceremony? Q. Recently, the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) has released centenary stamp released. NIN is Article 15 located in ______. Uri: The Surgical Strike

New Delhi Gully Boy

Hyderabad Mission Mangal

Mumbai None of these Bengaluru Q. Who among the following has won the Agra prestigious ‘Kim Ji-Seok’ award at the Busan International Film Festival 2019? Q. Which of the following Indian state has launched ‘YSR Navodayam’ scheme for MSMEs? J. Om Prakash

Rahul Rawail Q. According to a recent report in October 2019, Defence

Pradip Kurbah exports in India have crossed ______mark. 1 Billion dollars Mira Nair 2 Billion dollars Mehul Kumar 3 Billion dollars Q. Which of the following team has become the first 4 Billion dollars Indian Premier League team to have a woman in the support staff? 5 Billion dollars

Sunrisers Hyderabad Q. Which of the following state will host ‘Baliyatra’ trade fair in November 2019? Mumbai Indians Assam Royal Challengers Bangalore Nagaland Chennai Super Kings Chattisgarh Kolkata Knight Riders Odisha Q. Interpol will hold its General Assembly in India in the Madhya Pradesh year ______. Q. Who among the following has been appointed as the 2020 Director-General of National Security Guard (NSG)? 2021 Nilesh Singh Chaudhary 2022 Anup Kumar Singh 2023 Ajeet Singh 2024 Rajat Tiwari Q. Interpol is headquartered in ______. Amit Kant Switzerland Q. Who among the following has been appointed as the Austria whole-time member of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board

France of India (IBBI)?

USA Sanjay Mishra

Germany Sudhaker Shukla

Atul Gangwar Q. Recently, Kalidas Karmakar passed away. He was a

Ajay Rawat famous ______.

None of these Singer

Q. Sultan of Johor Cup is associated with which of the Painter following sports? Journalist

Football Sitar Player

Cricket Football Player

Hockey Q. World Statistics Day is observed all around the world

Volleyball on ______.

Golf 18 October

19 October Q. Who among the following has been named as the captain of Indian Hockey Mens’ team for the upcoming 20 October FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers? 21 October Manpreet Singh 22 October Nilakanta Sharma Q. In October 2019, Which of the following country has Jaskaran Singh been removed from the Grey List of Financial Action Hardik Singh Task Force (FATF)?

Vivek Sagar Prasad Pakistan

Bangladesh Q. India won a total of ______medals at Asian Junior Championships in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. Sri Lanka

11 Afghanistan

15 Myanmar

19 Q. Police Commemoration Day or National Police in

21 India, is observed every year on ______.

28 18 October

19 October

20 October Q. Joko Widodo has been sworn in as the President of

21 October which of the following country?

22 October Vietnam

Thailand Q. Two-day long manoeuvres by Sudarshan Chakra Vahini of Indian Army started at ______. Indonesia

Pune Singapore

Imphal Myanmar

Jaisalmer Q. In October 2019, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu

Leh presented Most Eminent Senior Citizen Award to ______. Uttarkashi V. P. Raman Q. IMNEX-2019 is a joint military exercise between Govind Swaminathan India and ______. Ashok Desai Myanmar K. Parasaran Indonesia Soli Sorabjee Singapore

Vietnam Q. Who among the following has won Egypt International mixed doubles title? Malaysia Isha Nagpal and Rohan Sharma Q. In October 2019, Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), Kuhoo Garg and Dhruv Rawat have infused a net sum of ______into the Indian capital markets. Rakhi Desai and Atul Singh

7,387 crore rupees Neha Tiwari and Ankit Kumar

5,072 crore rupees None of these

8,328 crore rupees Q. Who among the following has released the book

2,687 crore rupees 'Bridgital Nation'?

None of these Ram Nath Kovind

Nirmala Sitharaman

Venkaiah Naidu Q. Recently, Indian President Kovind attended

Narendra Modi Naruhito's enthronement ceremony. He is the emperor of which of the following country? Amit Shah Vietnam Q. Which of the following country will host 18th Non- China Aligned Movement (NAM) summit? Japan India Germany Bangladesh None of these Nepal Who among the following has inaugurated the E- Azerbaijan Q. Portal of Centre for Cultural Resources and Training, Kazakhstan CCRT ‘Digital Bharat Digital Sanskriti' and CCRT Q. In October 2019, Which of the following city has YouTube Channel? discovered the world’s oldest known natural pearl? Prahlad Singh Patel

Dubai Amit Shah

Muscat Kiren Rijiju

Abu Dhabi R. K. Singh

Auckland Narendra Singh Tomar

Sydney Q. In October 2019, the Defence Acquisition Council

Q. The world's highest battlefield Siachen has been open (DAC) clears indigenous projects worth ______. to tourists. Siachen glacier is located in ______range. Rs 1200 crore

Satpura Range Rs 2500 crore

Sivalik Hills Rs 3300 crore

Pir Panjal Range Rs 4500 crore

Karakoram Range Rs 5100 crore

None of these Q. In October 2019, Rajnath Singh inaugurated 'Col Chewang Rinchen Setu'. It is built across ______river.

Chenab Japan

Jhelum Q. What is the value of the Avogadro number?

Shyok 7.02×1023

Suru 6.02×1027

Tawi 23 6.02×10

Q. Which of the following is a feature of BHIM 2.0? 6.02×1011

The new version supports three additional languages - None of these Konkani, Bhojpuri and Haryanvi. Q. Naruhito took over as the ______emperor of Japan. It includes options for Initial Public Offerings (IPOs). 59th It is included with a dedicated gateway for donations. 78th It includes options for investing. 111th All of these 126th Q. Which of the following IPL team has appointed 142th Andrew McDonald as its new head coach? Q. Indian Air Force has test-fired 2 BrahMos missiles at Rajasthan Royals the Trak Island. This Island is located in ______. Sunrisers Hyderabad Lakshadweep Mumbai Indians Andaman Nicobar Royal Challengers Bangalore Gujarat Chennai Super Kings Odisha Q. Which of the following country is the host for 7th West Bengal CISM World Military Games? Q. Which of the following Indian state will host the Russia Indian Army's exercise 'Sindhu Sudarshan'? China Uttarakhand France Jammu and Kashmir Germany Assam

Rajasthan Q. Which of the following city will host the 2024

Nagaland Olympic Games?

Q. The Indian government has selected a total of Moscow ______students under DHRUV programme. London

12 Tokyo

30 Paris

50 Berlin

60 Q. In October 2019, Sourav Ganguly took over as

90 ______president of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)? Q. Which of the following city is the host for 2-day India- 21st Bangladesh Stakeholders' meeting? 32nd Dhaka 39th Kohima 42nd Bogra 48th Guwahati

None of these Q. Recently, Anandan Gunasekaran bags two gold medals for India at the World Military Games. Anandan According to the Sensor Tower Report 2019, In Q. is associated with which of the following sports? September 2019 Which of the following social media Boxing application has topped in terms of downloads on the Google Play Store? Track and field para-athletics

TikTok Badminton

Snapchat Shooting

Helo Wrestling

Twitter Q. Ayurveda Day 2019 is being observed on ______.

Instagram 22 October

23 October

24 October Sikkim

25 October Q. Which of the following city will host ‘Global Bio-

26 October India 2019’ Summit from 21st - 23rd November?

Chennai Q. Recently, President Kovind laid the foundation stone for Sri Sathya Sai Sanathana Samskruti Project in Pune ______. Jamnagar China Indore Japan New Delhi Indonesia Q. India ranked ______on the World Bank's Ease of North Korea Doing business ranking 2019. None of these 63rd

Q. Recently, India has signed agreement relate to the 35th modalities for operationalisation for Kartarpur corridor 26th with which of the following country? 102nd China 94th Bangladesh Q. India ranked ______on the Melbourne Mercer Pakistan Global Pension Index 2019. Nepal 51st Bhutan 14th Q. Chenani Nashari Tunnel which is renamed as Dr 42nd Syama Prasad Mookerjee tunnel is located in which of the following Indian state? 32nd

Assam 76th

Bangladesh Q. Recently, The World Bank has signed a US$165 million loan agreement to Support Climate Resilient Jammu and Kashmir Agriculture for Farmers in which of the following Indian Arunachal Pradesh state?

Odisha Q. Disarmament Week is being observed from ______

West Bengal to ______.

Telangana 21-27 October

Andhra Pradesh 22-29 October

Bihar 24-30 October

26-31 October Q. Which of the following city will host Future Investment summit 2019? 23-28 October

Muscat Q. Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has announced the

London creation of two new commands, Western Command and Eastern Command. Western Command will be Abu Dhabi headquartered in ______. Riyadh Ambala Paris Ludhiana National Unity Day is observed to mark the birth Q. Chandigarh anniversary of ______. New Delhi Mahatma Gandhi Pathankot Subhash Chandra Bose Q. Which of the following state has launched Kanya Chandra Shekhar Azad Sumangala Yojana? Vallabhbhai Patel Madhya Pradesh Bal Gangadhar Tilak Jharkhand World Polio Day is celebrated every year on ______. Q. Bihar

23 October Uttar Pradesh

24 October Rajasthan

25 October Q. What is the number of seats in Maharashtra 26 October Legislative Assembly?

27 October 286

265 Q. Who among the following has been appointed as the

241 Chairman of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI)? 216 Sukhbir Singh Sandhu 201 Rajat Kumar Q. In October 2019, the Indian government has given Sachin Gill 'Maharatna' status to which of the following company? Ankur Pathak Hindustan Petroleum None of these Power Grid Corp Who among the following pens translations of Engineers India Limited. mythological texts ‘Markendya Purana’ and ‘The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Bhagavad Gita’?

A and B Rathin Roy

Q. Recently, Godavarthi Venkata Srinivas concurrently Surjit Bhalla accredited as India's High Commissioner to ______. Amir Ullah Khan The Gambia Ashima Goyal Gabon Bibek Debroy Ghana Q. Recently, Dilip Parikh passed away. He was the Senegal former Chief Minister of ______.

Guinea Rajasthan

Q. Who among the following has been appointed as the Haryana chairman of the Airports Authority of India? Jharkhand Rajan Dev Bihar Rohit Singh Gujarat Arvind Singh Q. Uttar Pradesh Emergency service number has been Manjeet Pal changed from 100 to ______.

None of these 101

111 Q. C in BASIC countries stands for ______.

112 Comoros

120 Cambodia

150 Canada

Q. Grand Diwali celebrations at Ayodhya have set a China world record of over ______Diyas. Chile 1 lakh 51 thousand Q. Which of the following country hosted 29th BASIC 3 lakh 51 thousand Ministerial meeting on climate change?

5 lakh 51 thousand Brazil

7 lakh 51 thousand South Africa

11 lakh 51 thousand Canada

Q. Who among the following has been sworn in as the India Chief Minister of Haryana? China Manohar Lal Khattar Q. Indian Army celebrates infantry day on ______. Abhay Singh Chautala 24 October Bhupinder Singh Hooda 26 October Kuldeep Bishnoi 27 October None of these 28 October Q. Who among the following has been sworn in as the 29 October Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana? Q. World Day for Audiovisual Heritage is observed Dushyant Chautala every year on ______. Bhupinder Singh Hooda 24 October Manohar Lal Khattar 26 October Abhay Singh Chautala 27 October None of these 28 October

29 October Oman

Q. What is the theme of 2019 World Day for Audiovisual Saudi Arabia Heritage? UAE Participate in Audiovisual Heritage Canada Engage the Past Through Sound and Images Q. Bestu Varas is celebrated by the people of Know your Audiovisual Heritage ______all around the world. About your Heritage Rajasthan None of these Bihar Q. ‘Shakti-2019’ is a joint military exercise between West Bengal India and ______. Gujarat Russia Maharashtra China Q. Bestu Varas is observed every year on the first Bangladesh day of ______of the Hindu calendar. France Kartik Germany Jyaisth Q. Future Investment Initiative (FII) Forum is also Bhadra known as ______. Magh Desert Eagle None of these Davos in the Desert Q. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy is associated with which Desert of Opportunities of the following sports? Point Investment Chess None of these Badminton Q. Which of the following country is the host for Tennis Future Investment Initiative (FII) Forum 2019? Hockey France

Football Q. Recently, David Malpass meets PM Narendra Modi. He is the president of which of the following Q. Air Quality Index (AQI) between 401-500 with organisation? Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 is considered as ______. IMF

Moderate International Court of Justice

Poor World Bank

Very Poor UNESCO

Severe UNICEF

Severe plus emergency Q. Which of the following country will host the world's second-largest Muslim congregation 'Bishwa Ijtema' in Q. The Central Vigilance Commission, CVC is January 2020? observing vigilance awareness week from ______to ______. Sri Lanka

27 October to 1 November Bangladesh Indonesia 28 October to 2 November Vietnam 29 October to 3 November None of these 30 October to 4 November Q. According to the recent announcement, people over 31 October to 5 November ______of age and Persons with Disability can now cast Q. What is the theme for Central Vigilance their votes through postal ballot.

Commission’s, vigilance awareness week? 60 years

Aware every citizen 65 years

Integrity - A way of life 70 years

For You by You 80 years

Know your rights 85 years

None of these

Q. Three Indian-origin CEOs in Harvard Business S. Abdul Nazeer

Review's top 10 best-performing CEOs. Shantanu Ashok Bhushan Narayen is one of them, He is the CEO of ______. Sharad Arvind Bobde Adobe Arun Kumar Mishra Master Card Q. Who among the following has conferred the first Google National Corporate Social Responsibility Awards? Microsoft Rajnath Singh None of these Narendra Modi In October 2019, The Reserve Bank has imposed a Q. Ram Nath Kovind penalty of Rs 35 lakh on ______for violating norms on Amit Shah frauds classification and notification. Venkaiah Naidu Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has been developed Coastal Local Area Bank Limited Q. by ______. Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank Limited Reserve Bank of India Subhadra Local Area Bank Limited Securities and Exchange Board of India None of these National Payments Corporation of India Q. In October 2019, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) Indian Banks' Association has crossed the limit of ______. None of these 1 billion transactions Tiger Woods is associated with which of the 1.5 billion transactions Q. following sports? 2 billion transactions Snooker 2.5 billion transactions Chess 5 billion transactions Golf Q. Who among the following has been appointed as the Badminton 47th Chief Justice of India? Carrom N. V. Ramana

Q. Who among the following has topped the 'The Best- Saudi Arabia

Performing CEOs in the World, 2019' list compiled by the Bangladesh Harvard Business Review (HBR)? Russia Jeff Bezos Q. Nirmala Sitharaman releases special commemorative Bill Gates coin on the birth anniversary of Paramahansa Yogananda. Elon Musk Yogananda was a/an______.

Sundar Pichai Writer

Jensen Huang Monk, Yogi and Guru

Q. World Stroke Day is observed every year on ______. Mathematician

27 October Founder of Arya Samaj

28 October None of these

29 October Q. Which of the following state government has inked an LoU for 'drink from tap mission' with UNICEF? 30 October West Bengal 31 October Andhra Pradesh Q. The ninth edition of Bangladesh-India Friendship Dialogue will take place in ______. Jharkhand

Dhaka Odisha

New Delhi Gujarat

Cox Bazar Q. Which of the following state celebrates Lokrang Festival? Kolkata West Bengal Chittagong Uttar Pradesh Q. Which of the following country hosted the third session of the Future Investment Initiative Forum? Madhya Pradesh

Oman Jharkhand

UAE Odisha

Q. Who among the following has been appointed as the Pakistan new director-general of the International Atomic Energy Sri Lanka Agency (IAEA)? South Africa Pan Jianwei Bangladesh Scott Pruitt Zimbabwe Khaled Toukan Q. Recently, which of the following company has Rafael Grossi achieved quantum supremacy that was able to surpass the Jennifer Byrne world's most powerful supercomputer?

Q. Who among the following took charge as the new Facebook

Director General (DG) of the National Security Guard Apple (NSG)? IBM Rishi Kumar Shukla Google Alok Verma Microsoft Anup Kumar Singh Q. Who among the following will lead the Indian M. Nageshwar Rao delegation at 18th Non-Aligned Movement Summit? Rakesh Asthana Amit Shah Who among the following has won the Golden Q. M. Venkaiah Naidu Dragon Award at Cardiff International Film Festival in Ravi Shankar Prasad the UK? Rajnath Singh Manoj Bajpayee Nirmala Sitharaman Nawazuddin Siddiqui International Snow Leopard Day is celebrated every Pankaj Tripathi Q. year on ______. Saif Ali Khan 20 October Irrfan Khan 21 October Q. ICC bans cricketer Shakib Al Hasan for breaching the 22 October ICC Anti-Corruption Code. He played international cricket for ______. 23 October

24 October Indian Post Payments Bank

Q. 'Eastern Bridge' is a joint military exercise between Federal Bank

India and ______. HDFC Bank

UAE Yes Bank

Oman ICICI Bank

Iran Q. Panchayati Raj Minister confers National Panchayat Afghanistan Awards 2019. Who among the following is the current Panchayati Raj Minister of India? Saudi Arabia Thawar Chand Gehlot Q. After the government decision of hiking Minimum Support Price of Rabi crops for 2020-21, MSP of wheat Radha Mohan Singh stands at ______. Narendra Singh Tomar

1,666 rupees per quintal Dharmendra Pradhan

1,750 rupees per quintal Prakash Javadekar

1,925 rupees per quintal Q. In which of the following category/categories, Aneesh 1,800 rupees per quintal Kumar Surendran Pillai bags gold for India at World Military Games? 2,125 rupees per quintal 100m IT1 Q. The government has approved the in-principle merger for BSNL and ______. Men's shotput IT1

Aircel 400m IT1

Hathway A and B

MTNL A, B and C

Telenor Q. Who among the following has become the first Indian man to win gold at Wushu World Championships? None of these Rajat Singh Q. The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with which of the Vikrant Baliyan following bank for payment-related services? Praveen Kumar

Akshay Singh 15 August

Ankur Chaudhary 31 October

Q. Which of the following country has launched World’s 1 November first blockchain-based carbon trading exchange? 10 November Vietnam 30 November China Q. Which of the following airline has depicts 'Ek Onkar' France symbol on its aircraft to mark Guru Nanak's 550th birth anniversary? Singapore SpiceJet Germany Air India Q. The government in the year ______has decided to observe October 31 be celebrated as Rashtriya Ekta IndiGo Diwas. GoAir 2011 Jet Airways 2009 Q. Which of the following city is the host for the third 2014 edition of ‘Global Ayurveda Summit 2019’?

2018 New Delhi

2016 Kochi

Q. The government will adopt a human milk model of Chennai ______to ensuring infants to have access to breast milk. Mumbai China Indore South Africa Q. Researchers from which of the following institute has Brazil created first-ever Indian Brain atlas?

Singapore Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani

Italy IIIT Hyderabad

Q. The state of Jammu and Kashmir has been/will be IIT- Delhi bifurcated into two Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh IISc Bangalore with effect from ______.

Vellore Institute of Technology

Q. The 28th Vyas Samman for the year 2018 has been conferred to ______.

Manglesh Dabral

Leeladhar Jagoori

Gopaldas Neeraj

Mohan Rana

Geet Chaturvedi

Q. The Indian cricket team will play its first-ever Day- Night Test match against Bangladesh at ______.

Eden Gardens

Arun Jaitley Stadium

M. Chinnaswamy Stadium

Wankhede Stadium

Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium

Q. Recently, N Venkatachala passed away. He served as the Lokayukta of which of the following Indian state?

Gujarat

Kerala

Karnataka

Uttar Pradesh

Bihar