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Indian Affairs
Haryana Government announced to open Sanskrit University for SC
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced to open a Sanskrit University for Schedule Castes (SCs) in Mundri village which will be named after Sanskrit poet Maharishi Valmiki.
The announcements were made during an address at Bhagwan Valmiki Prakat Diwas Samaroh being celebrated as Samrasta Diwas. Here are some important announcements:
- State-level functions to commemorate the anniversaries of three great saints – Maharishi Valmiki, Sant Kabir and Sant Ravidas.
- Awards in the field of education, literature and sports would be instituted in the names of the three great saints.
- Government Residential Senior Secondary Schools would be opened at each district headquarters.
- A grant of Rs. 5 crore each to three Assembly segments of the district — Kaithal, Kalayat and Guhla — for various development works.
- Providing laptops to the girl students belonging to Scheduled Caste families.
CM inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 6 development projects costing about Rs 25 crore. He also announced to give Rs 20 lakh each for the construction of Valmiki Bhawan, Karnal and Valmiki Sadan at Panchkula.
Doordarshan emerges most watched Hindi channel
As per Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) rating Public broadcaster Doordarshan claimed that it has emerged as the most watched Hindi channel in terms of time spent per viewer ahead of top General Entertainment Channels.
- DD National registered an Average Time Spent of 51 Min per viewer.
- As compared to other, viewers preferred to continuously watch it for a longer duration of time rather than frequently switching the channels.
- The channel witnessed a significant rise in ratings and moved up to the 7th position in Hindi Speaking Markets
Of the total 153.5 million TV households, representing All India and all modes of signal, 77.5 million are urban TV households and 76 million are rural TV households.
Army to launch new department to look into veteran’s issues
Army will launch Department of Veterans Affairs (DOVA), a new directorate aimed to look at the problems and welfare of ex-servicemen. The department would be launched on January 15, 2016
- Announcement was made at an event organised by J&K Ex-service League to observe Martyrdom of First Maha Vir Chakra Awardee of Indian Army, Brigadier Rajinder Singh, who is also called as “The Saviour of Kashmir”.
- Northern and Western Commands will jointly coordinate and ensure redressal of grievances of the ex-servicemen.
International affairs
Scientists detect Ethyl Alcohol and Simple Sugar from gas emitted by Comet Lovejoy
Team of scientists have discovered two complex organic molecules that are considered as building blocks of life and will provide important clues to the hypothesis that a falling comet collided with earth, leading to the origins of life.
The molecules were Ethyl alcohol and a simple sugar known as glycolaldehyde on a comet.
These molecules were discovered on Comet Lovejoy from gas emitted by a comet by scientists from NASA, the Paris Observatory and other organizations.
- The research was done using a 30-metre long telescope at the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimetrique locaed in Sierra Nevada in Spain.
- The scientists found that Comet Lovejoy was releasing as much alcohol as in five hundred bottles of wine every second during its peak activity.
- They also had detected 21 different organic molecules in gas released from the comet along with the ethyl alcohol and simple sugar.
China, Japan, South Korea to hold first summit in three years
China, Japan and South Korea will hold a summit in South Korea when Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visits, for the first such meeting since they were discontinued in 2012 due to tension dating back to World War Two.
- The summit would be on Nov. 1 in Seoul.
- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will visit South Korea from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2.
The summit, held annually since 2008, was discontinued amid diplomatic tension between Japan and South Korea stemming both from the war and a territorial dispute. South Korea had demanded Japan do more to compensate Korean women forced into prostitution in Japanese brothels during wartime.
Queen Elizabeth II invites Indian-origin engineer to palace
An Indian-origin structural engineer Roma Agrawal who helped build Europe’s tallest building, the Shard in London, has been invited to Buckingham Palace by Queen Elizabeth II.
- Roma Agrawal 29, will join a group of other female engineers at a reception being hosted by the 89-year-old monarch to encourage more women to take up the profession.
- Only 6 per cent of registered UK engineers and technicians are women, the lowest number in Europe; just 15 per cent of UK engineering students are female.
Keypoints:
- United Kingdom Capital : London
- United Kingdom Currency :Pound Sterling
Business
ISB and Deakin University ink three year MoU for collaboration
The Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business (ISB) has signed Memorandum of Understanding with Melbourne-based Deakin University to collaborate in research, teaching, student exchange programmes, internationalising curriculum, and developing innovative approaches to meet international accreditation standards.
- It has been signed for a 3 years partnership.
- Through Deakin India Research Initiative (DIRI), Deakin provides a full tuition fee waiver of around Rs 42 lakh.
JV of Essar Projects – Saipem secured $1.57 bn contract in Kuwait
Essar Project’s joint venture with Italy’s Saipem won a biggest third-party order of $1.57 billion order from Kuwait National Petroleum Company for setting up a part of the Al-Zour Refinery Project.
- The project at Al Zour is Kuwait’s biggest development project with a crude processing capacity of 615,000 barrels per day (bpd).
- The project is expected to be completed by 2019.
Now Essar Project’s order book has reached $2.8 billion with projects being executed in 9 countries.
Western Digital to buy SanDisk for 19 billion US dollar
Storage hardware maker Western Digital (WDC) is buying flash memory giant SanDisk (SNDK) for $19 billion.
- SanDisk stockholders will get $85.10 in cash and 0.0176 shares of WDC for each share of SNDK.
- Western Digital and SanDisk’s complementary product lines, including hard disk drives, solid-state drives, cloud datacenter storage solutions and flash storage solutions, will provide the foundation for a broader set of products and technologies from consumer to datacenter.
Appointment
Jimmy Morales elected as President of Guatemala
Jimmy Morales, a television comedian with no political experience and no real policy platform, won with 67 % during Presidential elections. He has defeated Sandra Torres, 59, who won less than 33% of votes.
- This election was Guatemala’s ninth since the Central American country returned to democracy after a 36-year civil war that ended in 1996.
Martin Mercer appointed as head of Latin American business of Lupin
Mumbai-headquartered Drug major Lupin has designated Martin Mercer as President of its Latin American business. He will be responsible for company’s Latin American business including the overall strategy for its generics and specialty business in Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and Argentina.
- He will be based in Naples, Florida.
- Before joining Lupin he was working with Astellas Pharma as its head of Latin America.
- Mercer has significant experience in acquisition integration, change management and restructuring, business development and new product development.
Last week firm had appointed Fabrice Egros as President of Asia Pacific and Japan.
Awards & Recognition
Science & Technology
Scientifically validated Rs 5 anti-diabetes herbal drug launched by CSIR
- A scientifically validated anti-diabetes herbal drug named ‘BGR-34’ was launched by a Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) labin Lucknow.
- It was launched on the 62nd annual day of the NBRI for commercial manufacturing and marketing by M/s Aimil Pharamaceuticals Pvt Ltd, New Delhi.
BGR-34
- BGR-34 is a new herbal drug for diabetes patients and it’s cost was Rs.5
- A combination of natural extracts from plants, the drug is based on Ayurveda and has no side effects. The drug is for management of type-II diabetes mellitus.
Keypoints:
CSIR Chairman: Prime Minister Narendra Modi
CSIR Director General: Dr. Girish Sahni
Environment
Massive Earthquake Hits Hindu Kush Region of Afghanistan
- A massive earthquake of 7.5 magnitude on the Richter scale, with the epicentre in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan, rocked the northern Indian subcontinent on 26th Oct, 2015.
- Tremors from this earthquake were felt in northern India and Tajikistan.
Key points :
- Earthquake measured by Seisometer
- Earthquake measured by the Unit –Richter
- Afghanistan Capital : Kabul
- Afghanistan Currency : Afgani
- Afghanistan PM : Hamid Karzai
Sports
South Africa clinched 1st ever bilateral ODI series in India
South Africa on 25 October 2015 won the five-match One Day International (ODI) series against India 3-2. This was South Africa’s first ever bilateral ODI series win on Indian soil.
- Player of the series – AB de Villiers (South Africa)
In the fifth and final match played at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, South Africa defeated India by 214 runs, which was India’s second biggest ODI loss in terms of runs. South Africa after winning the toss chose to bat first and posted 438 runs at a loss of four wickets; this was third highest score in the history of ODIs.
Abhishek Verma & Deepika Kumari creates history by winning silver medal in Archery World Cup Final
India won two silver medals in Archery World Cup Final in Archery World Cup Final in Mexico City.
Abhishek Verma :
- 26-year-old,Abhishek Verma bagged India’s first ever Archery World Cup Final medal in the compound section after defeated by Turkey’s Demir Elmaagcli by 143-145 score.
- In the semifinals, Verma had defeated Mario Cardoso of Mexico by 150-142 score to enter in the Archery World Cup Final.
Deepika Kumari :
- Deepika Kumari has won the Silver medal in five years at the 2015 Archery World Cup Final defeated by South Korea’s Choi Misun defeated Deepika Kumari and won the gold medal by 6-2 score.
- In the semifinal, she won by defeated Le Chien-Ying who settled for a bronze after beating Mackenzie Brown in the third place.
