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Indian Affairs
Karnataka announced relief package for distressed farmers
In lieu of providing aid to the distressed farmers Karnataka government announced waiver of interest and penal interest on crop loans from cooperative banks for the current fiscal 2015-16 as the state has been facing drought from past 10 years and crop loss of 16000 crore.(Karnataka CM – Siddaramaiah)
- There will be hike in compensation from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh to families of farmers who had committed suicide, even to landless labourers.
- For the farmers who had committed suicide there will also the increment in monthly widow pension from Rs 500 to Rs 2,000and will bear expenses of children up to post-graduation level.
- As per Karnataka Government 1,300 cases had been registered against moneylenders and 568 were arrested.
Sufi Bonanza in Jaipur
The SAARC Sufi festival, a three-day carnival of Sufi dance, music and poetry was organised at Diggi Palace, Jaipur from 10th to 12thOctober, 2015. This festival is based on the academic research seminars and sufiyana shayari.
AIM– To spread the vision of a terror free world
ORGANISERS -Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL)
PARTICIPANTS– 50 SAARC Sufi scholars, 40 poets, 80 Sufi musicians, singers and dancers and performers from 8 SAARC countries
SAARC COUNTRIES
- India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka
- Granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi and the vice chairperson of Gandhi Smriti and Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust, Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee also participated in the festival.
Akshay Kumar Donates Rs. 50 Lakh for Water Conservation Scheme
Maharashtra government’s “Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyaan” (local water conservation scheme) received a donation Rs. 50 lakh from Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar.
- To fight with drought the scheme is promoted by the Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis envisioned constructing ponds on farms for water harvesting.
International Affairs
- V20 Group launched by Vulnerable Nations to Foster Greater Investment in Climate Resiliency
- Joint Declaration to Ensure Orderly & Legal Migration – BRICS
Banking & Finance
Go digital nationwide campaign by HDFC Bank
Mumbai headquartered bank with tagline “We Understand Your World” HDFC has initiated the countrywide crusade to position itself as a premier digital bank by benefitting customers with bank’s latest technological products and offerings.(HDFC MD – Aditya Puri)
- CAMPAIGN NAME – Har Zaroorat Poori Ho Chutki Mein, Bank Aapki Mutthi Mein
- CAMPAIGN THEME – Digital banking is enabling customer convenience as never before
- TIME DURATION – 3 months
Bank’s offering will be digitally accessible and it includes
- 1-click payments, 1-click shopping, 10-second loans, Quick investments
- There is no need to visit branch, customers can use this facility by their mobile phones and the Internet which saves time and paperwork.
- Earlier HDFC launched a payment solution PayZapp, 10 second personal loan disbursal, HDFC application in Apple iWatch.
Awards
Iconic AR Rahman to receive Hridaynath Mangeshkar Award
Academy and Oscar Award-winning music composer 48 years old AR Rahman will be bestowed with the 5th Hridaynath Mangeshkar Award in Mumbai on October 26, the birth anniversary of Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar, the late younger brother of legendary playback singers Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle.
The award will presented by veteran by Subhash Ghai
- The first Hridaynath Award was presented to Lata Mangeshkar followed by Asha, Amitabh Bachchan and Sulochana Tai.
- In 2009 AR Rahman won the Oscar award for Best Original Score and Best Original Song, sharing with lyricist Gulzar, for his work in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire.
- He won four National Awards.
Writer Sarah Joseph and Rahman Abbas returned their awards
Protesting against the silence for the murder case of eminent Kannada writer MM Kalburgi, Malayalam writer and Sahitya Akademi award winner Sarah Joseph and Maharashtra State Urdu Sahitya Academy award winner Rahman Abbas (Urdu novelist) also returned their awards.
They have announced to give back their awards after the Malayalam poet K Satchidanandan, Malayalam short story writer PK Parakkadavu and KS Ravikumar decided to quit their posts in Akademi.
- Joseph won the literary award for her novel “Aalahayude Penmakkal” (Daughters of God the Father)
- Abbas won the Maharashtra State Urdu Sahitya Academy award in 2011 for his novel “Khuda Ke Saaye Mein Aankh Micholi”(Hide-and Seek in the Shadow of God)
Appointments & Resignations
Actor Sidharth Malhotra appointed as New Zealand tourism ambassador
30 years old Bollywood Actor Sidharth Malhotra was designated as Tourism New Zealand’s ambassador for India and with this recognition he became the New Zealand’s first Indian ambassador from India.
- He played lead roles in Student of the Year, Hasee Toh Phasee, Ek Villain and Brothers, Malhotra and he is having the highest fan following around 4.3 million followers on social media.
Girish Shankar designated as Secretary Department of Official Language
1982 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre Girish Shankar has appointed as the Secretary of the Department of Official Language under Home Ministry.
- Currently Mr. Shankar is serving as Additional Secretary in the Tourism Ministry.
- As per the order issued by Department of Personnel and Training, the Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved the appointment of Shankar as Special Secretary in Tourism Ministry with effect from August 31, 2015 till he joins as Secretary of the Department of Official Language.
SEBI has appointed Tapan Ray to its board
According to an order issued by the Finance Ministry, Capital market regulator SEBI has appointed corporate affairs secretary Tapan Ray to its board. He will succeed Anjuly Chib Duggal.
The 8 member board of SEBI also includes nominees from Finance Ministry and RBI.
- Mr Ray is a Gujarat-cadre civil servant between 1984 and 1994.
- He has done his post-graduation in Public Policy and International Affairs and holds diplomas in German language, international law and international business.
- He also took assignments at the Centre in Power, Science and Technology, Textiles and Defence Ministries before going back to the state cadre in 2006.
Shashi Deshpande resigns from Sahitya Akademi panel
After the returning of awards by prominent writers Uday Prakash, Nayantara Sahgal and Ashok Vajpeyi, now Padma Shri awarded writer Shashi Deshpande resigned from the Sahitya Akademi General Council because of the silence of the Akademi and PM Modi on the murder of Professor MM Kalburgi.
(Mr. Kalburgi was a Kannada writer, scholar and winner of the Akademi award who was shot dead by unidentified assailants)
- She won the Sahitya Akademi award for her novel “That Long Silence” in 1990. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 2009.
- Six Kannada and an Urdu writer have also returned literary awards given by the state government as a mark of protest.
Shekhar Basu appointed as Atomic Energy Secretary
As per Department of Personnel and Training Acclaimed scientist Shekhar Basu designated as atomic Energy Secretary and Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission till September 19, 2016. He will succeed RK Sinha.
From 2012 Mr. Basu is serving Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and chief executive of the Nuclear Recycle Board (NRB)
- Mr Basu was honoured with Padma Shri.
- He was involved in setting up reprocessing and waste management facilities at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research in Kalpakkam.
- He also commissioned land-based Nuclear Submarine Propulsion Plant at Kalpakkam.
- He is associated with the field of research in engineering sciences to develop and apply technology for energy, health, food and agriculture sectors.
- He was also awarded from Indian Nuclear Society and Department of Atomic Energy for his contribution towards Indian Atomic Energy Programme.
- He was also involved during the architecture of 80 megawatt compact Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR), which will power Arihant, the country’s nuclear-powered submarine.
Science & Technology
In India UC topped in mobile browser while Google Chrome leads in PC
In accordance with the 3rd Quarter 2015(at the end of September) report of web analytics and statistics firm StatCounter Alibaba’s browser UC is influencing the Indian market with 51% share.
In case of PCs Google’s Chrome is in lead with 67.85% with continuous growth meanwhile Firefox and Internet Explorer (IE) are facing move down.
- Firefox share decreased from 24.43% to 22.04 %
- 2015 and IE share IE fell from 9.27 per cent to 6.7 per cent during the same period.
As per data UC browser share increased from 37.46% to 51% beating opera browser whose share deteriorate from 23% to 21.09%.
In case of growth in mobile browsing UC is followed by chrome whose share is also raised to 13.21% from 7.03%.
Sports
Boxer Dheeraj Rangi wins silver at World Military Games
20 years old Dheeraj Rangi Lightweight (60 kg) boxer bagged silver medal in the World Military Games held at Mungyeong, South Korea. He was defeated by Algeria’s Yahia Abdelli but became the only Indian boxer to be at second place in the games.
- In these games India won 4 medals in boxing out of which 3 are bronze and were bagged by Mohammed Husamuddin,Devanshu Jaiswal and Narendra Berwal.
- Rangi was trains at the Army Sports Institute (ASI) in Pune and has been a part of JSW’s Sports Excellence Program (SEP) for the past two years. He belongs to Haryana.
Melbourne to host World Cup of Golf and Presidents Cup
Melbourne, Australia is going to be the host for the 2016 World Cup and the 2019 Presidents Cup golf tournaments.
- In 1998 and 2011 Royal Melbourne hosted the Presidents Cup, now it will be the third time in 2019 and World Cup of Golf was last hosted by Melbourne in 2013.
- Both events will be played in the November timeframe in 2016 and 2019 on Melbourne’s Sandbelt which is considered best in the world.
Mirza-Hingis won China Open, tagged with 8th title of season
The Iconic women’s double pair of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis has clinched their 8th title of the season by defeating Chinese pair of Hao-Ching Chan and Yung-Jan Chan in the China Open final in Beijing.
They won $4.7 million prize money for this tournament.
- Before this tile this duo have tagged with Wimbledon, US Open champions, Indian Wells, Miami, Charlestion, Guangzhou and Wuhan.
New national tennis champions – Sriram Balaji & Prerna Bhambri
The new tennis champion N Sriram Balaji bagged a wild card for the 2016 Delhi Open after defeating Vishnu Vardhan with 7-5, 6-3 in the final of the Fenesta National Tennis Championship in New Delhi.
He also won men’s doubles title with partner V M Ranjeet.
He won the prize money of Rs 3 lakh.
- In women singles Prerna Bhambri defeated Samitha Sai Chamarthi with 6-0, 6-1 and clinched a wild card for USD 25,000 ITF women event in Delhi Open.
- B R Nikshep won the Boys (Under-18) title by winning over Aryan Goveas with 6-3 2-6 7. He also got wild card for the Delhi Open Qualifiers.
- Zeel Desai won the Girls (Under-18) singles title by defeating Satwika Sama with 3-6 6-3 7-5.
Important Day
13th World Day against the Death Penalty observed
10th October observed as the World Day against the Death Penalty aimed at to abolish capital punishment against drug crime.
THEME: The Death Penalty does not stop drug crimes
It was created in 2002 in Rome and established as World Day against the Death Penalty on 10th October 2003 and has 158 member organisations. Its main objective is to take action for crime but not take the offenders lives.
FACTS
- 100 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes
- Globally 33 countries give death penalties to offences like drug smuggling, mostly in Asia and Middle East
- In Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia, Sudan, Syria there is a mandatory death penalty for certain drug offences and 49% of execution is related to this.
- In India first hanging in Independent India took place in 1949 when Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte were hanged in Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination case.
- As per the report by Law Commission of India between 1953 and 1963 there were 1,410 cases of death sentence.
- 26 executions have been taken place in India since 1991.
World Mental Health Day Observed
10th October 2015 is observed as World Mental Health Day which was hosted by World Federation of Mental Health to stop violation and discrimination against the persons who are suffering from mental health conditions.
THEME: Dignity in mental health
- It was established in 1992 as an initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health and has members in 150 countries.
- Its main objective is to raise awareness regarding Mental illness and how it impacts the suffered person’s life and what can be done to ensure that people with mental health problems can live with dignity.
