Current Affairs - 31st October 2015

1. National Unity Day observed across India

i. The National Unity Day was observed across India on 31 October2015 to commemorate the birthday of Sardar Vallabhai Patel.

ii. On this occasion of 140th birth anniversary of SardarVallabhbhai Patel, PM Narendra Modi flagged off Run for Unity atRajpath in New Delhi.

iii. Moreover, on this day, all ministries and departments of thegovernment and all the state governments and administrators of allthe Union Territories organise programmes including the Pledge-takingCeremony, Run for Unity involving people from all sections ofsociety.

2. GSAT-15 to be launched on November 10 fromFrench Guiana

i. ISRO’s latest communication satellite GSAT-15 is all set tobe launched on November 10, 2015 from French Guiana on board Ariane5.

ii. The Indian space agency, as part of augmentingtelecommunication services, had earlier launched communicationsatellites GSAT-14 and GSAT-6, respectively.

iii. The satellite would provide C and Ku band telecommunicationsand navigation services to India.

3. Ministry of Civil Aviation released RevisedDraft National Civil Aviation Policy

i. The Ministry of Civil Aviation on 30 October 2015 releasedRevised Draft National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP 2015).

ii. The policy aims at providing a favourable environment and alevel playing field to various aviation sub-sectors, such asAirlines, Airports, Cargo, Maintenance Repairs and Overhaul (MRO)services and so on.

iii. Besides, the scheme also intends to create an eco-system toenable 30 crore domestic ticketing by 2022 and 50 crore by 2027.

4. Paul Ryan elected as 54th Speaker of US Houseof Representatives

i. Republican Paul Ryan was elected as the 54th speaker of the USHouse of Representatives after fetching the votes of 236 members bythe full House of Representatives.

ii. Following his election, Ryan was sworn in as Speaker of theHouse. He took the oath on his own copy of the New American bible andkept the gavel he wielded as Chairman of the powerful tax writingcommittee.

5. Railways launches ‘Vikalp’ for waitlistedpassengers to get confirmed berth

i. Railway is launching a new scheme under which waitlistedpassengers can get confirmed accommodation in next alternative trainif they opt for the option while booking their tickets online.

ii. Known as Viklap, the alternative train accommodation schemewill take off in trains running on Delhi-Lucknow and Delhi-Jammusectors from November 1, on a pilot basis.

iii. Initially, Vikalp scheme will be available only for thetickets booked through internet for six months and option will belimited to mail and express trains on the two selected routes, said asenior Railway Ministry official.

                                            Current Affairs - 30th October 2015

1. Raif Badawi wins EU’s Sakharov Prize 2015

i. Saudi blogger Raif Badawi has been selected for EuropeanUnion’s prestigious Sakharov Prize for human rights for year 2015.

ii. European Parliament assembly in Strasbourg, France hashonoured Mr. Bidawi with this award considering him as a symbol ofthe fight for freedom of speech.

iii. Raif Badawi, author of the website Free Saudi Liberalsreceived an international fame in 2012 after he was sentenced to 10years in prison and 1,000 lashes in Saudi Arabia for insulting Muslimclerics.

2. Activist Bindeshwar Pathak selected for New YorkGlobal Leaders Dialogue Humanitarian Award

i. Sociologist and founder of Sulabh International BindeshwarPathak on 29 October 2015 was selected for the prestigious New YorkGlobal Leaders Dialogue Humanitarian Award for his contribution tosanitation and improving the quality of life for millions of manualscavengers.

ii. Pathak will be presented with the award on 12 April 2016 inNew York, US.

iii. The activist first understood the plight of manual scavengersin 1968 when he joined the Bhangi-Mukti (scavengers’ liberation)Cell of the Bihar Gandhi Centenary Celebrations Committee.

iv. He founded the Sulabh International Social ServiceOrganization in 1970, combining technical innovation withhumanitarian principles.

3. Amit Kumar won silver in men's club throw F51 eventof IPC Athletics World Championships

i. Indian para-athlete Amit Kumar Saroha on 28 October 2015 wonsilver medal in men's club throw F51 event in the IPC Athletics WorldChampionships in Doha. With this, Amit sealed a berth for 2016 RioParalympic Games.

ii. Amit clinched silver with an effort of 25.44m, behind Serbia'sZeljko Dimitrijevic who won gold in a championship record of 26.29m.Milos Mitic of Serbia bagged the bronze in 25.40m.

iii. Amit’s medal helped the 15-member Indian team to end thecampaign with two silvers. Devendra Jhajharia had won silver in men'sjavelin throw F46 event on 27 October 2015.

4. India-Africa Forum Summit 2015 held in New Delhi

i. India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) 2015 was held for four daysbetween 26 October and 29 October 2015 at Indira Gandhi StadiumComplex in New Delhi.

ii. Besides PM Narendra Modi, the summit was attended by topleaders of 40 African nations.

iii. The purpose of the meeting was to enable consultations at thehighest political level between 54 nations across Africa and theIndian government.

iv. It was the third IAFS since its inception. The previoussummits were held in 2008 and 2011 in New Delhi and Addis Ababa(Ethiopia) respectively.

5. China’s first lunar rover Yutu sets record forlongest stay on Moon

i. China’s first lunar rover, Yutu, has set the new record forthe longest stay by a rover on the lunar surface.

ii. With working on the Moon for almost two years it has surpassedprevious record of Soviet Union’s (USSR’s) 1970 launched roverLunokhod 1, which had spent 11 months on the Moon.

iii. The lunar rover Yutu was deployed and landed on the moon in2013 via China’s Chang’e-3 lunar probe. In 2014, it hadexperienced a mechanical control abnormality but was revived.

6. China abandons its decades old One Child Policy

i. China, world most populous country has announced to abandon itsthree decades-long one-child policy and changed it two-child policy.

ii. The ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) in this regard hasissued an official communiqué at the end of party’s 4 dayplenary session headed by President Xi Jinping in Beijing.

iii. The change of policy is intended to Balance populationdevelopment world’s second largest economy.

iv. Address the challenge of unnatural negative demographics duerising numbers of old age population as well as concerns overdeclining labour force.

v. This announcement comes amid slowdown of China’s economywhich has plunged for the first time below the 7 per cent figuresince the 2009 global economic crisis.

7. John Magufuli elected as President of Tanzania

i. John Pombe Magufuli of ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) partyhas won the 2015 Tanzanian Presidential election.

ii. With this victory he became fifth President of Tanzania sinceits independence from United Kingdom in 1961.

iii. John Magufuli won this Presidential election by securing58.46 per cent of the total votes and defeated Edward Lowassa ofopposition Chadema party who received 39 per cent votes.

     
                                      Current Affairs - 29th October 2015

1. Bidhya Devi Bhandari elected as first femalePresident of Nepal

i. Bidhya Devi Bhandari of the ruling Communist Party of Nepal(Unified Marxist Leninist)-CPN-UML has been elected as first femalePresident of Nepal.

ii. With this, she also became first President under newlypromulgated Constitution of Nepal and second President since theHimalayan nation became a republic after abolishing the centuries-oldmonarchy.

2. Hockey India signed three years partnershipwith Sports Authority of India

i. Hockey India (HI),the top body governing the sport in thecountry, on 28 October 2015 signed a three-year Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) with Sports Authority of India (SAI) to helpregain hockey its position as the top sport of the country.

ii. As per the terms of agreements, SAI will promote hockey, whichis amongst the world’s most popular sports, as a tool for youthdevelopment and excellence in sports.

iii. In addition, both the entities will work towards creating alasting legacy for the sport by developing hockey coaching system,talent identification and infrastructure for inculcating positivevalues in today’s youth through hockey, education, health and otherallied areas.

3. Asia Pacific Region most disaster prone partof the world, says UN Report

i. The Asia Pacific region is the most disaster prone part of theworld as it had suffered around 1,625 disasters in the decade through2014.

ii. It was revealed in recently released 2015 United NationsAsia-Pacific Disaster Report.

Key highlights from Report

a. Disasters in Asia Pacific region accounted for 40 percent ofthe global total and claimed over half a million of lives over thedecade.
b. The disasters in past decade have affected around 1.4billion people and caused over 523 billion dollars in economicdamage.
c. Around 772 million poor people from this region whichtends to be worlds populous region are vulnerable to disasters.
d.Majority of disasters are cross-border in nature including floods,cyclones, droughts and earthquake. So, regional cooperation iscrucial among nations in region.

4. MP Government announces 33 percent quota for womenin government jobs

i. Madhya Pradesh government has decided to provide 33 percentreservation to women in government jobs.

ii. Decision inthis regard was taken by state cabinet meeting presided over by ChiefMinister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

iii. With this, the reservation to women in government jobs in thestate has been increased from present 30 per cent to 33 per cent.

iv. Apart from this decision, state Cabinet also gave its approvalto a proposal providing compensation to farmers i.e. they have torepay only 90 thousand rupees on a loan of one lakh rupees.

5. 191 UNGA-members voted a resolution condemningUS embargo on Cuba

i. United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 27 October 2015overwhelmingly approved the Resolution condemning an economic embargoimposed by the US on Cuba. It stated that existence of suchrestrictions undermines multilateralism and credibility of the UN.

ii. 191 countries from the 193 member states demonstrated aconcerted and international stand with Cuba and voted in favour ofthe resolution. The United States and Israel were the only twocountries that voted against the resolution.

iii. This is the 24th time that the UNGA has adopted theresolution that seeks ending the economic, commercial and financialembargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba, despiteresumption of relations between the two countries.

iv. The Assembly, however, welcomed the resumption of diplomaticrelations between the US and Cuba announced on 20 July 2015 and thewillingness of US President Barack Obama to work towards the liftingof the economic, financial and trade embargo against Cuba.

6. India, France ink MoU on preserving WrittenHeritage at National Library in Kolkata

i.Indian and France have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) toconserve, develop and publicize written heritage at the NationalLibrary in Kolkata, West Bengal.

ii. It was signed by Sreya Guha, Joint Secretary (Library) in theUnion Ministry of Culture and Bruno Racine, President of the NationalLibrary of France.

Key facts of MoU

a. Entails development of digital co-operation, competency andskill-building, sharing of technical and other expertise and culturalco-operation between the two countries.
b. It will assist aprogramme on digitization of old manuscripts and documents which hadbegun in France 7 years ago.
c. It will also make Indian side togain experience and high quality expertise in this field from France.

                                       Current Affairs - 28th October 2015

1. Sylvie Lucas appointed as Chair of the IGN on UNSCreforms

i. Luxembourg ambassador to the United Nations (UN),Sylvie Lucason 27 October 2015 was appointed as the Chair of theInter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) on UN Security Council (UNSC)reforms. Lucas, who was appointed by 70th UN General Assembly sessionPresident Morgens Lykketoft, replaced Ambassador Courtenay Rattray ofJamaica.

ii. Her appointment came ahead of the next round of negotiationsto begin on the UNSC reforms. Earlier, she served as the president ofthe United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) from January2009 to January 2010.

iii. She started her career with Luxembourg Ministry of ForeignAffairs where she worked from 1990 to 1995. She served as the deputypermanent representative of Luxembourg to the United Nations from1995 to 2000. On 25 August 2008, she became the United Nations'permanent representative from Luxembourg.

2. Tata Trusts, Harvard University announcecollaboration

i. Tata Trusts and Harvard University South Asia Institute (SAI)today announced collaboration on knowledge creation and capacitybuilding for social and economic empowerment in India.

ii. A key component of the project is the opportunity for buddingsocial entrepreneurs and institutions in India to apply for socialinnovation grants totalling Rs. 50 lakh that will spur interventionsand scale up existing initiatives resulting in greater impact inselect geographies.

iii. The 18-month research project titled ‘Livelihood Creationin India through Social Entrepreneurship and Skill Development’ isthe first step in this direction, a statement from Tata Trusts said.

iv. The project will focus on three key areas: rural livelihoodcreation with emphasis on the handicrafts and handloom sectors,educational, social and economic empowerment of women and science andtechnology-based interventions for poverty alleviation.

v. The purpose of the project will be achieved through researchwith over 150 institutions across 15 states of India, five workshopswith 100 participating NGOs, and 20 webinars involving Harvardfaculty and subject experts from India.

3. IOC allowed refugees to compete in Olympics for thefirst time

i. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Thomas Bach on26 October 2015 announced that all the highly qualified athletes whoare refugees will be allowed to compete in the Olympic Games. This isfor the first time that refugee athletes will be competing in anyOlympic Games.

ii. As per the announcement, all the eligible athletes will beable to compete for the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Riode Janeiro, Brazil.

iii. The announcement was made during the UN General Assembly(UNGA) meeting which adopted a resolution urging all countries tostop fighting and observe a truce during the 2016 Summer Olympics.Bach also appealed to all 193 UN member states to help the IOCidentify talented refugee athletes.

iv. IOC has created a 2 million US dollars fund to bring hopethrough sport to refugees. Having no national anthem to play forthem, these refugee athletes will be welcomed to the Olympic Gameswith the IOC flag and the IOC anthem.

v. While participating in the 2016 Olympics, refugee athletes willstay in the Olympic Village alongside the other 11000 athletes from206 national Olympic committees. Until now, qualified refugeeathletes were not able to participate because they couldn't representtheir home country and its national Olympic committee.

4. India ranked 130 in ease of doing business: WorldBank

i. World Bank on 27 October 2015 announced that India ranked 130out of the 189 countries surveyed in terms of ease of doing businessfor domestic firms. It was revealed in the report entitled DoingBusiness 2016: Measuring Regulatory Quality and Efficiency.

ii. As per the report, India could improve its ranking by 12places from the 142nd position of the 2015 report by undertakingsignificant improvements in the regulatory framework for starting newbusinesses. The findings of the report were based on collection ofdata in Mumbai and Delhi between June 2014 and May 2015.

iii. India was placed at the 155th position overall in thissegment. However, it is still one of the areas of greatestimprovement for India, as the number of days to start a business wascut down to 29 days in 2015 from much longer 127 days in 2014.

iv. India showed very poor performance in this segment as it wasplaced at the 183rd position overall. India ranked overall 70 amongthe surveyed countries as now companies can get connected to the gridand get on with their business in 14 days sooner than before in Delhiand Mumbai.

5. Barclays names former JP Morgan banker as new boss

i. Troubled British bank Barclays today announced the appointmentof former JP Morgan investment banker James Staley as its new chiefexecutive. The 58-year-old American will take up his new role onDecember 1, the bank announced in a statement, indicating a renewedfocus on its investment division.

ii. Staley, also known as Jes, declared that he would seek to“preserve and enhance” trust in the lender, whose reputation hasbeen badly damaged by foreign exchange and Libor benchmark interestrate rigging scandals.

iii. Staley, whose appointment had been widely predicted in themedia this month, is the former chief executive of JP Morgan’sinvestment bank and currently works for US hedge fund Blue MountainCapital Management. Barclays announced in July that it had fired itsthen—chief executive Antony Jenkins in the wake of recent scandals.

iv. The retail banking veteran had vowed to bring a new culture ofdecency to Barclays, and oversaw drastic restructuring that shrankits investment bank, a move that reportedly upset major shareholders.

6. Citibank appointed Samiran Chakraborty as ChiefEconomist for India

i. Citibank on 27 October 2015 announced that it has appointedSamiran Chakraborty as Chief Economist for India.

ii. Prior to joining Citi, Chakraborty was Managing Director andHead of Macro Research for South Asia at Standard Chartered Bank.Earlier, he served ICICI Bank as Chief Economist and Delhi School ofEconomics as faculty for mathematical economics and open-economymacroeconomics.

iii. He carries more than a decade of experience in conductingmacro research, covering various asset classes including currency,interest rates and credit markets.

7. J&K to host South Asian Rugby 7’S Championshipin 2016

i. Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Youth Services and Sports MolviImran Raza Ansari on 27 October 2015 announced that Kashmir Valleywill host South Asian Rugby 7’S Championship in 2016.

ii. The decision was made during the 131st Standing Committeemeeting of J-K State Sports Council, which was chaired by Ansari. Asper the decision, the championship will be held at Bakhshi Stadiumfrom 18 June to 20 June 2016.

iii. The Championship will be participated by eight teamsconsisting of 180 participants from various countries like Sri Lanka,Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and India.

iv. The minister also said that the government wants such eventsto be held in the state for the promotion of sports activities atglobal level. He also said that the Council would provide allpossible support to make the event a success and will provide variousfacilities like boarding, lodging and logistic for smooth conduct ofthe event.

8. P K Gupta elevated as SBI Managing Director

i. K Gupta will be elevated as Managing Director of country'slargest lender State Bank of India in place of CorporateBanking head P Pradeep Kumar, who is superannuating this month-end.Gupta, who is of Deputy Managing Director (DMD) rank, is presentlyManaging Director of the bank's investment banking arm SBI Caps.

ii. The appointment of the 1960-born Gupta is for a period of overfour years (till March 2020),when he will be superannuating, VijayMalhotra, according to a notification.

iii. Six officials from the bank were interviewed for the postlast month and Gupta was the senior-most among them. Others includedVarsha Purandare (DMD and Chief Credit Officer),Dinesh Khara (MD,SBI Mutual Fund) and Sunil Srivastava (DMD Corporate Services and NewBusiness).

iv. The other three serving MDs at SBI are B Sriram (nationalbanking group),V G Kannan (associates and subsidiaries) and RajnishKumar (compliance and risk).

1. FIIs/RFPIs can now invest up to 74 percent in DENNetworks Limited: RBI

i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 26 October 2015 notifiedthat the Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs)/Registered ForeignPortfolios Investors (RFPIs) can now invest up to 74 percent of thepaid up capital of DEN Networks Limited under the PortfolioInvestment Scheme (PIS).

ii. DEN Networks Limited has passed resolutions at its Board ofDirectors’ level and a special resolution by the shareholders,agreeing for enhancing the limit for the purchase of its equityshares and convertible debentures by FIIs/RFPIs.

iii. The purchases could be made through primary market and stockexchanges. The purchases would be subject to Regulation 5(2) of FEMANotification and other terms and conditions stipulated by the ReserveBank.

iv. The Reserve Bank notified this under Foreign ExchangeManagement Act (FEMA),1999.

2. Indian-American farmer Anita Adalja to be honouredfor exemplary agriculture work

i. Indian-American farmer is among 12 individuals from across thecountry who will be recognised as White House Champions of Changeforsustainable and climate-smart agriculture at an event in the US.

ii. Anita Adalja, is social worker who merged her career withfarming. Currently, she is working as a manager at the Arcadia Centerfor Sustainable Food and Agriculture.

iii. Anita said, she is committed to food access solutions,community building and sustainable land stewardship. Before beingcalled to farming, she was a social worker in Brooklyn. While workingwith formerly homeless, mentally ill adults in a supportive housingfacility, Anita co-founded a rooftop farm on top of the building.

iv. Anita, has worked to create a more equitable and sustainablefood system by increasing food access, sustainable farming, farmertraining and farm-to-school education. Under her management, ArcadiaFarm grows thousands of pounds of naturally grown produce that issold in low-or no-food access areas in Washington, through its mobilefarmers' market programme.

3. Deepika Kumari won silver medal in Archery World CupFinal

i. Indian archer Deepika Kumari on bagged the silver medal in theArchery World Cup Final held in Mexico City. Kumari went down 2-6 infinale to South Korea’s Chou Misun.

ii. Currently ranked World No. 5, Kumari clinched a gold medal inthe 2010 Commonwealth games in the women's individual recurve event.She also won a gold medal in the 2010 Commonwealth games in thewomen's team recurve event along with Dola Banerjee and BombayalaDevi.

iii. In May 2012, she won her first World Cup individual stagerecurve gold medal at Antalya, Turkey.

iv. In 2012, the Ranchi-born archer was honoured by the Presidentof India with the prestigious Arjuna Award, India's second highestsporting award. She was also named as the FICCI Sportsperson of theYear Award in February 2014.

4. Third India-Africa forum summit begins in New Delhi

i. The third India-Africa forum summit (IAFS) began in New Delhion 26 October 2015. The four day summit (from 26 October to 30October 2015) is one of the largest gatherings of African countriesoutside Africa as all 54 nations of the continent have participated.

ii. It will address the key challenges faced by African nationswhich include food, health and environmental security etc. ProvidesIndia an opportunity to forge a constructive and deeper alliance withthe resource-rich continent.

iii. India hopes to create favourable conditions through thissummit to stimulate trade and investment flows between India andAfrican countries. Both sides are expecting to reinforce theirpartnership on the global platform and deepen security cooperationincluding on countering terrorism and maritime security.

iv. IAFS is an official platform for the African-Indian relations.It is held every 3 years and the venue is selected on rotationalbasis from both sides.

v. Present summit was earlier scheduled in December 2014 in NewDelhi, but it was postponed to October 2015 due to deadly Ebolaoutbreak in few western African countries.

5. Yes Bank advances after operationalising IFSCBanking Unit in GIFT city

i. has operationalised its IFSC Banking Unit in GujaratInternational Finance Tec City. The bank made announcement duringmarket hours today, 27 October 2015.

ii. The IBU will propel the bank's growth plans further byproviding it access to international financial markets, as well asprovide a comprehensive product suite to its corporate clientsrequiring foreign currency funding.

iii. It will also allow the bank to raise foreign currency fundingthrough MTNs and other routes as appropriate. Besides, the IBU willhelp the lender in further diversification and expansion of crossborder asset products as well as widen the scope and depth ofliabilities base.

iv. Earlier this year, the Government of India announced thesetting up of an IFSC in Gujarat, namely in the GIFT city inGandhinagar, Gujarat. Later, the RBI, in April mandated that Indianpublic sector and private banks that are authorised to deal withforeign exchange will be allowed to set up IBUs with priorpermission.

6. Hashim Amla becomes fastest to score 6000 ODI runs,breaks Virat Kohli's record

i. South African batsman Hashim Amla has broken yet another recordheld by India's ODI vice-captain Virat Kohli.

ii. This time, the right-handed opener has broken Kohli's recordof by becoming fastest 6000 runs in the ODIs. For this Amla took just123 innings as compared to Kohli, who achieved this feat in his 136thinnings.

iii. Earlier in January this year, Amla bettered a joint recordowned by Kohli and Sir Vivian Richards of West Indies to become thefastest to 5,000 ODI runs club.

iv. Amla reached the 5,000-run milestone in 101 innings (104matches). Kohli and Richards took 114 visits to the crease to getthere. Earlier on March 3, the 32-year-old Amla struck his 20th ODIhundred (159, his highest in ODIs) to become the quickest to thelandmark and surpassed Kohli.

7. Guatemala elected comedian Jimmy Morales as thePresident

i. Jimmy Morales, a former TV comedian, swept to power inGuatemala's presidential election. He will take the office on 14January 2016. In the presidential election, Morales won more than 67percent of votes. On the other hand, the ex-first lady Sandra Torresreceived less than 33 percent of votes.

ii. In 2015, Morales was nominated as the presidential candidateof National Convergence Front (FCN/Nation). Initially, he wasconsidered an outsider. However, he finished first in the first roundof the election and qualified for the runoff.

iii. Morales, who identified himself as a nationalist, supporteddeath penalty and opposed abortion, came out with a slogan of Neithercorrupt nor a thief that attracted the masses. His success came afterboth former vice president Roxana Baldetti and outgoing presidentOtto Pérez Molina had to step down and were arrested on fraud andcorruption charges.

iv. Jimmy Morales born as James Ernesto Morales Cabrera on 18March 1969 earned fame as a TV comedian when he starred in thepopular TV series Moralejas (Morals). He joined the FCN party in 2013and became its secretary-general.

                                     Current Affairs - 25th & 26th October 2015

1. World Polio Day observed globally

i. World Polio Day was observed on 24 October 2015. The day wasobserved to create awareness about the hazards of the cripplingdisease. The Day was established by Rotary International over adecade ago to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk, who led the firstteam to develop a vaccine against poliomyelitis.

ii. Use of this inactivated poliovirus vaccine and subsequentwidespread use of the oral poliovirus, developed by Albert Sabin, ledto the establishment of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative(GPEI) in 1988. Since then, GPEI has reduced polio worldwide by99percent.

iii. A Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) aims toeradicate polio worldwide by 2018. GPEI is a public-privatepartnership led by national governments and spearheaded by the WorldHealth Organization (WHO),Rotary International, the US Centers forDisease Control and Prevention (CDC),and UNICEF.

iv. According to UNICEF data, polio does not exist in most of theworld, as the cases are down by 99.9 percent worldwide. There havebeen 51 cases of wild polio virus globally since the beginning of2015, compared with 242 wild polio cases for 2014.

v. Just two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan, have reportedcases of wild polio so far in 2015, while on 24 July 2015, Nigeria,Africa's last remaining polio-endemic country, recorded the firstyear in history without a single case.

2. Abhishek Verma became first Indian to win SilverMedal in Archery World Cup Final

i. Indian archer Abhishek Verma 24 October 2015 created history bywinning a silver medal in the Archery World Cup Final medal in thecompound section held in Mexico City. With this, he became the firstever Indian to bag Archery World Cup Final medal.

ii. Verma went down 143-145 to Turkey's Demir Elmaagcli in thesummit clash.

iii. In 2014, Verma bagged the gold medal in the men's compoundarchery team event along with Rajat Chauhan and Sandeep Kumar, andthe silver medal in the men's individual compound event at the AsianGames held at Incheon, South Korea.

iv. He also won a gold medal in the compound men's individualsection on 15 August 2015 in the third leg of Archery World Cup heldin Wroclaw, Poland.

3. Doordarshan emerges most watched Hindi channel

i. Public broadcaster Doordarshan today claimed that it hasemerged as the most watched Hindi channel in terms of time spent perviewer ahead of top General Entertainment Channels.

ii. The "monumental development" comes in as BroadcastAudience Research Council (BARC) released the much awaited All Indiaviewership data, which includes rural India, for the very first time,a statement released by Doordarshan said.

iii. This indicates that after tuning to the channel, viewerspreferred to continuously watch it for a longer duration of timerather than frequently switching the channels, as compared to otherGECs, it added.

iv. The channel also witnessed a significant rise in ratings andmoved up to the 7th position in Hindi Speaking Markets in the week41, according to the data, the statement said.

4. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won 2015 Formula 1United States Grand Prix title

i. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton on 25 October 2015 won the 2015Formula 1 United States Grand Prix title. It was the third title forHamilton at the Circuit of the Americas in Elroy, Texas of the USAwhere championship is being held annually.

ii. In the final race, while his team-mate Nico Rosberg of Germanystood at the second position, Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel(Germany) was at the third.

iii. Also, driver of Force India Sergio Perez (Mexico) was thefifth person to complete the race. For Hamilton, it was the tenthtitle in the 2015 season having won the races in Australia, China,Bahrain, Canada, the UK, Belgium, Italy, Japan and Russia prior tothe US championship.

iv. With this win, he also won the 2015 World Drivers’Championship (WDC). It was the third title for Hamilton as he won theWDCs in 2008 and 2014 also.

v. So far, Hamilton won more races compared to any other Britishdriver in the history of Formula One and is currently 3rd on theall-time list, with 43 wins.

5. India's first double-decker Shatabdi train to runbetween Mumbai, Goa

i. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has announced that the Railwayswould soon start country's first-ever double decker Shatabdi Expressthat would ply between Mumbai and Goa.

ii. Residents of Goa seeking Rajdhani luxury train services haveto rely on the Trivandrum Rajdhani which passes through Goa and makesa halt at Margao in South Goa.

iii. Responding to concerns to allow more tourists to make trainjourneys into Goa, Prabhu said the Railways can also start holidaytrain for tourists.

iv. The first double-decker air conditioned train between Howrahand Dhanbad was flagged off in October 2011, and since then theservice is operational between many cities, includingAhmadabad-Mumbai, Chennai-Bangalore, Delhi-Jaipur and Delhi-Lucknow.

6. Ministry of Railways flagged off Vigithon to fightagainst corruption

i. Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu on 25 October 2015 flagged offVigithon marathon in Mumbai to sensitise people for a fight againstcorruption at the grass-root level. Vigithon was a run for corruptionfree India and was organised by public sector lender Union Bank ofIndia.

ii. Several school children, common people, customers andemployees of the bank participated in Vigithon. It brought in all thestakeholders together on a common platform to create sensitisationagainst corruption.

iii. Vigithon was aimed at educating the people about severalinstances of corruption and empowering them with the means to fightthe problem. The run will be organised at other metro centres acrossthe country as well.

iv. The run was organised as a precursor to the VigilanceAwareness Week which is going to be observed from 26 October 2015till 31 October 2015. Vigilance awareness week is observed every yearsince 2000 as per the guidelines of the Central Vigilance Commission.

7. Sin Tax to be imposed on alcohol, tobacco during GSTregime

i. Sin Tax has been included under the proposed Goods and ServicesTax (GST) law that will be effective from 1 April 2016. GST is beingseen as one of the biggest tax reforms in the country.

ii. Sin tax is an excise tax levied on products and services likealcohol, tobacco and gambling considered bad for health or society.

iii. These additional taxes are also seen as efforts to discouragepeople from use of such products or services.

iv. This kind of tax is often used by government to attract highertheir tax revenues as people generally refrain from opposition tosuch levies as they are indirect in nature and affect only their endusers.

8. NDRF ties up with 30 PSUs to jointly tackleemergencies

i. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has partnered withabout 30 Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) to jointly tackle andmitigate man-made or natural disasters or emergencies.

ii. In this regard, a coordination meeting was held between NDRFand prominent PSUs like ONGC, Air India, GAIL and others involved inthe mining and shipping and heavy industries sector.

iii. The maiden meeting was attended by over 40 senior officialsfrom these PSUs for enhancing each other others capabilities fordisasters or emergencies.

iv. The first of its kind initiative aimed to ensure efforts forbuilding a good synergy between the government organisations. It willalso ensure that two sides can act as one strong unit in case of anyking emergency or disasters in case of small or mid-level exigencies.

                                            Current Affairs - 24th October 2015

1.Himachal Pradesh to host India’s first ParaglidingWorld Cup

i. India’s first Paragliding World Cup has begun at Bir Billingnear Baijnath town in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. Snowleopard is the official mascot of this World Cup. It is for the firsttime that Paragliding World Cup is being organised in a South Asiancountry. Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju flaggedoff the event.

ii. In this one week competition, more than 130 registered pilotsincluding 14 women pilots from 35 countries would take part. Indianside is represented by 8 flyers and 6 among them are from theHimachal Pradesh.

iii. The Paragliding World Cup will have different categories ofcompetition including Paragliding, Hot air ballooning, Hand glidingand Acrobatic shows.

iv. Himachal Pradesh government and Kangra District Administrationhave made elaborate arrangements for the purpose of World Cup.Helicopters and Air ambulance along with forty rescue teams equippedwith latest equipment gave been deployed at various strategiclocations to meet any emergency situation.

2. Indian-origin Ashok-Alexander Sridharan sworn in asmayor of Bonn in Germany

i. Indian-origin Ashok-Alexander Sridharan on 21 October 2015sworn in as the mayor of Bonn in Germany. Bonn is the 18th mostpopulated city in Germany and the provisional capital of erstwhileWest Germany. Sridharan was elected to the office as a candidate ofthe German Chancellor Angela Merkel-led Christian Democratic Union ofGermany (CDU) party in an election held in September 2015.

ii. With this win, Sridharan became the first Person of IndianOrigin (PIO) to be elected as the mayor of a major city in thecountry. Further, he also became the city’s first mayor from animmigrant background.

iii. With this win, Sridharan became the first Person of IndianOrigin (PIO) to be elected as the mayor of a major city in thecountry. Further, he also became the city’s first mayor from animmigrant background.

iv. It was for the first time in 21 years that a candidate fromthe CDU won the Bonn mayoral election leaving the Social DemocraticParty (SPD) out in the cold.

3. Indian mountaineers climbed an untouched mountainpeak, named it after APJ Abdul Kalam

i. Two mountaineers Arjun Vajpai and Bhupesh Kumar in thirdweek of October 2015 created history by becoming first people toclimb 6180 meter high unnamed peak in Himachal’s Spiti Valley. Theduo named the peak as Mout Kalam, in honour of former President ofIndia, Dr. Abdul Kalam.

ii. Newly named Mt. Kalam is located near Bara Shigri Glacier,largest glacier located in Himachal Pradesh. Bara-Sigri glacier isthe second longest glacier in Himalaya after Gangotri both are around30 km long.

iii. Vajpai and Kumar hailing from Noida and Bulandshahrrespectively started the expedition on 8 October 2015 from Noida andcompleted the climb on 14 October 2015 and hoisted the Indiannational flag. They returned back on ground on 20 October 2015.

iv. Earlier in 2010, Vajpai became the youngest Indian to climbMt. Everest. He climbed the highest peak in the world at the age of16. Bhupesh has scaled 17 peaks in India.

4. Japan offers soft loan to India for bullet trainproject

i. Japan has offered soft loan of 15 billion dollars (Rs 90,000crore) at an interest rate of less than 1 per cent to India’sambitious first bullet train project viz. Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speedrail corridor along with technology.

ii. In this regard, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)has submitted its report to the Union Railway Ministry. In its reportJICA has envisaged a reduction in the travel time on the 505-km longcorridor between the two western cities to 2 hours from the existingperiod of over 7 hours.

iii. The report also has mentioned that the bullet train isexpected to run at speeds of around 300-350 km/hour.

iv. Japan’s announcement comes in a bid to surpass competitionfrom China and other countries. It also seeks to overcome Japan’sbroader push back against China’s involvement in infrastructuredevelopment in South Asia over the past several years.

5. First World Indigenous Games begins in Palmas,Brazil

i. First World Indigenous Games has kicked off in the northernBrazilian city of Palmas. The lavish opening ceremony of themulti-sport event was attended by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

ii. The first of its kind international multi-sport event willinvolve around 2000 indigenous athletes belonging to differentindigenous ethnic groups from 30 countries. Participants fromcountries like Ethiopia, Brazil, Mongolia, Australia, Philippines,Russia, Ethiopia and New Zealand are participating.

iii. The first World Indigenous Games will host sporting eventslike archery, canoeing, spear tossing and a race through the forest.Besides, non-competitive events will be also hosted to showcasedifferent traditions of indigenous ethnic groups.

6. Hurricane Patricia struck Mexico's Pacific coast

i. Hurricane Patricia, one of the most powerful storms on record,struck Mexico's Pacific coast on 23 October 2015. The hurricanecarrying destructive winds with a speed of 165mph forced thousands toflee homes and beach front resorts.

ii. Patricia landed about 55 miles west-northwest of Manzanillo,home to the largest container port on Mexico's Pacific seaboard.There were no reported casualties and officials said the damage mightnot be as catastrophic as feared.

iii. The US National Hurricane Center said the hurricane hit as aCategory Five storm - the highest classification. But it has sinceweakened to a Category Four, and will be downgraded to a tropicalstorm in the coming hours. It also said that it would lead tolife-threatening flash floods and mudslides in rural areas.

7. Ratan Tata invests in virtual cash start-up Abra

i. Abra, a Silicon Valley bitcoin startup, on Thursday revealed ithad raised money from Tata Sons chairman emeritus Ratan Tata andAmerican Express, as part of its $12-million Series-A funding.

ii. Abra raising funds was reported last month, but the companydid not reveal Tata’s participation then. These are the firstinvestments in the crypto-currency world for both American Expressand Ratan Tata.

iii. Bitcoin is a system of electronic money, used for buying andselling online and without the need for a central bank. Bitcoin isalso a unit of the bitcoin electronic system of money.

iv. Tata has been investing in Indian, as well as internationalstart-ups, for about a year. He has invested in companies such asOla, Paytm, Snapdeal, Urban Ladder, Bluestone, and CarDekho. Tata hasinvested in at least 12 start-ups in the past year. He is also anadvisor to private equity firms IDG Ventures, Kalaari Capital, andJungle Ventures.

v. Using the Abra app, users can store digital cash and send moneyto any smartphone. It uses a network of individuals or businessesearning money by buying and selling digital cash to and from anyconsumer via the Abra app.

                                       Current Affairs - 22nd & 23rd October 2015

1. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe awarded 2015Confucius Peace Prize by China

i. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has been awarded 2015Confucius Peace Prize by China. The Prize is dubbed as Chineseequivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize. He has been chosen for thisedition of prize for his inspirational leadership and service topan-Africanism and African independence.

ii. The prize also has recognised his efforts to overcomedifficulties of all kinds and his commitments for constructing hisnation’s political and economic order.

iii. Mugabe is the founding leader of Zimbabwe and has ruled thecountry since it gained independence in 1980 from United Kingdom. Hewas elected as Prime Minister in 1980 and served in that office till1987.

iv. He became Zimbabwe’s first President in December 1987 andsince then he is in office for past 28 years. In January 2015, he wasappointed as Chairman of African Union (AU).

v. The prize was established in 2010 by China’s CommunistGovernment after it was angered by Nobel Peace Prize being awarded toimprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.

2. Union Government cleared first batch of AMRUTprojects for 89 cities worth 2786 crore rupees

i. The Union Ministry of Urban Development on 22 October 2015 gaveits nod to the first batch of state level Action Plans under AtalMission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT). Theapproved Action Plans have a total of 143 projects in 89 AMRUT citiesin Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

ii. The State Annual Action Plans (SAAP) worth 2786.28 crorerupees were cleared by inter-ministerial Apex Committee of AMRUT for89 cities in the three states. It is for the first time that theUrban Development Ministry approved state level plans unlike the pastpractice of appraising and approving individual projects.

iii. The plans include 47 schemes relating to ensuring watersupply connections and augmenting water supply. In addition, theyalso include 31 projects for expanding sewerage network services inidentified cities and towns.

iv. Gujarat will take up sewerage projects in 25 AMRUT cities at acost of 916 crore rupees and water supply schemes in 11 cities withan investment of 233.65 crore rupees. Rajasthan will take up sewerageschemes in 6 cities at a cost of 555 crore rupees and water supplyprojects in 10 cities at a cost of 344 crore rupees.

v. Union Government will provide an assistance of 50 percent ofproject cost for cities with a population of up to 10 lakhs each andone third of project cost for cities with a population of above 10lakhs each.

3. RBI issued direction on implementation of GoldMonetisation Scheme 2015

i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 22 October 2015 issued aDirection to all Scheduled Commercial Banks (excluding Regional RuralBanks) on implementation of the Gold Monetisation Scheme, 2015notified by the Union Government.

ii. The RBI issued the direction to banks in exercise of powersconferred on it under Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act,1949.

iii. The GMS 2015 will replace the existing Gold Deposit Scheme,1999.

Directions on implementation of GMS 2015

• The deposits outstanding under the GoldDeposit Scheme will be allowed to run till maturity unless thedepositors prematurely withdraw them.
• ResidentIndians (Individuals, HUF, Trusts including Mutual Funds/ExchangeTraded Funds registered under SEBI (Mutual Fund) Regulations andCompanies) can make deposits under the scheme.
• Theminimum deposit at any one time shall be raw gold (bars, coins,jewellery excluding stones and other metals) equivalent to 30 gramsof gold of 995 fineness.
• There is no maximumlimit for deposit under the scheme.
• The goldwill be accepted at the Collection and Purity Testing Centres (CPTC)certified by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and notified by theCentral Government under the Scheme.
• Thedeposit certificates will be issued by banks in equivalence of 995fineness of gold.
• The principal and interestof the deposit under the scheme will be denominated in gold.

4. PM Narendra Modi lays foundation stone for AndhraPradesh’s new capital city

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stoneAmaravati, a new capital city of Andhra Pradesh on the occasion ofDussehra and Vijaya Dashmi. The foundation stone of new futuristiccapital city of the state was laid at a grand ceremony held in Gunturdistrict.

ii. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu along withother guests participated in the rituals to mark laying thefoundation.

iii. The name Amaravathi was chosen in view of the historical,spiritual and mythological significance as it was ancient seat ofSatavahana kingdom. Located between Vijayawada and Guntur region ofstate on the banks of Krishna River. It is only place where riverflows north direction instead of east or south.

iv. State government had inked MoU with Singapore governmentagencies for preparing the master plan for Amaravati. It wassubmitted in July 2015. The capital city will house state LegislativeAssembly, Legislative Council, High Court, Secretariat, Raj Bhavanetc. in area covering 16.7 sq km.

5. Alok Rawat becomes first male member of NationalCommission for Women

i. Senior IAS officer Alok Rawat became first male person tobe appointed as member of National Commission for Women (NCW). Hisappointment fills the fourth seat in the five-member body that seeksto review the constitutional and legal safeguards for women.

ii. Alok Rawat is 1977 batch IAS officer of Sikkim cadre. Prior tothis appointment, he had served at various senior level posts atdifferent Union Ministries. He had served as Director (jointsecretary) in Union Ministry of Defence and Union Ministry of Roadtransport and Highways.

iii. He also had served as secretary (UPSC) and secretary(Coordination and Public Grievances) in the Union Cabinet Secretariatand secretary in Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Developmentand Ganga rejuvenation.

iv. NCW is a statutory body established under the NationalCommission for Women Act, 1990. It was established in January 1992 toreview the constitutional and legal safeguards for women. Itrecommends remedial legislative measures, advise Government on allpolicy matters affecting women and facilitate redressal of grievancesrelated to women.

6. Renowned marine biologist Syed Zahoor Qasim died

i. Renowned marine biologist Syed Zahoor Qasim died on 20 October2015 in New Delhi. He was 88. He is considered as the founder ofPolar Biology in India and was part of the first Indian expedition toAntarctica in 1981-82.

ii. After the first expedition, he successfully organized andguided the next the seven expeditions till 1988 and made pioneeringcontributions in the field of fisheries biology, mari-culture,estuarine ecology and environmental pollution.

iii. Based on his research, he also published around 200 originalresearch papers in national and international journals. He was also amember of Planning Commission (1991-96) and served as thevice-chancellor of the Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi.

iv. In recognition of his contributions, he was honoured withPadma Shri and Padma Bhushan by the Union Government and Life TimeAchievement Award by the Indian Science Congress in 2008. He was bornon 31 December 1926 at Allahabad in the present day Uttar Pradesh.

7. Government divides Maharashtra and Gujarat NavalAreas into two Separate Headquarters

i. Union Ministry of Defence has divided erstwhile Maharashtra andGujarat (MnG) Naval Area into two separate headquarters in order toenhance operational and administrative organizational structure. Theyhave been divided under Flag Officer Maharashtra Area and FlagOfficer Gujarat Naval Area.

ii. The division will help for better vigilance on the sea borderwith Pakistan and in better communication and coordination with therespective state governments, local authorities and fishermen.

iii. The charge of Flag Officer Maharashtra Area was assumed byRear Admiral Satish Namdeo Ghormade. While, Rear Admiral MurlidharPawar will assume as Flag Officer of Gujarat Naval Area.

iv. The idea of dividing the existing Maharashtra and GujaratNaval Area into two parts was mooted after considering breach innaval security from Pakistan’s side on at least on two occasionsi.e. 26/11 terrorist attack in 2008 and destroying of ship carryingammunition by Indian Navy in 2014.

                                            Current Affairs - 21st October 2015

1. Justin Trudeau elected as Canada’s new PM

i. Justin Trudeau of Liberal Party has been elected as 23rd PrimeMinister of Canada. He is eldest son of Canada’s former PrimeMinister Pierre Trudeau who was in office for 16 years and led thecountry till 1984.

ii. With this Justin Trudeau (age 43 years) became the secondyoungest Prime Minister of Canada and the first to follow a parentinto office. The youngest Prime Minister was Joe Clark (age 40 years)of Conservative party who was elected to office in 1979. Trudeau is aformer school teacher and was elected as Member of Parliament forfirst time in 2008 and again in 2011 and 2015.

iii. In the 2015 Canadian Federal election, Liberal Party hasemerged victorious by winning 185 seats (54% votes) in 338 memberHouse of Commons (Lower House of Parliament).

iv. Conservative Party led by former Prime Minister Stephen Harperhas emerged as largest opposition party by winning 99 seats bysecuring 29% votes. It was followed by New Democratic Party (NDP) ofCanada led by Thomas Mulcair which has won 44 seats.

2. AB de Villiers named brand ambassador of MRF

i. Tyre manufacturing giant MRF Limited on 20 October 2015 namedSouth African batsman AB de Villiers as its brand ambassador. As percompany norms, the association is for a period of three years.

ii. AB de Villiers, the ODI captain of South Africa team, in hisnew role will endorse the company’s products and services throughadvertising campaigns and other such promotional programmes duringthe term of the agreement.

iii. AB de Villiers who captains the South African One DayInternational (ODI) team is regarded as the current best batsman inthe world and one of the greatest of all time. He holds the recordfor most Test innings without registering a duck (78),before beingdismissed for nought against Bangladesh in November 2008. He alsoholds the second-highest individual score by a South African batsmanin an innings, with 278 not out.

3. Golf: Anirban Lahiri wins Asian Tour Golfer of theMonth award

i. Anirban Lahiri added another feather to his already crowded capby winning the inaugural Hilton Asian Tour Golfer of the Month award.As part of Hilton Worldwide's newest partnership with the region'sTour, the Asian Tour Hilton Golfer of the Month award aims torecognise outstanding efforts of Asian Tour members both at home andabroad.

ii. Lahiri was voted as the winner based on his stellarperformance from June to September, with subsequent awards based onmonthly achievements as the Asian Tour is now back in full swing.

Ranked 39th in the world, the Indian star enjoyed a spell-bindingopening nine months which saw him win two events sanctioned by theAsian Tour and European Tour.

iii. Lahiri also finished joint fifth in the PGA Championship forIndia's best performance in a Major in August and became the firstfrom the country to earn a spot with the Presidents Cup'sInternational Team.

iv. Lahiri won the award ahead of Thai duo Kiradech Aphibarnratand Prayad Marksaeng. The three players were nominated by a selectionpanel before going into a voting process.

4. Reva Khetrapal selected as Lokayukta of Delhi

i. Former Delhi High Court judge Reva Khetrapal has been selectedas Delhi’s new Lokayukta. The post was lying vacant since 2013after retired Justice Manmohan Sarin had relinquished office aftercompleting five-year term.

ii. With this, she will become the fourth Lokayukta of Delhi andshall have five years terms as per Delhi Lokayukta and UplokayuktaAct, 1995.

iii. Justice Khetrapal was chosen as head of anti-corruptionombudsman unanimously by a four-member panel. The panel included LtGovernor Najeeb Jung, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Justiceof Delhi High Court G Rohini and Leader of Opposition in DelhiAssembly Vijender Gupta.

iv. Reva Khetrapal had practiced in the Delhi High Court andSupreme Court from 1975 to 1991. She was elevated to the HC in 2006and she retired in September 2014. In 1991, she was appointedsessions judge and additional district. Later she was posted asspecial judge (narcotics) in 1994.

5. Sehwag retired from all forms of InternationalCricket, IPL

i. Indian cricketer Virender Shewag on 20 October 2015 retiredfrom all forms of international Cricket and Indian Premier League(IPL).

ii. Sehwag revealed his decision after signing up to play in 2016Masters Champions League Twenty20 tournament in Dubai. MastersChampions League, a UAE-based Twenty20 tournament requires itsparticipants to have retired from all international formats.

iii. An aggressive right-handed opening batsman and a part-timeright-arm off-spin bowler, Sehwag played his debut One DayInternational in 1999 and joined the Indian Test team in 2001.

iv. In April 2009, Sehwag became the only Indian to be honoured asthe Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for his performance in2008, subsequently becoming the first player of any nationality toretain the award for 2009.

6. Bank of Baroda first PSU bank to join Chillrplatform

i. Bank of Baroda has become the second bank after HDFC Bank tojoin the Chillr payment platform which enables peer-to-peer paymentthrough a mobile application.

ii. Only those whose banks are integrated with Chillr can use theapplication for remitting funds. However, customers of any bank canreceive funds using Chillr.

iii. This app is presently made available on Android platform forfund transfer and will be made available for IOS and Windows platformshortly."

iv. It added that utility bill and merchant payments on Chillr appwill be enabled for Bank of Baroda customers soon. The Chillrapplication was developed by Kerala-based start up Mobme Wireless. Itwas subsequently farmed out into a separate company promoted by SonyJoy, founder and CEO Chillr.

7. Yuki Bhambri is first Indian to enter top 100 since2010

i. Yuki Bhambri on Monday cracked the coveted top-100 bracket byachieving a career-best rank of 99, a reflection of his consistentprogress in the last few months.

ii. In his last three ATP Challenger tournaments, the 23-year-oldYuki won the Shanghai Challenger, was a runner-up in Taiwan and endeda semifinalist at the USD 125000 Tashkent event last week.

iii. Yuki is the first Indian player since 2010 to enter thetop-100 and only the third in a decade-and-half to be in the list.His next assignment is the Pune Challenger, starting October 26 afterhe pulled out of the Bangalore event due to some niggles.

iv. Not only Yuki but Saketh Myneni is also making a steadyprogress on the tour. He won the Vietnam Open on Sunday and is nowranked 166. Somdev Devvarman though has dropped further to 181. Indianow have three singles players in top-200 in a rare feat forcountry's tennis players.

v. Rohan Bopanna is country's highest ranked player in doubles atnumber 15, followed by Leander Paes (36) and Purav Raja (96). In theWTA rankings, Sania Mirza continues to be world number one player.

                                              Current Affairs - 20th October 2015

1. Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index report 2015released

i. The 2015 Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index (MMGPI) reportwas released on 19 October 2015. This seventh edition of MMGPI reportmeasured 25 retirement income systems against more than 40indicators, under the sub-indices of Adequacy, Sustainability andIntegrity.

ii. The 2015 report rated Denmark as the country with the bestretirement system for the fourth consecutive year in 2015, with anoverall score of 81.7. This study of retirement income systems in 25countries confirmed that there is great diversity between theretirement systems around the world with scores ranging from 40.3 forIndia to 81.7 for Denmark.

iii. Australia was ranked as having the most adequate pensionsystem, however there was decline in the overall score from 79.9 in2014 to 79.6 in 2015, moving further away from an elusive A gradethat is given to pension systems that score above 80.

iv. Denmark held onto the top position for the fourth consecutiveyear in 2015 with an overall score of 81.7. Denmark’s well-fundedpension system with its good coverage is the primary reason for itstop spot. Denmark and Netherlands are the only countries to achievean A grade in the history of the index.

v. A number of countries have changed grade, with the Netherlandsjoining Denmark with an A-grade. Mexico and Italy improved to aC-grade. None of the countries in this study has an E-grade system,which would be represented by an index value below 35.

2. Urvashi Rautela crowned Miss Diva 2015

i. Model-actress Urvashi Rautela on 18 October 2015 was crowned asYamaha Fascino Miss Diva 2015 at a star-studded event in Mumbai. Withthis, she became India’s representative for the Miss Universepageant.

ii. Natasha Assadi from Bangalore was crowned 1st runner up whileNaveli Deshmukh from Aurangabad was crowned 2nd runner-up.

iii. Born on 25 February 1994 in Nainital, Uttarakhand, Rautelahad won the I Am She – Miss Universe India in 2012 but wasdethroned from crown due to a controversy over her age. She had alsobeen a winner of the title of Miss Asian Supermodel 2011 in SouthKorea.

iv. A part of Femina Miss India pageant, Miss Diva competitionchooses India's representatives for Miss Universe and other pageantsafter Miss Universe Organization awarded back the franchise toBennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.

3. NATO launched military exercise Trident Juncture inItaly

i. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies and partnernations on 19 October 2015 launched the Alliance’s Trident Juncturemilitary exercise at the Trapani air force base in Italy. TridentJuncture will end on 6 November 2015.

ii. The three week long intensive training involves 36000 troopsfrom more than 30 nations across Italy, Spain and Portugal.

iii.The Trident juncture is the largest NATO exercise for over a decadeand will increase readiness and ability to work together. It willalso demonstrate that NATO is capable of responding to threats fromany direction.

iv. The exercise will also certify next year’s NATO ResponseForce headquarters and the functions of the new very-high readinessSpearhead Force.

4. Konkan Railway to set up a tunnel technologyinstitute at Margao in Goa

i. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu announced on 19 October 2015that Konkan Railway will establish a tunnel technology institute atGoa's Margao town. The institute will enable training for thetechnology, which is still not available in India.

ii. The institute, which is first of its kind in the nation, willbe established in the honour of former Railway Minister GeorgeFernandes, who is said to be the driving force behind the KonkanRailway. The institute will be called as George Fernandes Instituteof Tunnel Technology.

iii. The proposed institute aims at being a depository ofknowledge on tunnels and underground structures. The institute willprovide training of tunnel technology and consultancy services fortunnels and underground construction.

iv. Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) was formed in 1990as company and was incorporated as a public limited company under theCompanies Act, 1956, with its headquarters at CBD Belapur in NaviMumbai.

5. Narendra Modi inaugurates IDFC Bank

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the IDFC Bank in NewDelhi. IDFC Bank Limited, which started its operations on 1 October2015, is an Indian Banking company with headquarters in Mumbai thatforms a part of IDFC, an integrated infrastructure finance company.

ii. IDFC Bank was granted a universal banking license in July 2015by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

iii. IDFC was incorporated on 30 January 1997. It founded anon-operative financial holding company (NOFHC) in 2014 to manage itsfive subsidiaries IDFC Bank, IDFC MF, IDFC Alternatives, IDFC IDF &IDFC Securities to conform with RBI guidelines.

6. VK Malhotra appointed as head of the All IndiaCouncil of Sports

i. The Union Government on 19 October 2015 named veteran sportsadministrator Vijay Kumar Malhotra as the President of the All IndiaCouncil of Sports. His position will be in the rank of Minister ofState. The council also includes former sportspersons, including PTUsha, Limba Ram, N Kunjarani Devi, IM Vijayan, Baichung Bhutia and PGopichand.

ii. Malhotra acted as the Senior Vice President of the IndianOlympic Association (IOA) and the acting President of the IOA afterthe arrest of Suresh Kalmadi in connection with the allegedirregularities in awarding contracts for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

iii. Malhotra had also been the President of the GeneralAssociation of National Sports Federations and the President of theArchery Association of India. He was born on 3 December 1931 inLahore, Pakistan. He holds a Doctorate in Hindi Literature.

iv. The Government of India on 24 July 2015 constituted the AllIndia Council of Sports as an advisory body for the Ministry of YouthAffairs and Sports. The council advises the Ministry on mattersrelating to the promotion and development of sports and games in thecountry.

v. Popularizing sports amongst the youth as a way of life.Increasing outreach of sports to rural and tribal areas, areasaffected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE),North-East and Jammu &Kashmir. Implementation of policies for promotion of sports and gamesin the country

7. PM Narendra Modi, President Pranab Mukherjee tolaunch one stop research funding mechanism 'IMPRINT'

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjeewill next month launch a single window funding clearance mechanismbacked with a Rs 1,000-crore kitty to get Indian technicalinstitutions to conduct original research in areas where the countryis heavily dependent on foreign technology.

ii. An Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) is being set up as the singlewindow mechanism that will screen research projects and proposals byIndia's leading research and technology institutes and then approvethem and earmark funds for the same.

iii. The IMG will have on board the Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment (HRD),Ministry of Defence, Department of Science &Technology, Department of Biotechnology, and Ministry of RuralDevelopment, among others.

iv. Named 'IMPRINT' — the one stop research funding mechanism toboost indigenous technology and research will be launched by the PMand President on November 5 at the Visitor's Conference.

v. The move to set up a one stop funding system has been madeafter a number of scientists and researchers conveyed how the currentbureaucratic systems were coming in the way and delaying projects aswell as discouraging institutes from taking them up.

                                       Current Affairs - 18th & 19th October 2015

1. Typhoon Koppu hits northern Philippines

i. Powerful Typhoon Koppu (also known as Lando) has hit thenorthern Philippines battering the coast with powerful winds withspeed of 240 kph.

ii. The eye of tropical cyclone (typhoon) Koppu has struck theremote northern coastal town of Casiguran which is 215 kms northeastof Philippines capital city Manila. US military’s Joint TyphoonWarning Center has categorised this typhoon equivalent of a Category4 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

iii. The Typhoon Koppu is considered as the strongest landfallingof tropical cyclone in past five years faced by Philippines. The mostominous threat of this cyclone is its prolific rainfall which maycause flood like situations followed by mudslides across themountains and valleys of Philippines main northern island of Luzon.

iv. Each year, Philippines is hit by an average of 20 tropicalstorms, most of them many are deadly. The North eastern coat of thecountry is one of the most tropical cyclone-prone coastlines onEarth.

2. Post-doctoral fellowship in name of APJ Abdul Kalam

i. The ministry of environment, forest and climate change hasannounced the launching of post-doctoral research fellowships in thename of APJ Abdul Kalam on his 85th birthday.

ii. The post-doctoral fellowship programme of the ministry istargeted towards young scientists working in the area of environmentand ecology in the country, said the press release issued by ministryof environment and forest.

iii. The target group of this programme are young scientists whohave completed their PhD, or are about to complete their PhD, inareas related to environment and ecology and possess a good, academicrecord. The applicants should preferably be below the age of 35years.

iv. The ministry proposes to constitute a committee of expertsheaded by RA Mashelkar for selection of APJ Abdul Kalam post-doctoralresearch fellows. The advertisement, calling for applications for thefellowship programme will be brought out by the ministry shortly andthe guidelines for the programme will be uploaded on the ministry'swebsite

3. China’s Xuerui Li wins 2015 Denmark Open Title ofBadminton

i. China’s Xuerui Li has won the prestigious 2015 Denmark OpenBadminton Title in the women’s single category. In the final matchplayed at Odense, Denmark, she defeated P V Sindhu of India by 19-21,12-21 score. It was Li’s second title of Denmark Open and earliershe had won it in 2014.

ii. In the men’s single category, China’s Chen Long has wonthe 2015 title. He has won the title for record 3rd time after he hadearlier won it in 2013 and 2014 .

iii. It is formerly known as Danish Open and is organized byDanmarks Badminton Forbund.

4. Indian short film An Old Dog’s Diary wins award at2015 London Film Festival

i. An Indian short film, An Old Dog’s Diary has won prestigiousBest Short Film Award at the 2015 London Film Festival (LFF). Theaward was bestowed by the British Film Institute (BIF) at 59thedition of LFF.

ii. The 11-minute film has been directed by Shai Heredia andShumona Goel. It story of film reveals the cultural conditions ofIndian avant-garde painter Francis Newton Souza’s work and itsinstitutionalisation by assembling the puzzle-piece evocations of hisportrait. Earlier the film was showcased in the Wavelengths categoryat 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.

iii. London Film Festival was founded in 1957 and is an annualfilm festival held at London to show the best of the year’s worldcinema to a British audience. The Festival showcases the best work ofworld cinema that champions originality, creativity, vision andimagination.

iv. It is organised by British Film Institute and is UnitedKingdom’s largest public film event. It screens more than 300features, documentaries and shorts films from almost 50 countries.

5. Novak Djokovic won 2015 Shanghai Rolex Masterstennis title

i. World Number 1 ranking Novak Djokovic on 18 October 2015 wonthe 2015 Shanghai Rolex Masters tennis title in the men’s singlescategory. To clinch the title, the top seeded Serbian player defeatedJo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2 6-4 in the final match held in Shanghai,China.

ii. It was the third Shanghai title for Djokovic in four years,having defeated Andy Murray (the UK) and Juan Martin del Potro(Argentina) in the 2012 and 2013 finals respectively.

iii. In early 2015, Djokovic joined Roger Federer and Rod Laver asthe only men in the Open era to reach all four major finals. His onlydefeat came in the final of the French Open against Stan Wawrinka ofSwitzerland.

iv. Apart from the Grand slam titles in Australia, the UK(Wimbledon) and the USA, he won six other titles in the 2015 seasonthat include Indian Wells Masters, Miami Open, Monte-Carlo RolexMasters, Italian Open, China Open and Shanghai Open.

6. Swadhar Greh scheme approved by Haryana Governmentfor women in distress

i. The Haryana Government on 18 October 2015 approved Swadhar Grehscheme, which will assure economic and social security to women indistress. The scheme aims at creating a supportive institutionalframework catering to their primary needs in difficult situations.

ii. The scheme will work upon providing basic amenities, such asshelter, food, clothing and health along with economic and socialsecurity to women in distress. Also, the scheme will make surethat the special needs of these women are taken care of.

iii. Under the scheme, Swadhar Greh will be set up in everydistrict with capacity to accommodate 30 women. The Greh will caterto the needs of shelter, food, clothing, medical treatment and careof the women in distress. It will enable them to regain theiremotional strength.

iv. The scheme promises to provide the benefits to women who aredeserted and are without social and economic support, prisonersreleased from jail and are without family, survivors of naturaldisasters left homeless and are without social and economic support.

v. Swadhar Greh will also cover female victims of domesticviolence, family tension or discord, who are made to leave theirhomes without any means of subsistence and have no special protectionfrom exploitation and/or facing litigation on account of maritaldisputes.

7. Housing.com appointed Mani Rangarajan as CFO

i. Realty giant Housing.com on 18 October 2015 appointed ManiRangarajan as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO). The appointment wasmade to strengthen its senior management team.

ii. Rangarajan holds over 20 years of experience and hassuccessfully played executive level roles in companies such as Yahoo!and Citigroup. He also played vital roles in many Silicon Valleystart-up companies, like Boku, Kosmix and Media Boost.

iii. Rangarajan obtained an MBA degree from the StanfordUniversity’s Graduate School of Business. He also received a postgraduate management diploma from IIM Calcutta and is also a Cost &Works Accountant.

iv. Housing.com is a Mumbai-based real estate search portal, whichwas founded by a group of 12 students from the Indian Institute ofTechnology, Bombay in June 2012. The website allows the users tosearch for housing based on location, number of rooms, budgets andvarious other filters.

8. Great Britain beat India to win Sultan of Johor CupHockey tournament

i. Great Britain on 18 October 2015 defeated Indian junior men'shockey team and captured Sultan of Johor Cup (SOJC). Great Britaindefeated defending champions India by 4-3 in sudden death penaltyshootout in the final after the match had ended 2-2 in regulationtime.

ii. For the third place, the host Malaysia defeated Argentina tosettle for Bronze.

iii. Sultan of Johor Cup (SOJ Cup) is an annual internationalunder-21 field hockey tournament held in Malaysia. It is the onlyinvitational junior hockey competition played at internationallevel.The championship started in 2011 and is named after the Sultanof Johor, ceremonial head of the Malaysian state of Johor.

iv. So far, India is the more successful team in the tournamentreaching 4 finals out of 5 editions. The 2014 edition of theInternational U-21 hockey Tournament was won by India.

9. Saketh Myneni wins 2015 Vietnam Open Tennis Trophy

i. India’s ace tennis player Saketh Myneni has won the 2015Vietnam Open trophy. In the summit clash which lasted for one hourand 27 minutes he defeated Australia’s Jordan Thompson by 7-5, 6-3score.

ii. It was Saketh’s first singles ATP Challenger title of the2015 season. It was also overall his second singles title at theChallenger level. Earlier he had won the Indore Open.

iii. Presently, he is ranked 168 and this victory will help him toscore 90 points in his pocket to break into top-150 when the newrankings chart.

                                           Current Affairs - 17th October 2015

1. International Day for the Eradication of Povertyobserved globally

i. The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty wasobserved globally on 17 October 2015 with the theme Building asustainable future: Coming together to end poverty anddiscrimination.

ii. The 2015 observance of the International Day for theEradication of Poverty is a special one, as it comes on the heels ofthe adoption of Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda forSustainable Development. This Agenda succeeds the MillenniumDevelopment Goals, contains 17 ambitious goals basically to endpoverty in all its forms everywhere.

2. Pakistan, Russia signed agreement to build 1100 kmGas Pipeline

i. Pakistan and Russia on 16 October 2015 signed an agreement tobuild a 1100-km gas pipeline stretching from Karachi on Arabian Seato the eastern city of Lahore. The agreement was signed by RussianEnergy Minister Alexander Novak and Pakistan Petroleum MinisterShahid Khaqan Abbasi.

ii. In this project, Russia will invest 2 billion US dollars andit will be built by Russian company RT Global Resources, a subsidiaryof Russian state corporation Rostec. The pipeline is expected to getcompleted by December 2017.

Highlights of the Gas Pipeline

• This 1100-kilometre (680-mile) pipeline hasthe capacity of 12.4 billion cubic metres (438 billion cubic feet)per year.
• The pipeline will connect Karachi’sLiquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals with those in Lahore.
•The pipeline project will be implemented in compliance with Build OwnOperate Transfer (BOOT) model.
• It will beowned and operated by the manufacturer for 25 years and after that itwill be handed over to the Pakistan government.

3. Onsari Gharti Magar elected as House speaker ofNepal

i. Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) candidate OnsariGharti Magar was on 16 October 2015 unanimously elected as the Housespeaker of Nepal. With this, Onsari Gharti became the first femaleSpeaker in the parliamentary history of Nepal.

ii. Onsari was the former Deputy Speaker and had served asMinister for Youth and Sports in the Nepal Cabinet led by Jhala NathKhanal.

iii. Onsari’s unanimous election became possible after NepalMajdoor Kisan Party candidate Anuradha Thapa withdrew her candidacy.Her name was proposed by CPN-UML lawmaker Bidya Devi Bhandari andRastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal among other fringe parties secondedher candidacy.

iv. On the other hand, Rastriya Prajatantra Party's Nepal lawmakerGanga Prasad Yadav was elected as the Deputy Speaker.

4. PM Narendra Modi says India proud to hostIndia-Africa Summit

i. Ahead of the India-Africa Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Moditoday said India was proud to host the event which reflects a desireby the two sides to engage more intensively for a better future. In aseries of tweets, the Prime Minister said India’s engagement withAfrica has been scaled up and trade has been growing remarkably inrecent years.

ii. “India is proud to host @indiafrica2015. The Summit reflectsIndia & Africa’s desire to engage more intensively for a betterfuture,” he tweeted. “India’s relations with Africa arehistoric. India is a major investor in Africa & trade has beengrowing remarkably in recent years,” he said.

iii. Representatives of 54 African nations including heads ofstate and government of around 40 countries and powerful AfricanUnion are expected to participate in the four-day India-Africa Summitbeginning here on October 26.

iv. The Prime Minister said in another tweet that the “Level ofengagement for @indiafrica2015 has been tremendously scaled up.Several African leaders will join us”

5. China launches new communication satellite for HKfirm

i. China today put into orbit a new communication satellite in acommercial mission by the Long March-3B carrier rocket from thesouthwestern Xichang Satellite Launch Centre.

ii. Developed using China’s homegrown DFH-4 platform for theHong Kong-based APT Satellite Company Ltd, ‘APSTAR-9’ is designedto stay in service for at least 15 years. It will replace itspredecessor ‘APSTAR-9A’, which was launched in 1998 with adesigned mission life of 15 years also.

iii. With the new satellite, APT’s ‘APSTAR’ fleet will beable to cover some three quarters of global population in Asia,Europe, Africa and Australia to provide TV transmission andtransponder, data and satellite communication services.

iv. Today’s launch is the 214th mission of the Long Marchcarrier rocket series developed by China Aerospace Science andTechnology Corporation (CASTC).

6. Civil Aviation Minister inaugurates InternationalCivil Helicopters Conclave 2015

i. Union Minister of Civil Aviation Sh. P. Ashok Gajapathi Rajuinaugurated the International Civil Helicopters Conclave 2015 in NewDelhi today. Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Culture andTourism (I/C) Dr Mahesh Sharma was also present on the occasion.Speaking at the inaugural ceremony Shri Raju called upon allstakeholders to come up with new ideas to give a boost to the civilaviation sector as a whole, and the helicopter industry in thecountry in particular.

ii. ii. He said that a new Civil Aviation Policy is in theprocess of being drafted. Once it is ready, response and comments ofstakeholders will be sought, so that a vibrant and forward lookingpolicy can be put in place. The minister also said that the facilityof flying should not be restricted to only the privileged people inthe country. We should put policies in place so that flying becomesaffordable and reaches the masses.

iii. Speaking on the occasion MoS Civil Aviation, Culture andTourism (I/C) Dr Mahesh Sharma stressed upon the need to increasehelicopter services to the North Eastern and hilly areas of thecountry where road connectivity is a major problem. He talked aboutthe need to create Helihubs in Delhi and Guwahati to facilitatesmooth navigation of helicopters.

iv. Shri Raju also inaugurated an exhibition on Safety ManagementSystem, Multi Mission Utility and Regional Air Connectivity. Helaunched the Corporate logo of Pawan Hans Limited and released acoffee table book on the occasion. The conclave marks the 30thanniversary of Pawan Hans Limited. It is a one day event with threetechnical sessions.

7. AMFI elects Leo Puri as chief

i. The Association for Mutual Funds in India (AMFI),the industrybody for mutual funds, on Friday elected Leo Puri of UTI AMC as itsnew Chairman and retained A Balasubramanian as Vice-Chairman. Theformer chairman had been Sundeep Sikka of Reliance AMC.

ii. In a board meeting in Mumbai on Friday, the mutual fund bodyalso decided to improve the representation of smaller fund houses inthe decision-making process. “Henceforth, all important meetingswith SEBI and the Ministry of Finance will have a representative fromsmaller AMCs,” said the CEO of a fund house requesting anonymity.

iii. The 13 lakh crore mutual fund industry is comprised of 44fund houses, whose individual assets under management range from 1.7lakh crore to as less as 30 crore. Over time, the business models ofthe large and small AMCs have diverged considerably while therepresentation at AMFI had always largely been in favour of largerAMCs.

iv. Usually, the CEO added, only representatives from the top 10fund houses would be part of delegations to the regulator or thegovernment. The new resolution passed by AMFI now ensures that arepresentative from a smaller fund house will also be part of such adelegation hereon.

                                              Current Affairs - 16th October 2015

1. Rameswaram, birthplace of Dr. Abdul Kalam, includedas 498th town under AMRUT

i. Union Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu on 15October 2015 declared that former President Dr. Abdul Kalam’s birthplace Rameswaram has been included in Atal Mission for Rejuvenationand Urban Transformation (AMRUT) for providing basic urbaninfrastructure.

ii. The announcement was made on the occasion of 84th birthanniversary of Dr. Kalam at a programme organised at DRDO. Rameswaramis the 498th to be included in the Mission. With the addition ofRameswaram, Tamil Nadu would have 32 cities and towns under AtalMission.

iii. Besides, a committee comprising of Union Ministers M VenkaiahNaidu, Manohar Parrikar, Pon Radhakrishnan and former Chief ElectionCommissioner N Gopalaswamy will work out the details of a Memorialfor Dr. Kalam at Rameswaram. This Committee will consult allconcerned before giving a final shape to the Memorial.

iv. Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT)was approved by the Union Cabinet on 29 April 2015. The mission aimsat providing basic infrastructure facilities in 500 cities with anoutlay of 50000 crore rupees over the next five years (2015-16 to2019-20).

2. RBI formed Financial Inclusion Fund with 2000 crorerupees corpus

i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 15 October 2015 formed asingle Financial Inclusion Fund (FIF) with a corpus of 2000 crorerupees. The fund was formed by merging the Financial Inclusion Fund(FIF) and Financial Inclusion Technology Fund (FITF).

ii. The RBI also finalised the new scope of activities andguidelines for utilisation of the new FIF in consultation with theUnion Government. The new FIF will be administered by thereconstituted Advisory Board constituted by Union Government and willbe maintained by NABARD.

Guidelines of Financial Inclusion Fund

• The overall corpus of the new FIF will be2000 crore rupees.
• Contribution to FIF wouldbe from the interest differential in excess of 0.5 percent on RIDFand STCRC deposits on account of shortfall in priority sector lendingkept with NABARD by banks.
• All the assets andliabilities of the erstwhile FITF as well as prior commitments fromFITF for projects already sanctioned will be transferredto/reimbursed from FIF.
• The Fund will be inoperation for another three years or till such period as may bedecided by RBI and Union Government in consultation with other stakeholders.

3. Govt flags off Science Express special train onclimate change

i. The government flagged off the ‘Science Express ClimateAction Special’ train from Delhi, as part of its initiative tosensitize the masses, especially children and the youth, about theissue of climate change, in the run-up to the global climate summitin Paris slated for December.

ii. Exhibits on the 16-coach air-conditioned train would coverspecific topics like adaptation, mitigation, India’s action onmitigation, international climate change negotiations, natureconservation, innovations in India, science lab, biotechnologyapplications and others.

iii. The train will run till 7 May 2016 and during the course ofthese eight months, it would stop at 64 locations across India,covering over 19,500 kilometres. Some of these locations are Patiala,Jaisalmer, Agra, Ambala, New Jalpaiguri, Vishakhapatnam, Vellore,Rameswaram, Mangalore and Gandhinagar.

iv. The Science Express—a joint initiative of the ministry ofenvironment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC),the ministry ofrailways and the ministry of science and technology—has had aneight-year run. Last year, its theme was biodiversity. The ClimateAction Special was flagged off by union minister for science andtechnology Harsh Vardhan along with railway minister Suresh PrabhakarPrabhu and environment minister Prakash Javadekar.

v. The Climate Change Express will explain in detail about climatechange and the actions or paths we can take to tackle climate change.

4. Zaheer Khan retired from International Cricket

i. Zaheer Khan, one of India’s finest pacers, on 15 October 2015retired from all forms of international and first-class Cricket.However, he will continue to play in IPL for one more season.

ii. Zaheer, with 311 wickets, is the fourth highest Indianwicket-taker in Tests behind Anil Kumble (619),Kapil Dev (434) andHarbhajan Singh (417). He was also the third highest wicket-taker ininternational cricket among left-arm pacers.

iii. He was one of the key members of the 2011 ODI World Cupwinning team, leading the pace attack with 21 wickets in just 9games. He was also the part of 2003 World Cup squad of Indian cricketteam that lost the final match against Australia at Johannesburg,South Africa by 125 runs.

iv. In 2011 he was conferred with the Arjuna Award, India's secondhighest sporting award by the President of India. In 2008, he wasalso selected as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year.

5. President Pranab Mukherjee concluded his 3-nationtour to Jordan, Palestine and Israel

i. President Pranab Mukherjee on 15 October 2015 concluded his3-nation tour to Jordan, Palestine and Israel. During his 6-dayvisit, which took place from 10 October to 15 October 2015, PresidentPranab signed various agreement and MoUs with three nations to boostthe bilateral ties.

ii. During his visit, he also met the leaders of the three nationsnamely President and Prime Minister of Israel Reuven Rivlin andBenjamin Netanyahu respectively, His Majesty King Abdullah-II Ibn AlHussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, President and PrimeMinister of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas and Rami Hamdallah respectively.

iii. During this tour, he stayed in Jordan (10 to 12 October2015),Palestine (12 to 13 October 2015) and Israel (13 to 15 October2015). Mukherjee’s visit to these three countries was the firstever visit by an Indian President.

iv. President invited Israel to participate in the transformationof India and sought Israel’s participation in Digital Indiaprogramme. He was conferred honorary doctorate by Hebrew Universityin Jerusalem, University of Jordan and Al-Quds University, Palestine.

v. The president extended invitation to the countries to invest inIndia and also sought steps to further deepen the ties. Theaccompanying academic delegation exchanged Memoranda of Understandingin all the three places.

6. World Food Day observed with the theme SocialProtection and Agriculture

i. World Food Day (WFD) was observed across the world on 16October 2015 with the theme Social Protection and Agriculture. Theday is observed with an aim to raise public awareness about hungerchallenges and encourage people worldwide to take action in the fightagainst hunger.

ii. The theme aims to underline the role social protection playsin reducing chronic food insecurity and poverty by ensuring directaccess to food or the means to buy food. Social protection is,moreover, a viable alternative for stimulating agriculturalproduction and local economic activity.

iii. The theme particularly reflects WFOs (World FarmersOrganisation) intention to highlight important agriculture-relatedissues, drawing attention to achievements in rural development andencouraging agricultural food production.

iv. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has statedagricultural production must increase by 60% globally to meet thefood demand that will be required to feed the 9.2 billion people whowill inhabit our planet in 2050.

v. In order to guarantee this result and face this challenge, itis crucial to ensure that farmers have access to infrastructures,credit and functioning markets. Farmers also need to have access toscience, innovation and knowledge, which are essential for thedevelopment of the agricultural sector.

vi. Apart from the World Food Day, the FAO also observed WorldFood week from 12 October to 16 October 2015. The week was observedwith the opening of the 42nd Session of the Committee on World FoodSecurity. The main highlights of the week were launch of the newedition of FAO's flagship publication, World Food Day 2015 Ceremonyat Expo Milano and others.

7. SC allowed use of Aadhar Card for all Central andState Welfare schemes on voluntary basis

i. The Supreme Court on 15 October 2015 allowed the use of Aadhaarcards for all central and state schemes, including Mahatma GandhiNational Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA),Pradhan Mantri JanDhan Yojana and employee provident fund and pension schemes, onvoluntary basis.

ii. After the concession, the citizens can avail benefits underwelfare schemes. Also, the absence of an Aadhaar card will notdisallow people from benefiting from these schemes.

iii. The government cannot force citizens to enrol for the card.The government cannot make it a criterion for benefits under variousschemes.

iv. The order was passed by a Constitution Bench of five judges,Justices M Y Eqbal, C Nagappan, Arun Mishra and Amitava Roy. Thebench was headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu. Earlier on 7 October2015, a three-judge bench of SC had refused to modify its August 112015 order limiting the use of Aadhar cards to LPG subsidy, Keroseneand Public Distribution System (PDS).

                                              Current Affairs - 15th October 2015

1. Pranab Mukherjee becomes 1st Indian President toaddress Israeli Parliament Knesset

i. Pranab Mukherjee became first Indian President to addressIsraeli Parliament Knesset. He addressed the Knesset as last leg ofhis official visit to 3 countries of west Asia viz. Jordan, Palestineand Israel. He is also is first Indian President to make a statevisit Israel.

ii. India’s consistent policy had been to build a strong,mutually beneficial and substantive relationship with Israel.Appreciates Israel’s support to India’s bid for a permanent seatin the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

iii. There is no other option to resolve conflicts other thannegotiation and peaceful settlement as a long term measure. Condemedall forms of violence and India always sought a peaceful resolutionof disputes.

iv. Both countries also signed agreements on double taxationavoidance, cultural exchange and academic fields.

2. Union Cabinet approved RCE for Kaladan Multi ModalProject in Myanmar

i. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 14October 2015 gave its approval for the Revised Cost Estimate (RCE) of2904.04 crores rupees for the Kaladan Multi Modal Transit TransportProject in Myanmar.

ii. Since the project is of political and strategic significance,it was decided to execute it through India's grant assistance toMyanmar.

iii. The project will provide an alternate access route to theNorth-Eastern region of India and contribute towards the region'seconomic development. Being a key connectivity project, it willpromote economic, commercial and strategic links between India andMyanmar.

Kaladan Multi Modal Transit Transport Project
The Kaladan MultiModal Transit Transport Project was jointly identified by India andMyanmar to create a multi-modal mode of transport for shipment ofcargo from the eastern ports of India to Myanmar as well as to theNorth-Eastern part of India through Myanmar.

3. Kailash Satyarthi selected for 2015 HarvardHumanitarian of the Year Award

i. Nobel Peace laureate Kailash Satyarthi has been selected forthe prestigious 2015 Harvard Humanitarian of the Year Award. He hasbeen awarded this award in recognition for championing the cause ofchild reform and ending all forms of violence against children.

ii. It is annual award is given by US based Harvard University. Itrecognise the works and deeds individuals who have improved thequality of lives and inspired people to greater heights. Some of therecipients of are Kofi Annan, Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Javier Perezetc.

iii. Kailash Satyarthi is an adherent of Gandhian philosophy andas upheld Mahatma Gandhi’s practice of engaging and conductingpeaceful protests against the exploitation of children for financialgain. He is the founder of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save theChildhood Movement).

iv. Through his NGO, he campaigns for protection of child rightsand to abolish illegal human trafficking.

v. Satyarthi ss the eighth Nobel laureate from India. He had wonNobel Peace Prize in 2014 and shared it with Malala Yousafzai. He wasat the forefront of driving few agendas Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) which were announced at United Nations SDG Summit in September2015.

4. Portugal became the first European country to signthe MoU on establishment of Nalanda University

i. Portugal on 9 October 2015 became the first European country tosign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment ofNalanda University.

ii. The MoU was signed in New Delhi by Portuguese Ambassador toIndia Ana Martinho and Dr Jitendra Nath Misra, the Ambassador ofIndia to Portugal. With this, Portugal became the 17th countryoverall and the fourth outside the East Asia Summit to do so.

iii. The revived university is located at Rajgir in NalandaDistrict in Bihar. It is a non-state, non-profit, secular andself-governing international institution mandated to be engaged inthe pursuit of intellectual, philosophical, historical and spiritualstudies. It was established through Nalanda University Act, 2010 andformally inaugurated on 19 September 2014.

iv. The ancient Nalanda University was established in 427 ADduring the reign of Gupta king Sakraditya. It was destroyed in 1193AD by the Turkish army of the Bakhtiyar Khilji, the military generalof the army of Qutb-ud-din Aibak.

5. DRDO Missile Complex renamed as Dr APJ Abdul KalamMissile Complex

i. The country’s prestigious DRDO Missile Complex in Hyderabadwas on 15 October 2015 renamed as Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complexby Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar during an event at ResearchCentre Imarat on the occasion of the 84th Birth Anniversary of DrKalam, the Missile Man.

ii. Dr Kalam joined the Missile Complex, DRDO in 1982 and was apart of it for nearly two decades. The Missile Complex comprisesAdvanced Systems Laboratory (ASL),Defence Research and DevelopmentLaboratory (DRDL) and Research Centre Imarat (RCI),which areconsidered to be the brain child of Dr Kalam.

iii. As founder Director, Dr Kalam conceived and steered RCI as agenerator of critical missile technologies.

iv. Parrikar also inaugurated two advanced R&D facilities ofRCI- Outdoor RCS Test Facility ORANGE at Dundigal and KautilyaAdvanced Research Centre at RCI, Hyderabad.

6. Union Cabinet approved MoU with Mozambique forcooperation in renewable energy

i. The Union Government on 14 October 2015 approved a Memorandumof Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of New and RenewableEnergy, India and Mozambique.

ii. The agreement aims at establishing a cooperative institutionalrelationship to encourage and promote technical bilateralcooperation, investment promotion and partnership on new andrenewable energy issues on the basis of mutual benefit, equality andreciprocity.

iii. The agreement was inked between the Ministry of New andRenewable Energy of the Government of India and the Ministry ofMineral Resources and Energy, Government of Mozambique in New Delhion 5 August 2015.

iv. The focus will be on the development of new and renewableenergy technologies in the field of conducting on-the-job andspecialized training courses on renewable energy field, research &development and of technology transfer in renewable energy.

                                              Current Affairs - 14th October 2015

1. India climbs 16 places in WEF’s GlobalCompetitiveness Index

i. In a rather dramatic turnaround, India has climbed aspectacular 16 places to the 55th position among 140 economies inthis year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) Global CompetitivenessIndex, ending five years of decline.

ii. The list was topped by Switzerland, followed by Singapore, theUS, Germany and the Netherlands. Among the larger emerging markets,South Africa progressed seven places to 49th place, while China heldsteady at 28, Indonesia was 37th (down three) and Brazil was 75th,the WEF said.
iii. India’s dramatic reversal is largelyattributable to the momentum initiated by the election of NarendraModi, whose pro-business, pro-growth and anti-corruption stance hasimproved the business community’s sentiment toward the government.

iv. The quality of India’s institutions is judged morefavourably (60th, up 10),although business leaders still considercorruption to be the biggest obstacle to doing business in thecountry.

v. In a bid to help India leapfrog into the top 50 in the WorldBank’s ease of doing business rankings by 2017 from the low 142nd(out of 189 countries),the Modi government, with the help of thebank, has carried out a state-wise assessment of implementation ofbusiness reforms.

2. Shweta Rathore became first Indian femalebodybuilder to win silver in Asian body building championship

i. Indian female bodybuilder Shweta Rathore in first week ofOctober 2015 won a silver medal in the 49th Asian Bodybuilding andPhysique Championship, held in Uzbekistan. With this, she became thefirst ever Indian female bodybuilder to win a medal at a continentallevel tournament.

ii. Shweta, an engineer by qualification, won silver in theWomen's Fitness Physique category and qualified for the WorldChampionship, to be held in Thailand in November 2015.

iii. Mumbai based Rathore has been the flag-bearer for women’sbodybuilding in India and have participated in several tournamentsacross the world. Earlier, she won a bronze medal at the the WorldBodybuilding and Physique fitness Championship.

iv. To help nurture the future of women in India, the 25-year-oldathlete runs an NGO called God’s Beautiful Children. She also runsan Academy called fitness forever.

v. Rathore is also a panel member of the Body power Expo, one ofthe leading amateur competions in the world.

vi. The 49th Edition of WBPF Asian Bodybuilding and PhysiqueChampionship 2015 were held from 29 September 2015 to 5 October 2015.The annual bodybuilding competition was organized by WBPF (WorldBodybuilding & Physique Federation).

3. China operationalises Zam Hydropower Station onBrahmaputra in Tibet

i. China has operationalised the Zam Hydropower Station built onBrahmaputra River which has raised concerns in India over thelikelihood of disrupting water supplies of River.

ii. The dam is considered to be the world’s highest-altitudehydropower station and largest of its kind. Annually it will produceproduces 2.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. The power stationis located in the Gyaca County of Tibet and is considered as thelargest in this region.

iii. It has six stations to harnesses the rich water resources ofBrahmaputra River which is known as Yarlung Zangbo River in Tibet andflows through Tibet into India and later into Bangladesh.

iv. Over India’s fears China mentioned that these projects arerun-of-the-river and are not designed to hold water. But India isstill concerned over China’s ability and dominance to release waterin times of conflict which can pose serious risk of flooding.

4. Arun Jaitley chosen 'Finance Minister of the Year,Asia' by Emerging Markets

i. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was chosen as 'FinanceMinister of the Year, Asia' by London-based publication EmergingMarkets in October 2015.

ii. The magazine in an article said that Jaitley too deserves somerecognition for India’s relative economic success over the last 18months.
It says that without his decisions and stewardshipof India’s financial direction, India would not have achieved whatit has.

iii. Apart from this, Atiur Rahman, the Governor of BangladeshBank was named as the Central Bank Governor of the Year, Asia 2015.He was awarded for generating considerable strength and resilience inthe economy of Bangladesh.

iv. In 2014, the magazine had named governor of the Reserve Bankof India, Raghuram Rajan for Central Bank Governor of the Year awardfor Asia. In 2010, it also chose Pranab Mukherjee as 'FinanceMinister of the Year, Asia'.

5. Alexander Lukashenko won Presidential election ofBelarus for the 5th time

i. Alexander Lukashenko on 11 October 2015 won Belarusianpresidential elections with over 83.5 percent of the votes. Withthis, the 61-year-old, who has governed the former Soviet republicalmost unchallenged for 21 years, will be in power for the fifthtime.

ii. His closest rival, Tatiana Karatkevich, won 4.4 percent, withturnout at 87 percent.

iii. Some 5.1 million out of the nearly 7 million registeredvoters cast their ballots in favour of the four terms President. Thislandslide victory exceeded Lukashenko’s 2010 victory that saw himre-elected with 80% of the vote.

iv. Dubbed as Europe’s last dictator by the Bush administrator,Lukashenko has been in office since 1994.

v. The Central Election Commission results do not include ballotscast outside Belarus. International monitors of the election saidthat the election fell short of democratic standards.

6. Jamaican writer Marlon James won the 2015 Man BookerPrize for Fiction

i. Jamaican writer Marlon James on 13 October 2015 won the 2015Man Booker Prize for Fiction for his novel A Brief History of SevenKillings. With this, James became the first Jamaican author to winthe prize in its 47-years of history.

ii. James was honoured with the prize money of 50000 Euros, atrophy and a designer bound edition of his book. He was also awardedwith additional 2500 Euros for being shortlisted for the prize.

iii. James’s name was shortlisted from a list of writersincluding Sunjeev Sahota, Chigozie Obioma, Hanya Yanagihara, AnneTyler, Tom McCarthy and Marlon James.

iv. First awarded in 1969, the Man Booker Prize is recognised asthe leading award for high quality literary fiction written inEnglish. The award promotes the finest in fiction by rewarding thevery best book of the year. The prize is the world's most importantliterary award and has the power to transform the fortunes of authorsand publishers.

7. Delhi government launched Bill Banvao, Inaam Paoscheme

i. The Delhi Government on 13 October 2015 launched Bill Banvao,Inaam Pao scheme to encourage people to receive or demand properbills for purchases.

ii. Citizens will be eligible for the scheme only on a bill orcash memo/retail invoice of not less than 100 rupees for purchasesmade from a registered dealer in Delhi. The maximum prize to be givenunder the scheme is 50000 rupees.

iii. To avail the reward, the purchaser can upload the bill/cashmemo on the website of the Department of Trade and Taxes within sevendays of purchase. A snapshot of the bill can also be sent tothe designated number of the department through Whatsapp. After thebill is sent to the department, a unique ID will be generated foreach bill and sent to the customer via SMS.

iv. The bill must include the registration number (TIN) of thedealer, full name of each item purchased, rate of tax charged againsteach and total sale value (excluding VAT). The winner will beselected through a computerised draw of lots using the unique IDsgenerated against each bill received by the department.

                                       Current Affairs - 13th October 2015

1. Infosys appoints Ranganath D Mavinakere as new CFO

i. India’s second largest software services firm, Infosys hasappointed Ranganath D Mavinakere as new Chief Financial Officer(CFO). He will succeed Rajiv Bansal who was Executive Vice President(EVP) and the CFO of Infosys and had resigned from the company.

ii. Prior to this appointment, Mavinakere was EVP and head ofstrategic operations and CEO’s office of Infosys. He has richexperience of about 18 years across banking and IT servicesindustries. In his 15-year career with Infosys, he has held severalleadership positions in the company.

iii. Mavinakere worked with ICICI Limited from 1991 to 1999 wherehe was senior Vice President of Treasury and Planning.

iv. He holds a post graduate diploma in management (PGDM) degreefrom the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and M Tech degreein mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology(IIT),Madras.

2. President Pranab Mukherjee visited Jordan

i. President Pranab Mukhrejee visited Jordan between 10 Octoberand 12 October 2015. During his visit, Mukherjee met with His MajestyKing Abdullah and senior Jordanian officials.

ii. He visited the country on the invitation of His Majesty KingAbdullah-II Ibn Al Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

iii. At present, President Mukherjee is on the three-nation visitnamely Jordan (10 to 12 October 2015),Palestine (12 to 13 October2015) and Israel (13 to 15 October 2015).

iv. During the visit, Jordan and India signed six cooperationmemoranda of understanding (MoUs) in various vital fields. They alsoagreed to work for raising trade exchange to 5 billion dollars withinfive years.

v. Some important events that happened during the visit includes
•He delivered a lecture at the University of Jordan, where hewas granted an honorary doctorate.
• The twosides held discussions several points and issues like
a) Ongreater cooperation in counterterrorism and defence sector
b)Trade and economic, and investment cooperation between India andJordan
c) In trade and investment, President agreed to extend aline of credit of 100 million US dollar to Jordan
•President Mukherjee inaugurated a street named after MahatmaGandhi in Amman and planted an Olive tree in peace park.

3. Veteran filmmaker I.V. Sasi honoured with J.C.Daniel Award

i. Renowned Malayalam filmmaker I.V. Sasi on 12 October 2015 wasawarded with the prestigious J.C. Daniel Award for the year 2014 forhis contributions towards the Malayalam entertainment industry.

ii. Sasi has made over 150 Indian films in various languages andgenres. However, he is mostly known for his South Indian films.

iii. He started his directorial career officially with his firstfilm Ulsavam. He has directed more than 170 films over a span of 34years. Most of his movies came out as super hits and some of them areeven classified as classics or good cinema.

iv. In 1982, his film Aaroodam won the Nargis Dutt Award for thebest feature film on National Integration.

4. Indian diaspora in UK launches 'Modi Express' busahead of Modi's November visit

i. The Indian community in the United Kingdom launched a 'ModiExpress' bus that will take the travellers on a tour around iconiclandmarks ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's maiden visit to thecountry in November.

ii. Over 400 community organisations have come together to launchthe 'Modi Express' for 'Bus Pe Charcha' in London. "We have had'Chai Pe Charcha' in India, now we will have 'Bus Pe Charcha' in theUK," the 'UK Welcomes Modi' organising committee's Mayuri Parmarsaid, PTI reported.

iii. The bus, which started its journey on Sunday, stopped atEaling Road or 'Little India street' in Wembley where the Indiancommunity is planning to host an Olympics style reception for Modiduring his visit next month.

iv. The 'Modi Express' bus will then head to Trafalgar Square tocelebrate Diwali with the Indian Prime Minister. Modi is expected toaddress the Indian community at Wembley Stadium on 13 November -- theday of Diwali celebrations.

v. Indian-origin Parliamentarian Keith Vaz also urged people tojoin him in the tour on 'Modi Express' bus from Leicester. "Evenif you've left your oyster cards at home, be sure to bring your 'Modicards' to join the 'Modi Express' wherever you are," he said.

5. Green Indian Mission Plans approved for four states

i. National Executive Council (NEC) of the National Missionfor a Green India (GIM) on 9 October 2015 approved the PerspectivePlans & Annual Plan of Operations (APOs) submitted by fourStates, namely Mizoram, Manipur, Jharkhand and Kerala.

ii. Approval was granted for alternative energy devices such asbiogas, solar devices, LPG, biomass-based systems and improved stovesfor 27032 households for the financial year 2015-16 and 81233households for the total plan period. This will help in reducingpressure on forests, gaining carbon benefits, along with health andother associated benefits.

Highlights of the mission
•Theplans have been approved with a total financial outlay of 90202.68lakh rupees for a period of 5 to 10 years.
•APOsof 11195.32 lakh rupees have been also approved for financial year2015-16.
•The total forest and non-forest areataken up in the four states under GIM during the total plan periodwill be 108335 hectares.
•Out of the totalforest and non-forest area, 81939 hectares will be improving thedensity of existing forests and 16396 hectares will be new areas.

iii. The plans were approved during the second meeting of NEC ofGIM.

6. India inks Rs 130-crore deal for 194 microlightaircraft

i. India signed a Rs 130 crore deal for 194 microlight aircraftfrom Slovenian company Pipistrel Aircraft, for use by its NationalCadet Corps (NCC),Air Force and Navy.

ii. The contract was inked by Pipistrel CEO, Ivo Boscarol with theMoD. Talking to FE, Wg Cdr (retd) Sanjay Thapar said: “This is thelargest single order for microlight aircraft placed on any aircraftmanufacturer in the world.”

iii. With the IAF as the lead agency to evaluate, select and buythese 194 planes, the microlight aircraft chosen for the purchase isthe Pipistrel Aircraft’s Virus SW80,” and is tentativelychristened the ‘Garuda’ in the Indian service.

iv. At the Defence Acquisition Council meeting chaired by defenceminister Manohar Parrikar in July, the nod was given for buying andstaggering the microlight aircraft from Slovenian Aircraftmanufacturer Pipistrel.

                                   Current Affairs - 11th & 12th October2015

1. K P Sharma Oli of CPN-UML elected as the new PrimeMinister of Nepal

i. Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli of Communist Party of Nepal (UnifiedMarxist-Leninist)-CPN-UML was elected as new Prime Minister of Nepal.With this victory, he became first Prime Minister of Nepal under thenewly adopted secular, republic and federal Constitution of Himalayancountry. It was adopted in 20 September 2015.

ii. In the election for PM post in Nepalese Parliament, Mr. Olireceived 338 votes out of a total of 598. He had secured 39 votesmore than the 299 votes needed to get elected as PM as per provisionsof new constitution. His rival Sushil Koirala of Nepali CongressPresident on the other hand received 249 votes.

iii. Born on 22 February 1952 in Terhathum District of Nepal.Commonly known as K P Oli. Earlier had served as Nepal’s DeputyPrime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Girija PrasadKoirala-led interim government formed in 2006.

iv. He also had served as Minister for Home Affairs (MHA) in 1994in the government led by the then UML Chairman Manmohan Adhikari. Hewas elected as member of the Parliament thrice in 1991, 1994 and1999. He had started his political career in 1966 and was elected asthe chairman of CPN-UML Party in July 2014.

2. The 2015 Nobel Prize in Economics awarded to AngusDeaton

i. Angus Deaton, a British economist, has won the 2015 Nobel Prizein Economics “for his analysis of consumption, poverty, andwelfare.”

ii. “To design economic policy that promotes welfare and reducespoverty, we must first understand individual consumption choices.More than anyone else, Angus Deaton has enhanced this understanding.By linking detailed individual choices and aggregate outcomes, hisresearch has helped transform the fields of microeconomics,macroeconomics, and development economics,” the Royal SwedishAcademy of Sciences said.

iii. Angus Deaton is a professor in the Economics Department atPrinceton University, where he looks at the determinants of health inrich and poor countries, as well as on the measurement of poverty inIndia and around the world. He also maintains a long-standinginterest in household surveys.

iv. The award was established by Sweden’s central bank, SverigesRiksbank, in 1968 in memory of Alfred Nobel.

3. Jioji Konrote elected as Fiji's President

i. Fiji’s Parliament on 12 October 2015 elected the Minister forEmployment, Productivity and Industrial Relations, Jioji Konrote, asthe country’s next President.

ii. Konrote, who was nominated by the ruling FijiFirst party,fetched 31 votes in the presidential election held in the parliament.On the other hand, the opposition SODELPA party’s candidate RatuEpeli Ganilau received 14 votes.

iii. According to the constitution of Fiji, the prime minister andleader of the opposition each submit a presidential candidate to thespeaker of parliament, who then announces the nominees to MPs beforeparliament decides on the country's next president with a majorityvote.

iv. Konrote, popularly known as George Konrote, is a retired majorgeneral who joined the Republic of Fiji Military Forces in 1966.

4. Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram won 2015 Dutch OpenMen’s Singles title

i. Ajay Jayaram of India on 11 October 2015 defended the 2015Dutch Open Men’s Singles badminton title. In the summit clash heldat Almere in Netheralnds, the World Number 26 ranker defeatedEstonia’s Raul Must by 21-12 21-18.

ii. While Jayaram won his maiden title in 2014, it was the fourthoverall title for India. The other two titles were won by PrakashPadukone and Chetan Anand in 1982 and 2009 respectively.

iii. Dutch Open is a Grand Prix category tournament that is heldannually since 1932 in Netherlands. It is currently organized byNederlandse Badminton Bond (NBB) and is a part of the EuropeanBadminton Circuit.

5. Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal to win 2015China Open Men’s Singles title

i. Novak Djokovic on 11 October 2015 won the China Open Men’sSingles title by defeating Rafael Nadal of Spain.

ii. In the summit clash held at the National Tennis Centre inBeijing the top seeded Serbian overpowered Nadal by 6-2 6-2. ForDjokovic, it was the fourth consequent win in Beijing and the fourthconsequent title since 2012.

iii. Overall, he is the only player to have won the title sixtimes. His other two titles were in 2009 and 2010. In 2015, Djokovicjoined Roger Federer and Rod Laver as the only men in the Open era toreach all four major finals. His only defeat came in the final of theFrench Open against Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland.

iv. Apart from the Grand slam titles in Australia, the UK(Wimbledon) and the USA he won eight titles in the 2015 season thatinclude Indian Wells Masters, Miami Open, Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters,Italian Open and China Open.

6. PM lays foundation stone of 4th terminal ofJawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone offourth terminal of country’s largest container port – JawaharlalNehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Mumbai.

ii. The ambitious project will augment JNPT’s present capacitysituated off the financial capital’s eastern seafront by doublingit in next two years.

iii. The fourth terminal project will be carried out in two phasesat estimated cost of 7,900 crore rupees and will be complete by theend of 2017. The project involves construction of two berths of 1 kmin each of the two phases.

iv. It will be executed by Bharat Mumbai Container Terminal(BMCT),a subsidiary of Port of Singapore on a design, fund, built,operate and transfer (BOT) basis. The terminal will play importantrole in India’s Export-Import (exim) trade by doubling existing 4.5million container handling capacity of JNPT to 10 million standardunits.

v. The expansion of port seeks to make it in top 15 ports of theworld as it is presently ranked 31st. At present, JNPT operates oneof the three terminals at the port while the other two are operatedby DP World and APM Terminals.

7. Sania Mirza, Martina Hingis win China Open

i. Extending their incredible unbeaten record, Sania Mirza andMartina Hingis today lifted their eighth trophy of the season andfourth in a row, winning the WTA China Open on Saturday.

ii. The top seeds faced stiff resistance from sixth seed Taipeigirls Hao-Ching Chan and Yung-Jan Chan before winning 6-7 (9) 6-110-8 in the final which lasted one hour and 40 minutes.

iii. It is the fourth title in a row for the Sania-Martina pair.In a remarkable run, they have dropped only two sets in their last 17matches in four tournaments.

iv. It was ninth title for Sania in the 2015 season and eighthwith Swiss great Martina. They had won titles at Indian Wells, Miami,Charleston, Wimbledon, the US Open, Guangzhou and Wuhan beforetoday's win.

                                         Current Affairs - 10th October 2015

1. Kerala Government launched Operation Valsalya totrack missing children

i. The Kerala government on 9 October 2015 launched the OperationValsalya project to trace, rescue and reunite the missing childrenwith their family. This ambitious programme is envisaged to beimplemented on the lines of the much acclaimed Operation Smileproject in Ghaziabad.

ii. According to police statistics of Kerala, as many as 69children have been kidnapped or abducted across the state till Junethis year. While 116 children were kidnapped in the state in 2014,the number was 136 in 2013 and 147 in 2012.

iii. The operation was initiated by Kerala's Social JusticeDepartment on a small scale. However, it will be extended across thestate after evaluating its success. Cooperation and support ofpolice, childline volunteers and non-governmental organizations havebeen sought in this regard.

iv. Awareness programmes and poster and sticker campaigns willalso be carried out to propagate the cause. The picture and otherwhereabouts of children, rescued from various parts of the stateunder the mission, will be uploaded on the websitewww.trackthemissingchild.nic.in.

2. Andhra Pradesh Government launched e-Pragati project

i. Government of Andhra Pradesh on 9 October 2015 launched AndhraPradesh State Enterprise Architecture (APSEA). It is alternativelycalled as e-Pragati project.

ii. It was launched by the state Chief Minister N ChandrababuNaidu at a function held in Visakhapatnam.

Features of e-Pragati

• It aims for a transformational change in theway government services are conceived, designed, delivered andconsumed.
• The public private partnership(PPP) has been designed as a tool to provide integrated services toits citizens by adopting a Whole-of Government approach.
•It seeks to enhance the Quality of Life by deploying the cutting edgetechnologies, including SMAC, in various sectors like Agriculture,Education, Healthcare, Construction, Skill Development, Urban andRural Development.
• It forms the basic ITFabric that supports the 7 Developmental Missions comprising theSunrise AP.
• It realizes the goal ofestablishing ONE Government, by adopting the best principles ofEnterprise.
• Architecture, like establishingshared infrastructure and applications, enforcing technologystandards, ensuring interoperability through the use of a SOA-basedmiddleware called e-Highway.
• It includes 72projects, made into 14 packages for ease of implementation over thenext 3 years, at a cost of 2398 crore rupees.

3.Future Group partners Patanjali Ayurveda

i. Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved announced a tie-up with theFuture Group on Friday under which its products will be available atthe Big Bazaar, KB’s and EasyDay outlets.

ii. The inspiration to go in for the partnership with the swadeshifirm to offer its wide-range of products, said Future Group CEOKishore Biyani at the launch, came from the tie-up between the U.S.retail giant Walmart and FMCG firm P&G. Within the next 20months, we expect to jointly do business worth Rs.1,000 crore, Mr.Biyani announced.

iii. A recent report by the global brokerage house, CLSA, putPatanjali ahead of major Indian FMCG companies, Emami and JyothyLabs. Patanjali, the report said, is perhaps the fastest growing fastmoving consumer company in India with revenues in excess of Rs.2,500crore for 2014-15.

iv. The pipeline of new launches includes Patanjali Noodles totake advantage of the market opened up following the forcedwithdrawal of Nestle’s Maggi. Also on the cards are pasta, oats,juices, powdered hair dye and muesli.

4. Sekhar Basu appointed as chairman of AtomicEnergy Commission

i. Sekhar Basu was on 9 October 2015 appointed as the chairman ofAtomic Energy Commission (AEC). By virtue of this position, he willalso occupy the office of secretary, Department of Atomic Energy(DAE).

ii. He will succeed RK Sinha who superannuates on 23 October 2015and will be in the office till 19 September 2016. Basu is presentlythe director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC),Mumbai, andalso the Chief Executive of Nuclear Recycle Board (NRB),which is apart of BARC.

iii. Basu and his colleagues are mainly responsible for evolvingstrategies for safe radioactive disposal of waste in gas, liquid andsolid forms containing various levels of radioactivity. He hasdesigned and built reprocessing plants, fuel storage facilities andnuclear waste treatment facilities at Trombay, Tarapur and Kalpakkam.

iv. For his contributions to the Indian nuclear energy programmeat various levels, he was conferred with several awards and honoursincluding Padma Shri (2014),the DAE Special Achievement Award (2007)and Indian Nuclear Society Award (2002).

5. India, Ecuador ink Protocol to establishEcuador Joint Economic and Trade Committee

i. India and Ecuador has signed a Protocol for the establishmentof the India-Ecuador Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) toenhance bilateral trade and investment relations.

ii. It was signed by Mentor Villagomez, Ecuadorian Ambassador toIndia and Rita Teotia, Commerce Secretary during the meeting betweendelegations of both countries.

iii. JETCO aims to further improve, deepen and strengthen theexisting trade relationship between India and Ecuador. It willfunction as the primary forum for discussion and other promotionalactivities on trade and investment issues.

iv. The meeting will be held once in every two years. The firstmeeting of the JETCO is proposed to be held early next year in India.The bilateral trade between the two countries stood at 1290.77million US dollars during the year 2014-15.

6. Veteran music director Ravindra Jain passed away

i. Renowned music director and lyricist Ravindra Jain passed awayon 9 October 2015 following a multiple-organ failure in Mumbai,Maharashtra. He was 71. He is survived by his wife and son.

ii. He started his singing career at a very tender age by recitingbhajans and poetry at temples. He began his musical journey inBollywood in the 1970s. Since then, he has composed music for almost150 movies apart from working with Sagar Films for their televisionseries.

iii. His famous songs are Geet Gaata Chal, Chor Machaye Shor,Chitchor, Nadiya ke Paar, Ram Teri Ganga Maili, Ankhiyon Ke JharokhonSe, Do Jasoos and Henna.

iv. He has also been conferred with various awards for his workincluding Filmfare Award for Best Music for Ram Teri Ganga Maili(1985),Lata Mangeshkar Lifetime Achievement Award of Maharashtra Government and Padmashri in 2015.

                                          Current Affairs - 9th October 2015

1. A R Rehman chosen for 2015 Hridaynath MangeskarAward

i. A R Rehman was on 8 October 2015 chosen for the 2015 HridaynathMangeskar Award.

ii. The Academy award winning music composer and singer was chosenby the Hridayesh Art for his contribution to the Indian music in hiscareer spanning over two decades.

iii. He is expected to receive the award from veteran film makerSubhash Ghai on 26 October 2015 at a function in Mumbai.

2. World Egg Day observed on 9 October 2015

i. World Egg Day was observed on 9 October 2015 as it is beingcelebrated every year on second Friday of October as per thedirectives of International Egg Commission.

ii. Celebration of this day gives a unique opportunity to helppropagate the nutritive value of eggs in human nutrition. It alsohelps in increasing egg consumption, which is the main source ofprotein.

iii. On this day to promote awareness about the nutritional valueof the egg, National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC) is conductingseveral programmes and campaign.

iv. Union government has decided to celebrate the day in fourplaces in the country, Bhubaneswar (Odisha),Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh),Mumbai (Maharashtra) and Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh).

v. The egg white consists primarily of water (87 per cent) andprotein (13 per cent) along with all the essential amino acids in theright ratios. Eggs also contain decent amounts of vitamins,phosphorus, calcium, selenium, folate and zinc. The unique shell eggmakes it only farm product that cannot be adulterated.

3. Music composer AR Rahman named as CulturalAmbassador of Seychelles

i. Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman was on 8 October 2015 named asthe Cultural Ambassador of Seychelles for his contribution inenhancing the country’s Art and Culture Development.

ii. One of the most globally popular Indian music icons, Rahmanhas won two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award and aGolden Globe, besides national recognition in his illustrious career.

iii. Despite of all these awards, Rahman will also receive thefifth Hridaynath Mangeshkar award 2015 on 26 October 2015 by veteranfilmmaker Subhash Ghai on the birth anniversary of Pandit HridaynathMangeshkar, the late younger brother of legendary playback singersLata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle.

4. ICICI Bank Launches mVisa Electronic CardlessTransactions for Pockets App

i. The ICICI Bank on Thursday launched a service enablingcustomers to make electronic payments from their smartphones atphysical stores, e-commerce portals, radio taxis and utility billers,among others, without swiping a debit card.

ii. The service is based on 'mVisa', a new mobile payment solutionfrom Visa. ICICI Bank, India's largest private bank, is the firstbank globally to launch a mobile app based on 'mVisa' solution forconsumers and merchants.

iii. The service has been introduced for its customers inBengaluru only with 1,500 merchants brought under the fold of mobileelectronic payments. The service will be rolled out in other citiesshortly.

iv. The process involves scanning a Quick Response code at amerchant location without swiping the card.

5. Nobel Peace Prize 2015 awarded to Tunisian mediatorgroup

i. Four Tunisian civil society groups have been awarded the NobelPeace Prize for their contribution to the country’s transition fromdictatorship to democracy. The Nobel panel described its award to theNational Dialogue Quartet on Friday as an “encouragement to theTunisian people” that showed the value of dialogue in a regionriven by conflict.

ii. Responsible for drafting a political "road map" thatis seen as having saved the country from crisis in October 2013, thebroad-based quartet cleared the way for the country to establish itsfirst democratic constitution and hold elections late last year.

iii. While Tunisia’s transition has been less violent than thatof Libya and Egypt, it has been marred by occasional violence,notably from Islamic extremists. In June, an Islamic State of Iraqand the Levant-inspired gunman killed 38 people in the populartourist resourt of Sousse.

iv. Most were British tourists. Two months earlier, 22 people wereshot dead by Islamist gunmen in the country's national museum inTunis.

6. Indo-China Joint Military Exercise Hand-In-Hand 2015

i. India-China Joint Military Training Exercise HAND-IN-HAND 2015will be conducted at Kunming Military Academy of Yunnan province inChina from 12 to 23 October 2015. It will be the fifth joint militaryexercise in the Hand-in-Hand series between armies of both countrieswhich had started in 2007.

ii. Broaden and strengthen interoperability and cooperationbetween armies of both countries as well as complement a number ofother exchanges between the two forces.

iii. This edition of exercise will lay emphasis on joint handlingof insurgency at sub-unit level and related issues. It will alsocover aspect of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief atformation headquarters level.

iv. The curriculum of exercise has been planned progressively inorder to make participants to get familiar with each other’sorganisational structure, weapons, equipment and tactical drills.

7. World Post Day observed globally

i. World Post Day was observed globally on 9 October 2015 with thetheme Posts claim their place in the changing communicationlandscape. The day marks the date of establishment of UniversalPostal Union (UPU) in 1874 in Bern, Switzerland.

ii. The UPU was the start of global communications revolution,allowing people could write to others all over the world.

iii. World Post Day is observed to create awareness of the role ofthe postal sector in people’s and businesses’ everyday lives aswell as its contribution to the social and economic development ofcountries.

iv. The celebration encourages member countries to undertakeprogramme activities aimed at generating broader awareness of theirPost’s role and activities among the public and media on a nationalscale.

                                          Current Affairs - 8th October 2015

1. Union Cabinet approved construction of National WarMemorial in Delhi

i. The Union Cabinet on 7 October 2015 approved the constructionof National War Memorial and a National War Museum at Princess Parknear India Gate, Delhi in memory of all Indian soldiers who have madethe supreme sacrifice for the country post-independence.

ii. The estimated cost of the project will be around 500 crorerupees and the total time for completion of the entire project isestimated to be five years.

iii. This prestigious project will be monitored by an empoweredSteering Committee chaired by Defence Secretary and assisted by adedicated project management team, to ensure that the proposedproject is completed within scheduled time frame.

iv. The memorial will promote a sense of patriotism in the mindsof visitors, and will award an opportunity to citizens of this vastnation, to express their token sense of gratitude to the bravesoldiers. The museum will capture these poignant moments in historyand bring out the variegated nature of soldier's commitments.

2. Union Cabinet approved Protocol on Double TaxationAvoidance with Israel and Vietnam

i. The Union Cabinet on 7 October 2015 approved the Protocolbetween India and Israel and between Indian and Vietnam for avoidanceof double taxation and for prevention of fiscal evasion with respectto taxes on income and on capital.

ii. The Protocol with both the countries provides forinternationally accepted standards for effective exchange ofinformation on tax matters including bank information and informationwithout domestic tax interest.

iii. With this, the information received from Israel and Vietnamin respect of a resident of India can be shared with other lawenforcement agencies with authorisation of the Competent Authority ofboth the countries and vice versa.

iv. Besides, the Protocol with Israel also provides for Limitationof Benefits Article as an anti-abuse provision aimed at preventingmisuse of the Convention. The provisions of this Article enable useof the provisions of domestic law and measures concerning taxavoidance or evasion in the event of misuse of the Convention.

v. The existing Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC)between Indian and Israel was signed in 1996 and between India andVietnam was signed in 1994.

vi. Both the countries concurred with India to update Article 27on the Exchange of Information in DTAC signed with India to meetinternationally accepted standards and added a new Article onAssistance in the Collection of taxes.

3. German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited to India

i. German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited India between 4 Octoberand 6 October 2015. On her arrival, she was received at the airportby the Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha.

ii. Prime Minister Modi and Chancellor Merkel held discussions ona wide range of issues of mutual interest, including deepeningbilateral engagement in defence, security, education, renewableenergy, skill development and agriculture.

4. Cyclist Deborah Herold became first-ever Indian towin five medals at Taiwan Cup

i. Indian cyclist Deborah Herold in the first week of October 2015bagged one gold, three silver and one bronze medal at the 2015 TaiwanCup held at the Hsin Chu Velodrome, Hsin-Chu city in Taiwan. Withthis, she became the first ever Indian cyclist to win in women'selite section.

ii. Deborah fetched the gold medal in Taiwan Cup TrackInternational Classic I by defeating the Malaysian top rider. On theother hand, she ended on second place in the keirin event and 500mtime trial.

iii. In November 2014, the Indian cyclist had won four gold medalsat the Track Asia Cup Cycling Championship 2014.

iv. 20-year-old Deborah is a tribal girl from Andaman and NicobarIslands who survived the 2004 Tsunami that devastated the islands.She was trained at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre inAndaman and emerged as one of the rising stars of Indian cycling.

5. Svetlana Alexievich Wins Nobel Prize in Literature

i. Svetlana Alexievich, a Belarussian journalist and prose writer,won the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday “for her polyphonicwritings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time,” theSwedish Academy announced.

ii. Ms. Alexievich, 67, is the 14th woman to win the literatureprize. Born to a Belarussian father and a Ukrainian mother, in whatis now Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, Ms. Alexievich is best known forgiving voice to survivors of the Second World War, the Sovietoccupation of Afghanistan that lasted from 1979 to 1989, and theChernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986.

iii. Because of her criticism of the regime in Belarus, a formerSoviet republic, Ms. Alexievich has periodically lived abroad, inItaly, France, Germany and Sweden, among other places.

iv. The prize of 8 million Swedish kronor (around $960,000) wasannounced in Stockholm by Sara Danius, permanent secretary of theSwedish Academy, which awards the prize.

6. 83rd Air Force Day observed across India

i. The Air Force Day 2015 was on 8 October 2015 observed acrossIndia. This is the 83rd celebration of the Day that began in 1932.

ii. This prestigious occasion was marked with celebrations at theHindon Air Force Station in Ghaziabad. The event began with a flypast of three Mi-17 V5 helicopters with ensign of the Air Force in aV-shaped formation at the air base in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh.

iii. The parade saw Hercules formation comprising three C-130Jaircraft in the same formation.

7. Hoesung Lee elected as the Head ofInter-governmental Panel for Climate Change

i. Hoesung Lee of South Korea has been elected Chairman ofInter-governmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC). He was elected inon-going 42nd session IPCC in Dubrovnik, Croatia by 78 votes to 56 ina run-off election with Jean-Pascale van Ypersele from Belgium.

ii. Lee succeeds environmentalist R.K. Pachauri of India who hadresigned following the sexual abuse scandal in which he was allegedlyinvolved.

iii. Presently, he professor in the economics of climate change,energy and sustainable development. Previously he had served as oneof the Vice-Chairs of the IPCC. He has been associated with IPCC invarious capacities including as Co-Chair of Working Group III forSecond Assessment Report of 1992.

iv. He is also the founding president of the Korea Energy EconomicInstitute. He also has served as President of InternationalAssociation for Energy Economics. He had also had served on variousboards including as a member of the ADB President’s advisory board,executive member of the Korean Academy of Environmental Sciences etc.

v. IPCC is the leading international body for the assessment ofclimate change.

Current Affairs - 7th October2015

1. 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Tomas Lindahl, PaulModrich and Aziz Sancar

i. Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar were on 7 October2015 jointly awarded with the 2015 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry forhaving mapped how cells repair damaged DNA and safeguard the geneticinformation at a molecular level.

ii. All the three laureates will share the prize money of 8million Swedish kronor equally. Tomas Lindahl is from the FrancisCrick Institute, UK; Paul Modrich is from Duke University School ofMedicine, USA and Aziz Sancar belongs to University of North CarolinaSchool of Medicine, USA.

iii. Their work provided fundamental knowledge of how a livingcell functions and how it is used for the development of new cancertreatments.

iv. Aziz Sancar mapped Nucleotide Excision Repair, the mechanismthat cells use to repair UV damage to DNA. People born with defectsin this repair system will develop skin cancer if they are exposed tosunlight. The cell also utilises nucleotide excision repair tocorrect defects.

v. Paul Modrich demonstrated how the cell corrects errors thatoccur when DNA is replicated during cell division. This mechanism,Mismatch Repair, reduces the error frequency during DNA replicationby about a thousand fold.

2. Sergey Karjakin won the 2015 FIDE World Chess Cup

i. Russia’s Sergey Karjakin on 5 October 2015 emerged victoriousin the 2015 FIDE World Chess Cup beating Peter Svidler by 6-4 in thefinal. It was held in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, from 10 September2015 to 5 October 2015.

ii. Karjakin and Svidler, both from Russia, won two classicalgames each. However, the title was decided in the tie-breakers.

iii. In the tie-breaker, Karjakin won the opening rapid game, butSvidler came strongly back by winning the next two. However, Karjakinwon the fourth rapid game to draw level. In the end, Karjakin tookthe tie-breaker by 6-4.

iv. By reaching the final, the pair has qualified for the 2016Candidates Chess Tournament.

v. The Chess World Cup is the highly regarded tournaments in chessafter the World Championship and the Candidates Tournament.

3. Utkal starts 'Project Saksham' to empower ruralwomen

i. In its bid to empower rural women, Utkal Alumina InternationalLimited (UAIL),a unit of Aditya Birla Group, has launched a uniqueproject for the welfare of communities living in the vicinity of itsproject area in Odisha.

ii. Christened 'Project Saksham', the new initiative involves anadvanced training-cum-garment manufacturing unit at Tikiri inRayagada district to help unemployed rural women engage in asustainable livelihood and become self-reliant, said Vijay Sapra,Unit Head and President, UAIL.

iv. Aiming at speedy inclusive development, the project impartstraining to 38 women from the underprivileged sections living invillages surrounding the plant. With 30 industrial sewing machinesand four specialised machines, these women have already received asix month training on operation and product development, includingquality control, to cater to the market demand, a company statementsaid.

v. Participants learnt basic machine operations, cutting andstitching of fabric to make petticoats, tops, kurtis, churidars,salwar kameezes, skirts, shirts and trousers.

vi. Enthused by these achievements in market linkage, the womenare now developing their skills in making designer clothes. Afteradequate finesse in making designer clothes is achieved, marketlinkage would be facilitated with Boyanika and similar large-scalegarment trading units

4. INS Astradharani commissioned into Indian Navy

i. The Indian Navy commissioned the first indigenously-designedand built torpedo launch and recovery vessel INS Astradharani at theNaval Base in Visakhapatnam. This 50-metre twin-hulled warship isalso the first to be built at a private yard with armament fixtures.

ii. The ship was collaboratively designed by Naval Science andTechnological Laboratory (NSTL) of DRDO, Shoft Shipyard and IITKharagpur. The design of the ship was tested at the facilities at theNSTL. It is an advanced replacement for INS Astravahini which wasdecommissioned on 17 July 2015.

iii. INS Astradharani will be used to carry out the technicaltrials of underwater weapons and systems developed by NSTL. The shiphas a complement of two officers and 27 sailors and can carry 13scientists.

iv. The catamaran hull configuration in the ship significantlyreduces its power requirement. With a length of 50 m, the vessel canundertake multiple trials during a single sortie and is fullyequipped with all modern amenities that warships have.

5. 2016 Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Conference to beheld in New Delhi

i. The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Conference 2016 will be heldin New Delhi from 8 January to 10 January 2016.

ii. The PBD Conference 2016 will be organised with an objectivefor developing a new paradigm for engagement with the Diaspora overthe next decade.

iii. The 2016 PBD Conference will be an attempt to do an expertstudy on various issues concerning the Diaspora and areas of mutualbenefit to India and to them, while the previous PBDs focused only onmeetings with the Diaspora.

iv. The traditional PBD convention will be held every alternativeyear, with the partner State. Such a convention would be heldin 2017.

v. Beside this, the Union Government also announced that it willorganise the 9th Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas (RPBD) at LosAngeles California, USA on the 14 November and 15 November 2015.

6. India, Germany signed 125 million Euros LoanAgreement to fund two projects under Green Energy Corridor

i. Government of India and Federal Republic of Germany (KFW) on 5October 2015 signed two loan agreements worth 125 million Euros forfinancing two projects under the Green Energy Corridor programme.These two projects are in Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

ii. Germany will fund 57 million Euros for projects in HimachalPradesh and 68 million Euros for Andhra Pradesh.

iii. Green Energy Corridor programme seeks to facilitate the flowof renewable energy into the national grid. In other words, it isaimed at synchronising electricity produced from renewable sources,such as solar and wind, with conventional power stations in the grid.

iv. In April 2013 during the second Indo-German GovernmentConsultations in Berlin, Germany committed developmental andtechnical assistance of 1 billion euro for the project. RenewableEnergy is one of the key areas of India-German partnership. It wasmentioned in the Joint Statement of Hannover in April 2015.

7. RBI relaxed norms of FPI investment in GovernmentSecurities

i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 6 October 2015 relaxed thenorms of Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) of government debt andalso announced higher investment limits in rupee terms in governmentsecurities with a view to bring in an additional 1.2 lakh crorerupees by March 2018.

ii. The RBI fixed the FPI investment limits in rupee terms andraised the limits in phases to reach 5 percent of the outstandingstock by March 2018.

iii. The RBI issued these directions in perusal of theannouncement made in the fourth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statementfor the year 2015-16 issued on 29 September 2015, wherein a MediumTerm Framework (MTF) for FPI limits in Government securities wasannounced to provide a more predictable regime.

                                          Current Affairs - 6th October 2015

1. Jack Dorsey appointed as permanent CEO of Twitter

i. Popular micro-blogging site Twitter on 5 October 2015 announcedJack Dorsey as its permanent Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

ii. The appointment of Dorsey, who is also the CEO of mobilepayments company Square, marks his second stretch as Twitter’s CEO.He will handle both the jobs at once.

iii. Dorsey has served as interim CEO of Twitter since former CEODick Costolo stepped down on 1 July 2015.

About Jack Dorsey

* Jack Dorsey was born on 19 November 1976 in St.Louis, Missouri, United States. By professional qualifications, he isa programmer and businessman.

* Dorsey along with Noah Glass, Biz Stone andEvan Williams founded the famous micro-blogging site Twitter, Inc. inMarch 2006.

* In 2008, Dorsey was named to the MIT TechnologyReview TR35 as one of the top 35 innovators in the world under theage of 35. He was also awarded with Innovator of the Year Award fortechnology by the Wall Street Journal in 2012.

2. World Habitat Day observed on 5 October 2015

i. United Nations on 5 October 2015 celebrated World Habitat Day.It is observed on first Monday of October every year to generateawareness about the state of human settlements and the future ofcities.

ii. Public Spaces for All. The theme aims to recognize good publicspaces in order to enhance community cohesion and promote happiness,health and well-being of all citizens. It also seeks fosteringinvestment, economic development and environmental sustainability.

iii. United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) through Resolution40/202 had established World Habitat Day in 1985. It was firstcelebrated in 1986. The purpose of this day is to reflect on thestate of our cities and town along with the basic right adequateshelter for all.

iv. Each year new theme is chosen by the UN which is based oncurrent issues relevant to the Habitat Agenda and to promotesustainable development policies for ensuring adequate shelter forall.

3. Neutrino scientists win Nobel Prize for Physics

i. Japan's Takaaki Kajita and Canada's Arthur B. McDonald won the2015 Nobel Prize for Physics for their discovery that neutrinos havemass, the award-giving body said.

ii. "The discovery has changed our understanding of theinnermost workings of matter and can prove crucial to our view of theuniverse," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in astatement awarding the 8 million Swedish crown ($962,000) prize.

iii. Physics is the second of this year's Nobels. The prizes werefirst awarded in 1901 to honour achievements in science, literatureand peace in accordance with the will of dynamite inventor andbusiness tycoon Alfred Nobel.

4. China won 2015 FIBA Asian Basketball Championship

i. China on 3 October 2015 won the International BasketballFederation (FIBA) Asia Championship by defeating the Philippines by78-67 in the final. The victory has won the nation a directqualification for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

ii. The game was organised in front of a 7000 strong capacitycrowd in Changsha, Hunan province of China.

iii. In the final game, Yi Jianlian scored maximum runs and earned15 rebounds. He was also selected as the Most Valuable Player of thetournament.

iv. Philippines and Iran have secured the second and third placerespectively in the tournament. India ended on eighth place in thetournament.

5. Union Government launches 2nd phase of MissionIndradhanush

i. Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched thesecond phase of Mission Indradhanush to achieve full immunisation ofchildren below two years. In the second phase, the week-longprogramme will be implemented in 352 districts of the country.

ii. Mission Indradhanush depicts 7 colours of the rainbow whichaims to cover all those children by 2020 who are either unvaccinatedor are partially vaccinated against 7 vaccine preventable diseases.These 7 diseases are Diphtheria, Whooping cough, Tetanus, Polio,Tuberculosis, Measles and Hepatitis B.

iii. WHO (World Health Organisation),UNICEF, Rotary Internationaland others are donor partners for Mission Indradhanush.

iv. The mission was launched in December 2015 on the occasion ofNational Good Governance Day. The first phase drive was started inApril 2015 in 201 districts covering 45 lakh children and immunising20 lakh children.

6. Odisha launched Citizen Portal to launch policecomplaints

i. Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik on 3 October 2015launched a Citizen Portal, which enables the citizens to lodge theircomplaints online to the state police through internet.

ii. The facility will allow citizens to access information,request for different police services and complaints. They can alsoget a copy of FIR.

iii. Citizens can avail the service of portal to get charactercertificates. They can seek permission for taking out processions,rallies, protests and strikes. They can ask for permission to holdevents and performances.

iv. They can use the portal for tenants verification, employeesverification. They can also track the status of the complaintsregistered by them on the portal.

                                         Current Affairs - 4th & 5thOctober 2015

1. Three scientists share Nobel Prize for medicine forwork on parasitic diseases

i. The Nobel Prize for medicine has been jointly awarded this yearto three scientists for their work on parasitic diseases. Half of theaward goes to Ireland's William Campbell and Japan's Satoshi Omura,who discovered a new drug to treat infections caused by roundwormparasites.

ii. The other half goes to China's Youyou Tu, who used traditionalherbal medicine to find a new kind of antimalarial agent.

iii. Campbell and Omura discovered a new drug, Avermectin, thederivatives of which "have radically lowered the incidence ofRiver Blindness and Lymphatic Filariasis," the Nobel Assemblysaid. River blindness, or onchocerciasis, can cause vision impairmentor blindness, nodules under the skin or debilitating itching,according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

iv. Lymphatic filariasis, commonly known as elephantiasis, is apainful and extremely disfiguring disease, the World HealthOrganization said.

2. Shashank Manohar elected BCCI President

i. Shashank Manohar on 4 October 2015 was elected President ofBoard of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). He was electedunopposed during a special general meeting called by the BCCIfollowing the demise of Jagmohan Dalmiya.

ii. Manohar, who has also served as the 29th President of theboard from 2008 to 2011, will remain at the helm for two years.

iii. He is also referred to as Mr. Clean and is also known for hisspotless track record and integrity in cricketing circles.

iv. Shashank Manohar was born on 29 September 1957 in the familyof lawyers.

3. 26th edition of CORPAT between India and Indonesiabegan in Andaman Sea

i. 26th edition of the Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) between Indiaand Indonesia began on 3 October 2015 in the Andaman Sea. Theexpanded version of the 18-day long CORPAT that will conclude on 21October 2015 will also see the first ever bilateral exercise betweenthe two nations.

ii. The two-day inaugural India-Indonesia Bilateral MaritimeExercise is scheduled from 17 October to 18 October 2015 in theAndaman Sea.

iii. The two navies have been carrying out Coordinated Patrolling(CORPAT) along the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) twicea year since 2002 with the aim of keeping this vital part of theIndian Ocean Region safe and secure for commercial shipping andinternational trade.

iv. The first ever India-Indonesia Bilateral Maritime Exercisethat will be hosted along with the 26th edition of the CORPAT willhelp the bilateral cooperation between the two countries. TheBilateral Maritime Exercise and the CORPAT would see participation byone warship and one Maritime Patrol Aircraft from both sides.

4. At 17,600 Feet, DRDO sets up world’s highestterrestrial research centre

i. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)established the world’s highest terrestrial centre at 17,600 feetabove sea level at Changla near Pengong lake in Ladakh.

ii. The centre will serve as a natural cold storage for preservingrare and endangered medical plants for generations to come. Thecentre was inaugurated by Director General, DRDO Dr S Christopher.

iii. According to reports, the centre will act as an importantutility for research work in frontal areas of food and agricultureand bio-medical sciences for well being of the soldiers deployed inhigh altitude cold desert.

iv. A large number of Life Sciences activities are proposed to beundertaken at this centre.

5. Ashish Bahuguna given additional charge of ChiefExecutive Officer of FSSAI

i. Ashish Bahuguna, the Chairman of the Food Safety and StandardsAuthority of India (FSSAI),on 4 October 2015 was given an additionalcharge of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of FSSAI.

ii. The decision was taken following the shift of Yudhvir SinghMalik to NITI Aayog as an Additional Secretary in September 2015. Aretired IAS officer of 1978-batch of Rajasthan cadre and formerAgriculture Secretary, Bahuguna was appointed as Chairman of the foodregulator in July 2015.

iii. He will hold the position of CEO until a new appointment ismade for the position.

iv. FSSAI was instituted under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006in August 2011. It is an agency of Ministry of Health & FamilyWelfare for protecting and promoting public health through theregulation and supervision of food safety. It is headquartered at NewDelhi.

6. India and Germany sign 18 MoUs

i. India and Germany on Monday signed a deal to fast-trackbusiness approvals, an arrangement to make it easier for Germancompanies to operate in Asia's third largest economy that wasannounced as Chancellor Angela Merkel visited New Delhi.

ii. The fast-track approvals process will ensure that German firmswill have a single point of contact in the Indian administration,helping them to navigate a web of red tape that often thwartsbusiness initiative.

iii. The agreement is the first of its kind and comes as PrimeMinister Narendra Modi seeks to attract foreign investment in supportof his "Make in India" drive to boost industrial investmentand create skilled jobs.

iv. India and Germany also agreed to enhance ties in key areas ofdefence manufacturing, trade, intelligence and clean energy duringwide-ranging talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and GermanChancellor Angela Merkel here after which 18 MoUs were inked.

                                       Current Affairs - 2nd & 3rd October 2015

1. October 2: International Day of Non-Violence

i. The International Day of Non-Violence was observed on 2 October2015 across the world. It was celebrated to mark the birthanniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, a pioneer of the philosophy andstrategy of non-violence.

ii. The International Day ofNon-Violence was created by the United Nations by a resolution of theGeneral Assembly on 15 June 2007.

2. India submitted its Intended Nationally DeterminedContributions (INDCs)

i. India on 2 October 2015 submitted its Intended NationallyDetermined Contributions (INDCs) to the United Nations FrameworkConvention on Climate Change.

ii. These INDCs are for the period between 2015 and 2030.

iii. With the presentation of its INDCs, India set its tone forthe Conference of Parties-21 (COP-21) in Paris that is scheduled tomeet in December 2015 to adopt an environmental new protocol forpost-2020 (post Kyoto Protocol) scenario. So far, 119 parties to theUNFCCC, out of 192 member countries, have formally submitted theirINDCs.

Some of the important points of the INDCs are
a)To reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 per cent by2030 from 2005 level
b) To achieve about 40 per cent cumulativeelectric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energyresources by 2030, with the help of transfer of technology and lowcost international finance, including from Green Climate Fund
c)To create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030 that willtranslate into increase of about 680 - 817 million tonne of carbonstock

3. E-FIR system launched in Odisha

i. Nearly fifteen months after dry run, the Odisha police launchedits ambitious 'e-FIR' system under the Centre-sponsored Crime andCriminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) project.

ii. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the system, whichenables tech-savvy people to send their complaints to police in alldistricts through online.

iii. All the 531 police stations in the state have beencomputerized to receive complaints through online.

iv. "By browsing www.citizenportal-op.gov.in,people can avail services like lodging of complaints, request for FIRcopy, verification of tenants, applying for procession licence,permission for protest/strike, character certificate request,employee verification, request for lost property and complain aboutmissing persons," ADG and director of state crime records bureauB Radhika said.

4. Jordan Spieth voted PGA Tour Player of the Year

i. American world number one Jordan Spieth was named as the PGATour's Player of the Year after a stellar 2014-15 campaignhighlighted by two major victories among his five wins.

ii. The 22-year-old landed the coveted honour after clinching thefirst two majors of the season -the Masters and US Open -beforefinishing one shot out of a British Open play-off in July and beingrunner-up at the PGA Championship in August.

5. Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis win Wuhan Open title

i. Ace Indian tennis star Sania Mirza continued her superb runwith Swiss partner Martina Hingis as the duo clinched its seventhtitle together by winning the Wuhan Open women's doubles trophy onSaturday.

ii. Ti.he top-seeded pair eased past the Romanian team ofIrina-Camelia Begu and Monica Niculescu 6-2, 6-3 in the title clash.

6. Google Inc has morphed into Alphabet Inc.

i. After US markets closed on 2nd October, Alphabet replacedGoogle as the publicly traded company that will house Google's searchand Web advertising businesses, maps, YouTube and its "moonshot"ventures such as driverless cars.

ii. Google's class A shares and class C shares will automaticallyconvert into the same number of Alphabet class A shares and class Cshares and start trading on the Nasdaq from Monday. The tickersymbols will not change.

7. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated county's first solarpowered district court

i. Narendra Modi inaugurated county's first solar powered districtcourt in Khunti, Jharkhand.

ii. Making an appeal to stop wastage of electricity, the PrimeMinister said that like solar energy, we also need to focus on energyconservation.

iii. He added that India will be successful in achieving thetarget of 175 Gigawatt of clean energy by 2022.

8. Dr Anup K Pujari has been given additional charge ofCMD of SAIL

i. Dr Anup K Pujari assumed additional charge as the Chairman andManaging Director of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).

ii. At present, he is the Secretary, Government of India, Ministryof Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME). Besides as the CMD ofSAIL, he was also given additional charge of the post of Secretary inMinistry of Steel

9. Sarat Kumar Acharya assumed office as CMD of NeyveliLignite Corporation Limited

i. Sarat Kumar Acharya on 1 October 2015 assumed office asChairman and Managing Director of Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited(NLC).

ii. He succeeded B Surender Mohan who relinquished the office on30 September 2015 on his superannuation.

iii. Prior to the present elevation, Acharya was the Director(Human Resource) in NLC.

iv. He has a rich and varied experience of over 35 years ofworking in BHEL, NTPC, NTPC—SAIL Power Company.

v. He hails from Odisha and had his studies in institutions likeRavenshaw College and Utkal University, Odisha.

                                            Current Affairs - 1st October 2015

1. International Day of Older Persons observed acrossthe world

i. The International Day of Older Persons (IDOP) was on 1 October2015 observed across the world with the theme Sustainability and AgeInclusiveness in the Urban Environment. The 2015 IDOP celebrationdemonstrated that an age inclusive agenda is crucial to promoteequity, welfare and prosperity for all.

ii. The 2015 celebration of the 25th anniversary of InternationalDay of Older Persons focused on the impact of the new urbanenvironment on older persons and impact of older persons on the newurban environment.

iii. The migration of people worldwide to cities is happening at arecord pace with 6 out of every 10 people in the world expected toreside in urban areas by 2030. It means that the number of peopleover 60 living in cities may grow to over 900 million by 2050.

iv. On 14 December 1990, the United Nations General Assemblydeclared 1 October as the International Day of Older Persons,following up on initiatives such as Vienna International Plan ofAction on Ageing, which was adopted by the 1982 World Assembly onAgeing and endorsed later that year by UNGA.

2. Zenia Bhumgara of India conferred with Merlin Awardby International Magicians Association

i. Zenia Bhumgara of India in the fourth week of September 2015was conferred with the Merlin Award in Mumbai.

ii. The award is a prestigious honour in the field of magicconferred by the International Magicians Association (IMS).

iii. Also, it is presented to those magicians who have achievedthe highest level in their craft, both on the national andinternational stage.

iv. Before Bhumgara, Prodip Chandra Sorcar, Jr. was the only otherIndian to receive the award.

v. Zenia Bhumgara is the daughter Mhelly Bhumgara and sister ofPearl who are also performing magicians.

vi. So far, she performed across the world including Japan and theUSA.

vii. IMS was established in 1968. It is the world's largest magicsociety with over 41000 members worldwide.

3. Asian Air Gun Championships:Heena Sidhu wins goldmedal

i. India’s ace shooter Heena Sidhu has clinched a Gold medal inthe 10-metre air pistol event of the Asian Air Gun Championships inNew Delhi.

ii. In this event, Heena shot a total of 197.8 points to finish atthe top of the podium to win the gold medal. Shweta Singh of India byscoring total of 197 points won Silver medal. While South Korea’sSeon A Kim won the Bronze medal. Yashaswini Singh Deshwal of Indiawas placed at fourth position.

iii. It should be noted that Heena Sidhu is former world numberone (as on April 2014) and was India’s first pistol shooterto be ranked number one in the world.

iv. In the 2015 Asian Air Gun Championships held in New Delhi,India has emerged on the top with total medal tally of 17 medals,including 6 Gold. While Iran finished second in this continentalevent.

4. China launched 20th satellite for its BeiDouNavigation System

i. China on 30 September 2015 launched a 20th new generationsatellite into orbit that will support its global navigation andpositioning network.

ii. The satellite was launched from Xichang Satellite LaunchCenter in the south-western province of Sichuan. A Long March-3Bcarrier rocket carried the satellite.

iii. The launch of the 20th satellite for the BeiDou NavigationSatellite System (BDS) has put China one step closer to providing analternative to the U.S. operated Global Positioning System (GPS).

iv. Besides, it was the first time that the satellite featured ahydrogen atomic clock. Also, multiple tests related to the clock willbe done.

5. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science andTechnology 2015 announced

i. CSIR on 26 September 2015 announced Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar(SSB) Prize for Science and Technology 2015 for eleven scientists inrecognition of their work. The awardees were announced to mark theCSIR’s 73nd Foundation day.

ii. The SSB Prize consists of a citation, a plaque and a cashprize of 5 lakh rupees. The selected awardees in different fields are

* Biological Sciences: Dr Balasubramanian Gopalof Molecular Biophysics Unit Indian Institute of Science Bangalore,DrRajeev Kumar Varshney of Centre of Excellence in GenomicsInternational Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics(ICRISAT),Hyderabad
* Chemical Sciences: Dr DSrinivasa Reddy Division of Organic Chemistry CSIR National ChemicalLaboratory, Pune,Dr Pradyut Ghosh of Department of InorganicChemistry Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science inJadavapur, Kolkata
* Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean andPlanetary Sciences: Dr Jyotiranjan Srichandan Ray of GeosciencesDivision Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad
*Engineering Sciences: Dr Yogesh Moreshwar Joshi ofDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of TechnologyKanpur
* Mathematical Sciences: Dr K Sandeep of TIFR Centre forApplicable Mathematics, Bangalore,Dr Ritabrata Munshi School ofMathematics Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
*Medical Sciences: Dr Vidita Ashok Vaidya of Department ofBiological Sciences Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
*Physical Sciences: Dr Bedangadas Mohanty of School ofPhysical Sciences National Institute of Science Education andResearch, Bhubaneswar
Dr Mandar Madhukar Deshmukh of Department ofCondensed Matter Physics and Materials Science of Tata Institute ofFundamental Research, Mumbai

6. India to Chair G20 in 2018

i. India is going to chair Group of Twenty (G20) nations forum inyear 2018 and New Delhi could be the host of the prestigious annualG20 summit. This decision was taken by G20 forum earlier in September2015 which was chaired by Turkey.

ii. Turkey will hand over the Chair for the next year i.e. 2016 toChina and in 2017 Germany is going to chair it.

iii. G20 is the premier forum (It is not an organsation) forglobal economic and financial cooperation. Being a forum it does nothave any permanent secretariat or management and administrativestructure.

iv. Every year one nation holds the chair of G20 known asPresidency which rotates annually among its member groups. Thepresidency establishes a temporary secretariat for the duration tillit holds the Chair.

v. The forum brings together 20 nations that represent world’smajor advanced and emerging economies, representing around 85 percent of global GDP.

7. Palestinian flag hoisted at UN headquarters for thefirst time

i. Palestinian flag was raised for the first time at UnitedNations headquarters in New York on 30 September 2015. Thepolitically sensitive flag raising ceremony took place at 1:16 pm atthe UN's Rose Garden.

ii. The flag hosting raising ceremony was attended by thePresident of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas. Earlier on 10September 2015, United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) overwhelminglyapproved the Resolution on Raising of Flags by Non-Member ObserverStates.

iii. The resolution said that the flags of non-member observerstates like Palestine shall be raised at UN Headquarters and UnitedNations Offices following the flags of the Member States of theorganization.

iv. Palestine was granted the status of a non-member observerState by the UNGA in 2012.