World Food Day observed
World Food Day is
observed every year on 16 October in honor of the date of the founding of
the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945.
It is a day of action
against hunger. The theme for World Food Day 2015 is “Social Protection and
Agriculture: breaking the cycle of rural poverty”.
UN owes India USD 85 mln for
peacekeeping
The United Nations owes
India an amount of USD 85 million for its contribution towards peacekeeping
operations including troops, police and equipment. The organisation owed a
total of USD 1.03 billion to 86 Member States which contributed troops, police
and equipment as of October 2 this year. The largest amount owed was to
Pakistan at USD 97 million; followed by Ethiopia at USD 87 million; India at
USD 85 million; Bangladesh at USD 84 million; Rwanda at USD 55 million; and
Nepal at USD 44 million.
Railways launch ‘Vikalp’ scheme
for waitlisted passengers
The Indian Railways
has announced the launch of a scheme called Vikalp on pilot basis from
November 1. Through Vikalp Indian Railways going to provide confirmed
tickets to passengers on the waitlist, who are forced to travel with waiting
tickets, on an alternative trains on the same route to make their travel smoother
and hassle-free. The pilot project scheme would be implemented for six
months on the Delhi-Lucknow and the Delhi-Jammu routes. It will initially be
available for tickets booked online.
Dr.Abdul Kalam’s birth place
Rameswaram declared as AMRUT town
Rameswaram town in Tamil
Naidu has been included in Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban
Transformatin (AMRUT) for providing basic urban infrastructure.
Consumers Will Be Paid For Call
Drops From January 1. Only 3 Per Day
Telecom regulator TRAI
has said that mobile operators will have to credit one rupee to a user’s
account for a call drop from January 1, 2016. It said users would be
compensated for no more than three dropped calls a day.
SC declares NJAC Act unconstitutional
A Bench of five judges of
the SC held the 99th Constitutional Amendment Act and the NJAC Act 2014
“unconstitutional and void”. The Supreme Court also held that the
Collegium system as it existed before the NJAC ‘operative’.
The move left the government lawyers shocked and the proponents of the
collegial system elated. The decision was given four to one by a five-judge
constitution bench headed by Justice JS Khehar, who is in line to become the
Chief Justice of India.
Former Maharashtra minister
Madan Patil passes away
Former Maharashtra
Minister and senior Congress leader Madan Vishwanath Patil has passed away due
to illness at the age of 55. He was the grandson of Maharashtra’s former
Chief Minister late Vasantdada Patil.
Pakistan & Russia signed
agreement to build 1100 km Gas Pipeline
An
agreement to build an 1100-km gas pipeline stretching from Karachi on Arabian
Sea to the eastern city of Lahore was inked between Pakistan and Russia.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Pakistan Petroleum Minister Shahid
Khaqan Abbasi signed the agreement.
China & Indonesia signed a deal to build
high-speed railway in Indonesia
China
and Indonesia have signed a 5.5 billion US dollars deal to build the first
high-speed railway in Indonesia after the victory of Beijing in winning the
construction project by beating Tokyo.
Abof.com- online fashion store
launched by Aditya Birla Group
A
new online fashion store Abof.com was launched by The Aditya Birla Group. Abof
(all about fashion) is a one-stop fashion portal for both men and women
apparel, footwear and accessories.
This
online fashion store Abof.com will compete with the likes of Myntra, a Flipkart
unit, and Rocket Internet-backed Jabong.
Abof.com
will be privately held by Birla in his personal capacity.
MK Surana appointed as the CMD of
Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd
MK
Surana was appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of state-run
oil marketer Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL). He will replace Nishi
Vasudeva who will retire in March 2016.
Currently,
Surana is serving as the Chief Executive Officer of Prize Petroleum Co, the oil
exploration arm of HPCL. He has been executive director with HPCL since
September 2012 and will get a five year term that can be extended up to his
retirement age of 60 years in April 2022.
Public
Enterprise Selection Board (PESB) approved the appointment of Surana.
October 17 observed as
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
The
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty was observed globally with the
theme "Building a sustainable future: Coming together to end poverty and
discrimination".