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www.aspirantszone.com A2Z October 2017 Current Affairs PDF

A2Z Current Affairs PDF

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October 2017

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MOU/Agreement Countries

Countries Purpose

India Switzerland On technical cooperation in the rail sector, including development of tilting trains that

tilt on approaching a bend.

India Myanmar On upgradation of the Women s Police Training Centre at Yamethin, Myanmar.

India Djibouti To establish regular Foreign Office-level bilateral consultations between both countries.

India Sweden A Sweden-India Startup Sambandh initiative has been launched by Invest India and

Founders Alliance in Sweden for higher cooperation among start-ups.

India Mozambique To expedite development of the giant Rovuma gas discovery, which is planned to be

converted into LNG for exports.

MOU Industry/States/Others

Organizations Purpose

Amazon Web Services

(AWS)

Microsoft To launch an open-source and deep learning

interface Gluon that will help developers to

deploy machine learning models across several

platforms.

Indian Railways German Railways To make country s existing rail corridors semi

high speed. The semi high speed trains will run

at 200 km per hour.

Punjab National Bank Engineering Export Promotion

Council (EEPC) of India

To provide access to finance for the small and

medium enterprises and merchant exporters of

the council

Andhra Pradesh Govt Visa For Digital Dhan Sankalp project. It is an initiative

to develop Visakhapatnam into India s first less

cash city.

Odisha Govt. State Bank of India MoU is a landmark initiative by the state

government to facilitate revenue collection from

citizens through digital banking platform

State Bank of India (SBI) Escorts Ltd To finance farmers for purchase of Escorts

tractors.

SBI Shriram Automall India Limited

(SAMIL)

To extend the benefits of company s holistic

solutions for the disposal of all types of pre-

owned vehicles and equipment.

Vijaya Bank Hindustan Petroleum

Corporation Ltd (HPCL)

For enabling all HPCL retail outlets with

BHIM/UPI merchant solutions.

IndusInd Bank MobiKwik To launch a co-branded wallet IndusInd

Mobikwik

Kotak Mahindra Bank Fintech firm Zeta Launch of Paymint , a multi-wallet digital

prepaid solution for salaried employees.

AU Small Finance Bank Aditya Birla Health Insurance To act as a corporate agent for company s health

insurance business.





AU Small Finance Bank Small Industries Development

Bank of India (SIDBI)

To launch a Rs. 200-crore fund for providing

loans to MSMEs.

Yes Bank Abu Dhabi Global Market

(ADGM), the International

Financial Centre in Abu Dhabi,

To further foster cross-border exchange

between the fintech ecosystems of the United

Arab Emirates and India.

Appointments and Resignations

Name Post Institution/Other Info

Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar Vice Chief Naval Staff, India

Preeti Sudan Union Health Secretary

Gautam H. Bambawale Indian ambassador to

China

He will replace Vijay Gokhale

Dineshwar Sharma Interlocutor in Jammu

and Kashmir

The Centre has decided to start a sustained

dialogue in Jammu and Kashmir and added that

former Intelligence Bureau (IB) director

Dineshwar Sharma will be the representative

from the Government of India.

Rajnish Kumar Chairman State Bank of India

Suresh Sethi MD and CEO India Post Payments Bank

Ashish Srivastava MD and CEO PNB MetLife

Jayant Rikhye CEO Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation

(HSBC) India

Anupam Kher Chairman Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in

Pune

Sambit Patra Non-official director Board of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation

(ONGC) Ltd.

Nisha Desai Biswal President US-India Business Council

NS Venkatesh Chief Executive Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI)

Rukaiya Rangwala Business Head MobiKwik Payment Gateway

Rakesh Asthana Special Director Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

Gurbachan Singh Special Director Intelligence Bureau (IB)

Deepak Kumar Mishra and

Sudeep Lakhtakia

Special Director General Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)

Rajesh Ranjan and A.P.

Maheshwari

Special Director General Border Security Force (BSF)

Alok Kumar Pateria Additional Director

General (ADG)

Central Industrial Security Force (CISF)

Birendra Prasad Baishya President Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF)

Suresh Raina Ambassador Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC)

Soumya Swaminathan WHO Deputy Director

General for Programmes

Jane Ellison WHO Deputy Director

General for Corporate





Operations

Brenda Hale first female president of

UK s supreme court

Jagmeet Singh first Sikh politician to

lead major Canadian

party

French Audrey Azoulay Director-General UNESCO

Jacinda Ardern Prime Minister New Zealand

Ukhnaa Khurelsukh Prime Minister Mongolia

RESIGNATIONS & TERMINATIONS:

Kwon Oh-hyun, Samsung Electronics CEO, vice chairman, and the head resigned from his post

Facebook India MD Umang Bedi quits, Bhushan interim MD

The Nepal government has accepted the resignation of its Ambassador to India, Deep Kumar Upadhyay, to

contest the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, the country s second-most senior legal officer, has resigned citing personal

reasons.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced that Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe s appointment

as its Goodwill Ambassador has been cancelled. He was just recently appointed as the WHO s Goodwill

Ambassador.

Awards and Recognitions

Award Name Person/Institution Extra Knowledge

Miss India Australia 2017 Aarzu Singh

National Awards for senior citizens Gurbax Singh Sandhu He is Indian boxing coach

Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award

for Excellence in Public

Administration, Academics and

Management for the year 2017

Bindeshwar Pathak

Centenary National Award for

Literature

Namita Gokhale She is an eminent writer in

English language

Mathrubhumi Literary Award for 2016 M K Sanu He is eminent critic, biographer

and orator

Shivarama Karanth Huttura Prashasti Prakash Raj

Anna Politkovskaya Award Gauri Lankesh (Posthumously)

She is first Indian Journalist to

win Anna Politkovskaya Award

Hridaynath Mangeshkar Award Javed Akhtar He is veteran writer-lyricist.

Padma Prabha Puraskaram Prabha Varma He is eminent poet, lyricist and

journalist.

Indira Gandhi Award for National

Integration for 2015-16

TM Krishna He is Carnatic vocalist

Lifetime Achievement Award by the

PHD Chamber of Commerce and

Actress Sharmila Tagore





Industry

Cross of the Order of Merit Rajesh Nath The highest civilian honour

awarded to individuals for their

services to German

Swachh Iconic Place in India Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple Temple located in Madurai,

Tamil Nadu

Parmod Mahajan Smriti Award Anupam Kher and

Saira Banu

Golden Peacock Award in category --

Global Leadership in Public Service

and Economic Transformation

N Chandrababu Naidu He is current Andhra Pradesh

Chief Minister

American Bazaar Philanthropy award Ajay Raju Indian-American attorney

2017 World Food Prize Award Akinwunmi Adesina He is from Nigeria.

Also Adesina is the current

President of the African

Development Bank.

2017 Man Booker Prize George Saunders He is US Author. Awarded for

his novel Lincoln in the Bardo

Blue Planet Prize Hans Joachim Schellnhuber He is German theoretical

physicist

Noted music composers Usha Khanna, Bappi Lahiri, Anu Malik and playback singers Alka Yagnik and Udit

Narayan have been selected for the Madhya Pradesh government s prestigious National Lata Mangeshkar

Award.

A globally-acclaimed South African Indian-origin researcher couple named Salim Abdool Karim and Quarraisha

Abdool Karim was honoured with a prestigious US award for their exceptional contributions in the field of

HIV/AIDS.

RECOGNITIONS:

The Meghalaya Election Department has entered Limca Book of Records for the formation of the biggest human

logo comprising young voters in the state.

According Forbes magazine s annual India Rich List 2017 , Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani emerged as

India s wealthiest for the 10th straight year

Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos has overtaken Bill Gates to become the world s richest person with a net worth of

$91.6 billion.

Late singer Michael Jackson has been named the highest-earning dead celebrity for the 5th consecutive year by

Forbes. His earnings have ee esti ated to e $ illio ₹ rore . Forbes released the top 20 richest sportsmen in the world for 2017 with Real Madrid superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo

leading the chart.

Indian consumers regard Google as the most authentic brand, even though Amazon.com tops the list globally,

reveal results of the 2017 Authentic Brands Study by the new survey of global communications agency Cohn &

Wolfe.

Akshay Ruparelia, Indian-origin teenager has made a fortune by selling houses through his online estate agency

business during his school lunch breaks and has become one of UK s youngest millionaires.

Gina Miller, an Indian-origin campaigner has been named the UK s most influential black person of the year.





Conference and Summits

Summit Place Extra Knowledge

International AYUSH Conference and Exhibition 2017 India Theme -- Lifestyle diseases:

Prevention and management

through AYUSH

CMS Conference of the Parties CMSCOP13 India To be hosted in 2020 as

announced by UN for

Environment Programme

Mitra Shakti 2017 Pune, Maharashtra It is 5th India-Sri Lanka joint

training exercise.

International seminar and Global Ayurveda meet Kochi, Kerala In February, 2018

12th World Sudoku Championship and the 26th

World Puzzle Championship

Bengaluru

International Conference on Consumer Protection New Delhi India did not invite Pakistan

and North Korea to attend the

conference

First Meeting of BIMSTEC Task Force on Traditional

Medicine

New Delhi

Third Global Investors India Forum New Delhi

Third International Conference on Yoga New Delhi Theme - Yoga for Wellness

CMS Vatavaran New Delhi It is an international film

festival on environment and

wildlife

Global meet on Indian space industry New Delhi

World Congress on Adolescent Health New Delhi Theme: Investing in Adolescent

Health—the Future is Now

2017 Technology Summit New Delhi To be in held in November,

2017

Canada will be the partner

country

International Children s Film Festival, also called The

Golden Elephant

Hyderabad,

Telangana

Theme for this year s festival --

New India .

India International Cherry Blossom Festival Shillong, Meghalaya

Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav – 2017 Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Conference on Composite Materials Indian Institute of

Technology

Hyderabad (IIT-H)

in December 2017

International Conference on Dialogue of Civilizations

– IV

India at Delhi, Gandhinagar and

Dholavira

International medical conference Chandigarh

International puppet festival Kolkata The puppet festival is aimed at

regenerating the emotions

attached to puppetry and it will

be held at Mohorkunj in

Kolkata.





First ever ASEAN-India music festival Purana Quila in New

Delhi

India-UAE Partnership Summit Dubai, UAE

United Nations conference on nuclear energy Abu Dhabi, UAE

8th SAARC speaker Parliamentarians conference Sri Lanka

ASEAN-India Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas Singapore To be held in 2018

4th ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM) Plus -

- Southeast Asian defence ministers meeting

Clark, Philippines

South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation in

Law (SAARCLAW)

Colombo, Sri Lanka

2nd World Congress on Marxism Beijing, China To be held in 2018

International News

BRICS-themed subway train debuts in China

A BRICS-themed subway train with carriages representing the five member nations including India has started test

operations in China s southeastern Xiamen city.

The subway train, which started its test run, has six carriages, five of which represents different cultures of the

BRICS countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The Indian carriage depicts elephants and yoga.

The Chinese carriage is red and displays icons such as the Great Wall and Tian anmen Square.

The Brazilian carriage is green and decorated with images of footballs and football stars.

The Russian carriage shows off the country s ballet and matryoshka dolls.

The South African carriage displays pictures of diamonds.

The sixth carriage combines cultural elements from all the five BRICS countries.

Google pledges $1 bn to fund non-profit education

India, Brazil and South Africa signed the IBSA Trust Fund Agreement that seeks to fight poverty in developing

countries.

China has overtaken the United States as the world s largest ice cream producer, according to data from an

industry expo in Tianjin City.

The world s first hybrid electric tram powered by hydrogen fuel cells has started running in China.

The world s first track-less trains have begun the test runs in China. Promoted as the World s First smart train, the

vehicle operates on virtual rail lines and could travel as quickly as 70 kmh. The smart train is called Autonomous Rail

Transit (ART).

USA and Israel withdrew from UNESCO over anti-Israel bias .

The United Arab Emirates has begun collecting new sin taxes on tobacco products, energy drinks and soft drinks.

Burqa ban comes into effect in Austria

India will be the guest of honour during the sixth edition of the World Government Summit scheduled from

February 11th – 13th, 2018 in Dubai.

Catalonia s regional parliament declared independence from Spain in a disputed vote that is now likely to be

declared illegal by Spain s constitutional court.





From 2019, measure of kilogram will be set by value of Planck constant in combination with definitions of meter

and second. Earlier, definition of kilogram was given by a salt-shaker-sized cylinder housed at the Bureau

International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), Paris.

Burundi is all set to become the first country to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Nicaragua has signed the Paris climate agreement, leaving the US and Syria as the only two countries out of the

global pact.

Asia now has the most billionaires in the world, surpassing the US for the first time, according to a report by UBS

and PwC.

A town called Gemert in the Netherlands has became home to the first 3D-printed cycling bridge ever. With this,

Dutch cyclists can now pedal over the world s first 3D-printed concrete bridge.

Saudi Arabia has become the first country to give a robot citizenship. The move is an attempt to promote Saudi

Arabia as a place to develop artificial intelligence – and, presumably, allow it to become a full citizen. Robot is

named – Sophia.

Chile has been named the best country to visit next year by Lonely Planet in its Best in Travel 2018 list. South

Korea and Portugal have ranked second and third respectively.

Bangladesh has signed a long-term sales and purchase agreement with an Indian refiner to import gas oil to meet

the country s energy demand.

According to State of World Population 2017 released by United Nations Fund for Population (UNFPA) Activities

27% of India s children get married by age 18 as compared to 28% the world over.

Scotland has finished constructing the world s first floating wind farm .

Myanmar will be launching its own satellite system MyanmarSat-2, which will be used on joint ownership system.

Myanmar is currently using MyanmarSat-1 on lease system.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj opened the new chancery complex of the Indian High Commission in

Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has highlighted its intention to make 2020 a unique year for the country s space

sector by launching the first Arab probe to Mars.

Lebanon s parliament has approved a government budget for the first time since 2005 i.e. after 12 years.

Vanuatu, a South Pacific archipelago, has become the first nation to accept Bitcoins as payment for its investment

citizenship program.

Fifteen countries have been elected to the UN Human Rights Council by the UN General Assembly.

These are -- Afghanistan, Angola, Australia, Chile, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria,

Pakistan, Peru, Qatar, Senegal, Slovakia, Spain and Ukraine. They will serve a three-year term from January 1, 2018.

National News

King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, arrived in New Delhi on a four-day visit to India. He is

accompanied by his wife, Queen Gyaltsuen Jetsun Pema Wangchuck.

An MoU was signed by Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya under the Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat

program, to boost cultural ties.





The Supreme Court has imposed a fine of Rs two lakh on the Environment Ministry for not fixing emission norms of

Sulphur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxide for 34 categories of industries — important to mitigate air pollution in Delhi

and the NCR.

On the occasion of National Ayurveda Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the All India Institute of

Ayurveda (AIIA) at Delhi s Sarita Vihar. The All India Institute of Ayurveda, set up on a total area of 10.015 acres on

a budget of Rs 157 crore, is the first medical institute under the AYUSH ministry to hold the coveted National

Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) accreditation.

India is among the five countries — Pakistan, Nigeria, Congo and Ethiopia being the others — responsible for half of

all new-born deaths in the world, according to a UN report. The report, Levels and Trends in Child Mortality 2017 ,

revealed that 5.6 million children died before reaching the age of five in 2016. However, this is a marked decrease

compared to 2000 when nearly 9.9 million children had died before turning five.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the first phase of the roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) ferry service connecting

Saurashtra with south Gujarat. The first phase of the project worth Rs 650-crore connects Ghogha of Bhavnagar

district in Saurashtra region to Dahej of Bharuch district in south Gujarat. This is the first of its kind project not only

in India, but also in South-East Asia. Essar Projects, the EPC arm of Ruias-led Essar Group, has constructed and

designed the roll-on-roll-off (ro-ro) terminals at both Dahej and Ghogha ports.

India s first Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) for Skilling in Smart Cities, in collaboration with New Delhi

Municipal Council (NDMC) in New Delhi launched.

Government has launched Sampoorna Bima Gram Yojana and expansion of Postal Life Insurance

Sampoorna Bima Gram (SBG) Yojana -- a minimum of one village will be taken up in each of the districts of the

country, and efforts will be made to cover all households of the village with at least one Rural Postal Life Insurance

policy each.

E-commerce major Myntra launched its CSR initiative in association with the Union Textile Ministry, to work

directly with weavers and elevate their economic stature.

The much-awaited Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act has come into effect from October 12 with a provision to

bring more services and products like jewellery under the mandatory standard regime.

Parliament had, in March 2016, passed the law to replace the BIS Act of 1986.

India s first Sewage Treatment Plant under Hybrid Annuity Mode to come up in Haridwar and Varanasi

Government to set up mini food parks - all 42 sanctioned mega food parks will be operational by 2019.

President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated Shirdi International Airport in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra.

Ministries of power and textiles have jointly announced a new scheme SAATHI under which Energy Efficiency

Services Limited (EESL) will provide energy efficient power loom equipment to small and medium units at no

upfront cost. SAATHI -- Sustainable and Accelerated Adoption of efficient Textile technologies to Help small

Industries.

Cabinet approves SANKALP, STRIVE schemes to boost Skill India Mission

SANKALP - Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion -- Rs 4,455 crore Centrally

sponsored scheme including Rs. 3,300 crore loan support from World Bank.

STRIVE - Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement -- Rs. 2,200 crore – central sector scheme, with half

of the scheme outlay as World bank loan assistance.

The Union Cabinet has approved road building programmes of around Rs 7 lakh crore with a target to construct

83,677 km of roads in the next five years.





MSME Delayed Payment Portal – MSME Samadhaan (http://msefc.msme.gov.in), empowering micro and small

entrepreneurs across the country to directly register their cases relating to delayed payments by Central

Ministries/Departments/CPSEs/State Governments.

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar announced that the Paika Bidroha (Paika rebellion) of 1817 will find a place in the

history books as the First War of Independence from the next academic session. Paika Bidroha against the British

rule took place four decades before the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny, which has so far been regarded as the First War of

Indian Independence.

Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi inaugurated the 3rd edition of Women of India Organic Festival at Dilli Haat, INA

The Government of India, has increased its stake in IDBI Bank to 77.79% by acquiring 3.81 per cent shares through

preferential allotment.

In a novel initiative by the Petroleum Ministry, 10 oil and gas companies under it launched a startup programme for

entrepreneurs with a fund corpus of Rs 320 crore to be disbursed over a 3-year period to support innovations in the

energy sector.

The Ministry of Shipping has sanctioned Rs 25 crore to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust for development of coastal

berth and another Rs 50 crore to the Karwar port in Karnataka under the flagship Sagarmala project.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal launched the railways first set of solar plants in Delhi with a total capacity of 5

megawatt peak (MWp), an ambitious project aimed at reducing the national transporter s carbon footprint.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the Indian Railways 110km Bidar-Kalaburgi railway track in the

Hyderabad-Karnataka region that is aimed at reducing the distance between Bengaluru and New Delhi by 380km

and travel time by six to eight hours

President Ram Nath Kovind launched Mata Amritanandamayi Math s Rs 100 crore clean water initiative for rural

India at the math headquarters in the coastal hamlet of Vallikkavu in Kerala

India has opened 2 immigration check posts along the borders with Myanmar & Bangladesh. Myanmar - Zorinpui

check post of Mizoram. Bangladesh - Kawrpuichhuah post of Mizoram.

President Ram Nath Kovind on the occasion of World Tourism Day which is celebrated on September 27 annually,

launched Incredible India 2.0 Campaign , Adopt a Heritage project.

The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has launched a diploma course in Elementary Education to train

teachers across the country for teaching students up to Class 8.

The Centre has launched a six-year project called SECURE Himalaya, to ensure conservation of locally and globally

significant biodiversity, land and forest resources in the high Himalayan ecosystem spread over four states in India.

SECURE ---- Securing Livelihoods, Conservation, Sustainable use and Restoration of High Range Himalayan

ecosystems

The Union Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with Other Union Ministries and State Governments has launched

nationwide Paryatan Parv to showcase cultural diversity of country and reinforce the principle of Tourism for All .

Due to ever-present threat of cross-border firing from Pakistan, the Centre has set up a study group to examine the

problems being faced by the people living near the International Border and the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and

Kashmir.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI). The special drive will focus on

improving immunization coverage in select districts and cities to ensure full immunization to more than 90% by

December 2018.

The Supreme Court held that a man will be punished for rape if he is found to be guilty of havIng sexual intercourse

with his minor wife.





A Bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta read down exception 2 to Section 375 (rape) of the Indian

Penal Code (IPC).

Income Tax Department has launched an online chat service for taxpayers so that they can seek answers to their

basic queries and doubts relating to direct tax issues.

The Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) has launched India s first commodity options in gold, giving

stakeholders a new set of financial instruments to hedge their price risks.

Nepal and India will be conducting in November a joint head count of tigers in the national parks, forests and

sanctuaries along the international border between the two neighbours using a similar camera tapping method.

Bangladesh naval ship Somudra Avijan arrived Visakhapatnam on a four-day goodwill visit to the Eastern Naval

Command (ENC).

MasterCard announced the launch of its innovation centre in Mumbai to focus on solving India-specific problems

in the areas of technology and financial enablement. This would be their second innovation centre, after Singapore,

in Asia and ninth globally.

The world s largest combustion research centre which will impart a major boost to the Indian scientific community

has been inaugurated at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.

India sent first wheat shipment to Afghanistan via Iran s Chabahar port. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj,

Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Salahuddin Rabbani and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif flagged off the

shipment through video-conferencing.

As per the Credit Suisse Research Institute s (CSRI) latest CS Family 1000 report, India has 108 publicly-listed

family-owned businesses, third highest in the world, while China tops the tally with 167 such companies followed

by the US which has 121.

Sri Lanka and India signed two agreements for construction of 1,200 houses through 50 model villages in the island

nation, using Indian grant assistance of 600 million rupees.

Scientists in India have discovered a 152 million-year-old fossil of an ichthyosaur – an extinct marine reptile – in the

western state of Gujarat. This is the first time an ichthyosaur fossil has been discovered in India.

To strengthen maritime security, India and the United States have agreed to implement the programme for

Helicopter Operations from Ships other Than Aircraft Carriers (HOSTAC).

Maruti Suzuki India has become the largest passenger cars exporter from India in the first half of the ongoing fiscal,

dethroning Hyundai Motor India Ltd which has now been pushed to the fourth spot behind Volkswagen and

General Motors.

Mahindra & Mahindra has launched a programme, Prerna, to empower women working in the agriculture sector by

promoting efficient and ergonomic farm tools and equipment.

State News

Andhra Pradesh

No helmet, no petrol rule comes into force in Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu launched Swachh Andhra Mission on the occasion of Gandhi

Jayanti. PV Sindhu has been chosen as the brand ambassador of Swachh Andhra.

The Andhra Pradesh Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mastercard to setup a

centre of excellence in Visakhapatnam.





Vice president Venkaiah Naidu laid the foundation stone for the first phase of the 2,890-km National Waterway-4

(NW-4) at Amravati in Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone for the TU142M aircraft museum in

Visakhapatnam. The Russian aircraft, which was decommissioned in March 2017 at INS Rajali in Tamil Nadu after 29

years, was brought to the city on April 8 to be converted into a Museum.

Arunachal Pradesh

Chief Minister Pema Khandu has announced that Arunachal Pradesh shall be Open Defecation Free by December

31 this year.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu declared open the fifth edition of Tawang festival at the frontier

monastery town close to India-China border.

Assam CM launched a web portal Assam Darpan where details of government schemes and projects would be

available to the people.

The Arunachal Assembly has passed a bill paving way for creation of a new district to be named Kamle. With the

official creation of the new district, the total number of districts in the state shot up to 23.

Assam

Foundation stone for the country s first ever Industrial Training Institute for the Dibyangans exclusively was laid on

October 3 in Dibrugarh in Assam.

ISRO to set up research centre in Guwahati, Assam

Bihar

In Bihar, four-day Chhat Pooja celebrations are beginning from today (24 October), with NAHAY-KHAY. Kharna

rituals will be held tomorrow.

Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh bans use of chlorinated plastic and Polyvinyl Chloride.

Chhattisgarh has become the first state in the country to award citizenship to as many as 51 Hindu families who

had migrated from Pakistan several years ago.

Delhi

The Supreme Court has placed a ban on the sale of firecrackers in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) during

the upcoming festive season of Diwali. The ban will remain in effect till November 1.

New Delhi, the national capital, has been named as world s worst megacity for sexual violence against women in a

survey conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Gujarat

Gujarat on October 10 reduced VAT on petrol and diesel by 4%, becoming the first state to give relief to consumers

from a recent surge in oil prices.

The Centre has given green clearance for a greenfield airport project at Hirasar, about 28 km from Rajkot in

Gujarat, at a cost of over Rs. 1,400 crores.

Birsa Munda Tribal University inaugurated in the tribal dominated Rajpipla town in Narmada district about 90 kms

from Vadodara.





Haryana

According to an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) report, approximately 17.3 lakh new cancer cases are

being estimated by the year 2020 in India. Haryana has a major share, with over 39% of cases recorded in the state.

Himachal Pradesh

PM Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for an AIIMS premier hospital in Bilaspur town of Himachal Pradesh.

Karnataka

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah launched the Mathru Purna scheme, which aims to provide nutritious

meals to about 12 lakh pregnant women and lactating mothers in the state.

Madhya Pradesh

MP govt. launched Single Click Pension Delivery scheme, wherein the money will go directly into the account of

the beneficiaries.

MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan inaugurated a toilet in the Mangalwara area for the exclusive use of transgenders ---

first of its kind in the country.

MP govt announces Rs 2 lakh aid for widow remarriage

Madhya Pradesh, which was the first state to announce that it would switch to January-December financial year

from the existing April-March cycle starting 2018, has put the plan on the back burner.

Madhya Pradesh has emerged as the top state in terms of digital initiatives undertaken, with a maximum score of

100.1 on performance index, followed by Maharashtra at 99.9 and Andhra Pradesh at 99.8, according to a report by

Coeus Age Consulting.

Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojna for the farmers of the state launched. Madhya Pradesh is the first state to lend money

to farmers at zero percent interest.

Maharashtra

MahaLabharthi web portal that will help people get information about all the government schemes that they are

eligible for.

Manipur

Manipur celebrates Mera Houchongba festival

Mizoram

Mizoram s Dampa Tiger Reserve now holds the distinction of housing the highest number of clouded leopards in

Southeast Asia, the state government has claimed. Density of population of clouded leopards, locally knows as

Kelral , is 5.14 per 100 sq km in the reserve.

Rajasthan

Rajasthan becomes 1st state to incorporate skill development programme in higher education.

Rajasthan has launched the Election Commission s web- based project, ERO-Net, using which voters can register

their names on electoral rolls.

The Rajasthan Assembly has passed a bill which increased reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBC) from

21 per cent to 26 per cent. The community includes Gujjars and four other castes. --- Backward Classes (Reservation

of Seats in Educational Institutions in the State and of Appointment and Posts in Services under the State) Bill,

2017.





Government has passed an ordinance which seeks to protect both serving and former judges, magistrates and

public servants in Rajasthan from being investigated for on-duty action without its prior sanction -- Criminal Laws

(Rajasthan Amendment) Ordinance, 2017.

Tamil Nadu

The Madras high court has banned the use of pictures of living persons on banners and hoardings in Tamil Nadu,

where towering cut-outs of politicians and actors are almost a part of the local culture.

Uttarakhand

The Uttarakhand Government and a charitable funding agency, Swan Cultural Center and Foundation launched

Solar Briefcase in Kedarnath Dham. The initiative was taken to provide electricity to far flung areas in the hill state.

Uttar Pradesh

In order to protect the rich aquatic biodiversity of river Ganga from escalating anthropogenic pressures,

development of a Turtle sanctuary in Allahabad, UP along with a River Biodiversity Park at Sangam (confluence of

Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Sarasvati) have been approved under Namami Gange programme.

A grand temple worth Rs. 30 crore is going to be built in honour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Meerut district

of Uttar Pradesh.

UP government approved the Mukhyamantri Samoohik Vivaah Yojana , a mass marriage scheme, wherein Rs

35,000 will be spent on each couple, besides gifting them mobile phones and household items.

Launched Sankalp Seva bus service of 50 buses to connect as many as 6,000 villages.

The Mughalsarai railway station of Uttar Pradesh has been renamed to Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay railway

station.

TheUttar Pradesh government has issued an order notifying Vrindavan and Barsana towns in Mathura district as

pavitra teerth sthals (sacred pilgrimage sites) . No meat and liquor shops will be allowed in these towns anymore.

The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to rename the dental clinic at Dasna Jail in Ghaziabad after Aarushi

Talwar, who was murdered at the age of 14 at her residence in 2008. Aarushi Talwar s parents – Rajesh and Nupur

Talwar – who are also dentists spent four years in the jail since 2013 as the accused in the murder case.

Finance and Banking News

Reserve Bank of India opens branch in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

According to the Reserve Bank of India, Gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio for NBFCs increased to 5% at

end-March 2017 from 2.9 per cent at end-March 2012.

The Reserve Bank has clarified that, in applicable cases, linkage of Aadhaar number to bank account is mandatory

under the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Second Amendment Rules, 2017 published in

the Official Gazette on June 1, 2017.

The RBI said that banks will provide funds to women self help groups, SHGs, in rural areas at 7 per cent under the

Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) in the current fiscal. All women

SHGs will be eligible for interest subvention on credit upto 3 lakh rupees at 7 per cent per annum.

SBI Foundation has committed Rs 10 crore for the conservation and restoration of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

Terminus (CSTM) of Mumbai over the period of 3-5 years.





State Bank of India (SBI), has waived off closing charges for savings account holders. The closure fee waiver is

applicable for accounts which are at least 1 year old.

SBI is creating a 15,000-sqft innovation centre in Belapur in Navi Mumbai investing around Rs 100 crore.

SBI has launched a new product -- SME Assist -- to provide short-term working capital demand loans to its MSME

clients.

The State Bank of India has launched the second edition of its Hackathon named Digitize For Bank. This hackathon

will be held from 1st to12th November 2017.

According to a Crisil report, banks are likely to need nearly Rs 3.3 lakh crore this fiscal as provisioning for large NPA

accounts in the current financial year.

Union Bank of India has launched an Android app, Union Sahyog, as part of its drive to digitise customer-facing

banking services.

Oriental Bank of Commerce becomes 7th bank to be under PCA (Prompt corrective Action) by RBI. Others are - Dena

Bank, Central Bank of India, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and UCO Bank

ICICI announced financial assistance of Rs. 10 crores to the Indian Armed Forces.

HDFC Bank wants to become the Go To bank and preferred banker for the start-up community in the country.

Launched SmartUp zones in its branches across India.

HDFC Life Insurance Company has launched Neo — a servicing bot for Twitter that uses artificial intelligence for

customer service. The insurer hopes to deploy the bot in answering policy —related queries on social media.

Private sector Yes Bank has committed Rs 156 crore to fund first Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) to be constructed at

Varanasi under Hybrid Annuity-PPP Model.

HSBC (Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) announced the launch of a mobile app – Trade Transaction

Tracker – to help customers track the status of their trade transactions on a real-time basis.

Private insurer Tata AIA Life announced the launch of Eazy Connect , that will extend online customer service to

social media platforms.

The government announced an aggressive Rs 2.11 lakh crore capital infusion for the NPA hit public sector banks

over a period of 2 years.

Out of this, Rs 1.35 lakh crore will be through the recapitalisation bonds, while remaining Rs 76,000 crore from the

budgetary support. Non-performing assets of banks have increased from Rs 2.75 lakh in March 2015 to Rs 7.33

crore as on June 2017.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 6 crore on Yes Bank and fined IDFC Bank Rs 2 crore for

not complying with the directions of the central bank.

IDFC Bank has launched its 100th branch at Honnali, Karnataka and plans to expand its network in the metros in the

next one year.

North East Small Finance Bank Limited has commenced operations as a small finance bank from 17th October 2017.

The Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi Microfinance Limited– North East (RGVNMFL-NE) is the promoter of North East

Small Finance Bank.

RBI to make LEI must for cos with over Rs 5 crore exposure

After making Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) mandatory for transactions in interest rate, forex and credit derivative market, the

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to make LEI compulsory for companies having aggregate fund-based and non-fund based

exposure over Rs 5 crore.





LEI is a unique 20 digit alphanumeric code that will be assigned to corporate borrowers.

Banks will be required to capture this number in the Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC)

database that captures details of loan above Rs 5 crore.

The LEI number will help banks in monitoring the aggregate exposure of corporate borrowers.

It would also enable banks in preventing multiple loans to companies against the same collateral.

RBI releases guidelines for P2P lenders; caps loans exposure at Rs 10 lakh per borrower

As per the guidelines released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Peer to peer (P2P) lenders can cumulatively lend a

maximum of Rs 10 lakh and individually have an exposure to a borrower of not more than Rs 50,000.

The P2P lenders would be allowed to lend only unsecured loans i.e. will not be allowed to take collateral against the

loans they lend.

P2P lending is a crowd-funding model (largely online) where people looking to invest their money with people who

want to borrow can do so.

Prudential Norms

(1) NBFC-P2P shall maintain a Leverage Ratio not exceeding 2.

(2) The aggregate exposure of a lender to all borrowers at any point of time, across all P2Ps, shall be subject to a cap of Rs

10,00,000/-.

(3) The aggregate loans taken by a borrower at any point of time, across all P2Ps, shall be subject to a cap of Rs 10,00,000.

(4) The exposure of a single lender to the same borrower, across all P2Ps, shall not exceed Rs 50,000.

(5) The maturity of the loans shall not exceed 36 months.

(6) P2Ps shall obtain a certificate from the borrower or lender, as applicable, that the limits prescribed above are being

adhered to.

Business News The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has bought an additional 7% stake totaling to

10% in Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi) for Rs900 crore from troubled public sector lender IDBI

Bank Ltd.

Bharti Airtel acquires Tatas telecom business on cash-free basis - Consumer Mobile Businesses (CMB) of Tata

Teleservices Limited (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Limited (TTML).

Bharti Airtel has received Ghana s National Communications Authority s approval for the merger between Bharti

Ghana (Airtel) and Millicom Ghana (Tigo)

Axis Bank has acquired payments wallet Freecharge for Rs. 373 crore. Sangram Singh has been appointed as the

CEO of Freecharge Payment Technologies Private Ltd.

The Board of Directors of IndusInd Bank Ltd and Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd have approved the merger of two

companies through a composite scheme of arrangement.

Thomas Cook India Group has announced the completion of its acquisition of the wholly-owned subsidiaries of Tata

Capital Limited, Tata Capital Forex Limited (foreign exchange) and TC Travel and Services Limited (travel services).

E-commerce major eBay has acquired a 5.4% stake in Flipkart.

Reliance Communication (RCOM) has received the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) approval for the

merger of the wireless business with Sistema Shyam Teleservices Limited (SSTL).

The IDFC Group and Shriram Group have decided to call off their merger proposal as they were not able to reach a

mutually acceptable swap ratio.





Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has revamped its portal www.udyamimitra.in with enhanced

features to provide easy access to credit and hand-holding services for micro small medium enterprises (MSME).

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) became the first Indian company to cross Rs6 trillion market capitalisation after its

shares surged over 75% so far this year and hit a fresh lifetime high.

Economy News India s external debt amounted to $485.8 billion during the quarter ended June 17, up 1.3 per cent over the same

period a year ago.

According to data released by the Commerce Ministry, cooling of food prices helped ease India s annual rate of

inflation based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), with the revised base year of 2011-12, in September to 2.6 per

cent.

The Reserve Bank has announced that the purchase price for the Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) 2017 -18 Series-VI

opening on 30th october has been fixed at Rs 2,945 per gram. The government, in consultation with the RBI, has

also decided to offer a discount of Rs 50 per gram to investors applying online and making the payment digitally.

The subscription for bonds runs from Monday to Wednesday every week.

RBI has increased foreign portfolio investors limit on investment in government bonds by an aggregate Rs 14,200

crore for the October-December period in line with the formula related to total outstanding government

borrowings.

RBI has lowered the country s growth projection for 2017-18, pegging the Gross Value Added (GVA) at 6.7 per cent,

from 7.3 per cent earlier.

In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF forecast that the global economy will grow by 3.6 per cent in 2017

and 3.7 per cent in 2018

According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the Indian Index of Industrial Production

(IIP) for August released showed that factory output grew 4.3 per cent against the same month last year on the

back of robust mining and electricity sector growth.

With the emergence of digital economy, the global Internet of Things (IoT) market spend will grow from $625.2

billion in 2015 to $1.29 trillion in 2020 — with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.6 per cent.

India is likely to be the world s fastest-growing large economy in the next 10 years, driven by digitisation,

favourable demographics, globalisation and reforms, predicts a Morgan Stanley report.

Fitch Ratings has lowered India s economic growth forecast for the current fiscal to 6.9 per cent from 7.4 per cent

According to market research firm Gartner, Global IT spending in India is projected to hit $3.7 trillion in 2018 — a

4.3 per cent increase from 2017.

According to Coffee Board, coffee output in India, is pegged to be a record 3.50 lakh tonnes in the 2017-18

marketing year started this month on higher acreage.

The GST council meet chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley mentioned that permanent account number (PAN)

or Aadhaar would not be mandatory if jewellery is purchased above Rs 50,000.

The Finance Ministry has made Aadhaar mandatory for small saving schemes including post office deposits and

Public Provident Fund.

Govt. approved Rs 2,000 crore specifically for setting up Aadhaar centres in post offices, a move that will see

private contractors phased out from the data collection process.

The provisional figures of Direct Tax collections up to September, 2017 reported a 15.8 percent increase (Rs. 3.86

lakh crore) compared to the net collections for the corresponding period of last year.

Digital payments to grow at 26 % CAGR during 2016-2020: World Payment Report





The centre has released Rs 8,698 crore to states to compensate them for revenue loss following Goods and Services

Tax (GST) implementation. All states barring Rajasthan and Arunachal Pradesh, have been given compensation.

According to the data furnished by the Comptroller General of Accounts (CGA), the Indian budgetary fiscal deficit

over the first half of the current financial year at Rs 4.99 lakh crore — stood at 91.3 per cent of the full year s target

of Rs 5.46 lakh crore.

The Government of India has announced that during the financial year 2017-18, accumulations at the credit of

subscribers to the GPF and other similar funds shall carry interest at the rate of 7.8% with effect from October 1 to

December 31, 2017

According to NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar, the economic slowdown that began in 2013-14 has bottomed

out and the GDP is likely to grow at 6.9-7 % this fiscal (2017-18) and 7.5% in 2018-19.

Government has permitted banks to sell more small savings schemes. Banks can also sell National Savings Time

Deposit Scheme 1981, National Savings (Monthly Income Account) Scheme 1987, National Savings Recurring

Deposit Scheme 1981 and NSC VIII issue. Present annual rate of interests are as:

Investments in the public provident fund (PPF) – 7.8 per cent

Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) investments – 7.5 per cent and mature in 115 months.

Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme – 8.3 per cent

5-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme – 8.3 per cent. The interest rate on the senior citizens scheme is paid

quarterly.

Defence News

On the occasion of its 85th anniversary, the Indian Air Force has launched an innovative mobile health App named

`MedWatch in keeping with the Prime Minister s vision of Digital India .

Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman commissioned the third of the four indigenously-built Anti-Submarine

Warfare (ASW) stealth corvettes INS Kiltan under Project 28 (Kamorta class) into the Indian Navy at

Visakhapatnam s Naval Dockyard.

Indian Naval Ships Satpura and Kadmatt will participate in Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with Japanese Marine Self

Defence Force.

Indian Naval ship Sukanya reached Belawan port, Indonesia to take part in the 30th edition of CORPAT

(Coordinated Patrol) and third Bilateral exercise between the Indian and Indonesian navies.

Exercise INDRA-2017, the first ever Tri Services Joint Exercise between Indian and Russian Armed Forces conducted

at the 249th Combined Army Range Sergeevisky and in the Sea of Japan near Vladivostok, Russia.

A 45 member contingent of the Indian Air Force left for Israel to participate in exercise Blue Flag-17 . Blue Flag is a

bi-annual multilateral exercise which aims to strengthen military cooperation amongst participating nations. Indian

Air Force is participating with the C-130J special operations aircraft along with Garud commandos.

An offshore patrol vessel (OPV) named Vikram , entirely developed in-house by Larsen and Toubro and the

country s first-ever such defence craft to be built in a private shipyard, has been handed over to the Coast Guard.

GOI has armed the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) with ISRO s geostationary communication satellite, GSAT-6, to

supervise the nearly 3,500-km-long Sino-Indian border.

The Indian Navy has dispatched a P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft to Manila to undertake a Search

and Rescue (SAR) for missing sailors of a merchant vessel that sank off the coast of Philippines.





Science & Technology

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved for the first time a test -- cobas Zika test -- for detecting

the Zika virus in donated blood.

According to a large clinical trial in Liberia, two experimental Ebola vaccines — cAd3-EBOZ and rVSV-ZEBOV — are

safe and can elicit immune response that lasts for at least one year.

Gurugram-based VVDN, in partnership with Ireland s Embedded Downloads, unveiled blockchain technology-based

smartphone BitVault for ₹ 75,000 a unit.

After orbitting the Red Planet for 16 years, NASA s Mars Odyssey spacecraft has captured its first images of the

Martian moon Phobos.

Japan launched a fourth Michibiki satellite for a new high-precision global positioning system (GPS) it hopes will

encourage new businesses and help spur economic growth.

Astronomers have discovered that a Sun-like star - Dubbed Kronos - lurking around 350 light-years away consumed

the rocky equivalent of 15 Earths.

Scientists at Geneva, Switzerland have successfully created the worlds shortest X-ray laser pulse with a duration of

just 43 attoseconds, an advance that will allow us to observe electrons in slow motion.

India s second bid to explore Earth s satellite is likely to start in March 2018. The Indian Space Research

Organization (ISRO), is set to start a lunar journey of the Chandrayaan-2 mission as early as March of next year.

Sports News

Tournament Winner Other Info

Hockey Asia Cup title India Defeated Malaysia.

Held in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

FIFA Under-17 World Cup England Defeated Spain.

Tournament held in India.

Final at the Salt Lake Stadium

in Kolkata.

The FIFA U-17 World Cup in

India became the most

attended in the history of the

tournament.

Pro Kabaddi League title Patna Pirates Beat Gujarat Fortunegiants

French Open title – men s singles Kidambi Srikanth It is his 4th title of the year.

Earlier - Indonesia Open,

Australian Open and Denmark

Open.

Denmark Open title – men s singles Kidambi Srikanth

Bulgarian International Shuttler RMV Gurusaidutt

World Open Under-16 Snooker Championship

title

Anupama Ramachandran Held in Russia

U-15 Asian Junior Championship Shuttler Samiya Imad Farooqui Held in Myanmar

European Racing Championship Mahaveer Raghunathan He became first Indian to win

the race





Gold at Wushu World Championships Pooja Kadian India s first ever gold medal at

the chanpionship

International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF)

World Cup Final - 10m air pistol mixed team

event

Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu

Macao Open trophy Indian golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar

Vietnam Open trophy – men s doubles Saketh Myneni and Vijay Sundar

Prashanth

Erste Open title – men s doubles Rohan Bopanna and Pablo

Cuevas

Held in Vienna, Austria

The Best FIFA Men s Player award Cristiano Ronaldo

The Best FIFA Women s Player award Lieke Martens

China Open title (tennis) – men s singles Rafael Nadal

China Open (tennis) – women s singles Caroline Garcia From France

Mexico Grand Prix Max Verstappen

F1 s Malaysian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen after beating Lewis Hamilton.

Japanese Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton

Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton

US Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton

Tianjin Open Maria Sharapova

Sports

India remain 4th in women s cricket team rankings

The Indian football team rose two spots above to 105th position in the latest FIFA rankings in October 2017.

Ravi Shastri has emerged as the world s highest earning cricket coach with salary close to 1.17 million dollars per

year, according to ESPNCricinfo.

Jeakson Singh Thounaojam created history at Delhi s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium by scoring India s first goal in a

World Cup during India s match against Colombia.

Yuvraj Singh has been appointed as Laureus first Indian ambassador.

Virat Kohli has become the top run-scorer at the 200 ODI-mark, after taking the field against New Zealand in the

first ODI at Mumbai.

Virat Kohli became the fastest to reach 9000 ODI runs, taking just 194 innings to achieve the feat

On October 29, as the ICC Rankings were updated, both the Indian captains Virat Kohli and Mithali Raj came out on

top. Kohli overtook South Africa s AB de Villiers in the rankings and Mithali Raj overtook Australia s Meg Lanning.

Indian pacer Ashish Nehra confirmed his retirement from all forms of cricket on Nov. 1

A division bench of the Kerala High Court has restored the life ban imposed on cricketer S Sreesanth by the Board of

Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in the wake of the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal.

Kavita Devi, who was part of the WWE s Mae Young classic tournament, has made history by becoming the first

ever woman wrestler from India to be awarded a WWE developmental contract.





Manav Thakkar became the first Indian to occupy the top spot (3,455 points) on the ITTF World Junior Circuit

standings.

Netherlands captain Arjen Robben announced retirement from international football.

All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan became the first cricketer from Bangladesh to be inducted in the MCC World Cricket

Committee under the chairmanship of Mike Gatting.

Heena Sidhu clinched the 10-metre air pistol gold medal at the Commonwealth Shooting Championships.

In a bid to create awareness about para-sports and provide a platform to para sportspersons to narrate their stories

of triumph and adversity,thenationspride.com, the country s first portal dedicated to para-sports has been

launched in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

India s Selena clinches triple gold at Egypt Junior and Cadet TT -- golden sweep in the Egypt Junior and Cadet Table

Tennis Open, junior girls singles and doubles titles at Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt

Indian pugilists have won eight medals, including four golds, in the third Youth International Championships Balkan

Open 2017 at Sofia, Bulgaria.

Dehradun, Uttarakhand will host its first ever Ranji Trophy cricket match. The Ranji Trophy match will be played

between October 24-27.

Scott Fleming, former India men s national team head coach, has joined NBA India as Head of Basketball

Operations.

The U-17 World Cup will set a record of sorts as it will see for the first time a female assistant referee in a FIFA

men s competition this time. Seven female assistant referees from across the world, one from each continent, have

been chosen by FIFA.

Switzerland s Esther Staubli became the first female referee to officiate a match at the FIFA U-17 World Cup when

Japan clashed with New Caledonia in the final round group E match in Kolkata on 14th October 2017.

Official ball for Under-17 football World Cup -- Krasava, a word generally used by Russian sports fans to describe a

striking performance and it is the ultimate praise for a team when they play with creativity and flair.

9 top weightlifting countries suspended by the by the International Weightlifting Federation – Russia, China,

Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova, Turkey, and Ukraine.

Australian fast bowler John Hastings announced his retirement from first-class and one-day cricket

Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has decided to suspend the Pakistan Football Federation.

The next cricket season will witness the debut of Puducherry in the domestic circuit after the Supreme Court-

appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) acceded to BCCI s proposal of granting associate membership to the

Union Territory.

Turkey is all set to host the 10th installment of the World Rally Championship (WRC) in September 2018 in Ankara,

capital city of Turkey.

Committee

Head of Committee Purpose

PM Narendra Modi Government of India will commemorate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Father of the

Nation Mahatma Gandhi during the period from 2nd October, 2019 to 2nd October,

2020.

Rajiv Kumar (NITI Aayog

Vice Chairman)

For proper management of water resources in the North-Eastern region





G Rohini (Delhi High Court s

former Chief Justice)

To examine subcategorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) under Article 340 of

the Constitution

Himanta Biswa Sarma To make the composition scheme more attractive and to revisit the goods and services

tax rates on restaurants. Sarma is Assam finance minister.

Shashi Tharoor A parliamentary committee has decided to examine the whole gamut of Sino-Indian

relations, including the border situation.

PV Reddi Law ministry nod to panel to look into pay hike issue of lower court judges

Afzal Amanullah Committee appointed by the government on Haj Policy has recommended phasing out

of subsidy for Haj pilgrims and allowing women devotees above 45 years of age to

travel in a group of at least four without a male.

Arun Jaitley Panel will oversee merger proposals of state-owned banks. The other members of the

panel include Railway and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal and Defence Minister Nirmala

Sitharaman. The constitution of Alternative Mechanism (AM) is a movement in that

direction.

A. Arumughaswamy Panel constituted by Tamil Nadu Government to look into the circumstances leading to

the death of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

Y. M. Deosthalee Panel set up by RBI to develop a comprehensive public credit registry (PCR) — an

extensive database of credit information for India that is accessible to all stakeholders.

A Surya Prakash Panel formed to select the candidate for the post of editor-in-chief of Rajya Sabha TV

(RSTV). Surya is Prasar Bharati Chairman.

B C Khanduri Panel to examine the operational preparedness of the armed forces and review the

accidents involving strategic defence assets.

Rankings

Index/Other India’s Rank Other Information

Ease of Doing Business index 100th 1st – New Zealand

Report by World Bank.

India has climbed to 4th position in protecting interest of minority investors, as per the latest Ease of Doing

Business Report of the World Bank. List is topped by Kazakhstan.

Global Hunger Index (GHI), 2017 100th

Most valuable nation brand 8th 1st – USA

According to Brand Finance s Nation

Brands 2017

Global TB Report 2017 1st India s rank accounting for 64 per cent

of the 10.4 million new tuberculosis

(TB) cases worldwide in 2016. report

released by the World Health

Organisation (WHO).

World s largest smartphone

market

2nd Ist – China

India overtook USA to become world s

second-largest smartphone market

Highest proportion of digital

talent

1st According to the Capgemini and

LinkedIn survey, India has the highest

proportion of digital talent with 76





percent among the countries surveyed,

compared to the global average of 56

percent.

Melbourne Mercer Global

Pension Index 2017

28th 1st – Denmark

Most Powerful passports in the

World

75th 1st – Singapore.

Passport Index developed by global

financial advisory firm Arton Capital

According to a KPMG (a professional service company) survey, India has emerged as the top country for

reporting corporate responsibility information in the annual financial report of companies, but the quality of

disclosures has to improve.

With 2.51 million deaths in 2015, India has been ranked No. 1 in pollution related deaths, according to a report

by The Lancet Commission on pollution and health. 2nd - China

Loans from Banks/Others

From To Amount Purpose NABARD Andhra

Pradesh

Govt.

Rs. 273.06

crore

Loan under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF)

for Rural Water supply, Road and Bridge projects.

World Bank India USD 200

million

For the Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation

Project

AIIB (Asian

Infrastructure

Investment Bank)

India USD 2 million

loan (Rs.

13,000

crores)

For various projects in Andhra Pradesh. Projects for roads

and buildings department, for rural safe drinking water

department, municipal and urban development

department and Panchayat Raj department

Asian

Development

Bank (ADB)

India USD 65.5

million

To continue interventions to check coastal erosion on the

western coast in Karnataka.

ADB India USD 300

million

To continue a series of fiscal reforms in the State of West

Bengal to improve the quality of public service delivery.

AIIB and ADB India USD 100

million

To improve power transmission network and expand the

use of solar and wind energy

European

Investment Bank

(EIB)

India € Euro 00 million

For Bangalore Metro Rail Project Phase II Line R6

India Bangladesh USD 4.5-

billion

For developing Bangladesh s infrastructure, health and

education.

India Ethiopia India would give Ethiopia a line of credit of USD 195

million for power transmission sector and medicines worth

USD 2 million.

India Sri Lanka USD 585,000 The assistance package was given to develop agriculture as

well as engineering faculty on the Killinochchi campus of

University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.

State-run State Bank of India (SBI) has announced the sanction of loans worth Rs 2,317 crore in collaboration





with the World Bank to finance grid-connected solar rooftop projects in the country. SBI had availed line of

credit facilities worth $625 million from World Bank for onward lending to viable solar rooftop projects last

year.

Deadlines/ Important Dates

What for Deadline/Date First phase of the national optic fibre network, christened Bharat Net project - which

aims to deploy high-speed optical fibre cables across rural areas

December, 2017

For mandatory linking of Aadhaar to avail benefits of various government schemes. 31st of March, 2018

Rankings (Persons,Cities,Organisations and Others)

India reported the highest levels of online harassment through cyberstalking and threats of physical violence in the

Asia Pacific region, higher than countries like Australia and Japan, a report by Norton by Symantec.

With 13.7 per cent contribution to the global pharmaceuticals and biotechnology workforce, India has emerged as

the 2nd largest market for the industry, a report by professional networking giant LinkedIn has revealed.

London has retained its rank as the number one city in the world shrugging off Brexit worries, according to Global

Power City Index (GPCI).

Japanese capital city Tokyo has topped The Economist Intelligence Unit s Safe Cities Index 2017. Delhi and Mumbai

have ranked 43rd and 45th respectively.

The Jaipur and Srinagar Airport got First and Second rank respectively in the category of 2-5 million passengers in

ACI-ASQ Survey.

Hyderabad s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) has bagged the World 1 airport Award trophy of the Airports

Council International (ACI) in the 5-15 million passengers per annum category.

Books

Book Author/s Other Info A journey towards self-reliance First ever coffee table book on Department of

Defence Production (DDP)

e-book titled India 2017 Yearbook Rajiv Mehrishi Mehrishi is Comptroller and Auditor General of

India (CAG) and former Union home secretary

Dreamnation: Uniting a Country with

Handwritten Dreams

Saji Mathew and Jubie

John

Book contains inspiring words of Dr A.P.J. Abdul

Kalam

Hema Malini: Beyond the Dream Girl Ram Kamal Mukherjee It is Biography of Hema Malini. It also contains a

short foreword written by Prime Minister Narendra

Modi.





Obituaries

Name Profession Other Info K S Achyutan Former Director of

Doordarshan

Dr MV Sridhar Ex-BCCI general

manager

Prabhakarpant Ojharkar Politician

Purushottam Lal Politician Former Minister for Information and Broadcasting

Bismoy Kumar Mohanty Journalist

RM Bhagawati Journalist veteran Guwahati-based journalist and editor of

Dainik Asam, oldest Assamese daily newspaper

HM Marathe Marathi writer and

journalist

Punathil Kunjabdulla Writer Hugely popular writer and novelist

Punyaslok Dasgupta Poet

Shamsher Khan Swimmer He was the first swimmer to represent India in

Olympics

Girija Devi Singer Thumri exponent and veteran classical singer

Kundan Shah Director

Lekh Tandon Filmmaker

I.V. Sasi Director Acclaimed Malayalam film director

Ram Mukherjee Director and

screenwriter

Indian film director and screenwriter in Hindi and

Bengali cinema and father of Bollywood star Rani

Mukerji.

Satish Chandra Historian Veteran historian of medieval India and noted

educational administrator

Fats Domino (Antoine Dominique

Domino Jr.)

Pianist American. Legendary rhythm and blues pianist and

singer-songwriter and rock and roll pioneer

William J. Lombardy, Chess Player American

Choirul Huda Footballer Veteran Indonesian goalkeeper

Ralphie May Comedian American

Richard Wilbur Poet American

Roy Dotrice Actor British

Important Days

Date Day Extra Info 01 October International Day of Older

Persons

2017 Theme: Stepping into the Future:

Tapping the Talents, Contributions and

Participation of Older Persons in Society.

02 October Gandhi Jayanti, International Day

of Non-Violence





02 October 2017 World Habitat Day First Monday of October. 2017 Theme:

Housing Policies: Affordable Homes.

03 October 2017 World Architecture Day First Monday of every October. 2017 Theme:

Climate Change Action!

4th to 10th October World Space Week 2017 Theme: Exploring New Worlds in Space

05 October World Teachers Day 2017 Theme: Teaching in Freedom,

Empowering Teachers

08 October 85th Indian Air Force Day

09 October World Post Day

9th to 14th October Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Week 2017 Theme: Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Week-

The Daughters of New India

10 October World Mental Health Day 2017 Theme: Mental health in the workplace

10th to 14th October India water Week-2017 2017 Theme: Water and Energy for Inclusive

Growth

11 October International Day of the Girl

Child

2017 Theme: EmPOWER girls: Before, during

and after conflict"

12 October World Arthritis Day 2017 Theme: It s in your hands, take action

12 October 2017 World Sight Day: Observed on second Thursday of October

2017 Theme: Make Vision Count

13 October International Day for Disaster

Reduction

14 October International Standards Day

15 October International Day of Rural

Women

16 October World Food Day

17 October International Day for the

Eradication of Poverty

2017 Theme: Answering the Call of October 17

to end poverty: A path toward peaceful and

inclusive societies

20 October World Osteoporosis Day

20 October World Statistics Day

24 October United Nations Day Potential in Diversity

24 October World Polio Day

27 October World Day for Audiovisual

Heritage

2017 Theme: Discover, remember and share

28 October National Ayurveda Day

29 October World Stroke Day

29 October International Internet Day

31 October World Cities Day 2017 Theme: Innovative Governance, Open

Cities. The general theme of World Cities Day

is Better City, Better Life.

31 October World Savings Day

31 October Rashtriya Ekta Diwas(National

Unity Day)

25 Oct - 1 Nov 2017 Global Media and Information

Literacy Week

2017 Theme: Media and Information Literacy

in Critical Times: Re-Imagining Ways of





Learning and Information Environments

30 Oct - 4 Nov 2017 Vigilance Awareness week 2017 Theme: My Vision - Corruption Free India

Month Special

RBI keeps repo rate, reverse repo rate unchanged

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept the repo rate and reverse repo rate unchanged at 6 percent and 5.75 percent

respectively. The RBI s six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announced the policy decision without any surprise

for the financial markets. Now the policy rates are:

Repo Rate: Unchanged at 6%

Reverse Repo Rate: Unchanged at 5.75%

Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate: Unchanged at 6.25%

Bank Rate: Unchanged at 6.25%

Cash Reserve Ratio: Unchanged at 4%

Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR): Changed by 50 basis points to 19.5%

By cutting the SLR by 0.5%, RBI freed over Rs 57,000 crore to bank funds for lending.

RBI’s strict KYC norms to keep e-wallets safe

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in a set of fresh guidelines, has introduced stricter Know Your Customer (KYC) norms for

wallet users, allowed interoperability and brought in fraud detection norms to prevent fake wallet transactions -- steps

which will change the scope of operations for mobile wallets.

Complying with the KYC will allow customers to move money between wallets of different companies and banks

seamlessly through Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

The wallet users have been asked to comply with the full KYC format by the end of this year.

Even mobile wallets will have to convert to full KYC wallet within 12 months of opening it.

Minimum KYC wallets cannot have a balance of more than Rs 10,000 and this can be allowed only for purchase of

goods and services and not for remittances to other wallets or bank accounts.

Full KYC wallets will have a limit of Rs 1 lakh and all facilities for fund transfer will be allowed.

RBI has also increased the networth requirements for players in this space. For a PPI licence, companies need a

positive networth of Rs 5 crore at the time of application against Rs 2 crore previously. This has to be Rs 15 crore

within the third financial year of receiving RBI authorisation.

RBI has also increased the limit on the amount that can be transferred from wallets to Rs 1 lakh. It also allowed

inward international remittance for wallets, with an upper limit of Rs 50,000.





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