Current Affairs This Week (October 5 – 11, 2015)
First BRICS Migration Ministers Conference held in Sochi, Russia
The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju will attend the
first BRICS Migration Minister's Conference in Sochi, Russia.
The conference aims at bringing member nations-Brazil, Russia, India,
China and South Africa-to a consensus on issues pertaining to migration.
Home Minister reiterates govt's commitment to fight human
trafficking
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, while addressing the inauguration
ceremony at the national conference on anti-human trafficking in New Delhi,
said that the government gives high priority to fight against human
trafficking.
Singh also thanked officials for the success of Operation Smile and
Operation Muskaan - which rescued over 19,000 missing children and reunited
them with their families.
INS Astradharini commissioned into Indian Navy
India's first wholly indigenously designed and built torpedo launcher and
recovery vessel (TLRV), INS Astradharini, was commissioned into Indian Navy and
added to the Eastern Fleet in Visakhapatnam.
The design is a result of the efforts between Naval Science and
Technological Laboratory (NSTL), IIT Kharagpur and Shoft Shipyard.
Nayantara Sahgal returns her Sahitya Akademi award
Nayantara Sahgal, noted writer and niece of Jawaharlal Nehru, recently
returned the Sahitya Akademi award conferred on her in protest against the
recent attacks on "India's culture of diversity and debate".
Her decision comes in the aftermath of recent killings of rationalists and
writers M.M. Kalburgi, Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare and of a Dadri
resident who was lynched on suspicion of having consumed beef.
A day after Nayantara Sehgal's move, renowned poet Ashok Vajpeyi also handed
back the prestigious literary honour to the government.
Russian Sergey Karjakin claims the chess world cup
Russian player Sergey Karjakin won the chess World Championship. He
defeated compatriot Peter Svidler 6-4, in the final game held at Baku, Azerbaijan.
India, Germany ink 18 MoUs and agreements in various sectors
India and Germany have signed around 18 agreements and memorandum of
understanding (MoUs) in various sectors. These agreements were signed at the
end of third edition of Indo-German Inter-governmental Consultations (ICG) in
New Delhi. The Indo-German ICG was co-chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
and his visiting counterpart German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Noble Prize in Physics awarded to Takaaki Kajita and Arthur McDonald
Japanese physicist Takaaki Kajita and Canadian astrophysicist Arthur
McDonald won the 2015 Noble Prize in Physics in October 2015.
The duos have been bestowed with the prestigious award for the discovery
of neutrino oscillation. Neutrinos are subatomic particles without electric
charge and are produced by the decay of radioactive elements. They are the
second most abundant particle in the Universe.
PM - Comprehensive National IPR policy is being finalised
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that a comprehensive national IPR Policy
is being finalised to address the long pending concerns of the investors and he
expressed hope of rolling out GST by 2016.
PM Modi with German Chancellor Angela Merkel was addressing the
Indo-German Business Summit organised by NASSCOM based on the theme 'Digitising
Tomorrow' in Bengaluru.
Indian Air Force celebrates 83rd anniversary
The Indian Air Force is celebrating its 83rd anniversary today. The day
will be celebrated through enthralling air display by several aircraft
which will be the hallmark of the Air Force Day Parade cum Investiture Ceremony
at Air Force Station Hindon in Ghaziabad.
The Indian Air Force was established on 8th October 1932.
Union Government launches KISAN Project and Hailstorm App for crop damage
Union Government has launched KISAN (Crop Insurance using Space Technology
and Geoinformatics) Project to benefit farmers. This project will favour use of
satellites, drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) and other geospatial technology to
collect crop yield data and to assess damage from natural calamities.
Productivity linked bonus for non gazetted railway employees
The Union Cabinet cleared the payments of productivity linked bonus (PLB)
equivalent for 78days for the financial year 2014 and 2015 for non- gazetted
railway employees.
Forbes: India is home to 14 top Asian Dynasties
Business families from India hold 14 spots in Forbes Asia inaugural
ranking of the top 50 Asian dynasties as per the recently released Forbes
ranking.
As per the rankings, half of the richest families in Asia are of Chinese
descent, but none hail from mainland China.
The list is topped by South Korean Lee family, who controls the Samsung
Group with a combined wealth of $26.6 billion. Followed by number two on the
list is the Lee family of Henderson Land Development from Hong Kong with a
combined wealth of $24.1 billion. The Indian family Ambani is ranked third on
the list with a combined fortune of $21.5 billion.
National War Memorial to come up near India Gate
The Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today approved
construction of a National War Museum at Princess Park, near India Gate, New
Delhi after over six decades of consultation.
The proposal to have national war memorial in memory of the military
martyrs of independent India had been pending since 1960.
The project is to cost an estimated Rs. 500 crore and will be completed in
a period of five years. This location of the memorial will be at India Gate
which was built by the British as the All India War Memorial to commemorate the
sacrifices of 13,300 soldiers who died in World War I and the Third
Anglo-Afghan War.
Three win Nobel for Chemistry
Three Scientist, from Sweden, the United States and Turkey won the
2015 Noble Prize in Chemistry for their research on how cells repair damaged
DNA, serving as new solution in treatment of cancer.
Thomas Lindhal, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar won the honour for their
research in "mechanised studies of DNA repair."
Their work concerned how cells repair deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) to
prevent damaging errors from appearing in genetic information. Since in cancer,
one of the many of these rapid systems is damaged. This research will
prove to be pioneering in terms of war on cancer.
Senior officials of IMF and WB to attend annual meet at Lima, Peru
Starting today, the senior officials of the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and World Bank (WB) are to attend an annual three day meet in Lima, Peru
which will conclude on October 11.
The three day meet will address the current challenges facing the world
economy, including issues concerning illicit financial flows, private
investment in renewable energy, structural reforms and managing the volatility
of commodity revenues.
The finance ministers, central bankers and executives from private sectors
are expected to deliberate on refugee crisis in Europe, and also the situation
in Greece and Ukraine among other issues.
IMF released Global Financial Stability Report October 2015
On October 6, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released Global
Financial Stability Report October 2015 entitled Vulnerabilities, Legacies, and
Policy Challenges-Risks Rotating to Emerging Markets assessing the key risks
facing global financial system.
The report pointed that though financial stability has improved since
April, risks looms high especially now the danger has shifted to the emerging
economies.
According to the report, while credit has seen an expansion in countries,
like China, Thailand, Turkey and Brazil, bank finances have, "stretched
thinner in many emerging markets". A strengthening dollar has also made
the situation worse for businesses with foreign currency debts since the debts
need to be repaid in national currency terms.
Hoesung Lee to head inter-governmental panel on climate change
On October 8, South Korean climate economist Hoesung Lee was elected
to head the UN's climate change panel. He was elected in the 42nd session IPCC
in Dubrovnik, Croatia by 78 votes to 56 in a run-off election with Belgian
Jean-Pascale van Ypersele.
He is to replace Rajendra Pachauri of India, who quit in February 2015
over allegations of sexual harassment.
Lee is a professor and has previously served as vice-chairman of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 2008 and has been
engaged in various capacities with IPCC.
Axis bank ties up with Snapdeal to advance collateral free loans
On September 7, Axis Bank tied up with Snapdeal to offer collateral free
loans to sellers in the online market place.
Axis Bank said that the loan offers are especially designed to enable
sellers who are mostly SMEs to scale up inventory. The loans, which will be
extended will be ranging from Rs. 2 lakhs to Rs. 1 crore till October 31.
Belarus Journalist Svetlana Alexievich announced as the winner of Noble
Prize in Literature
On October 8, Sara Danius, permanent secretary at the Swedish Academy
announced that Belarusian author Svetlana Alexievich won the Noble Prize in
literature.
Jack Dorsey appointed as permanent CEO of Twitter
Micro blogging site Twitter has appointed its co-founder and interim chief
executive officer (CEO) Jack Dorsey as permanent CEO for second time. He will
succeed Dick Costolo who had resigned in June, 2015 after serving to this top
post for five years. With this new appointment he will cease to be chairman of
the board of Twitter but will continue to serve as a member of the board.
As per the press release on nobelprize. org she was awarded for her
'polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time.'
With this she became the 14th woman to have won the literature prize, and
one among the few who have won Nobel for their non fiction work.
The book Courage to Act: A memoir of crisis and its aftermath
released
Recently, the former chairman of Federal Reserve Ben S Barke recently
released his book titled, Courage to Act: A memoir of crisis and its aftermath,
published by W.W. Norton & Company.
Ben S Barke was the chairman at the Federal Reserve from 2006 - 2014 and
he was at the centre of the Federal Bank's repossess to the global financial
crisis, the book serves as a personal account of the events that ensued as he
witnessed it.
Indian football team loses to Turkmenistan
Indian football team lost to Turkmenistan 1-2 in the 2018 FIFA World Cup
qualifiers.
South Africa won the 3 match T20 series against India
In the recently concluded three match T20 International series, South
Africa won against India, scoring 2-0.
The third match which was held in Kolkata's Eden gardens was called off as
the umpires found it not suitable for a game.
The first match was played on October 2, at Himachal Pradesh Cricket
Association Stadium wherein South Africa won by 7 wickets, in the second
match held on September 5, in Odisha at Barabati Stadium South Africa won
by 6 wickets and third match at Kolkata was called off.
Source: The Hindu, PIB, The Indian Express