NATIONAL NEWS
International Conference on Status and Protection of Coral Reefs held in Lakshadweep
The International Conference on Status and Protection of Coral Reefs (STAPCOR – 2018) with the theme “Reef for Life” was inaugurated by the Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan at Bangaram coral Island of Union Territory of Lakshadweep.
- About 150 delegates both International and National, are participating in this mega event at Bangaram Island.
MHRD to spend Rs 200 cr on research in social science
The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) launched a scheme in New Delhi in which it will be spending Rs 200 crore for promoting research in social sciences.
- The ‘Impactful Policy Research in Social Science’ (IMPRESS) will fund around 1,500 projects on merit basis and each will be allocated Rs 20-25 lakh. The fund would be released in four phases, with the first batch being finalised by January 2019.
- The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) has been entrusted with the task of implementing and monitoring the scheme.
No Sale of BS-IV Vehicles Across Country From April 1, 2020: SC
The Supreme Court said that no Bharat Stage IV vehicle shall be sold across the country with effect from April 1, 2020. The Bharat stage emission standards are standards instituted by the government to regulate output of air pollutants from motor vehicles.
- The Bharat Stage VI (or BS-VI) emission norm would come into force from April 1, 2020 across the country.
- A three judge bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur made it clear that only BS VI compliant vehicle shall be sold in the country from April 1st, 2020.
- In 2016, the Centre had announced that the country would skip the BS-V norms altogether and adopt BS-VI norms by 2020.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Cameroon's President Paul Biya wins seventh term
Cameroon's President Paul Biya has been re-elected for a seventh term, the country's constitutional council said, extending his 36-year rule over the nation.
- The 85-year-old president won 71.3 percent of the vote, beating nine other candidates in an election marred by violence and low voter turnout.
- Extra info.:
Cameroon Capital: Yaoundé
Currencies: Franc
Ethiopia gets 1st woman President
Ethiopian members of parliament have elected Sahle-Work Zewde as the country's first female president. Ms Sahle-Work is an experienced diplomat who has now become Africa's only female head of state.
- Her election to the ceremonial position comes a week after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appointed a cabinet with half the posts taken up by women. Immediately before becoming president, Ms Sahle-Work was the UN representative at the African Union.
- Extra info.:
Ethiopia Capital: Addis Ababa
Currency: Ethiopian birr
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Nasscom partners with Hiroshima for Japan-India IT corridor
Nasscom, the IT industry body, has signed a partnership with the government of Hiroshima under which the two sides will co-invest in creating a Japan-India IT Corridor.
- The idea is to promote business to business cooperation and talent transfer from India to Japan. This project will be formally initiated by early 2019 on mutual consent. The primary objective of this IT corridor will be to facilitate partnerships between Indian and Japanese companies.
IFFCO biggest cooperative in the world: Report
- Fertiliser major IFFCO said it has been ranked as the biggest cooperative in the world by 'Word Cooperative Monitor' report 2018 published by The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and the European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises (Euricse).
- The report also ranked IFFCO at the pole position among the top 20 co-operatives in the world in the agriculture and food industries sector.
- Extra info.:
IFFCO Headquarters: New Delhi
SPORTS
Dwayne Bravo bids adieu to international cricket
West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has announced his retirement from the international cricket. The 35-year-old, however, will remain available for the franchise T20 cricket leagues.
- Bravo has played a total 164 ODIs scoring 2,968 runs with an average of 25.37 while in 40 Tests he has made 2,200 runs with an average of 31.43.
APPOINTMENTS
Paytm Payments Bank Appoints Satish K Gupta As MD & CEO
Paytm Payments Bank, a unit of One97 Communications Ltd., had appointed Satish Kumar Gupta as managing director and chief executive officer of the digital bank.
- He has over 35 years of leadership experience, previously had stints as the chief product officer at National Payments Corporation of India and State Bank of India.
- Gupta’s appointment comes a few months after Paytm said Renu Satti had stepped down as the CEO of Paytm Payments Bank to head the new retail segment at the company as chief operating officer.
AWARDS
SFA wins 'Best Sports Startup of 2018' at FICCI India Sports Awards
Sports For All (SFA) which will be awarded with the 'Best Sports Startup of 2018' by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) India Sports Award at Federation House in New Delhi.
- SFA, which is India's largest professional inter-school sporting system, was chosen by an eminent jury chaired by Justice Mukul Mudgal. The award will be presented just two days before the second edition of the Hyderabad Championship is launched at the Gachibowli Stadium on October 27.
Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony for 2014, 2015 & 2016 Announced
The Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony for the years 2014, 2015 & 2016 is being conferred on the doyen of Manipuri dance Sh. Rajkumar Singhajit Singh; Chhayanaut (a cultural organization of Bangladesh) and on one of India’s greatest sculptors, Sh. Ram Vanji Sutar, respectively.
- The award jury was headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and included Chief Justice of India Justice Ranjan Gogoi, former chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami and national vice president of the BJP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe.
- The award was instituted by the government during the commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore in 2011. It was conferred first on sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar. It carries an award prize of Rs 1 crore, a citation in a scroll and a plaque.
Malayalam author Benyamin's 'Jasmine Days' wins first JCB Prize for literature
Malayalam author Benyamin has bagged the inaugural JCB Prize for literature for his book 'Jasmine Days', which explores the lives of South Asians in the Middle East.
- Benyamin’s book, originally written in Malayalam and translated by Shahnaz Habib, is a “brilliant and intense novel”, jury chairperson Vivek Shanbag said while announcing the most expensive literary award in the country.
OBITUARIES
Theatre veteran Na. Muthuswamy passes away
Veteran theatre personality Na. Muthuswamy, founder of avant-garde theatre group ‘Koothu-p-pattarai’, passed away in Chennai. He was 82. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1999 and Padma Shri in 2012. He founded the theatre group in 1977 after several years of studying traditional folk theatre.
IMPORTANT DAYS
World Polio Day 2018
World Polio Day is celebrated on October 24 globally to generate awareness for the eradication of polio, as well as to honour the efforts of thousands of employees of World Health Organization (WHO) and other organisations committed to the cause.
- The occasion also commemorates the birth of American medical researcher and virologist Jonas Salk, who discovered and developed one of the first successful poliomyelitis or polio vaccines. The theme for World Polio Day 2018 is ‘End Polio Now’.
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