Current Affairs of 2nd November

Toll booths fail to roll out green tax on Day 1

Despite the Supreme Court imposing an “environment tax“ on trucks entering the city , the order came a cropper on Day 1 as private contractors said staff at the toll booths didn't have the software or the security to ensure a smooth rollout.

Brijmohan Munjal, Hero of Indian business, dead

Brijmohan Lall Munjal, who founded Hero Honda and Hero MotoCorp, the world's largest motorcycle maker, died after a brief illness on Sunday . He was 92.

Last June, Munjal gave up the post of executive chairman and took over as Hero MotoCorp's chairman emeritus and non-executive direc tor after being at the helm since the early 1980s.

1984 riots: Over 1k families get relief

Thirty-one years after the anti-Sikh riots, 1,332 affected families were given compensation by the Delhi government on Sunday . The enhanced compensation of Rs 5 lakh was announced by the Centre in 2014, and 17 families had received the amount in December, just before Delhi went to polls.

On Sunday , while giving out the compensation, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his colleagues sported black bands in solidarity with the victims and attacked the Centre for having constituted a special investigation team (SIT) that was not doing any work.

As winter sets in, more people likely to catch viral diseases

It is not just swine flu. With the onset of winter in Delhi, doctors said, there is a spate of bacterial and viral illnesses that cause fever, upper respiratory tract infection and pneumonia.

Doctors said people should avoid crowded places, frequently wash their hands and consult a physician if fever and sore throat last for more than 48 hours. Those at higher risk--elderly , children and the immune-compromised patients ­ are also advised to take preventive vaccination.

Cheaper drugs for pneumonia, diabetes to hit mkt by Diwali

Come  Diwali, new medicines for diabetes, hypertension and pneumonia are set to get cheaper.

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), the drug price regulator, has capped the prices of as many as 18 new brands of essential medicines, most of which are expected to hit the market within a fortnight.

Sania-Hingis dream run continues

Her 177 kmph serve whizzed past Garbine Muguruza like an errant biker at a traffic signal. Sania Mirza clenched her fists and turned to her bench with a look that screamed, `bring it on'.That was in the first game of the 66-minute title match of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals which the Indian powerhouse dominated with electric shot making, cheeky interceptions and strong serving.

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Rein in hotheads or lose global credibility, Moody's tells Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi must keep “his party members in check“ from making controversial statements “or risk losing domestic and global credibility“, an arm of global ratings agency Moody's said on Friday while urging the government to focus its attention on the reforms agenda.

“In recent times, the government also hasn't helped itself, with controversial comments from various BJP members. While Modi has largely distanced himself from the nationalist jibes, the belligerent provocation of various Indian minorities has raised ethnic tensions,“ Moody's Analytics said.

Air travel to cost more as govt plans 2% cess

Flying between metros and other big cities and abroad may cost 2% more from next year as the government has decided to impose a levy to enhance regional connectivity by air.Fares for flights to and between small towns -that can be enabled by reviving 400 unused airstrips in the country -will be restricted at Rs 2,500 per hour. This will be done by keeping airlines' cost of operation low and giving them direct subsidy from the regional connectivity fund that will come from the 2% cess. Acting on PM Modi's di rective to make flying affordable to the common man, the aviation ministry on Friday released a draft aviation policy which aims to ensure that at least one member of India's 30-crore strong middle class families flies once a year -up from the present 7 crore domestic flyers in a year. The cess will, however, make it a little more expensive to fly between big cities.

BRICS nations signed Moscow Declaration for supporting Multilateral Science Projects

BRICS nations Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa signed Moscow Declaration for partnership in addressing common regional and global socio-economic challenges by utilising science, technology and innovation (STI). It was signed at the third meeting of the BRICS Ministers for Science, Technology and Innovation held in Moscow, Russia. Indian delegation to this meeting was led by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences.

China abandons its decades old One Child Policy

China, world most populous country has announced to abandon its three decades-long one-child policy and changed it two-child policy. The ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) in this regard has issued an official communiqué at  the end of party’s 4 day plenary session headed by President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
 

RBI allows NRIs to subscribe to National Pension System

RBI allows NRIs to subscribe to National Pension System

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed non-resident Indians (NRIs) to subscribe to the National Pension System (NPS) enabling them access old age income security. RBI has taken this decision in consultation with Union Government under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to appease NRIs.

WCD Ministry launched initiative to spread awareness about Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme

The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development on 29 October 2015 launched a new initiative to spread awareness about the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme.

The initiative was launched in partnership with Celltick Mobile Media India Pvt. Ltd. to generate awareness about BBBP Scheme to an estimated 100 million mobile users in India.

 

Global Tuberculosis Report 2015 released by WHO

World Health Organization (WHO) on 28 October 2015 released Global Tuberculosis Report 2015 in Washington. This is the twentieth global report on tuberculosis (TB) that started in 1997. 

The 2015 edition focuses on whether 2015 global TB targets set in the context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were achieved worldwide and at regional and country levels.

Amit Kumar won silver in men's club throw F51 event of IPC Athletics World Championships

Indian para-athlete Amit Kumar Saroha on 28 October 2015 won silver medal in men's club throw F51 event in the IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha. With this, Amit sealed a berth for 2016 Rio Paralympic Games.

Saudi blogger Raif Badawi awarded 2015 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought

Saudi blogger Raif Badawi on 29 October 2015 awarded Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought for the year 2015.

An announcement in this regard was made by the President of European Parliament Martin Schulz at European Parliament assembly in Strasbourg, France; Subsequently, Schulz appealed to Saudi King Salman to free him, so he can accept the prize.

Current Affairs Of 27th October

7.5 quake in Hindu Kush kills 200 in Pak & Af, 4 in India

A 7.5 magnitude earthquake, centered in the Hindu Kush mountains, hit northern Afghanistan and Pakistan killing around 200 people on Monday , with authorities fearing the death toll could rise as the true extent of damage could take several more hours to establish.

Pakistan was the worst hit with 143 fatalities. The temblor struck exactly 10 years after a quake had flattened northern parts of the country and killed 73,000 in 2005.

Maggi sales to resume by November

Swiss food giant Nestle has begun production of Maggi from three of its plants in India and the popular noodle can be expected to be back on shop shelves in a few weeks.The final date, however, has not been fixed yet, the company said on Monday .

India's daughter is home at last

A shy smile that refused to fade marked deaf and mute Geeta's `Bajrangi Bhaijan' moment as she stepped on Indian soil after over a decade in Pakistan during which hope often threatened to give way to despair.

The frail 23-year-old arrived in Delhi, accompanied by five members of the Edhi family whose charitable foundation had cared for Geeta all these years soon after she strayed into Pakistan.

CHHOTA RAJAN BADA CATCH

Twenty-five years after he fled India, fugitive underworld don Chhota Rajan alias Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhalje, a one-time trusted aide of Dawood Ibrahimturned-bitter foe, who is wanted for heinous crimes ranging from murder and extortion to smuggling, drug trafficking and threatening Bollywood personalities, was arrested by a joint Australian and Bali police team in Bali on Sunday .

His dramatic apprehension, after evading the law for decades and surviving at least one assassination bid by the D-gang, was based on an Interpol Red-Corner Notice and an affirmation of the don's identity by the CBI. Rajan had been hiding in Australia for the last seven years under the identity of Mohan Kumar, sources said.

TIME TO REFLECT AND PLAN

A review of a team's performance, after it has just suffered the second-worst defeat in its history, can tend to be harsh. But the fact is, India's maiden ODI series defeat to South Africa at home has provided the Men in Blue with some honest answers. It is now up to the decision-makers of Indian cricket to respond to them. Oscillating between bril iance and mediocrity , India surrendered to the better team in a rather tame manner in the end.

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Remark dogs V K Singh, SC/ST panel tells UP govt to file case

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has said V K Singh's “dog analogy“, while referring to the murder of two Dalit children in Haryana, is an offence under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Indian Penal Code. It has issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh police chief asking whether a case is made out against the minister.

No service tax on `charitable' yoga income

There's good news for yoga gurus who carry on their activities via charitable trusts. Income of such trusts from yoga-related activities will now not be subject to service tax. Thus, attendees of yoga camps or classes conducted by charitable trusts will not have to pay service tax of 14%. T he amendments made consequent to the budget of 2015 had granted income-tax exemption to income arising from promotion of yoga activities. While the PM has put yoga on the world map, the finance ministry has done its bit to boost yoga-related activities via income tax and service tax exemptions.

Processed meats as big a cancer risk as smoking

The World Health Organisation is reportedly set to declare that bacon, sausages and other proc con, sausages and other processed meats cause cancer. Red meat is also expected to be listed in the next lower risk category of being “probably carcinogenic to humans“.According to a report in The Daily Mail, the announcements were expected to be made on Monday with proc essed meat being put in the same category as cigarettes, alcohol and asbestos.

After 8 yrs at CSK, Dhoni to join new IPL team

If there is one cricketer who has been virtually synonymous with an IPL franchise, it is

M S Dhoni.After Chennai Super Kings bought him for the highest price of $1.5 million (then worth around Rs 7.5 crore) at the very first IPL auction in January 2008, Dhoni has captained the team in all eight editions of the IPL so far -a record unmatched by any other player.Understandably , there was much speculation about what Dhoni would do after CSK was suspended from the IPL for two years.Some said he might even sit out of the IPL rather than play for any other franchise.However, it is now learned that Dhoni has made up his mind to ch to another team. switch to another team.

`Sami is eligible to be granted citizenship'

Singer Adnan Sami, who was allowed in August to stay indefinitely in India following non-renewal of his Pakistani passport, is likely to be granted Indian citizenship.Sami's request for Indian citizenship on the grounds that he has renounced his Pakistani citizenship, making India, where he has been staying for a decade-and-a-half, his “home“, has been endorsed by the attorney general of India. The Union home ministry is mulling granting him “citizenship by naturalisation“, in view of his “distin guished service to the cause of art“.

Current Affair of 23rd October

Current Affair of 23^rd October

2cr LED bulbs distributed so far, save Rs 1,000cr a yr

The Narendra Modi government's programme to get consumers to replace less efficient CFL or incandescent lights with latest LED bulbs is gaining momentum, with the number of bulbs distributed crossing the 2-crore mark and generating annual savings of over Rs 1,000 crore.

The Narendra Modi government's programme to get consumers to replace less efficient CFL or incandescent lights with latest LED bulbs is gaining momentum, with the number of bulbs distributed crossing the 2-crore mark and generating annual savings of over Rs 1,000 crore.

SWAVALAMBAN YOJANA - Eye on polls, govt fast-tracks fee dole

In a desper ate bid to damage control following major unrest over Patidar reservation agitation, Anandiben Patel government has put dis bursement of benefits of the much hyped economic package `Mukhyamantri Yuva Swavalamban Yojana to deserving students on the fast track.

In a government resolu tion (GR) issued to univer sities across the state, the state government has asked them to identify students who qualify to avail benefits of the scholarship The GR is aimed at dous ing angry sentiments stoked by Patidar agitation ahead of the local body polls and winning sympathy of poor sections across other castes ahead of the 2017 polls as well.

Warring Chandrababu & KCRcome together for birth of a new capital

Decades from now, when Amaravati truly becomes a world-class city , Vijayadashami of 2015 will be remembered as a milestone in the history of not just Andhra Pradesh but also of the country , said Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the new capital on Thursday .

Delhi's 1st Car-Free Day `a good beginning'

Delhi's first CarFree Day went off mostly as a symbolic affair. Conceived of as a means to curb pollution as well as decongest the capital's roads, Thursday's event could at best be described, like transport minister Gopal Rai did, as a “good beginning“.While it began well enough with a cycle rally flagged off by CM Arvind Kejriwal, it then turned into an exercise to enthuse motorists into giving up their cars for a day , with not much reciprocal enthusiasm.

VIRAT SETTLES THE SCORE

On a day when India's Virat Kohli (138, 6x4, 5x6) rung in his 23rd ODI hundred, AB de Villiers (112, 10x4, 2x6) threatened to spoil his party with a blistering 22nd ton that kept South Africa in pursuit of 300 in the fourth ODI here on Thursday. But once AB was dismissed in the 45th over of the chase, courtesy a low catch by skipper MS Dhoni off Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3-68), the lights went off South Africa's innings as they fell short by 35 runs, ending up at 264-9, as India levelled the series 2-2.

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Union Cabinet gives nod to 3 new AIIMS

Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its nod to establish 3 new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). These 3 AIIMS will be established at Nagpur (Maharashtra), Manglagiri (Andhra Pradesh) and Kalyani in West Bengal. They will be established under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana with the cost nearly 5,000 crore rupees.

Winners of 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics

Takaaki Kajita (Japan) and Arthur B. McDonald (Canada) have jointly won the prestigious 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has selected them for their key contributions to experiments showing that neutrinos change identities. They individually have discovered neutrino oscillations and shown that neutrinos have mass.

Winners of 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Tomas Lindahl (United Kingdom), Paul Modrich (US) and Aziz Sancar (US) have jointly won 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has chosen them for their research on mechanistic studies of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) repair. Their work has provided fundamental knowledge of functioning of living cell functions and its application for the development of new cancer treatments

NGT orders to levy environmental tax on trucks entering Delhi

National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed all commercial vehicles entering Delhi to pay environmental compensation charge in addition to the toll tax. This decision to levy environmental compensation charges dubbed as environmental tax was taken by NGT as a tough measure to curb air pollution in Delhi. The green panel has observed that vehicular pollution is one of the main sources of inferior quality of air in Delhi.

RBI relaxed norms of FPI investment in Government Securities

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 6 October 2015 relaxed the norms of Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) of government debt and also announced higher investment limits in rupee terms in government securities with a view to bring in an additional 1.2 lakh crore rupees by March 2018.

The RBI fixed the FPI investment limits in rupee terms and raised the limits in phases to reach 5 percent of the outstanding stock by March 2018.

Current Affair

[28^th August]

Festival Thiru Onam celebrated in Kerala

Thiru Onam (Thiruvonam) festival, the most auspicious day of the Onam, was celebrated with traditional gaiety on 28 August 2015 in Kerala. The celebrations of Onam started with Atham ten days ago.  
 
Thiru Onam celebrated by Keralites without any boundaries of caste or religion, marks birthday of Sri Padmanabham, the presiding deity of Thiruvananthapuram. It is the most important day of Onam.

Scientist Dr Modadugu Vijay Gupta to receive inaugural Sunhak Peace Prize

Noted Indian agricultural scientist Dr Modadugu Vijay Gupta has been chosen for the inaugural Sunhak Peace Prize. He will receive the first Sunhak Peace Prize in South Korean Capital city of Seoul along with President of Kiribati Islands Anote Tong. Dr. M. V. Gupta has been selected for this award for his pioneering work in the blue revolution. He has invested his entire life to developing sustainable aquaculture as an alternative solution to the future food crisis. Anote Tong has been chosen for this award for creating global awareness on the severity of climate change issue and sought for action by the international community for its solution.

[27^th August]

GSAT-6 communication satellite successfully placed in orbit

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully placed communication satellite GSAT-6 into its intended geosynchronous transfer orbit. It was launched by the indigenously built Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)-D6 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikotta.

Maharashtra government acquires Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s London House

Maharashtra government has bought the house in London where social reformer and architect of the Indian Constitution Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar had stayed in the 1920s. State government has acquired this house in 3.1 million pound deal owing to its cultural and national importance and pride of millions of people of India. The property is three-storey house located on 10, King Henry Road, NW3 of London. B R Ambedkar had stayed in this house during his days as a student at the London School of Economics in 1920-21. State government now will convert this property into a international memorial-cum-museum and will be open to public. Earlier in January 2015, state government had issued a Letter of Intent (LoI) to buy Dr B. R. Ambedkar’s London house to the Indian High Commission in UK.