Current Affairs PDF (october 2015) By Daytodaygk.com

D2G Team has prepared a Current Affairs December 2015 Pdf. We have covered all the important events. The Current Affairs December 2015 Pdf is perfectly categorized and the updates are added in a disciplined way.

1. CONTENTS
• Awards and Honours
• Appointments
• Banking & Finance
• Indian Affairs
• International Affairs & Foreign Relations
• Science & Technology
• Sports
• Obituaries
• Observed Days in October 2015
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2. CURRENT AFFAIRS OCTOBER 2015 PDF by D2G

AWARDS AND HONOURS
Name of the Award Award Winner Points To Note
Leelaben Chhabildas Gurjar National Awards for Senior
Citizens - Iconic mother
award
For successfully bringing-up
her children despite great
odds
Kartik Chandran MacArthur Fellow award and
grant of $625,000
For Producing useful
resources such as fertilizers,
chemicals and energy
sources in addition to clean
water
Rangarajan Vellamore, CEO
Infosys China
Magnolia Gold award For the development of IT
industry in Shanghai, China's
financial hub.
RC Bhargava, Maruti Suziki
Chairman
Lifetime achievement award For his contribution to the
Indian business community
1. Canada's Sheila Watt-
Cloutier
2. Kasha Jacqueline
Nabagesera from Uganda
3. Italian surgeon Gino
Strada
Right Livelihood Awards
so-called " Alternative
Nobels"
1. For promoting Inuit
livelihoods and culture.
2. For her struggle for gay rights and sexual minorities
3. For providing medical
assistance to victims of war.

Ratan Tata Honoured at the University
of Warwick in Coventry.
For his contributions to the
West Midlands region of
central England.
Actress Eva Longoria Visionary award Honour in recognition of her
contributions to Latinos
through entertainment and
philanthropy.
Uday Shankar, CEO of Star
India
Best CEO of a Multi National
Company
For transformational
leadership.
Luis Leao Pinto of Portugal ‘King of the Himalaya’ crown As the 11th Hero MTB
Himalaya.
A R Rahman Hridaynath Mangeshkar
Award
On the birth anniversary of
Pandit Hridaynath
Mangeshkar.
Ramkumar Raman Chartered Certified
Accountants (ACCA)
membership
An 18-year-old Indian boy in
the UAE.
Proneeta Swargiary Won the 5th season of
reality show Dance India
Dance (DID)
She is from Delhi
Dr Shanthi Ranganathan 'Avvaiyaar Award' by
TamilNadu Govt.
For her contribution in
rehabilitating persons
addicted to alcohol
Filmmaker IV Sasi JC Daniel award

For his contributions to the
Malayalam film industry.
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Actor Vikram Gokhale Vishnudas Bhave Award For his outstanding
contribution to Marathi
theatre
Bharti Airtel Adam Smith Asia Awards For first class relationship
management category
Union Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley
Finance Minister of the Year,
Asia
For India’s relative economic
success over the last 18
months
Atiur Rahman, the Governor
of Bangladesh Bank
Central Bank Governor of the
Year, Asia
for generating considerable
strength and resilience in the
economy of Bangladesh.
Marlon James Man Booker Prize For his book “A Brief History
of Seven Killings”
Tata Steel Golden Peacock Global
Award for Sustainability
(GPGAS)
In London
Kailash Satyarthi Harvard Humanitarian of the
Year Award
For his contributions towards
child reforms and his work
against child abuse
Nualgi, an Indian company MIT Climate CoLab Award In the field of nano
biotechnology
Nihir Bose (NRI Journalist) Life Time Achievement
Award
Given by Asian Cricket
Awards
Prasoon Joshi Maharaja Sayajirao Bhasha
Samman
Given by Bank of Baroda
Urvashi Rautela Miss Diva 2015 She is a Model as well as an
Actress
Indian Short Film - An Old
Dog’s Diary
Best Short Film Award Directed by Shai Heredia and
Shumona Goel
Criminologist K
Chockalingam
Paul H Appleby Award For his distinguished services
to public administration
Robert Mugabe China’s Nobel Peace prize-
Confucius Award
For his leadership in
‘overcoming hardship
Anita Adalja White House Champions of
Change for sustainable and
climate-smart agriculture
He is an Indian American
Farmer
AR Rahman Hridaynath Mangeshkar Veteran filmmaker Subhash
Ghai
Angry Indian Goddess People’s Choice Award Rome Film Festival
Dr M N Nandakumara Lifetime Achievement Award Honoured in UK for his
contribution to Indian arts
and music.
Sivasakthi Sivanesan Sangeet Acharya Ratna
Award
Honoured in UK for his
contribution to Indian arts
and music.
Activist Bindeshwar Pathak New York Global Leaders
Dialogue Humanitarian
Award
Given for his contribution to
sanitation.
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NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS
1. Takaaki Kajita
2. Arthur McDonald
Nobel prize in Physics For the discovery of neutrino
oscillations, which shows
that neutrinos have mass
1. Tomas Lindahl
2. Paul Modrich
3. Aziz Sancar
Nobel Prize in Chemistry Uncovered mechanisms used
by cells to repair damaged
DNA - a fundamental process
in living cells and important
in cancer
Svetlana Alexievich,
journalist and prose writer
Nobel Prize in Literature


For her polyphonic writings,
a monument to suffering and courage in our time
Tunisia's National Dialogue
Quartet
Nobel Peace Prize For its contribution to
building democracy after the Jasmine Revolution in 2011
Angus Deaton Nobel Prize in Economics For his work on
consumption, poverty and
welfare, that helped
governments to improve
policy
1. William C Campbell
2. Satoshi Ōmura
3. Youyou Tu(1
st
Chinese)
Nobel Prize in Physiology or
Medicine
In Stockholm

APPOINTMENTS
Name of the Post Name of the Person Points To Note
Director of Aeronautical
Development Establishment
(ADE)
MVKV Prasad He succeeds MZ Siddique
who was holding the
additional charge
CEO of Volkswagen's
Porsche business
Oliver Blume He replaces Matthias
Mueller
MD & CEO of IDFC Bank Rajiv Lall Functioning from Oct 1
Interim Chairman &
Managing Director of Power Grid
IS Jha
Allahabad University
students union
Richa Singh First woman research scholar
to be elected
CMD of Neyveli Lignite
Corporation Ltd. (NLC)
Sarat Kumar Acharya A Navratna company which
comes under Ministry of
Coal
CMD of SAIL A K Pujari He is MSME Secretary
Director (Finance) of
Hindustan Petroleum Corp
Ltd (HPCL)
J Ramaswamy He takes over from K V Rao
BCCI president Shashank Manohar

After sudden demise of
Jagmohan Dalmiya
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MD Mahindra Intertrade
Ltd (MIL)
Sumit Issar A wholly-owned subsidiary
of Mahindra & Mahindra
Chairman and CEO of the
food regulator FSSAI
Ashish Bahuguna He replaces Yudhvir Singh
Malik
CFO of Flipkart Sriram Venkataraman Pramod Jain as Vice
President and Head of
Taxation
CEO of Twitter Inc. Jack Dorsey He will remain chief
executive of Square Inc., the
payments startup he co-
founded
Eastern Fleet Commander Rear Admiral SV Bhokare He replaces AB Singh
Chairman of the
Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC)
Hoesung Lee of South Korea He succeeds Rajendra
Pachauri
Board of capital market
regulator Securities and
Exchange Board of India
(SEBI)
Corporate Affairs Secretary
Tapan Ray
Ray succeeded Anjuly Chib
Duggal
Secretary of the Dept of
Official Language under the Home Ministry
Girish Shankar Add charge Secretary in the
Tourism Ministry.

Chairman of Atomic Energy
Commission
Sekhar Basu He will replace RK Sinha
Chairman of Confederation
of Indian Textile Industry
(CITI)
Naishadh Parikh Binoy Joy its Secretary
General
Chairman of Broadband India
Forum (BIF)
MF Farooqui He replaced Shyamal Ghosh
EVP and the CFO of Infosys Ranganath Mavinakere He replaces Rajiv Bansal
Flag Officer Commanding
Western Fleet (FOCWF)
Ravneet Singh The Admiral has over 2500
hrs of flying experience
CEO of Reliance Power N Venugopala Rao Rao was CEO of Sasan Power Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary of Reliance Power
MD and CEO of Bank of
Baroda
PS Jayakumar Former chief executive of
VBHC Value Homes
CEO of Telenor India Sharad Mehrotra He will succeed Vivek Sood
Executive chairman of
Twitter
Omid Kordestani Former Google executive
Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp Klopp replaces Brendan
Rodgers
Assistant Director of FAO Kundhavi Kadiresan She succeeded Hiroyuki
Konuma
HPCL Chairman MK Surana He replaced Rishi Vasudeva
Campaigner of PETA VVS Laxman PETA – People for the ethical
treatment of Animals
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Legislative Secretary G Narayana Raju
Director of CDFD GR Chandhak CDFD – Centre for DNA
Fingerprinting and
Diagnostics
AMFI Chairman Leo Puri AMFI – Association for
Mutual Funds in India
CFO of Housing.com Mani Rangarajan He has held executive level
roles in Citigroup and Yahoo
President All India Council of
Sports (AICS)
Vijay Kumar Malhotra First President of AICS
Lokayukta of Delhi Reva Khetrapal He is a former Delhi High
Court judge
Snapdeal CFO Anup Vikal He replaces Aakash
Moondhra
Flipkart Chief Marketing
Officer (CMO)
Samardeep Subandh Previously he was working
with Hindustan Unilever
National Security Advisor
(NSA) of Pakistan
Nasser Khan Janjua Retired lieutenant general
Mayor of Bonn, Germany Ashok Sridharan Indian- origin politician
Member of N ational
Commission for Women
Alok Rawat
Board of the Employees'
Provident Fund Organisation
(EPFO)
BJP's Balasubrahmanyam
Kamarsu
Appointed as an industry
representative
BlackBerry’s Managing
Director of India operations
Narendra Nayak He replaces Sunil Lalvani
Central Board of Directors of
the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI)
Shaktikanta Das He is the current Economic
affairs secretary
54th Speaker of US House of
Representatives
Paul Ryan
Chair of IGN of UNSC
Reforms
Sylvie Lucas IGN - Inter-Governmental
Negotiations
Chairman of Central Board of
Excise and Customs (CBEC)
Najib Shah
KKR assistant coach Simon Katich He was a former Australia
batsman
India's representative to
ICAO
Alok Sekhar ICAO - International Civil
Aviation Organisation
Indian High Commissioner to
UK
Navtej Singh Sarna He is an IFS officer of 1980
batch





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Appointments Committee of the Cabinet - New Appointments
Name of the Person Position
Sanjay Kumar Srivastava Chairman of National Authority of Chemical
Weapons Convention
PK Malhotra Secretary of Legislative Department
Ameising Luikham Secretary of Ministry of Development of
North Eastern Region
Anoop Kumar Srivastava Secretary of Inter State Council Secretariat
Dr Anup K Pujari Secretary of Ministry of Steel

BANKING AND FINANCE
Indirect Tax collections increase by 32.6% over the corresponding period in the previous
year
 Reflecting an increase in economic activity, Indirect Tax Revenue (Provisional)
collections have increased from 46,224 crore rupees in September 2014 to 61,284
crore rupees during September 2015.
 Thus an increase of 32.6% has been registered during September 2015 over the
corresponding period in the previous year.
Government infuses Rs 13,955 crore capital into 8 PSU banks
 Eight public sector banks, including SBI, Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda
have said that they have allotted equity shares on preferential basis to the
government against capital infusion of Rs 13,955 crore.
 Bank of India, Canara Bank, Dena Bank, Corporation Bank and Andhra Bank are
among the lenders that received capital infusion from the government.
PM Modi inaugurates MUDRA mega credit camp
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched the Mudra scheme in Dumka under
which people can take loans up to Rs. 10 lakh to start businesses.
 "The Mudra scheme is one step forward to accelerate development in the country.
 Till now, 42 lakh people have taken benefits under the Mudra scheme and loans
of Rs.26,000 crore have been given," PM Modi said while launching the scheme in
the state.
ADB to provide loan for India-Bangladesh Electricity link upgradation
 The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $120 million loan to upgrade the
India-Bangladesh electricity network.
 Once completed, this will allow Bangladesh to meet its increasing power demand
and support power exchanges across South Asia.
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ICICI brings in card- less mVisa
 ICICI Bank has become the first institution worldwide to launch mVisa – a card-less
and device-less solution the payments company is betting on in the mobile space.
 ICICI Bank has incorporated the mVisa application in its Pockets app, which allows
payments to be made by scanning a static QR code and entering the amount.
HDFC raises over Rs 10,000 cr through securities
 Mortgage lender HDFC has raised about Rs 10,000 crore through mix of warrants and
non-convertible debentures to qualified institutional investors.
 HDFC has alloted 3.65 crore warrants at an issue price of Rs 14 apiece, at an exercise
price of Rs 1,475 per share. With the issuance of the warrants, HDFC has raised Rs
5,384 crore.
 Besides, it has raised Rs 5,000 crore through issuance of non- convertible debentures
(NCDs).
RBI relaxed norms of FPI investment in Government Securities
 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has 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.
Telenor launches free insurance for mobile phone users
 In a first from a telco in India, Telenor will begin offering life insurance to its new and
existing customers, with covers starting from Rs 5,000 going up to Rs 50,000, while
consumers don't need to pay any premium.
 The plan allows Telenor's existing 47.5 million customers to get enrolled in the
scheme by either calling up customer service or visiting one of the company's 2100
stores in six circles where it operates.
BoB Forex Scam: CBI Raids 50 More Locations
 The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has raided 50 more locations in connection
with BOB Forex Scam in north Delhi branch’s alleged foreign exchange act violation
worth over Rs. 6,000 crores.
 The key figures involved in the crime have been identified and the suspects are being
interrogated. Most addresses given by firms involved in the case were found to be
false.

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RBI inks MoU with Bank of Botswana for info exchange
 The Reserve Bank has signed an agreement on information sharing with Bank of
Botswana under the Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory
Information.
 The MoU was signed by Andrew M Motsomi, Director of Banking Supervision on
behalf of Bank of Botswana, and Parvathy V Sundaram, Chief General Manager-in-
Charge, Department of Banking Supervision, of RBI.
Deposits in accounts under Jan Dhan Yojana cross Rs 25,000 crore: Finance ministry
 Deposit in accounts opened under the government's flagship financial inclusion
programme, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), have exceeded Rs.25,000
crore.
 Besides, the PMJDY accounts having balances have now exceeded 60 per cent and
the zero balance accounts reduced to less than 40 per cent.
 The accounts that can be opened under PMJDY are Basic Savings Bank Deposit
Accounts (BSBDA) which can be of zero balance. As on October 7, the deposits
collected stood at Rs. 25,146.97 crore. So far, 18.7 crore accounts have been opened
under the scheme.
RBI formed Financial Inclusion Fund with Rs. 2000 crore corpus
 The RBI has announced merger of two funds to create a new Financial Inclusion Fund
with a corpus of Rs 2,000 crore to support “developmental and promotional
activities” for expanding reach of banking services.
 After completion of initial five years, the RBI said it had now been decided to merge
the Financial Inclusion Fund and the Financial Inclusion Technology Fund into a single
Fund — Financial Inclusion Fund (FIF).
Aditya Birla Group enters e-commerce, launches online fashion portal abof.com
 Aditya Birla Group entered the e-commerce space by launching fashionportal
abof.com.
 Abof.com ('All about fashion') is a one-stop fashion portal for apparel, footwear and
accessories for men and women who are discerning customers but not heavy-
discount oriented ones.
First time in eight years fiscal balance turned surplus in August 2015: CGA
 The Controller-General of Accounts (CGA) has announced that India’s fiscal balance
turned from deficit to surplus for the first time in 8 years.
 Fiscal deficit-difference between revenue and expenditure excluding borrowings- for
August 2015 was pegged at - 15808 crore rupees that indicates surplus of revenues
over expenditure.
 In August 2015, the total expenditure was only 131214 crore rupees against the total
revenue of 147022 crore rupees.



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Infosys announced to acquire Noah Consulting for 70 Million US dollars
 IT major Infosys today announced acquisition of US-based oil and gas consulting firm
Noah Consulting for USD 70 million (approximately Rs 453.5 crore) in an all- cash
deal.
 The company said this acquisition is part of its strategy to "bring next generation
data analytics solutions to the oil and gas industry".
 The transaction is expected to close before the end of the third quarter of 2015-16.
PM inaugurates IDFC Bank
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the IDFC Bank at New Delhi.
 He said the government has initiated a series of banking reforms including re-
capitalisation of PSU banks, change in rules for hiring top management and paper -
less transactions to curb the black money menace.
 He also added “The banking sector is seeing changes. Mobile banking is coming up.
Banking will be premises-less and paper-less”.
Bank of Baroda launches ‘Chillr Mobile App’
 Bank of Baroda (BoB) has launched the Chillr Mobile app, in the process becoming
the first public sector bank to partner with Chillr.
 The app, which is directly linked to customers’ bank accounts, will allow them to
transfer money instantly to any of the contacts in their phonebook.
 Chillr is an offshoot of Kochi-based technology firm MobME. Two-and-a-half lakh
users have successfully linked their bank accounts with the app and more than five
lakh transactions have been made till now.
Yes Bank inks partnership with Snapdeal and Blue Dart to facilitate faster seller payments
 Private sector bank Yes Bank has inked a partnership with Snapdeal, India's largest
online marketplace in terms of sellers transacting on its platform, and leading
logistics and transportation company Blue Dart, which will see the financial
institution make 'strategic interventions in the financial supply chains' of the latter
two companies.
 Yes Bank had earlier partnered with Snapdeal to implement industry's first API
banking services enabling Snapdeal to process customer refunds within an hour's
time.
RBI allows banks to fix interest rates on gold deposit scheme
 Reserve Bank of India has issued guidelines for the Gold Monetisation Scheme that
allow banks to fix their own interest rates on gold deposits.
 The gold deposit scheme is aimed at mobilising a part of an estimated 20,000 tonnes
of idle precious metal with households and institutions. As per the guidelines, banks
will be free to set interest rate on such deposit, and principal and interest of the
deposit will be denominated in gold.

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Banking correspondents under PMJDY exempted from service tax
 The Government has exempted services provided by a business facilitator or a
business correspondent to a banking company with respect to basic savings bank
deposit accounts covered by Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) from
payment of service tax.
 Further, services provided by any person as an intermediary to a business facilitator
or a business correspondent for these services have also been exempted from
service tax.
Payments banks to expand reach of banking in rural areas: World Bank
 The World Bank has said India’s move to set up 11 new payments banks is expected
to expand penetration of the banking sector in vast rural areas of the country.
 It has noted that the decision by the Reserve Bank of India to grant ‘in principle’
approval for 11 entities to set up payments banks, which would be directed at small
savers in underserved (largely rural) markets, could help transform the rural
remittances market.
National Capital Goods Policy Draft Ready
 A draft National Policy on Capital Goods has been prepared and put in public domain
for comments/suggestions of stakeholders and general public.
 The Department of Heavy Industry, in active consultation with industry associations
& bodies has drafted a National Policy on Capital Goods.
 The policy seeks to raise India’s share of global exports in capital goods to 2.5% and
increase the share of domestic production of capital goods from 56% to 80% by
2025.
 The policy aims to shift some of that production to India, raising share of capital
goods in total manufacturing to 20% by 2025 from 12% now.
India takes fresh guard to boost trade and economic ties
 The slowdown in China provides India an opportunity to move deep into the African
continent, strengthen business and economic ties.
 The India-Africa summit will be a perfect setting for business communities from India
and African nations to explore areas of cooperation and provide a roadmap to their
governments.
 Economic and Trade relations between India and Africa have been on the slow track
despite several Indian companies having a presence in the continent.
 The current trade is estimated around $75 billion. More than 165 Indian companies
invested in Africa between January 2003 and July 2015 in telecom, infrastructure,
pharmaceuticals, healthcare and elsewhere.




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Sin Tax to be imposed on alcohol, tobacco during GST regime

 Sin Tax has been included under the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) law that
will be effective from 1 April 2016.
 Sin tax is an excise tax levied on products and services like alcohol, tobacco and
gambling considered bad for health or society.
 These additional taxes are also seen as efforts to discourage people from use of such
products or services.
 This kind of tax is often used by government to attract higher their tax revenues as
people generally refrain from opposition to such levies as they are indirect in nature
and affect only their end users.

RBI signs MoU with Bangladesh Bank for exchange of supervisory information.

 The Reserve Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with
Bangladesh Bank for exchange of supervisory information.
 RBI has entered into Memorandam of Understanding, Letter for Supervisory Co-
operation and Statement of Co-operation with supervisors of a few countries to
promote greater cooperation and share supervisory information.
 With this, RBI has signed 30 such MoUs, one Letter for Supervisory Cooperation and
one Statement of Cooperation.
RBI turned down a proposal to allow up to 100% FDI in banks.
 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has turned down a proposal from the government to
allow up to 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in banks, a move that may come as
a damper for several private sector lenders such as ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank.
 Private banks are particularly keen on a higher ceiling and investors are also hoping
for a relaxation.
 In fact, HDFC Bank recently got permission for 74% foreign investment and was also
found to be in breach of the norms for a short period.
FIIs/RFPIs can now invest up to 74 percent in DEN Networks Limited: RBI
 The Reserve Bank has allowed foreign investors to raise their stake up to 74 percent
in DEN Networks.
 RBI said the decision came after the company passed resolutions at its Board of
Directors level and a special resolution by the shareholders, agreeing for enhancing
the limit for the purchase of its equity shares and convertible debentures by
FIIs/RFPIs.
 FIIs, NRIs and PIOs (Persons of Indian Origins) can invest in primary and secondary
capital markets in India through PIS.





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INDIAN AFFAIRS
4th International Tourism Mart inaugurated in Gangtok, Sikkim
 The 4th International Tourism Mart (ITM) has been inaugurated in Gangtok, Sikkim.
The ITM has been organized by the Union Ministry of Tourism in association with the
North Eastern States and the state of West Bengal.
 It has been inaugurated by the Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge),
Culture (Independent Charge) and Civil Aviation, Dr. Mahesh Sharma, along with the
Chief Minister of Sikkim, Pawan Chamling.
PM Narendra Modi unveils bust of Dr Abdul Kalam
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi paying tribute to late President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam
on his 84th birth anniversary,hailing him as a 'rashtra ratna'.
 Narendra Modi highlighted not just Dr Kalam's personal rise from humble roots but
also his contribution to the organisations that he led to great heights.
 PM Modi attended the birth anniversary celebrations of Kalam at the DRDO
headquarters (New Delhi) where he unveiled his bust as well.
India bags No. 3 spot in world's startup ecosystem
 According to Nasscom's latest report, India is third globally with the number of
startups crossing 4,200.
 The report, titled 'Start-up India -- Momentous Rise of the Indian Start -up
Ecosystem,' says the Indian technology startups landscape has seen a tremendous
growth in the emergence of innovative start-ups and creative entrepreneurs. India is
one among the first five largest start-up communities in the world with the number
of startups crossing 4,200.
CIDCO to set up Aviation Academy in Navi Mumbai
 City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd (CIDCO) will set up
an Aviation Academy for the training of manpower required for the proposed Navi
Mumbai International airport.
 The work of the proposed airport is likely to begin next year and the first phase has
been scheduled to be completed in 2019.
PM lays foundation stone of two Metro corridors in Mumbai
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of two elevated Metro
corridors in Mumbai– Dahisar-D N Nagar and Dahisar-Andheri (east) route. Speaking
on the occasion Prime Minister said, "Port sector needs to be expanded,
strengthened, developed, and advanced if India has to emerge as a global leader.”
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 Prime Minister further said, coastal States need to work together to develop the port
sector. Prime Minsiter also reiterated that for environmental friendly development,
mass-transport mechanisms are imperative.
 Mr. Modi says Constitution Day will be celebrated on November 26 and all schools
will celebrate the 'Samvidhan Divas'.
Quality of Death Index : India ranks last
 A new report on global palliative care has named India as one of the worst places to
die and Britain the best.
 The report also notified Kerala as a ‘beacon of hope’ for being the only Indian state
to have a formal policy on palliative care services.
 The report from the Economic Intelligence Unit, titled ‘The quality of death: Ranking
end-of-life care across the world’, ranks India at number 40 in its ‘Quality of Death
Index’ that measures the current environment for end- of-life care services in 40
countries.
France initiates smart city projects with 2 bn Euro loan
 Smart City project for sustainable development, with two billion Euro assistance
from the French government, has begun in Puducherry with Nagpur and Chandigarh
being next in the line.
 French envoy to India Francois Richier said the French development agency, AFD, has
already joined hands with these state administrations. AFD will provide technological
support in the areas of water, sanitation, transport and waste management in these
cities.
Government mulls Rs 32,800 crore greenfield expressway between Delhi, Jaipur
 Government is considering a proposal to build a new expressway connecting the
national capital and the Pink City at an estimated cost of Rs 32,800 crore.
 About 2,800 hectares of land will have to be acquired for the project, Nitin
Gadkari said addressing a press conference here after reviewing the progress of
Delhi-Jaipur Highway.
 The cost of the land acquisition will be Rs 18,000 crore.
Abraaj teams up with Aditya Birla for Indian solar investments
 Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj Group and India's Aditya Birla Group have
agreed to invest jointly in building and operating new solar power plants in India.
 The firms are the latest companies to plan solar investments in India ahead of an
expected boom in clean energy projects after New Delhi hiked its solar energy target
to 100 gigawatts by 2022, a 33-fold rise from current levels.

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Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan Launched KISAN Project and Hailstorm App
 MoS for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan today launched
KISAN Project [C(K)rop Insurance using Space technology And geoiNformatics].
 The project envisages use of Space Technology and geoinformatics (GIS, GPS and
Smartphone) technology along with high resolution data from UAV/Drone based
imaging.
 The project will pave the way for improvement in yield estimation and better
planning of Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs), needed for crop insurance programme.
Commerce Secretary Inaugurates Advantage Healthcare India – 2015
 Commerce Secretary Ms. Rita A Teaotia has inaugurated the ‘Advantage Health Care
India, 2015”, an international summit on Medical Value Travel in New Delhi
to promote healthcare services exports from India.
 This has been organized by the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce &
Industry, Government of India, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce &
Industry (FICCI) and Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC).
India commits 33- 35% cut in carbon emission intensity by 2030
 India has pledged to cut its carbon emission intensity by 33-35 per cent and increase
the share of renewable energy by a massive 40 per cent in its total energy mix by
2030 in the target submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention
(UNFCCC) on Climate Change for a global climate pact.
 In its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) submitted to the UNFCCC,
India announced that it aims at achieving around 40 per cent cumulative electric
power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.
Govt collects Rs 3,770 cr from over 600 stash holders
 The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has said that the government has received
638 declarations with an amount of 3,770 crore rupees under the black money
compliance window.
 The 90- day compliance window provided to declare undisclosed overseas assets
under the Black money (Undisclosed foreign income and assets) and Imposition of
Tax Act, 2015 ended on September 30, 2015.
India to host 2017 World Cup, NRAI aims for World Championships
 India will be hosting the combined shotgun/rifle/pistol World Cup in 2017 and based
on the event's success, the NRAI will contemplate bidding for the 2018 prestigious
World Championship.
 The combined tournament is the year's one of the four World Cups in the
International Shooting Sport Federation's (ISSF) calendar.
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India to Chair G20 in 2018; Delhi may host
 The G20 member nations took a decision on the Chair for 2018.
 China is chairing the G20 in 2016, followed by Germany in 2017 and then the Chair
will pass on to India for 2018. The G20 operates as a forum and not as an
organisation.
 One of the G20 countries is selected to hold the Chair in rotation, also known as ‘G20
presidency’.
India a bright spot in slowing world eco: IMF chief
 IMF chief Christine Lagarde has said that India remains a bright spot in the world
economy amid sluggish global growth this year with only a modest acceleration
expected in 2016.
 She noted that despite progress in recent years, financial sector weaknesses remain
in many countries, and financial risks are now elevated in emerging markets.
GOI notified Mid-Day Meal Rules, 2015
 The Government of India has notified Mid- Day Meal (MDM) Rules, 2015 under the
Food Security Act, 2013.
 The new rules have been finalised by Union Government after consultation with the
States and other related Ministries of Union Government.
India students in Gandhi dress create Guinness Record
 School children of Bangalore have created a Guinness Record for "the largest
gathering of people dressed as Mahatma Gandhi".
 A total of 4,605 children between the ages of six and 14 dressed in traditional white
dhotis - long loin cloths - came dressed in spectacles, fake moustaches and skull caps
and carried bamboo sticks.
 They assembled for four hours at Bangalore's Kanteerva Stadium.
 The record had been previously held by a school in the neighbouring state of Tamil
Nadu.
Andhra Pradesh set to allot 2,720 acres to DRDO for missile testing project
 The Andhra Pradesh cabinet under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Chandrababu
Naidu, decided to allot 2,720 acres of land near Orvakallu in Kurnool district for
DRDO's missile testing project.
 The cabinet also decided to allot 1,965 acres of land to build a naval base at
Rayavaram village in Visakhapatnam district.


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Radar integration: IAF signs Rs 8000- crore deal with BEL
 Indian Air Force (IAF) has signed a nearly Rs 8,000 crore deal with state-run Bharat
Electronics Limited (BEL) for the extension of its programmes integrating all civil and
defence radars across the country.
 The IAF has already established five nodes of the IACCS (Integrated Air Command
and Control System) in the western sector, bordering Pakistan.
India became the World's largest cotton producer
 According to data released by International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), India
became World’s largest cotton producer on 30th September 2015.
 India produced 6.51 mn tonnes cotton.
ESCI to be introduced in 5 states: Bandaru Dattatreya
 Medical service for workers through the Employees State Insurance Corporation
(ESCI) would now be introduced in five states.
 With the inclusion of Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Andaman and
Nicobar Islands, the ESCI would now cover the whole country.
Indian film 'Zubaan' opens 20th Busan film festival
 Indian film 'Zubaan' opened the 20th edition of Busan Film Festival in South Korea.
 A total of 302 films from 75 countries including 94 world premiers and celebrations
spanning 10-days with a rich line-up of films and celebrities from Asia.
India and Lithuania agree to intensify agricultural cooperation
 Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Mohanbhai Kundariya, held bilateral talks in
Vilnius with Lithuanian vice Minister for Agriculture Mr. Vilius Martusevičius.
 Both sides agreed that there was significant potential for intensifying bilateral
cooperation in agriculture, particularly in sectors like food and dairy processing.
Adani Ports inks MoU with L&T for Kattupalli Port Operations
 Adani Ports (Adani) has entered into a non- binding Memorandum of Understanding
with L&T Shipbuilding (L&T) for evaluating the operations of the port at Kattupalli,
Tamil Nadu.
 The development comes amid reports that Gautam Adani-led Adani group is likely to
take over the operational and management control of L&T Kattupalli International
Container Terminal near Chennai to strengthen its presence on the east cost.


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India tops Asia in sending scientists, engineers to US
 India is the top country of birth among Asian countries for immigrant scientists and
engineers in US, with 950,000 out of the continent's total 2.96 million.
 A new report from the National Science Foundation's National Center for Science
and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) has revealed that India's 2013 figure represents
an 85 percent increase from 2003.
 In ten years (from 2003 to 2013), the number of scientists and engineers residing in
the US rose from 21.6 million to 29 million.
India's poverty rate lowest among nations with poor population: World Bank
 India accounted for the largest number of poor people in any country in 2012, but
according to World Bank, its poverty rate was lowest among countries having large
number of poor population.
 According to the report, the number of people living in extreme poverty around the
world is likely to fall to under 10 per cent of the global population in 2015.
Vodafone wins transfer pricing tax dispute case
 Vodafone India won its battle against the income-tax department over transfer
pricing in the Bombay High Court, which set aside the appellate tribunal's ruling that
had gone against the telecom company.
 The verdict was cause for optimism among multinationals mired in similar, long-
running disputes that India will come good on its pledge to improve the investment
climate by moving away from an adversarial tax regime.
GOI and KFW Sign Loan Agreements for Green Energy Projects
 Government of India and KFW (Federal Republic of Germany) signed two loan
agreements worth Euro 125 Millions for financing two projects under the Green
Energy Projects (GEC) programme- Himachal Pradesh (Euro 57 million) and Andhra
Pradesh (Euro 68 million).
 With the Green Energy Corridors, the intra-State network will feed the renewable
energy to the respective State grids and the high capacity transmission corridors and
inter-State network will connect major renewable energy pockets with the national
grid.
Cabinet approves National War Memorial in Delhi
 The union cabinet on 7th October 2015 approved construction of a ‘National War
Memorial and a ‘National War Museum’ in the memory of 22, 500 soldiers who
sacrificed their lives while fighting wars for post-independent India.
 The cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took the decision in
this regard.
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Sagarmala Project : GOI to spend 70K crore for major port’s development
 The government has announced that it intends to spend Rs 70,000 crore under
Sagarmala Project to make the major ports more efficient and reduce logistics cost in
India.
 The new target for investment in the port sector was made by the Shipping, Road
Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, who chaired the first meeting of the
National Sagarmala Apex Committee (NSAC).
 Once implemented, this will result in cargo traffic increasing three-fold while the
ports will also go under performance audit.
Achary panel recommended 400% hike in basic salary of Delhi MLAs
 A three-member Committee chaired by former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha
PDT Achary favoured a 400 per cent hike in the basic salary of the Capital’s MLAs —
from Rs. 12,000 to Rs. 50,000 per month — in addition to a slew of allowances for
purposes ranging from travel to office furniture.
Arunachal Pradesh launches programme on conservation of Eastern Hoolock Gibbon
 Arunachal Pradesh Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Dr Shashi Kumar
laucnhed a community and school-based education programme on conservation of
the endangered Eastern Hoolock Gibbon.
 The program has been launched in Arunachal’s Lower Dibang Valley district and at
Sadiya sub-division under Assam’s Tinsukia district.
 It would be implemented by ENVIRON, North- East based NGO.
Home Minister inaugurates conference on anti-human trafficking
 Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has inaugurated a national conference on anti-
human trafficking in the national capital.
 The day-long conference is being organised by the Ministry of Home Affairs along
with key stake-holders like state nodal officers for anti- human trafficking, officers of
anti-human trafficking units set up in various districts, other stakeholders like
ministries or departments, NGOs and experts in the field of anti-human trafficking.
Utkal starts 'Project Saksham' to empower rural women
 In its bid to empower rural women, Utkal Alumina International Limited (UAIL), a
unit of Aditya Birla Group, has launched a unique project for the welfare of
communities living in the vicinity of its project area in Odisha.
 Named as 'Project Saksham', the new initiative involves an advanced training-cum-
garment manufacturing unit at Tikiri in Rayagada district to help unemployed rural
women engage in a sustainable livelihood and become self- reliant, said Vijay Sapra,
Unit Head and President, UAIL.
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NGT orders to levy environmental tax on trucks entering Delhi
 National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed all commercial vehicles to pay
environmental tax in addition to the toll tax.
 The green panel has observed that vehicular pollution is one of the main sources of
inferior quality of air in Delhi. In order to curb air pollution, NGt took the decision as
Delhi is the Highest polluting city in the world.
Indian Air Force celebrates its 83rd Anniversary
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee have greeted the
Indian Air Force (IAF) on its 83rd anniversary.
 "I salute our air force personnel on Air Force Day. They have always served India with
great courage and determination. Contribution of our Air Force is monumental.
 They are always at the forefront, be it in protecting skies or in times of disasters",
Prime Minister Modi said in a series of tweets.
Union Cabinet Approvals : Latest Updates
 The Union Cabinet gave its nod for the introduction of a ‘limitation of benefit’ clause
in the double taxation avoidance convention (DTAC) with Israel.
 The Cabinet also gave its nod for a protocol to amend the existing double taxation
avoidance agreement (DTAA) with Vietnam.
 The World Bank-assisted ‘National Watershed Management Project’, or
‘Neeranchal’, also received approval for implementation by the Cabinet.
 The Cabinet also approved the setting up of three new All India Institutes of Medical
Sciences (AIIMS) at Nagpur (Maharashtra), Mangalagiri (Andhra Pradesh) and Kalyani
(West Bengal).
Indian economy to grow at 7.5% in 2015: UNCTAD
 According to a report released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD), India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow at
7.5 per cent in 2015.
 UNCTAD pointed out that lower oil prices have eased current account deficits in
countries, such as Pakistan and India.
14 Indian families in Asia's richest list; Ambanis on 3rd
 As many as 14 Indian families have made it to the inaugural list of Forbes' 50 richest
families in Asia, led by the Ambanis, who were ranked third on the list with a net
worth of USD 21.5 billion.
 Indians hold 14 of the 50 spots, the most from any jurisdiction.
 The overall list was topped by Lees of Samsung Group, whose 2014 revenues were
equivalent to 22 per cent of South Korea's GDP.
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AR Rahman announced Seychelles cultural ambassador
 Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman has been named the Cultural Ambassador for
Seychelles.
 The music maestro has sent out his love and regard to the people and government of
the foreign nation.
 A two-time Oscar winning composer, Rahman shared an image of the certificate, on
the micro-blogging site.
Centre to launch unique ID card for differently-abled
 The Centre will launch a unique identity card for differently-abled persons, which will
help them in availing benefits of government schemes.
 The identity card will ensure accessibility of differently-abled people to various
schemes provided by the state and central governments.
Protocol for establishment of the India-Ecuador Joint Economic and Trade Committee
(JETCO) signed
 The Protocol for the establishment of the India-Ecuador Joint Economic and Trade
Committee (JETCO) was signed during the meeting between the Ambassador of
Ecuador to India, H.E. Mr. Mentor Villagomez and Ms. Rita Teotia, Commerce
Secretary.
 The JETCO aims further improving, deepening and strengthening the existing trade
relationship between India and Ecuador.
 The JETCO will function as the primary forum for discussion and other promotional
activities on trade and investment issues and will be meeting once in every two
years.
 The first meeting of the JETCO is proposed to be held early next year in India.
Tell us one place where Ganga is clean: NGT asks Centre
 The National Green Tribunal today asked the government to "tell us one place"
where the Ganga is clean and said that despite spending huge sums, the situation
has gone from bad to worse.
 Expressing open displeasure over the government's lackadaisical approach towards
ensuring cleanliness and uninterrupted flow of the Ganga, it said "we take it that
almost nothing has happened in reality."




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Operation Valsalya to track missing children
 The Kerala government has launched a programme named Operation Valsalya to
trace, rescue and reunite the missed children with their family.
 The state government's ambitious programme is envisaged to be implemented on
the lines of the much acclaimed 'Operation Smile' project in Ghaziabad.
 According to police statistics, as many as 69 children have been kidnapped or
abducted across the state till June this year.
 While 116 children had been kidnapped in the state in 2014, the number was 136 in
2013 and 147 in 2012.
India's first River Dolphin Reserve to come up in West Bengal
 To protect the endangered Gangetic river dolphins, West Bengal will soon have the
country's first community reserve for the mammal.
 A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the State Wildlife Board.
 It would be set up in the Hooghly river and the methodology to develop the
community reserve is being chalked out by a separate committee.
Future Group ties up with Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved
 Retail major Future Group has entered into a partnership with Baba Ramdev-
promoted Patanjali Ayurved to sell the latter's FMCG products through its stores
with plans for joint manufacturing in future.
 Patanjali's range of FMCG products, including staples, nutrition, hair care, skin care,
dental care and toiletries, will be sold through Future Group's Big Bazaar, KB's and
EasyDay outlets across India.
SAARC sufi festival begins in Jaipur
 The SAARC sufi festival, a three-day carnival of sufi dance, music and poetry was
opened by Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh at Jaipur. Artists from several countries
will take part in the festival, in which sufi dance, music, poetry recitals, book
readings, book launches and interactive sessions will be held.
 The event is being organised by the Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature
(FOSWAL).
Mumbai world's cheapest city: Report
 Mumbai has emerged as the world's cheapest city to live and work in, among 12 top
metropolitan cities of the world.
 London, Hong Kong and New York are the world's most expensive cities for
companies to accommodate employees, with costs in London going through the
roof, says Savills World Research.
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Sidharth Malhotra gears up as New Zealand tourism ambassador
 Sidharth Malhotra was recently announced as Tourism New Zealand's ambassador
for India and the actor says he is looking forward to visit the beautiful country.
 The 30- year-old "Brothers" actor is the first Indian ambassador for Tourism New
Zealand.
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Acquires ISO 9001:2008 Certificate
 The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has acquired ISO 9001:2008 certificate
for monitoring, planning, development and maintenance of highway infrastructure
and road transport throughout the country.
 Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping received
the certificate from the CMD of Indian Register Quality Systems (IRQS) Arun Sharma
in New Delhi.
75 Per Cent Of Original Habitats Lost In East Himalayas, Says WWF
 According to a new study by World Wildlife Fund, only 25 per cent of the original
habitats in the eastern Himalayas remain intact.
 Hundreds of species in the region face threat to their existence from unbridled
developmental activities and climate change.
 The latest regional species discovery report–‘Hidden Himalayas: Asia’s Wonderland’,
a World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Living Himalayas initiative has expressed concern
over depletion of original habitats due to industrial growth, mining and climate
change.
High-risk area boundary of maritime piracy shifted from India’s western coastline
 In a welcome move for Indian shipping companies, international shipping regulators
have revised the high risk area or HRA boundary in the Indian Ocean and have
shifted it away from the India’s western coastline.
 The new boundaries will come into effect on December 1, 2015. Indian shipping
regulators and defence forces have been lobbying to redraw the eastern limit of the
HRA since 2012 citing the fall in sea piracy, which reportedly fell to a six-year low in
2014.
PM lays foundation stone of 4th terminal of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone of fourth terminal of
country’s largest container port – Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Mumbai.
 The ambitious project will augment JNPT’s present capacity situated off the financial
capital’s eastern seafront by doubling it in next two years.

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Green India Mission Plans of Four States Approved
 The Green India Mission (GIM) falling under the Environment Ministry has approved
annual plans for Kerala, Mizoram, Manipur and Jhakhand.
 The National Executive Council approved the Perspective Plans of all four states with
a total financial outlay of Rs. 90,202.68 lakh for a plan period of five to ten years
years along with Annual Plan of Operations of Rs. 11,195.32 lakh for this financial
year.
Cochin Shipyard Limited delivers Fast Patrol Vessel for Indian Coast Guard
 The 15th vessel in the series of 20 Fast Patrol Vessel, ICGS Arinjay, has been
delivered by the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) to the Indian Coast Guard (ICG).
 The Protocol of Delivery and Acceptance was signed between Sunny Thomas,
Director (Technical), CSL and Commanding Officer (Designate) of the vessel
Commandant Ajay Kumar Mudgal.
 The vessel will be operated from the Coast Guard Station at Okha, Gujarat.
Kerala to host All Lights India Int'l Film Festival
 Kerala will host the All Lights India International Film Festival (ALIIFF) 2015 and
Indywood Film Market (IFM) at Kochi from November 15 to 21.
 ALIIFF 2015 is a unique platform for the global film industry to portray excellence in
film making, and interact with artistes and technicians of world cinema, according to
the organisers.
Gujarat proposed 15375 crore rupees AMRUT Plan to ensure basic infrastructure in 31
mission cities
 The Gujarat Government has proposed a 15375 crore rupees comprehensive action
plan to ensure basic infrastructure in 31 cities under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation
and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) in the next five years.
 Out of this proposed amount, 42 percent will be spent on providing water supply
connections to all urban households in 31 AMRUT cities, 30 percent will be spent on
providing sewerage connections to all households and 12 percent will be spent on
ensuring drainage services and the rest on urban transport and provision of green
spaces and parks.
Tamil Nadu Government bans Ketoprofen drug to save vultures
 After a ban on multi-vial drugs of Diclofenac by the Centre, now the State
government has withdrawn Ketoprofen, a non- steroid anti-inflammatory drug
(NSAID) used extensively for veterinary purposes to save the vulture population in
the three western districts.
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 Despite the first batch of the drug being supplied to all the districts beginning May
2015, the Directorate of Animal Husbandry has decided to discontinue the use of
Ketoprofen in Erode, Coimbatore and The Nilgiris, where the vulture population was
in danger
Maha cabinet approves new procurement policy
 Maharashtra cabinet has approved a new procurement policy to ensure
transparency in dealings in the backdrop of allegations of irregularities in purchases
made by various departments.
 The procurement policy will bring in new methods like the 'Swiss Challenge' system
of procurement to get the best deal from private players.
Ministry of Shipping launched a programme to develop 78 Lighthouses as tourism centers
 The ministry of shipping, along with the Directorate General of Lighthouses and
Lightships (DGLL), has drawn up an ambitious programme to develop 78 lighthouses
in the country as tourist centres under public-private-partnership mode.
 The identified lighthouses are in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala,
Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and
Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Delhi government launched Bill Banvao, Inaam Pao scheme
 The Department of Trade and Taxes, Delhi Government, has announced a scheme
titled “Bill Banvao, Inaam Pao,” under which cash awards would be given to general
public, who get proper bills made from retailers.
 The scheme would be covering those who get bill/ cash memo/ retail invoice
prepared of their purchases made from a registered dealer in Delhi.
 To become a receiver of the award, minimum taxable value of the purchased goods
should be Rs 100.
 The prize would be five times the taxable value of the products purchased and the
maximum cash reward would be Rs 50,000.
GOI to rename missile complex after Kalam
 The government of India has decided to rename the prestigious missile complex in
Hyderabad 'Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex' in honour of the late President.
 Kalam had joined the missile complex in 1982 and was a part of it for nearly two
decades.



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Govt flags off Science Express special train on climate change
 The government of India has flagged off the ‘Science Express Climate Action Special’
train from Delhi, as part of its initiative to sensitize the masses, especially children
and the youth, about the issue of climate change, in the run- up to the global climate
summit in Paris slated for December.
 The train will run till 7 May 2016 and during the course of these eight months, it
would stop at 64 locations across India, covering over 19,500 kilometres.
INS Astradharini Joins The Indian Navy
 An indigenously built Torpedo Launch and Recovery Vessel 'INS Astradharini', has
been commissioned by Vice Admiral Satish Soni, at the Naval Base, Visakhapatnam.
 The induction of INS Ashtradharini adds thrust to the Nation's ongoing endeavours at
indigenisation and achieving the nation's goal of self- reliance in under water
weapons development.
Union Government launches second phase of Mission Indradhanush
 The government of India launched second phase of Mission Indradhanush,
an ambitious immunisation programme focusing on 352 districts and assured the
states of full support for achieving the targets.
 It was launched by Union Health Minister JP Nadda. The Ministry aims to achieve full
immunisation of more than 90 per cent children by 2020.
DBT Partners with a US Firm to Reach Microscope Easily to Our Students
 Undergraduate students from all parts of the country will soon be able to take a
peek through a microscope that they can carry with them, following an initiative by
the Department of Biotechnology to reach the Prakash Lab’s low cost paper folding-
microscope, the Foldscope to students in our country.
Airtel launches Wi- Fi app Hangout for faster internet
 Bharti Airtel has launched its new Wi-Fi app, Airtel Hangout, which Airtel customers
can download free from Android or iOS store and latch on to the network in these
zones to experience faster internet speeds.
 Airtel customers will just need to have an activated Airtel 3G/4G pack/plan since the
Wi-Fi data consumption will be charged from this pack/plan.



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Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu Launched these Services Through Video Conferencing from New
Delhi
 Paperless Unreserved Ticketing through Mobile Phones on suburban stations over
Central Railway.
 Paperless Season tickets on suburban sections of Western Railway, Central Railway
and New Delhi-Palwal Section of Northern Railway.
 Currency, Coin - cum - Card operated Automatic Ticket Vending Machines at various
suburban stations on Central Railway and Western Railway.
GOI to launch 'M Cessation' to help kick tobacco habit
 The GOI will soon offer a mobile phone-based intervention to tobacco users where
they will be counselled to kick the habit.
 The Union Health Ministry will launch M Cessation or Mobile Cessation to develop
tobacco use abstinence among people interested in quitting.
 As part of the programme, tobacco users can enroll themselves by giving a missed
call to a particular phone number after which they will be asked three to four
questions through SMS like their educational qualifications, work status and the age
of onset of tobacco use.
Andhra Pradesh Government launched e-Pragati project
 Government of Andhra Pradesh on 9 October 22015 launched Andhra Pradesh State
Enterprise Architecture (APSEA).
 It is alternatively called as e-Pragati project. It was launched by the state Chief
Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at a function held in Visakhapatnam.
 It aims for a transformational change in the way government services are conceived,
designed, delivered and consumed.
Indian Navy's INS Trikand reaches Egyptian port Safaga
 In continuation of the Indian Navy's overseas deployment to West Asia, Africa and
Europe, Talwar class frigate INS Trikand entered Safaga port on the coast of the Red
Sea for a three days visit.
 The ship will engage extensively with the Egyptian Navy during its stay in the
country.




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One in 13 world cancer patients is Indian: US study
 The National Cancer Institute (NCI), a unit of US Department of Health and Human
Services (USDHHS), has observed that India shares a large proportion of the global
cancer burden.
 India has around 1.8 million people suffering from cancer, with patients of breast,
cervical and oral cancers topping the list. Every 13th new cancer patient in the world
is an Indian.
Tata Housing tied-up with Facebook to sell its affordable homes online
 Real estate developer Tata Housing has partnered with social networking firm
Facebook to sell its affordable homes online.
 The initiative is in line with the company’s target to generate over 30% of its overall
sales online in the next five years.
 Through this new campaign titled ‘Social sell’ on Facebook, the company plans to sell
around 250 units of its new five-acre residential project in Goa called Codename —
Goa Paradise.
7 out of every 10 Indians are vitamin deficient
 Metropolis Healthcare - a multinational chain of diagnostic centres conducted an
inclusive study on Vitamin D, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin B9 (Folic Acid) to observe the
deficiency and sufficiency of Vitamins within the inhabitants across India.
 The increasing trend of Vitamin deficiency is seen in all the age groups. Among the
samples tested across 4 zones viz, North, South, East, West 75% of population has
shown alarming levels of deficiency.
Musa indandamanensis, a sweet banana species with orange pulp discovered in
Andamans
 Scientists at the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) have discovered a new species of
banana from a remote tropical rain forest on the Little Andaman islands.
 The species, Musa indandamanensis, was located about 16 km inside the Krishna
Nalah forest in the island.
 The scientists who have made the discovery describe it as a distinct global species
with unique green flowers and fruit bunch lux (axis) thrice the size of a regular
banana species.




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ICGS Anmol fast patrol vessel commissioned
 Fast patrol vessel 'ICGS Anmol' has been commissioned by the Indian Coast
Guard. 'ICGS Anmol' is the 13th in the series of 20 fast patrol vessels being designed
and built by the Cochin Shipyard.
 The 50- metre-long ship is capable of achieving speeds in excess of 35 knots and has
an endurance of 1,500 nautical miles with economical speed of 13 knots.
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.
Maharashtra government plans launch of Mukhya Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
 The Maharashtra government is all set to launch `Mukhya Mantri Gram Sadak
Yojana' on the lines of the NDA government's flagship programme `Pradhan Mantri
Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)'.
 The initiative will see the state government spend Rs 13,500 crore to widen 3,000 km
of rural roads and another Rs 328 crore on laying 730 new roads.
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.
 The regulator has asked mobile phone operators to send a SMS to the user within
four-hours intimating of a call drop, and the credit for such drops to prepaid users.
 In case, of post-paid subscribers, operators will have to adjust the compensation for
call drops in their monthly bills to users.
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 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.
Maggi clears Bombay HC mandated lab tests: Nestle India
 Nestle India has announced that all samples of Maggi have cleared tests conducted
by three laboratories, as mandated by Bombay High Court.
 Nestle will now commence manufacture and will start selling only after the newly
manufactured products are also cleared by the designated three laboratories.
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Civil Aviation Minister inaugurates International Civil Helicopters Conclave 2015
 Union Minister of Civil Aviation P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju has inaugurated the
International Civil Helicopters Conclave 2015 in New Delhi.
 Raju also inaugurated an exhibition on Safety Management System, Multi Mission
Utility and Regional Air Connectivity.
 He launched the Corporate logo of Pawan Hans Limited and released a coffee table
book on the occasion.
Flight of Nirbhay Missile Aborted after 700 Seconds of Launch
 The test flight of India's nuclear-capable 'Nirbhay' long-range subsonic tactical cruise
missile, launched from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur in Odisha, was
aborted nearly 12 minutes after lift-off.
 During 700 seconds of flight all the subsystems of Nirbhay cruise Missile functioned
satisfactorily and met all the desired functions. The mission was aborted after 700
seconds of flight.
India proud to host India-Africa Summit: Modi
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed happiness in the country hosting the
India-Africa Forum Summit 2015, saying it is a reflection of a desire to engage more
intensively for a better future.
 "India is proud to host India-Africa Forum Summit 2015. The summit reflects India
and Africa's desire to engage more intensively for a better future," Modi tweeted.
India among top 10 acquirers in US market this year
 India has been ranked among top 10 acquirers in the US market this year with 16
deals valued at $1.7 billion, says Baker & McKenzie.
 Majority of these deals were in the pharma sector, with six transactions totalling
$1.5 billion, as Indian companies seek to increase their scale in the US generics
market, said a report by Baker & McKenzie.
Rajasthan Government notifies 5% quota for Gujjars and other SBCs
 Rajasthan government has issued a notification to provide 5% quota to Gujjars and
other Special Backward Classes (SBC) for which the Assembly has passed a bill last
month.
 The Act will provide 5% reservation in jobs and educational institutes to Gujjars,
Banjara, Raibari, and Gadiya Lohar communities in the state.
Maharashtra declares drought-like condition in 14,708 villages
 The Maharashtra government has declared a "drought-like condition" in 14,708 of
the state's 43,000 villages.
 This is the second successive year of drought in Maharashtra. In fact, the state has
experienced three such calamities in the last four years. The region of Marathwada
has been worst-hit, with a drought-like condition declared in every single village.

Chandigarh International airport ready for flights
 Chandigarh International Airport Ltd, subsidiary of Airports Authority of India, has
commenced all domestic scheduled and non scheduled flights from newly
constructed Integrated Terminal Building at Civil Airport here from October 19.
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India ranks last in global pension index: Mercer
 India’s retirement system ranks last in the global pension index, says a study by
global consulting major Mercer.
 The country's index value fell from 43.5 in 2014 to 40.3 in 2015, primarily due to a
recent review conducted by the economic intelligence unit that showed a material
reduction in its household savings rate.
 Denmark has been rated as the country with the best retirement system in the
world.
IRCTC launches pilot project on 'e-catering' service
 The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched a pilot
project of a station-based e-catering service allowing passengers to order meals as
per their choice, which will be delivered at stations from popular private caterers.
Health Ministry permits transfer of blood between Blood Banks
The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has identified two major initiatives towards better
utilisation of blood and blood components.
 The first step is permitting the transfer of blood from one blood bank to another.
This was not allowed earlier and will help in transfer of blood to places of scarcity.
 The second step is fixing of an exchange value for surplus plasma available at some
blood banks in the country. An exchange value of Rs.1600/ - per litre of plasma has
been fixed and the blood banks with surplus plasma can exchange it for
consumables, equipments etc. or plasma derived products, as per their need.
Health Ministry identifies 2 initiatives for blood utilisation
 On the recommendation of the National Blood Transfusion Council, the Ministry of
Health & Family Welfare has identified two major initiatives towards better
utilisation of blood and blood components.
 The first step is permitting the transfer of blood from one blood bank to another.
This was not allowed earlier and will help in transfer of blood to places of scarcity.
 Detailed guidelines for proper and efficient transport of blood between banks have
been prescribed.
Modi government makes Aadhaar number compulsory for budding entrepreneurs to
register new business
 The Modi government has made it compulsory for any budding entrepreneur to
submit her or his Aadhaar number in order to register a new business.
 In fact, aspiring startups can’t even ‘fill’ a new online form for registering new
enterprises introduced last month unless the Aadhaar credentials of their promoters
(sought in the first column of the form) are validated online.

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Karnataka, Gujarat lifted ban on Maggi Noodles
 The Karnataka and Gujarat Governments on 19 October 2015 lifted the ban on
manufacturing and sale of Nestle India's popular instant food brand Maggi noodles.
 The decision came following the clean chit given by three government-approved
laboratories to Maggi noodles.
 All the samples of Maggi cleared tests conducted by three laboratories, as
mandated by the Bombay High Court. The company will now relaunch the product
soon.
Centre calls meeting of CMs of seven Naxal-hit states on Nov 3' 2015
 With Maoist violence continuing unabated, the Centre has called a meeting of chief
ministers of seven Naxal-affected states on November 3 to chalk out a strategy to
fight the menace.
 The meeting, to be chaired by Union Home Minister of India Rajnath Singh, will
discuss overall Left-wing extremism (LWE) scenario in 35 worst-affected states in the
seven states - Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha
and Telangana - besides issues like inter-state coordination
Tunnel Technology Institute at Margao in Goa by Konkan Railway
 To enable training for the technology hitherto unavailable in the country, a tunnel
technology institute will be established by Konkan Railway at Goa’s Margao town.
 The institute will be named as ‘George Fernandes Institute of Tunnel Technology’,
after former Railway Minister George Fernandes.(The driving force behind the
Konkan Railway)
MOU signed for construction of Palchang-Rohtang Ropeway
 Himachal Pradesh government has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
with Malana Ropeway Pvt Ltd for execution of 9-Km long Palchan-Rohtang ropeway
to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 390 crore.
 The project would be commissioned within four years.
APSEZ inks MoU with IPGA to handle pulses across its ports in country
 As prices of pulses sky-rocketted to a record -high of Rs 200 per kg, Adani Group firm
today inked a pact with India Pulses Grains Association (IPGA) to handle the
commodity across its ports to ensure smooth and cost efficient availability of lentils
across the nation.
 The pact is intended to help develop a dedicated and efficient supply chain for
pulses, using strategically located Adani Ports facilities to all key consumption
centres in the country, ensuring availability of lentils.
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Mortality rate among Indian girls below age of five higher than the boys: UN Report
 India is among the countries with the largest surplus of men and a worrying under-
five sex ratio with more girls dying before the age of five than boys, according to a
UN report.
 “The World’s Women 2015” report launched said men outnumber women in eastern
Asia, southern Asia, Oceania, and western Asia.
 India alone accounted for 21 per cent of all under-5 deaths in 2013 and this low sex
ratio in under-5 mortality is pulling down the average for Southern Asia as a whole
and the entire world.
Thekkady named world's top emerging destination by PATA
 Thekkady, an iconic attraction in Kerala's Idukki district has been named the world's
top emerging destination by an international travel trade body.
 Thekkady won the inaugural Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) CEO Challenge
2015 award along with Albay in the Philippines.
 The award, instituted by PATA, was announced in Bangkok. Thekkady and Albay beat
a large number of destinations from around the world to win the award.
Maharashtra and Gujarat Naval Areas Divided into two Separate Headquarters
 With a view to enhance operational and administrative organizational structure, the
erstwhile Maharashtra and Gujarat Naval Area has been divided to make two
separate headquarters under Flag Officer Maharashtra Area and Flag Officer Gujarat
Naval Area.
 The division of the Naval Areas was marked by Rear Admiral Satish Namdeo
Ghormade, assuming of charge of Flag Officer Maharashtra Area from Rear Admiral
Murlidhar Sadashiv Pawar. Rear Admiral Murlidhar Sadashiv Pawar will officiate as
Flag Officer Gujarat Naval Area.
Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurates the IPF and IPI
 The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurated the Indian Police
Foundation (IPF) and the Indian Police Institute (IPI) in New Delhi.
 The IPF and the IPI aim at embarking a culture of research and evidencebased
policing in India and to avoid subjectivity, personal biases and errors in decision-
making.
 The Police Foundation and Institute aims to bring together the police professionals,
academia and other stake holders including citizens and provide a platform to
research, discuss, ideate and seek the answers.


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PM lays foundation stone of Amravati
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for Amaravati, the new
capital city of Andhra Pradesh, at a village not far from Guntur.
 The capital city is a dream project of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, whose TDP-
BJP government was hoisted to power in state elections last year. The state
Assembly building will come up at the place where the PM laid the foundation
stone.
 The master plan of the city was prepared with the help of the Singapore government
which has expertise in urban planning.
Odisha village generates 100 pc electricity via solar energy
 After waiting for electricity for several years, lives of the residents of Baripatha, a
tribal village in Odisha, changed for the better on Oct. 2, 2015.
 October 2 marked a life-changing transition for the 350-odd dwellers of Baripatha, a
tribal village 25km southwest of Bhubaneswar. It made history by becoming the first
village in the state to be entirely solar powered.
 The Baripatha model is low-cost, low-maintenance and community-owned and
hence different from other solar projects across India.
ISRO to launch six Singapore-made satellites in December
 India will launch six Singapore-made satellites, including a dedicated 400 kg
spacecraft for carrying out surveillance missions for maritime and border security, in
mid-December onboard PSLV-C29.
 The six satellites will be launched on PSLV-C29 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre
in Andhra Pradesh on December 16, 2015. Among them is a 400 kg satellite that can
conduct surveillance missions for maritime and border security, The Strait Times
reported.
 The satellites will then hover about 550 km above ground for up to five years.
India tops in trade facilitation in South- Asian sub-region: UN report
 According to UN Report, India is top trade facilitation performer in South Asian sub-
region while Singapore and Korea lead East Asia in moving goods.
 The inaugural Global Report of the Trade Facilitation and Paperless Trade
Implementation Survey provides data for 119 countries and serves as a useful basis
for benchmarking and monitoring trade facilitation performance.



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India ranked second on global business optimism Index in September quarter
 According to a Grant Thornton's International Business Report, India has been
ranked second on global business optimism Index in the July-September quarter.
 Notably, the same report had put India at fourth position between April-June this
year.
 The surge is being seen on account of various reasons like the consistent high growth
rate, the entrepreneurial dynamism in being able to create new opportunities and
businesses and the lower reliance on global trade based on significant domestic
demand.
Mumbai world's 11th best bed- n-breakfast value destination
 Mumbai has been ranked 11th among the best value destinations in the world for an
overnight stay at a four-star hotel that includes breakfast.
 As per TripIndex Breakfast 2015, a TripAdvisor cost comparison study, Mumbai
ranks 11th among the best value destinations for an overnight stay with breakfast
costing Rs 9,343.92. Accommodation without breakfast will cost Rs 8,932.44 in the
city.
 The TripIndex Breakfast 2015 destination list comprises of 37 key cities within the
top 37 most searched countries by global TripAdvisor users over the past 12 months.
President of India to confer Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships and Awards for 2014
 The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee will confer the Sangeet Natak Akademi
Fellowships and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards for the year 2014 at a function at
Rashtrapati Bhavan on October 23, 2015.
 The Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships (Akademi Ratna Sadasyata) and Sangeet
Natak Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) are recognized as the most coveted
national honours bestowed on performing artists as well as teachers and scholars in
the field of performing arts.
Sam Pitroda’s autobiography Dreaming Big- My Journey to Connect India released
 Autobiography of Sam Pitroda named Dreaming Big: My Journey to Connect India
has been launched by Mukesh Ambani.
 It is written with the help of an American author David Chanoff. The autobiography
describes the journey of Satanarayan Gangaram Pitroda (famously known as Sam
Pitroda), known as father of Indian telecommunication revolution.
 Former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi
were present during the launch of the book.


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Union Government clears first batch of flagship urban projects under AMRUT
 The Ministry of Urban Development has approved the first batch of state level action
plans under AMRUT aimed at enabling water supply as per the norm and providing
water supply and sewerage connections to all urban households.
 An inter-ministerial apex committee of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban
Transformation (AMRUT) chaired by Madhusudhan Prasad, Secretary (Urban
Development) has cleared plans over Rs 2000 crore in this regard for 89 cities in the
states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
Advanced Landing Ground(ALG) at Walong Becomes Operational
 Advanced Landing Ground at Walong has been inaugurated by Air Marshal C Hari
Kumar , Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Air Command, Indian Air Force.
Walong ALG was operational during 1962 Chinese aggression.
 Thereafter, it remained abandoned for a long time till it was decided in 2013 to
reconstruct the ALG to make it fully Air Operational.
FinMin imposes anti-dumping duty on Chinese auto parts
 The finance ministry has imposed anti-dumping duties on imported Chinese parts
used in commercial vehicles for a period of five years with effect from October 21,
2015.
 The duties were slapped on Chinese items imported into India at prices less than
even cost of production, such as front-axle beam and steering knuckles meant for
heavy and medium commercial vehicles.
 Anti-dumping duty has also been levied on fully-drawn or fully-oriented yarn, spin-
drawn yarn, and flat yarn of polyester (non-textured) IMPORTED FROM CHINA and
Thailand. Similar duty was also imposed on plain medium density fibre board of
thickness 6 mm and above, imported from China, Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka
for a period of five years.
Indian mountaineers climbed an untouched mountain peak, named it after APJ Abdul
Kalam
 Mountaineers Arjun Vaipai and Bhupesh Kumar have created history by scaling a
‘virgin peak’ as they call it, near Bara Shigri glacier, Himachal Pradesh.
 They have named it Mount Kalam in memory of late President of India APJ Abdul
Kalam. This is also the largest glacier after Gangotri in Himachal.
 They are the first to leave a mark in the ‘six thousander’ peak that overlooks the Spiti
Valley, Himachal. ‘Six thousander’ refers to the peak that is 6,000 metres high or tall.





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Indian Railway develops warning system for unmanned level
 Indian Railways has developed a vandal-proof warning system for unmanned level
crossings which is working satisfactorily for the last three months on Coimbatore-
Metupallayam section.
 Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), railways research wing, which
has finalised the specifications of the system.
 It has recommended to all zonal railways to initiate steps for installation of the
warning system in their respective areas as a step towards prevention of accidents.
Also it is advised to install at least one or two systems for field trials before large -
scale development can be initiated.
Govt to hire security guards in buses as marshals
 In order to ensure safety of women in public transport, the AAP government has
decided to hire 200 private security guards and deploy them as marshals in Delhi
Transport Corporation (DTC) buses.
 DTC will float tenders in the next few days to choose a security agency and within
one month, 200 private security guards will be deployed as marshals in the first
phase.
 These security guards will be hired on a contractual basis and they will ensure safety
of women inside the buses. Security guards will also undergo training programme so
that they can prevent and deal with crime against women in the vehicles.
President promulgated Ordinances on Constitution of Commercial Courts and Amendment
to the Arbitration & Conciliation Act 1996
 The President of India has promulgated two ordinances – one for constitution of
commercial courts and another to amend the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996.
 One of the ordinances provides for the constitution of Commercial Courts,
Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division in the High Courts for
adjudicating commercial disputes of specified value and for matters connected there
with or incidental thereto.
 The other ordinance is for amending the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996. The
union cabinet had approved promulgation of these ordinances and recommended
the same to the President.
Geeta, a deaf-mute girl who accidentally crossed over to Pakistan returns after 15 yrs
 Geeta, the young Indian woman living in Pakistan after she accidentally crossed the
border 15 years ago when she was a child, is finally back home in India. Geeta’s flight
from Karachi landed at Indira Gandhi National Airport in New Delhi.
 She was just 7 or 8 years old when she was found sitting alone on the Samjhauta
Express by the Pakistan Rangers 15 years ago at the Lahore railway station.
 She was adopted by the Edhi Foundation’s Bilquees Edhi and lived with her in
Karachi. Bilquis and her grandchildren, Saba and Saad Edhi, are accompanying Geeta.

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Maharashtra govt begins sale of Ayurvedic medicines
 The Maharashtra government has started selling Ayurvedic medicines and herbal
products derived from its forest produce.
 A first-of-its-kind shop was recently started in Nagpur by the state government
under the ‘Van Dhan Jan Dhan’ scheme. The shop has sold products worth more
than Rs 2 lakh within 25 days of its commencement.
 Now, the government is starting two such shops at every airport and at every railway
station across the state. The first ‘Van Dhan Jan Dhan’ shop recently started its
operations with 45 various items on sale.
Andhra Pradesh signed two memorandums with Japan for development of the State
 Government of Andhra Pradesh has signed a MoC for development of economic
infrastructure and a MoU to develop Amaravati with the Government of Japan.
 They were signed during foundation stone laying ceremony of Amaravati, the new
capital of Andhra Pradesh.
 The MoU was signed between Andhra Pradesh Finance department and Japan Bank
for International Cooperation (JBIC).
 Its focus is on inviting foreign investments and developing the state’s new capital
city and the surrounding region.
Doordarshan emerges most watched Hindi channel
 Public broadcaster Doordarshan today claimed that it has emerged as the most
watched Hindi channel in terms of time spent per viewer ahead of top general
entertainment channels (GECs).
 DD National, the flagship channel of the network, registered an Average Time Spent
of 51 Min per viewer, highest among Hindi GECs, in the week 41 as per BARC ratings.
Vartika 2nd Runner up in Miss Grand International
 India’s Vartika Singh came second runner-up at the Miss Grand International 2015
pageant. The Pageant will be held in Bangkok on 25th October 2015.
 Anea Garcia of the Dominican Republic won the title while Australia’s Claire
Elizabeth Parker was the first runner- up and Parul Shah of the Philippines was the
third runner-up.
 Vartika also won the sub-contest `Best In Social Media’ among the 78 contestants
from all over the world.
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Financial powers of Health Institutions enhanced to 5 lakh rupees per patient under
Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi
 Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has enhanced delegated financial
powers of designated Central Government Hospitals and institutes under the
Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) scheme.
 After the enhancement, only cases for financial assistance beyond 5 lakh rupees
would now be required to be referred to the Ministry from the earlier upper limit of
2 lakh rupees per patient.
RIL first corporate to sign revised listing pact with BSE
 Reliance Industries becomes the first corporate to sign the revised listing agreement
with the BSE as mandated under the newly introduced Listing Regulation notified by
SEBI.
 Earlier, the listing agreement was a bilateral agreement between the stock exchange
and the company and market regulatory SEBI didn't have regulations on this.
FM Arun Jaitley launches PAN camps, eSahyog for paperless I-T assessment
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched PAN camps and E-Sahyog in the national capital for
settling Income Tax return claims digitally. These two initiatives of the I -T department is
expected to expedite issuance of PAN cards and paperless tax assessment.
PAN CAMPS
 The PAN camps around different centres in India will facilitate PAN application and
further facilitate filing returns and tax collection.
 The PAN camps are aimed at expanding the coverage of number of people through
Permanent Account Number (PAN). Currently there are 23 crore people with PAN
card.
E-Sahyog
 E-Sahyog is an online mechanism to resolve mismatches in I-T assessment without
requiring taxpayers attending I-T Offices. The notices to assesses would be sent to
their emails.
 It is expected to reduce compliance cost especially for small taxpayers.
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Railways receives Rs 2000 cr from LIC
 Indian Railways will receive Rs 2,000 crore from Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) as
part of long-term funding tied-up with the state-run insurer to restart the
investment cycle.
 The first tranche is part of the total Rs 1.5 lakh crore long-term funding LIC will
provide under the institutional financing mechanism.
SC appointed Upamanyu Hazarika Commission submitted report on illegal migrants from
Bangladesh
 A one-man Commission headed by Upamanyu Hazarika submitted its report on
illegal migrants from Bangladesh into Assam.
 The fact-finding commission was appointed by the Supreme Court in May 2015 while
hearing the public interest litigation (PIL)-Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha Vs Union of
India & Gov. of Assam.
Tata Trusts, Harvard University announce collaboration
 Tata Trusts and Harvard University South Asia Institute (SAI) today announced
collaboration on knowledge creation and capacity building for social and economic
empowerment in India.
 A key component of the project is the opportunity for budding social entrepreneurs
and institutions in India to apply for social innovation grants totalling Rs 50 lakh that
will spur interventions and scale up existing initiatives resulting in greater impact in
select geographies.
India is World’s largest remittance recipient: World Bank
 World Bank has announced that India is the World’s largest remittance recipient. It
was revealed in the Migration and Development Brief that conveyed recent trends in
remittance flows and migration across the world.
 As per the report, remittances to India are projected to increase by 2.5 percent in
2015, well above the 0.6 percent increase in 2014.
 Stronger remittance growth in India reflects improving economic prospects in the
United States and continued fiscally-supported economic resilience in the GCC
countries that contribute 35 percent of remittances each.

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Government Sets-Up A Committee to Simplify The Provisions of The Income Tax Act, 1961
 The Government of India has constituted a Committee with a view to simplify the
provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
 The committee will be headed by Justice R.V. Easwar, (Retd.), former Judge, Delhi
High Court and former President, ITAT.
India’s Rank in Ease of doing business
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aspiration to turn India into a top investment
destination has got off to a positive start, with India now ranked by the World Bank
at 130 of 189 countries on “Ease of Doing Business.” That is up 12 places from its
original ranking last year and four places from its rank on a revised list.
DoNER Ministry moots commercial helicopter service within Northeast to improve intra -
regional connectivity
 The Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Ministry has mooted commercial
helicopter service within Northeast in order to improve intra-regional connectivity.
 The first - ever rail link to Meghalaya was flagged off by Prime Minister Shri Narendra
Modi within six months of the taking over of the present government.
8th Edition of National Seed Congress begins in Hyderabad
 The Eighth edition of National Seed Congress (NSC) has begun in Hyderabad on
October 27.
 This event is organized to deliberate on advanced seed development technologies
and regulatory measures.
 The three day congress aims to provide common platform to all stakeholders to
discuss a variety of issues including advances in seed development technologies and
various seed policies with respect to the seed industry.
India replaced China to emerge as Biggest Gold Consumer in World: Thomson Reuters
 GFMS team of Thomson Reuters has released Gold Survey Q3 2015 Review and
Outlook.
 The survey says that India regained its top position replacing China as the biggest
overall consumer of gold in the first nine months of year 2015.
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India ranks 8th on minority investors' protection
 India is ranked 8th globally when it comes to protection of minority investors, ahead
of many developed economies including the US, Germany and Japan.
 China is ranked much lower at 134th and India is ranked best among all BRICS
countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).
Indian Air Force (IAF) to Commence Exercise-Livewire
 The Indian Air Force is commencing its annual exercise, Exercise Livewire, on 31
October 2015. The exercise involves utilization of air assets of all types available with
the IAF.
 The aim of the exercise is to validate the full spectrum of IAF capability in
undertaking operations in response to likely future threats and operational
contingencies, and also to exercise its latest acquisitions effectively in a network
centric environment.
GOI appoints 5 members committee to review research grants offered by UGC
The committee has been asked to,
 Determine the feasibility of enhancing the coverage of NET fellowships which are
merit based
 Establish a transparent system of transfer of fellowship amounts every month to
non-NET fellows
 Considering economic and non- economic criteria for eligibility for the fellowship.
India recorded largest number of TB cases in 2014
 India is the country with the highest burden of TB, with World Health Organisation
(WHO) statistics that said 1.5 million people died in 2014 from the disease which
ranks alongside HIV as a leading killer worldwide.
 According to the World Health Organisations Global Tuberculosis Report 2015,
released on October 28, of the 9.6 million new TB cases in 2014, 58 per cent were in
the South- East Asia and Western Pacific regions.


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GOI inaugurated Games Secretariat of 12th SAF Games in Shillong
 GOI has inaugurated Games Secretariat of the 12th South Asian Federation (SAF)
Games 2016 at Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex, Polo Ground in Shillong,
Meghalaya.
 This is the first time that such a mega event of International level is taking place in
North East India
 The 12th SAF Games will be held in Guwahati and Shillong from 6 February to 16
February 2016. Out of 23 sports disciplines in the 12th South Asian Games 2016, 8
disciplines will be held in Shillong while the other 15 disciplines will be held at
Guwahati.
Ministry of HUPA commissions study on testing of new housing technologies
 The Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation has commissioned a study on
testing of new construction technologies for popularizing them.
 The main objective is promoting new housing technologies in India.
 The Ministry has approved a proposal made by the Indian Institute of Technology,
Kanpur and agreed to support the study with financial assistance of Rs.31.34 lakhs.
MP Government announces 33 percent quota for women in government jobs
 The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to provide 33 percent reservation to
women in government jobs.
 The permission would be sought from the Election Commission as by-polls are slated
to be held in two places in the state next month.
Hockey India signed three years partnership with Sports Authority of India
 Hockey India (HI) has signed a three-year partnership with Sports Authority of India
(SAI), extending its commitment towards helping hockey regain its position as the
country's top sport.
 The three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) acknowledges hockey as a
medium for the development and promotion of values in the youth of the nation.


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National Tribal Advisory Council set up
 Government has decided to set up National Tribal Advisory Council under
chairmanship of the Prime Minister for real time monitoring of various tribal
development programmes and schemes in the country.
 A National Tribal Advisory Council under the chairmanship of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi will be set up for real time monitoring of the ongoing programmes
and schemes aimed at welfare of tribal people and development of tribal areas.
 The Council will meet once or twice a year.
Chhattisgarh plans to start production of herbal drugs
 In a bid to give a thrust to the herbal drugs industry under its ‘Make in Chhattisgarh’
vision, the state government is contemplating to start manufacture of Ayurvedic
medicines on a large scale.
 As per the plan, Ayurvedic drug manufacturers would be invited to set up herbal
drug production units in the state, based on public private partnership (PPP) mode.
World Bank retains India growth forecast at 7.5% for 2015-16
 The World Bank has maintained its growth forecast for India in 2015-16 at 7.5 per
cent, while lowering marginally the projection for 2016-17 to 7.8 per cent, and for
2017-18 to 7.9 per cent.
 The World Bank says India, now the world’s fastest growing economy, is relatively
well-positioned to weather the global volatility and even set for a modest
acceleration in growth in the years ahead.
Ministry of Civil Aviation released Revised Draft National Civil Aviation Policy
 The Ministry of Civil Aviation has released Revised Draft National Civil Aviation Policy
(NCAP 2015).
 The policy aims at providing a favourable environment and a level playing field to
various aviation sub-sectors, such as Airlines, Airports, Cargo, Maintenance Repairs
and Overhaul (MRO) services and so on.


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'Toxic cocktail' makes Delhi world's most polluted city
 Delhi, the world's most polluted city, suffers a toxic blend of geography, growth,
poor energy sources and unfavourable weather that boosts its dangerously high
levels of air pollution, scientists, including one of Indian-origin, have found.
 A team of researchers led by the University of Surrey in UK assessed how Delhi's
landscape, weather, energy consumption culture, and growing urban population
combines to elevate concentrations of air pollutants, including ultra-fine particles,
the most harmful to human health.
Land acquisition for highways has to be done by states:NHIDC
 Acquisition of land for highways is the responsibility of state governments and needs
to be done within a stipulated timeframe, a top official of the National Highway
Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDC) said.
'Ministry of Human Resource Development Constitutes a Drafting Committee to Frame
the New Education Policy
 Ministry of Human Resource Development has undertaken an unprecedented
collaborative, multi- stakeholder and multi-pronged consultation process for
formulating the New Education Policy.
 The three-pronged consultation process included online, grassroots and national
level thematic deliberations.
National Unity Day observed across India
 The National Unity Day was observed across India on 31 October 2015 to
commemorate the birthday of Sardar Vallabhai Patel.
 On this occasion of 140th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, PM Narendra
Modi flagged off Run for Unity at Rajpath in New Delhi.
Railways launches ‘Vikalp’ for waitlisted passengers to get confirmed berth
 Railway is launching a new scheme under which waitlisted passengers can get
confirmed accommodation in next alternative train if they opt for the option while
booking their tickets online.

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 Known as Viklap, the alternative train accommodation scheme will take off in trains
running on Delhi-Lucknow and Delhi-Jammu sectors from November 1, on a pilot
basis.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Indo-China Joint Military Exercise HAND-IN-HAND 2015
 The Indo-China Combined Military Training Exercise HAND-IN-HAND 2015 will be
conducted from 12 to 23 October 2015 at Kunming Military Academy, Yunnan,
China.
 This will be the fifth exercise in the Hand-in-Hand series, which started in 2007.
 This exercise will strengthen and broaden interoperability & cooperation between
both the Armies as well as complement a number of other exchanges between the
two forces.
Dell Inc acquired EMC Corporation for 67 billion US dollars
 In one of the mega acquisitions in the global IT space, PC maker Dell Inc will acquire
EMC Corporation for about USD 67 billion.
 The EMC Board of Directors approved the merger deal and intends to recommend
that stockholders of EMC approve the agreement.
 Under the terms of the agreement, EMC shareholders will receive USD 24.05 per
share in cash in addition to tracking stock linked to a portion of EMC's economic
interest in VMware, which is an arm of EMC Corporation.
Google unveils public transport app for Delhi
 Getting around in Delhi is expected to get a bit easier, with technology major Google
launching a new app that will help users here get transit directions easily, even with
low data connectivity.
 The new experimental Delhi Public Transport App will be built into Google Maps to
help users get directions and timetable information for Delhi Metro, DTC, DIMTS
(orange) buses and Gurgaon Rapid Metro offline.
Russia launches first air strikes in Syria
 According to the Russian Defense Ministry, warplanes targeted eight ISIS positions,
including arms, transportation, communications and control positions.
 According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 28 people
were killed in the strikes, including women and children.
 The Syrian National Coalition reported that 36 people were killed, all civilians.
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Portugal became the first European country to sign the MoU on establishment of Nalanda
University
 Portugal became the first European country to sign the Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of Nalanda University.
 The MoU was signed in New Delhi by Portuguese Ambassador to India Ana Martinho
and Dr Jitendra Nath Misra, the Ambassador of India to Portugal.
 With this, Portugal became the 17th country overall and the fourth outside the East
Asia Summit to do so.
India, US and Japan began five-day Malabar Exercise 2015
 The Navies of India, United States and Japan have began the five-day Malabar
exercise 2015 on the Eastern Coast.
 Warships, aircraft carriers and fast attack submarine will be participating in the
exercise. Generally, the United States and India annually hold naval drills to sharpen
skills, but this year the fleet of aircraft carriers, destroyers and frigates conducting
war games included a warship from Japan.
Etihad Airways signed deal worth 700 million US dollars with IBM
 Etihad Airways and IBM have announced an information technology deal worth 700
million US dollars for over 10 years.
 The deal aims at improving the airline’s operations and security.
 The deal incorporates analytics of customer data and the development of technology
that can forecast weather patterns to better manage the airline’s flights at its Abu
Dhabi centre.
MoU between the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of the Republic of
India and the Government of Mozambique
 The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved MoU
between the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, India and Mozambique.
 A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy of the Government of India and the Ministry of Mineral Resources
and Energy, Government of Mozambique in New Delhi on 5th August, 2015, during
the visit of H.E.
 Mr. Filipe Nyusi, President of Mozambique to India.




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Australia clears way for Adani Group's $7 billion coal and rail project
 The Australian government has reissued an environmental permit for construction of
one of the world's biggest coal mines to Adani Enterprises, after clearing concerns
about two rare outback species.
 The decision by Environment Minister Greg Hunt removes one hurdle for Adani to
proceed with the stalled A$10 billion ($7 billion) project in the undeveloped Galilee
Basin that could generate billions of dollars in export revenue for Australia.
Govt okays India-Taipei MSME pact
 Government of India has approved an agreement for cooperation with Taipei in the
field of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
 The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave nod to the MoU
between India-Taipei Association (ITA) in Taipei and the Taipei Economic and
Cultural Center (TECC) in India.
 The agreement provides a structured framework and enabling environment to the
MSME sector of the two parties to understand each other's strengths, markets,
technologies, policies etc.
China operationalises Zam Hydropower Station on Brahmaputra in Tibet
 China has operationalised the $1.5 billion Zam Hydropower Station, the largest in
Tibet — built on the Brahmaputra River.
 The dam has ignited concerns in India over the likelihood of disruption of water
supplies.
 The dam has also raised concerns in India over China’s ability to release water in
times of conflict, which could pose serious risk of flooding.
India plans big project along Bangladesh border
 The Cabinet Committee on Security cleared a massive infrastructure project for the
Bangladesh border. Projects worth Rs. 4,400 crore were cleared by the CCS headed
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, but no announcement was made by the
government.
 Cross-border migration has been high on the agenda of the NDA government and it
was one of the major poll issues before it came to power. Till August this year, the
Border Security Force intercepted 1,731 Bangladeshi nationals trying to cross over to
India.
India gives $ 5 million grant to Palestine
 India has given a grant of five million US Dollars to Palestine as Budgetary assistance.
It was given Indian President Pranab Mukherjee to his is Palestinian counterpart
Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
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 India has announced 5 projects worth 17.79 million US dollars in Palestine.
 These projects are $12 million Technology Park at Ramallah, and $1 million India-
Palestine Centre for Excellence in Gaza, $4.5 million Palestine Institute for
Diplomacy.
India signed contract for microlight aircrafts with Slovenian firm Pipistrel
 India has signed a contract with a Slovenian firm for 194 microlight aircraft to be
used by Indian Air Force, the Navy and the National Cadet Corps (NCC).
 The contract has been signed with Pipistrel for ‘Virus FW80’. The Indian version of
the aircraft will be known as ‘Garur’.
 The deal is valued at Rs 105.5 crore.
‘Modi Express’ bus launched in UK
 Indian community groups in the UK have launched a 'Modi Express' bus for a month-
long tour around iconic landmarks here to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
maiden visit to the country next month.
 The bus, which was launched on Sunday (October 11), made its first stop at Ealing
Road, Wembley also known as 'Little India', followed by Trafalgar Square to
celebrate Diwali.
India-Israel sign pact on criminal matters
 India and Israel have signed a pact to cooperate in criminal matters, including
execution of summons and warrants by each other's courts.
 The agreement was signed by the two countries days before the visit of President
Pranab Mukherjee, who will tour Israel for three days.
 Under the pact, if a court in India executes any summons or search warrant receives
from a court or magistrate in Israel, the central government will execute the order.
While, India's summons and warrants will be executed by Israel's Ministry of Justice,
India's Ministry of Home Affairs will process the request of the Israeli government.
Malabar: India, US, Japan kick off naval drills, likely to annoy China
 India, Japan and the United States will hold joint naval exercises each year, Indian
government sources said, as the three countries kicked off the first such drills in the
Bay of Bengal in eight years, a move likely to concern China.
 The last time New Delhi hosted multilateral drills in its waters in 2007 prompted
disquiet in China where some saw it as a U.S. - inspired security grouping on the lines
of NATO in Europe.


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K P Sharma Oli of CPN-UML elected as the new Prime Minister of Nepal
 Veteran Communist leader K P Sharma Oli has sworn in as Nepal’s 38th Prime
Minister, a day after he was elected in Parliament with support from smaller parties.
 Mr. Oli (63), was administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Baran
Yadav. Prime Minister Oli has formed a small cabinet incorporating two Deputy
Prime Ministers and five ministers.
India and Jordan ink 6 MoUs to cooperate in various fields
India and Jordan have signed six Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) in various fields.
 MoU on executive programme for cultural exchange between the Jordanian and
Indian governments.
 MoU on Communication and Information Technology to cooperate in the field of
ICT and electronics fields.
 MoU between Jordan News Agency Petra and the Press Trust of India (PTI).
 MoU on Maritime Transport Sector.
 MoU between Jordan Institute of Diplomacy and Indian Foreign Service Institute
(IFSI).
 MoU between Indian Metrological Department (IMD) and Jordan Standards and
Metrology Organisation to cooperate in assessment techniques.
Joint India-Sri Lanka Exercise “Mitra Shakti-2015” Culminates
 The third India-Sri Lanka Joint Training Exercise Mitra Shakti- 2015 has ended after a
grand closing ceremony held at Aundh Military Camp, Pune.
 The 14-day joint training included understanding of transnational terrorism,
developing interoperability and conduct of joint tactical operations controlled by a
Joint Command Post.
India and Maldives ink two MoUs
 The 5th India-Maldives Joint Commission meet led by Foreign Minister
SushmaSwaraj & Maldives Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon began in Maldives.
 The two countries discussed cooperation in defence & security, trade &
development partnership, connectivity, health, energy, HRD, culture & tourism.
 India and Maldives also signed two MoUs on cooperation between Foreign Service
Institutes and on Cooperation in Sports & Youth Affairs.



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President inaugurates Mahatma Gandhi street in Jordanian capital Amman
 President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday inaugurated a street in the capital city of
Jordan named after Mahatma Gandhi.
 A part of the Saddzagloul Street has been named the Mahatma Gandhi Street which
after two intersections retains its old name which honours the Egyptian movement
leader.
US, India, Japan Hold First Trilateral Ministerial Dialogue
 Amid China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea, India, Japan and the
United States at their first-ever trilateral ministerial dialogue held in New York.
 It called for a peaceful settlement of disputes, freedom of navigation and unimpeded
lawful commerce including in that area.
 The meeting was attended by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, her Japanese
counterpart Fumio Kishida and US Secretary of State John Kerry.
UAE space agency seeks cooperation with ISRO
 A delegation from the UAE Space Agency has undertaken a visit to the Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO) to discuss possibilities of cooperation between the two
space organizations.
 The delegation was led by Khalifa Al Rumaithi, chairman of the UAE Space Agency,
and Mohammed Nasser Al Ahbabi, its director- general.
 The UAE Space Agency provided a detailed presentation on the space sector strategy
in the UAE, focusing on its objectives, initiatives and programmes.
UN body asks Sri Lanka to probe ‘rights abuses’
 The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva has adopted a
consensus resolution on accountability for the alleged human rights violations during
the Sri Lankan civil war.
 Sponsored by the U.S., the U.K. and other countries, including Sri Lanka, the
resolution called upon Colombo to establish a credible judicial process, with the
participation of Commonwealth and other foreign judges, defence lawyers and
authorised prosecutors and investigators, to go into the alleged rights abuses.
US Treasury Department adds India to its FATCA list
 The US Treasury Department has issued a list of 34 countries which includes India
with whom it would share information under FATCA (foreign account tax compliance
act) regulations.
 The pact aims to cover automatic sharing of information on bank accounts and other
instruments like mutual funds, insuranceand equities with each other.
 This is aimed at fighting the black money or unaccounted money.
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More than 500 children killed since start of Yemen conflict: UN
 According to the latest report from the UN children's agency, more than 500 children
have been killed in war-torn Yemen since March.
 The UN estimates that more than 2,300 civilians have died since fighting escalated in
the poor Arab nation.
 UNICEF warns some 1.7 million youths at risk of malnutrition as UN human rights
body passes resolution on rights probe.
Gunman kills 9 in Oregon college classroom
 The United States finds itself once again reeling from another mass shooting at an
educational institution, after nine people were killed by a gunman at Oregon’s
Umpqua Community College.
 Law enforcement sources confirmed reports identifying the suspect as Chris Harper-
Mercer, 26, who lived with his mother in nearby Winchester, about 170 miles (273
km) south of Portland.
Titanic's last lunch menu sells for $88,000 at auction
 A menu for the last luncheon served to the first-class passengers aboard the ill- fated
Titanic has sold for $88,000 at an online auction.
 The menu, which was saved by a first-class passenger, was sold on to a private
collector, Auctioneers Lion Heart Autographs said.
 The price was in line with pre-sale estimates.
NATO launches biggest military exercise since 2002
 NATO launches its biggest military exercise since 2002, putting 36,000 alliance
soldiers through their paces in Italy, Spain and Portugal to boost preparedness
against the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis.
 “Trident Juncture” runs from October 3 through to November 6 and involves
personnel from more than 30 countries.
 The exercise will also involve Canada, Norway, Germany, Belgium and the
Netherlands, together with operations in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.
Inaugural India – Indonesia Bilateral Maritime Exercise
 The expanded version of the coordinated patrol (CORPAT), with the first ever
bilateral India-Indonesia Bilateral Maritime Exercise, is scheduled from 17-18 Oct 15
in the Andaman Sea.
 INS Saryu, an indigenously built NOPV based at the Andaman and Nicobar Command,
along with a Dornier Maritime Patrol Aircraft, shall participate in the 26th edition of
the CORPAT.
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Indian- origin diplomat appointed UK's ambassador to Qatar
 Ajay Sharma, an Indian-origin diplomat, will be the new British Ambassador to
Qatar. Sharma, currently the charge d'affaires to Iran, will take up his new
assignment in November 2015.
 He will succeed Nicholas Hopton, who will be transferred to another post. Sharma
has earlier served as the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) Head of Iran
department and non-resident chargé d'affaires to Iran.
ISIS militants blows up the Arc of Triumph of Palmyra
 ISIS militants have destroyed the iconic Arch of Triumph in Palmyra, the latest
cultural treasure of the ancient site that they have reduced to rubble.
 The 1,800- year-old monumental arch, which framed the approach to the Roman city,
was blown up by the militants.
 ISIS jihadists seized control of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the
surrounding area from Syrian government forces in May. Since then, the Islamic
extremists have beheaded the antiquities expert who looked after the ruins and set
about demolishing their architectural riches.
Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala resigns
 Koirala submitted his resignation to President Ram Baran Yadav who accepted it and
asked him to conduct daily administrative functions till a new government is formed.
 The Nepal parliament is all set to elect a new prime minister with the Maoists and
the pro-monarchy Rashtriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal joining hands in support of K P
Oli, chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML).
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.
Israel barred Palestinians from entering Jerusalem’s Old City
 Israel is barring some Palestinians from the Old City of Jerusalem after two attacks,
one fatal, on Israelis.
 The restrictions are for two days and will stop Palestinians from entering the area
unless they live there.
 It comes after a Palestinian stabbed two Israelis to death.
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California signed Right to Die Bill for terminally ill people into a Law
 California finally allowed terminally ill patients to end their lives legally under the
supervision of doctors as they now have a right to die.
 California has now become the fifth state in United States to allow terminally ill
patients to legally end their lives.
 The other four states are Oregon (1997), Washington(2009) , Vermont(2013) and
Montana(2009).
Twelve Pacific Rim countries sign Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement
 Twelve Pacific Rim countries reached the most ambitious trade pact that cuts trade
barriers, sets labour and environmental standards and protects multinational
corporations' intellectual property.
 It aims to counter the might of China and will cut trade barriers affecting everything
from the price of cheese to the cost of cancer treatments.
 The deal covers about 40% of the world economy and was signed after five days of
talks in Atlanta in the US.
Nearly 700 killed by dengue in Brazil
 According to the report from Brazil's Health officials, nearly 700 people have died so
far this year after contracting dengue fever, the deadly mosquito-borne disease
running rampant across Central and South America.
 Most of the deaths occurred in Sao Paulo state.
 The actual number of fatalities is presumably higher, since the official figure reflects
deaths in Brazil from dengue from the beginning of the year just through the end of
August.
China launches International Payment System to globalize Yuan
 China has launched the first phase of its much anticipated China International
Payment System (CIPS), a milestone in bolstering yuan’s global usage and furthering
cross-border clearing of its currency from the Chinese mainland instead of offshore
centres abroad.
 The CIPS provides capital settlement and clearing services for cross-border yuan
transactions for financial institutions domestically and abroad.
China to build four submarines in Pakistan as part of defence deal
 China will build four of the eight submarines in the port city of Karachi under a
defence deal signed with Pakistan.
 The construction of the submarines would simultaneously begin in Pakistan and
China.
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 China would also transfer the technology to Pakistan for submarine
construction. The implementation of the agreement would augment the existing
submarine related capacity.
IMF chief calls for countries to support carbon tax
 IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde has said that "now is the time for countries
to introduce a carbon tax and to roll back energy subsidies in an effort to limit the
negative environmental impact caused by fossil fuels."
 Lagarde made the comments during an IMF-World Bank discussion titled
'Conversation on Climate Change' during the 2015 Annual Meetings of the IMF and
the World Bank in Lima, Peru.
Climate Change: Vulnerable Nations Launch V20 Group
 Finance ministers from 20 of the countries most vulnerable to climate change
launched the V20 group to pool resources for their fight against the impact of global
warming.
 The group includes some of the poorest and least developed nations across Africa,
Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific that are home to approximately
700 million people.
BRICS nations issues Joint Declaration to ensure orderly & legal migration
 The BRICS nations have issued a Joint Declaration to ensure orderly and legal
migration amongst member nations and respect human rights.
 The declaration was issued at the first BRICS Ministerial meeting on Migration held in
Sochi, Russia in line with Ufa Declaration.
 Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju had led the Indian delegation to
this meeting.
World's Best Multinational Workplaces 2015 survey
Of the 25 multinational companies on the list, 18 are based in the United States. The other
seven companies are domiciled in Europe. The Top five are,
 Microsoft (US)
 SAS (US)
 NetApp (US)
 Google (US)
 Fedex (US)


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Jioji Konrote becomes Fiji's next President
 Fiji's parliament has elected Jioji Konrote as the Pacific island country's next
president.
 In the presidential election held in parliament, Konrote, nominated by the ruling
FijiFirst party, garnered 31 votes, while the opposition's candidate Ratu Epeli Ganilau
received 14 votes.
Bangladesh to set up textile park in Gujarat
 Bangladesh will set up textile park in Gujarat. In the beginning, the park will have
spinning units with cumulative capacity of 1 lakh spindles.
 Bangladesh has sought around 100 acres of land from the state government for the
project.
 Representatives of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and
Industry, Bangladesh Cotton Association and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers
and Exporters Association visited Gujarat
Union Cabinet gives nod to RCE for Kaladan Multi Modal Project in Myanmar
 The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval
for the Revised Cost Estimate (RCE) of 2904.04 crore rupees for the Kaladan Multi
Modal Transit Transport Project in Myanmar.
 The objective of the project is to create a multi-modal mode of transport for cargo
shipment from the eastern ports of India to Myanmar.
 It will provide an alternate access route to India’s north east region and contribute
towards the regional economic development.
India, Israel signed pacts on Double Taxation Avoidance & Cultural Exchange
 India and Israel have signed two agreements to enhance bilateral cooperation.
 The agreements were inked after President Pranab Mukherjee, who was in
Jerusalem on the final leg of his tri- nation tour to West Asia, held a meeting with his
Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin.
 During this visit to Israel, President Mukherjee also addressed the Knesset (Israeli
Parliament). He also visited to the Holocaust Museum.
The Agreements are,
 A cultural exchange programme for 2015-2018
 The amendment to the protocol on Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement


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Google Inc. officially becomes Alphabet
 Google Inc. on has completed the move to reorganize as Alphabet, and its stock will
begin trading as Alphabet on the Nasdaq under the same tickers “GOOG” and
“GOOGL”.
 Each share of Google will be automatically converted to Alphabet stock.
Amazon bars the sale of Apple and Google TV devices
 Amazon is to stop selling video-streaming TV devices from Google and Apple
because they don't "interact well" with its own media service.
 The online retailer said it had made the decision to avoid "customer confusion" and
the devices will be removed from sale by 29 October.
 Amazon has rapidly expanded its online content, using it to attract subscribers to its
Prime loyalty membership scheme which offers fast delivery on purchases.
FDA approves Keytruda - an immunotherapy drug to fight lung cancer
 The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the drug Keytruda to treat
the most common form of lung cancer.
 The FDA cleared this immunotherapy drug to treat patients with advanced non- small
cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumours express a protein called PD-L1, and whose
disease has progressed after other treatments.
 The approval of Keytruda gives physicians the ability to target specific patients who
may be most likely to benefit from this drug.
Iran tests new precision -guided ballistic missile 'Emad'
 Iran tested a new precision-guided ballistic missile in defiance of a United Nations
ban, signaling an apparent advance in Iranian attempts to improve the accuracy of its
missile arsenal.
 The Islamic Republic has one of the largest missile programs in the Middle East, but
its potential effectiveness has been limited by poor accuracy.
 A successful launch of the new missile, named Emad, which will be Iran's first
precision-guided weapon with the range to strike its regional arch -enemy Israel.
Roche launches new breast cancer drugs in India
 Swiss biotechnology major Roche has launched two new medicines in India for
treating breast cancer that seek to increase longevity for patients and improve their
quality of life.
 The drug maker is also taking steps to ensure the medicines are easily available to
those in need.
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 The new drugs, 'Perjeta' and 'Kadcyla', have been shown to both extend survival and
improve quality of life in their approved applications for metastatic HER2-positive
breast cancer.
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.
US to extend military presence in Afghanistan beyond 2016
 President Barack Obama has confirmed plans to extend the US military presence in
Afghanistan beyond 2016.
 Obama said the US would keep 5,500 troops in the country when he leaves office in
2017. The US military says more troops will be needed to help Afghan forces counter
a growing Taliban threat.
 There are currently 9,800 US troops stationed in Afghanistan. The US forces will be
stationed in four locations - Kabul, Bagram, Jalalabad and Kandahar.
Myanmar Government inks peace pact with 8 ethnic rebels groups
 The Myanmar government has signed a peace accord with eight of the 15 ethnic
armed groups, a ceremony which was attended by India along with other five
"international witnesses".
 A part from India, which was represented by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval,
other international representation was from China, Japan, Thailand, the United
Nations and the European Union.
China, Indonesia sign USD 5.5 bn high- speed rail deal
 Chinese and Indonesian state-owned companies have signed a USD 5.5 billion deal to
build the first high- speed railway in Southeast Asia's top economy, after Beijing beat
Tokyo to win the construction project.
 The line will connect the Indonesian capital Jakarta with the mountain- fringed city of
Bandung, some 160 kilometres away.
China launches new communication satellite for HK firm
 China has put into orbit a new communication satellite in a commercial mission by
the Long March- 3B carrier rocket from the southwestern Xichang Satellite Launch
Centre.
 Developed using China's homegrown DFH-4 platform for the Hong Kong-based APT
Satellite Company Limited, 'APSTAR-9' is designed to stay in service for at least 15
years.
 The launch is the 214th mission of the Long March carrier rocket series developed by
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASTC).

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Pakistan, Russia signed agreement to build 1100 km Gas Pipeline
 Pakistan and Russia have signed a major agreement to build a 1,100-kilometre gas
pipeline from Lahore to Karachi at an estimated cost of $2 billion.
 The first phase of which is expected to conclude by December 2017 with the
completion in 2018.
 The 1,100- kilometre pipeline with a capacity of 12.4 billion cubic metre per annum
will connect Karachi's liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals with those in Lahore.
 The project will be implemented in compliance with BOOT model (Build Own
Operate Transfer).
Nepal Elects First Woman as Parliament Speaker
 Nepalese lawmakers have elected the country's first woman speaker of Parliament
following formation of a new government after promulgation of the Constitution.
 The Parliament unanimously elected UCPN-Maoist lawmaker Onsari Gharti Magar as
the Speaker of the House.
 Ms Gharti was elected unanimously to the post after Nepal Workers and Peasants
Party withdrew the candidacy of its lawmaker Anuradha Thapa Magar.
Typhoon Koppu smashes into northern Philippines
 Thousands of people fled as powerful Typhoon Koppu hit the northern Philippines.
 No casualties have been reported but about 6,500 people were evacuated from their
homes and taken to safer ground, and the number was expected to rise as the storm
slowly grinds inland across the main island of Luzon.
 Koppu downed trees and pylons, leaving two cities and 22 towns without power,
while landslides and floods cut off 10 roads and eight bridges across the region.
Apple ordered to pay $234 million to University of Wisconsin for infringing patent
 A U.S. jury has ordered Apple Inc to pay the University of Wisconsin- Madison's
patent licensing arm more than $234 million in damages for incorporating its
microchip technology into some of the company's iPhones and iPads without
permission.
NATO launches biggest military exercise in 13 years
 NATO is launching its biggest military exercise (Trident Juncture) in 13 years,
mobilizing 36,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen from more than 30 countries to test
the alliance's ability to respond to new security threats.
BRICS University Forum
 Top officials of several Indian Universities have converged at Beijing to attend the
BRICS University President Forum 2015 that began a three- day meeting.
 The Forum is jointly organised by Beijing Normal University and Beijing Municipal
Commission of Education from October 17- 19, 2015.
 The forum strives to build an exchange platform among academia, political sphere
and business community, leading to in- depth research on major challenges
confronted by the BRICS countries and the world at large.

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China launches its first Typhoon detecting missile
 China has successfully launched its first typhoon detecting rocket just as typhoon
Mujigae hit its southern Guangdong province.
 The rocket, launched from Hainan, has dropped several radiosondes into the centre
of Typhoon Mujigae six minutes after the launch.
 This experiment is a breakthrough in China's rocket science, with rocket launching,
radiosonde dropping and remote data retrieval achieved at the same time.
China launches commercial remote sensing satellites
 China launched four satellites for commercial remote sensing services.
 The "Jilin-1" satellites, launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China's
Gansu province, include one optical remote-sensing satellite, two satellites for video
imaging and another for imaging technique testing.
 All four satellites were developed and produced by Chang Guang Satellite
Technology Co. Ltd. The satellites were carried by a Long March-2D rocket.
China successfully launches satellite made by students
 China has launched a satellite developed by a group of students which is used for
global maritime automatic identification and demonstrating information exchanges
between satellites in-orbit.
 The satellite "Nanligong-1", developed by Students in Nanjing University of
Technology and Engineering independently has already started transmitting data.
Justin Trudeau to become Canada’s next Prime Minister
 Justin Trudeau, the young leader of Canada’s Liberals and the son of a popular
former prime minister, has surged to a stunning election victory, bringing a dramatic
end to Stephen Harper’s nine-year government.
 Now, he has the chance to restore the late Pierre Trudeau’s Liberal legacy, which has
been under siege during 10 years of Conservative rule under Stephen Harper.
US, Spain ink new accord to cleanup nuclear accident site at Palomares
 United States and Spain have reached an in principle agreement to clean up land at
Palomares site (in Spain) contaminated by plutonium radiation from undetonated US
nuclear bombs.
 The binding clean up deal was finalised in Madrid during US Secretary of State John
Kerry official visit to Spain. Under the agreement, US will remove the soil
contaminated by nuclear radiation at Palomares.


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WHO released Global Status Report on Road Safety 2015
 World Health Organization (WHO) on 19 October 2015 released the Global status
report on road safety 2015.
 The report reflects information from 180 countries and indicates that worldwide the
total number of road traffic deaths has gone up to 1.25 million per year.
Libya's internationally recognised Parliament rejected UN-backed Peace Deal
 Libya's internationally-recognized parliament on 19 October 2015 refused to sign the
United Nations (UN)-backed peace deal that proposed a power-sharing arrangement
with rival Islamist-led authorities.
 The internationally recognised parliament is based at far eastern town of Tobruk
whereas Islamist-led government is based at Tripoli.
FIFA confirms election next year
 World football's governing body Fifa has confirmed it will hold the election for its
next president at a special congress on 26 February 2016.
 The election will determine who will succeed Sepp Blatter, who has been president
since 1998.
India, Russia decide to triple bilateral trade by 2025
 India and Russia have discussed ways to boost their economic ties and triple their
bilateral trade to US 30 billion in the next decade.
 External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry
Rogozin, chairing the 21st India-Russia Inter-Governmental Consultations, also
looked at ways to enhance the mutual direct investment to USD 15 billion by 2025.
China launches first yuan- bond in London
 The People's Bank of China launched a yuan- denominated bond in London for the
first time as it seeks to internationalise its currency.
 The debt sale worth 5.0 billion yuan (690 million euros) for one-year bonds was
heavily oversubscribed.
 The auction for the bonds offering a yield of 3.15 percent coincided with the start of
a four-day visit to Britain by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Russia, United States sign 'memorandum' on air safety over Syria
 The United States and Russia have signed a memorandum of understanding
establishing air safety measures as they conduct separate bombing campaigns over
Syria, the Pentagon says.
 It comes amid reports Russia's airstrikes have killed more than 120 civilians since
they began three weeks ago.
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 The US is leading a 60-plus member coalition targeting Islamic State (IS) jihadists in
Iraq and Syria and has been carrying out frequent raids for more than a year.
 Russia also claims to be targeting IS and other terrorists, but the Pentagon says it is
hitting non- IS rebels fighting government forces loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-
Assad.
Jubilant Life Sciences gets USFDA nod for migraine treatment drug
 Jubilant Life Sciences shares gained as much as 4 per cent after the company
announced that it has received approval from the US health regulator for its generic
version of Merck’s acute migraine treatment medicine, Maxalt-MLT.
 The company has received Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) final approval
from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for Rizatriptan Benzoate orally-
disintegrating tablets, 5 mg and 10 mg.
US, Spain ink new accord to cleanup nuclear accident site at Palomares
 Washington and Madrid have reached a new agreement in principle for the United
States to clean up land contaminated by radiation from undetonated nuclear bombs
that accidentally fell on a site in southern Spain in 1966.
 On Jan. 17, 1966, a U.S. B-52 bomber carrying four nuclear bombs collided with a
tanker plane during midair refueling over the Mediterranean off the coast of Spain,
killing seven of 11 crew members.
 None of the bombs exploded, although the detonators in two of them broke up,
spreading 7 pounds (3 kg) of plutonium over a 200-hectare (490-acre) area near the
village of Palomares.
Union Cabinet approved agreement between India and Egypt on Maritime Transport
 Recognizing the significant mutual benefit that can be derived from-cooperation in
the area of shipping between the two countries, the Union cabinet has approved for
signing of an agreement between India and Egypt on maritime transport.
 It has been decided to sign the agreement with a view to strengthening cooperation
and to render sustained mutual assistance and advice on merchant shipping and
other related maritime matters. The agreement would be signed on a mutually
convenient date and venue.
AB de Villiers named brand ambassador of MRF
 South African batsman AB de Villiers has been roped in as the brand ambassador of
tyre manufacturing giants MRF Limited.
 MRF's Chairman and Managing Director KM Mammen formally handed over the
agreement to the cricketer.

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India-Maldives to sign pact for cooperation on terror
 India and Maldives will soon sign an agreement for cooperation on terrorism,
transnational crime and criminal matters.
 The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval
for signing of a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) in criminal matters between
India and the Maldives.
 The treaty aims to enhance effectiveness of both the countries in investigation and
prosecution of crime, through cooperation and mutual legal assistance in criminal
matters.
UN Flag to be flown on Government Buildings on UN Day
 The UN flag will be flown along with the national flag on all buildings on which the
tricolor is regularly flown on October 24 to mark the United Nations Day. The UN flag
can be displayed on either side of the national flag.
 The general practice is to fly the tricolour on the extreme right with reference to the
direction which it is facing, i.e. extreme left of an observer facing the masts flying the
flags.
 The UN Flag is, however, not flown at Rashtrapati Bhawan, Vice-President's House,
Parliament House and Supreme Court building.
Japan offers to fund India's $15-bn bullet train in edge over China
 Japan is going to join a hand with India by providing USD 15 billion at an interest rate
of less than 1% to build bullet trains.
 Tokyo was picked to assess the feasibility of building the 505 -kilometre corridor
linking Mumbai with Ahmadabad, the commercial capital of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's home state, and concluded it would be technically and financially viable.
Rafale deal: France agrees to invest 50% of contract's worth in India's related sectors
 India and France have firmed up an understanding on the offsets segment under
which the French have agreed to invest 50 per cent of the Rafale deal's worth in
related sectors.
 Even as the deal was being reached, French aircraft manufacturer Dassault had
already reached out to Indian companies in the defence and security industry for
possible Make in India partnerships.
 Estimated at $4.5 billion, or about Rs 30,000 crore, this will make it one of India’s
biggest -ever offsets deals.


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China's first high-resolution satellite maps large part of world
 The Ziyuan III, China's first high- resolution stereo mapping satellite for civilian use,
has sent back visual data covering 69.45 million square kilometres of the globe since
it was launched in January 2012.
 The satellite produced images of 190 million square kilometres of fields for mapping,
land, mining and water conservancy, ridding the country of its reliance on imports of
hi-resolution satellite images.
Sunscreen killing coral reefs worldwide
 Scientists who conducted their research in Hawaii and the U.S. Virgin Islands found
that the chemical oxybenzone -- used in more than 3,500 sunscreen products
worldwide, including those by popular brands such as Coppertone, L’Oreal and
Banana Boat -- was extremely harmful to fragile coral reefs.
 Coral reefs provide economic and environmental services to millions of people
through industries like fishing and tourism.
Facebook launches website to attract minorities to coding
 Facebook has launched a new portal geared towards women, students and their
parents which have traditionally had less exposure to careers in coding as part of the
company’s push to increase minorities in technology.
 TechPrep is also targeted at parents and guardians, and seeks to analogise coding
skills with language skills to make the subject of computer science less forbidding
and opaque.
Britain signs landmark nuclear deal with China
 Britain has signed a landmark nuclear deal with China to build the United Kingdom’s
first nuclear power plant since the 1980s.
 Under this deal, nuclear power plant will be built at Hinkley Point, Somerset near
London with total planned investment of 18 billion pound.
 The Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) of China will contribute 6 billion pounds i.e.
one-third of the total planned investment.
 CGN will have two-thirds stake and Areva will have one-fifth stake. The plant will be
become operational by 2025 providing affordable power to Britain.
China planned to form JV to develop overseasMARKET for third-generation nuclear
reactor Hualong 1
 China’s top two nuclear power companies planned to combine their technologies in
the country’s flagship third-generation reactor Hualong 1 to avoid competing for
business abroad. Beijing is embarking on an ambitious plan to export its locally
developed technology as well as its equipment manufacturing capacity potentially
worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
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 To avoid rivalry, a planned joint venture between China General Nuclear Power
Group (CGN) and China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) is likely to be formed by end
of the year.
NASA completes key milestone for most powerful rocket
 For the first time in almost 40 years, NASA has completed all steps needed to clear a
critical design review (CDR) for the most powerful rocket ever built that will take
humans to deeper space missions, including Mars.
 The agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) is the first vehicle designed to meet the
challenges of the journey to Mars and the first exploration class rocket since the
Saturn V. SLS will launch America into a new era of exploration to destinations
beyond Earth’s orbit.
Vietnam wants friendly relations with both US and China
 Vietnam’s defense minister says his country wants good and friendly relations with
both the United States and China, and will not favor one over the other. Relations
between Vietnam and China plunged to their lowest point in years following the
parking of a Chinese oil rig in disputed waters in the South China Sea last year.
 Chinese construction of seven artificial islands atop reefs and atolls in the Spratlys
over the past 18 months has raised serious concerns in the region and the United
States.
Hurricane Patricia: Mexico awaits ‘strongest ever’ storm
 Mexican authorities have begun evacuating residents ahead of the arrival of
Hurricane Patricia. The storm is comparable to Typhoon Haiyan, which killed 6,300
people in the Philippines in 2013, the World Meteorological Organization says.
 Some 400,000 people live in vulnerable areas, according to Mexico’s National
Disaster Fund. The hurricane, which will bring torrential rain, could trigger flash
floods and mudslides. Patricia will make landfall in the western state of Jalisco,
home to the resort town of Puerto Vallarta, which could lie directly in its path.
Obama names Brett McGurk as Envoy to US-led coalition fighting ISIS
 President Barack Obama has named Brett McGurk as the new official in charge of the
US led coalition against the Islamic State group. Retired Marine Gen.
 John Allen is stepping down after 13 months overseeing the effort as the president’s
special envoy for the global coalition to counter IS. McGurk was Allen’s deputy.
India third-largest student market in London
 India is the third- largest international student market in London after China and the
US. International students studying at London universities last year provided a 3
billion pounds boost to the UK economy and helped support 37,000 jobs.
 Of those figures, Indian students spent an estimated 130 million pounds in 2013-14
compared to 407 million pounds by the Chinese and 217 million pounds by the
Americans.

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Punjabi Canadians won 18 seats in the recent election in Canada
 In Canada’s newly elected Liberal government, under prime minister designate Justin
Trudeau, Indian Canadians have notched up a record number of 19 seats.
 That’s more than double the seats they held in the previous government of eight. Of
those 19, 18 are of Punjabi origin.
 While many of these seats have been won in Canada’s largest province of Ontario, a
hub for the Indian immigrant community, five of the winners are women.
 Of the 44 Indo-Canadian candidates, 20 are elected to that country’s Parliament. This
is the maximum number of Indo-Canadians ever elected.
Sushma Swaraj inaugurates India-Africa Rose Garden
 External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has inaugurated the India Africa Friendship
Rose garden ahead of the third India Africa Summit in New Delhi.
 Almost one fourth of the force has been deployed to secure the four-day summit
that commences on Monday (October 26) and is to be attended by the heads of 54
African nations.
 The summit will address the key challenges faced by Africa, which includes food,
health and environmental security. India hopes to create conditions that stimulate
trade and investment flows between India and African countries.
China, Japan and South Korea to hold summit
 China, Japan and South Korea will hold a summit in South Korea when Chinese
Premier Li Keqiang visits, for the first such meeting since they were discontinued in
2012 due to tension dating back to World War Two.
 The summit would be on Nov. 1 in Seoul. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visits, South
Korea from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2.
 South Korean President Park Geun-hye would meet Li on Oct. 31 in Seoul. The dates
for the trilateral summit or Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit have not been
announced.
ISB, Deakin University ink three year MoU for collaboration
 Indian School of Business and Australia’s Deakin University have agreed to
collaborate in research, teaching, student exchange programmes, internationalising
curriculum, and developing innovative approaches to meet international
accreditation standards.
 The Hyderabad-based private business school has signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) with the Melbourne-based university for a three-year
partnership starting October 2015.




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Comedian Jimmy Morales wins Guatemalan presidential vote
 Jimmy Morales, a former TV comedian who has never held office, swept to power in
Guatemala’s presidential election after milking public anger over a corruption
scandal that deepened distrust of the country’s political establishment.
 The 46- year-old Morales overwhelmingly beat center -left rival and former first lady
Sandra Torres in a run-off vote despite his lack of government experience and some
policy ideas that strike many as eccentric.
Poland elections: Conservatives secure decisive win
 Poland’s opposition Law and Justice party – conservative and Eurosceptic – has won
parliamentary elections. The party is expected to have enough seats to govern alone
– something unprecedented in 26 years.
 Exit polls suggest it got 39% of the vote. Its leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski claimed
victory, and the outgoing Prime Minister, Ewa Kopacz of the centrist Civic Platform,
admitted defeat. Law and Justice (PiS) has strong support in poorer, rural areas.
Queen Elizabeth II invites Indian- origin engineer to palace
 An Indian-origin structural engineer who helped build Europe’s tallest building, the
Shard in London, has been invited to Buckingham Palace by Queen Elizabeth II.
 Roma Agrawal, 29, will join a group of other female engineers at a reception being
hosted by the 89-year-old monarch to encourage more women to take up the
profession.
 The palace has also released a photograph of the then Princess Elizabeth as a driver
and mechanic in the Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II.

7.7 magnitude quake rocks South Asia, epicentre in Afghanistan

 A massive earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale today jolted north India,
with panic-stricken people rushing out of houses and buildings that shook during the
temblor lasting almost a minute.
 According to reports, four people have been killed in northwestern Pakistan.
 Pakistani rescue officials say a powerful earthquake struck neighboring Afghanistan
shaking the capital Kabul and killing at least 24 people while 76 were killed in
neighbouring Pakistan.
WHO released report titled Reducing global health risks through mitigation of short-lived
climate pollutants
 The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a report titled Reducing global
health risks through mitigation of short-lived climate pollutants.
 The report was produced in collaboration of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to
Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, a voluntary global partnership of
governments, intergovernmental organizations, businesses, scientific institutions
and civil society



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China made copying in examinations a crime punishable up to seven years
 From November 2015, students trying to copy in examinations in China will face a jail
term of up to seven years as the government has brought about a new law making
cheating a crime.
 The new law, effective from November 1, will make cheating on major exams in
China a crime punishable with a jail sentence. Parents involved will also be seriously
punished, according to the law.

China launched third mapping satellite of the Tianhui -1 series
 China has successfully sent its third mapping satellite of the Tianhui-1 series into
orbit which will enhance the country's ability to carry out scientific research,
mapping and disaster relief.
 Tianhui-1C mapping satellite was launched from the Jiuquan launching base located
in the country's northwestern Gansu province. Tianhui-1C was aboard a Long March
2D carrier rocket, the 215th launch of the Long March series rockets.

Lions, pride of Africa, vanishing in West Africa
 Lions, that symbol of Africa's wild beauty, power and freedom, no longer roam in
Mali. Or in Ivory Coast or Ghana or war- shattered eastern Congo. Or most of the rest
of West Africa.
 Lion populations are increasing in only four southern African nations: Botswana,
Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, where most lions are in fenced reserves.

UN says 13.5 million Syrians need aid and protection

 The United Nations said that the worsening conflict in Syria has left 13.5 million
Syrians in need of aid and some form of protection, including more than six million
children.
 UN humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien told the Security Council that the figure
represents an increase of some 1.2 million people in just 10 months, and with winter
fast approaching the situation for many families is likely to deteriorate.

US Senate passes cybersecurity bill

 Ignoring the privacy concerns, the US Senate overwhelmingly passed a controversial
cybersecurity bill. The Senate passed the bill by 74-21 votes and now the bill heads
for reconciliation with the earlier-passed House cybersecurity bill.
 The proponents of the bill said will help prevent cyberattacks by facilitating a
common awareness in the cyber realm. The vote was 74 to 21 in support of the
legislation.



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Exim Bank announced setting up of project development firm KPDC in Africa

 Exim Bank has announced that it will set up a development firm, the Kukuza Project
Development Company (KPDC), in Africa to facilitate Indian participation in
infrastructure projects across the continent.
 IL&FS Group, African Development Bank and State Bank of India are also the
shareholders in KPDC.
 KPDC aims to strengthen every partner, who will complement each other in building
Indian project exports while simultaneously aiding the furtherance of economic and
political ties between India and Africa.

Indo Australian Security Cooperation reviewed

 The Attorney General of Australia Mr. George Brandis QC and Union Home Minister
Rajnath Singh reviewed the existing cooperation between the two countries in the
field of security, terrorism, narcotics, forensic technology and immigration.
 Rajnath Singh emphasized the need for establishment of new channels of
interaction, networks and strategic alliances between the two countries which are
strong, secular and multi - cultural democracies.
Nepal gets first woman President
 Bidhya Devi, a Communist leader who has long campaigned for women’s rights was
elected as Nepal’s first female President.
 Bidhya Devi Bhandari of the Communist Party of Nepal Unified Marxist -Leninist
received 327 votes against her opponent’s 214 in the Parliament.
Google’s Internet-beaming balloons to take off in Indonesia
 Google’s Internet-beaming balloons are ready to take off on the next phase of their
mission to deliver online access in regions where most people live offline.
 The balloons will begin hovering in the stratosphere above Indonesia in an
expansion of the project.
 About 250 million people live on 17,000 islands in that part of Southeast Asia,
although only 42 million have Internet access.
 Google’s 2-year-old program “Project Loon” aims to change that by transmitting
high-speed Internet signals from clusters of balloons floating about 60,000 feet
above the Earth.
Pakistan loses UN human rights council election
 Pakistan failed to win a re-election to the top UN human rights body, gathering just
105 votes in the 193- member General Assembly.
 The General Assembly on October 28 elected 18 members of the UN Human Rights
Council through a secret ballot.
 Pakistan’s current term at the council is set to expire on December 31 and it was
seeking re-election to the 47- member Human Rights Council.
 Pakistan also lost the seat in the Asia-Pacific category in which five seats were
vacant.
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Asia Pacific region most disaster prone part of the world: UN Report
 According to the United Nations report, the Asia Pacific region is the most disaster-
prone part of the world.
 The region has suffered 1,625 disasters in the decade through 2014 and needs to
spend more on adapting to climate change and preparing for more extreme
weather.
 The region’s disasters – 40 percent of the global total – claimed half a million lives
over the decade, affected 1.4 billion people and caused $523 billion in economic
damage.

India and France ink MoU on preserving Written Heritage at National Library
 The Union Ministry of Culture and National Library of France have entered into an
MoU under which the two countries would cooperate in conservation, development
and publicity of written heritage at the National Library of Kolkata.
 Under the MoU, the two countries would collaborate in preserving, identifying and
publicising written heritage and iconographies heritage.
 The two countries would also share expertise such as description of Indian
manuscripts in Sanskrit and Tamil.
Nepal inks MoU with China to ease fuel crisis

 Nepal signed its first ever fuel agreement with China to supply petroleum to ease a
crippling shortage after protests blocked imports from sole supplier India.
 Scores of trucks have been stranded at a key India-Nepal border checkpoint for more
than a month, cutting off vital supplies and forcing fuel rationing across the
landlocked Himalayan nation.
 The shortages have led to overnight queues at gas stations in the Nepalese capital
and prompted the government to turn to its northern neighbour for help, ending a
decades-long monopoly by India as tensions deepen between New Delhi and
Kathmandu.

UNGA-members voted a resolution condemning US embargo on Cuba

 The United Nations General Assembly has almost unanimously voted to condemn
the US embargo on Cuba, in the first such resolution since US-Cuban diplomatic ties
were restored earlier this year.
 The motion won more support than it has done in the past, with 191 members of the
193-member body voting in favour. Only the US and Israel opposed the resolution,
which is non-binding.
$10 billion concessional credit to Africa :PM
 Seeking to boost ties with Africa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India
will offer concessional credit of $10 billion over the next five years.
 This will include an India-Africa Development Fund of $100 million and an India-
Africa Health Fund of $10 million," Modi said.
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36 years on, China lifts 1 child Policy
 China finally lifted one child policy after 36 long years.
 The policy was implemented 36 years back and was seen as a global landmark that
reduced an estimated 400 million births and saved millions from starvation.
 However, the restrictions had also led abortion sometimes due to traditional
preference for boys.
India-Africa Forum Summit adopts framework for strategic cooperation & Delhi
Declaration
 On the concluding day of the third India-Africa Forum Summit 2015 here, India and
Africa Forum on October 26 adopted a “Delhi Declaration 2015” and “India-Africa
Framework for Strategic Cooperation”.
 The Delhi Declaration called for continued collaboration in the fields of peace and
security, besides strengthening of the UN counter-terrorism mechanism and
enhancing cooperation and coordination to combat terrorism in all its forms and
manifestations.
John Magufuli elected as President of Tanzania
 John Magufuli of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) defeated his closest opponent
Edward Lowassa in the Tanzania presidential elections, extending the party’s rule for
another five years.
 The country’s electoral commission announced the results of the polls on Thursday
(29 October).
China’s first lunar rover Yutu sets record for longest stay on Moon
 China’s first lunar rover, Yutu, has been operating on the moon for almost two years,
setting a record for the longest stay by a rover.
 Yutu was deployed and landed on the moon via China’s Chang’e-3 lunar probe in
2013, staying longer than the Soviet Union’s 1970 moon rover Lunokhod 1, which
spent 11 months on the moon.
BRICS Countries Signed Moscow Declaration for Supporting Multilateral Science Projects
 BRICS countries- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa agreed for co-
investment of resources for supporting multilateral R&D Projects in mutually agreed
areas. T
 he Indian delegation led by the Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth
Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, signed a joint Declaration called Moscow Declaration
to this effect, at the 3rd Meeting of BRICS Ministers for Science, Technology and
Innovation held at Moscow on 28 October, 2015.
 This Declaration reflects BRICS partnership in addressing common global and
regional socio-economic challenges, utilizing such drivers as science, technology and
innovation (STI).





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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.

HCL Technologies acquired CRM services firm PowerObjects for 299 crore rupees
 Global IT services company HCL Technologies on 29 October 2015 acquired
PowerObjects, a leading North American provider of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, for
approximately 299 crore rupees.
 The acquisition will bolster HCL’s global applications business, which offers
transformational programs and complex application management for a multitude of
clients’ technology landscapes.

India offers to airlift ATF to Nepal
 In the wake of China agreeing to supply oil to Nepal, India on Friday offered to airlift
Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) to the Himalayan country to beat the ongoing blockade
on the border
 Reacting guardedly to the agreement between Nepal and China for oil supplies, a
"concerned" India said its impact on the future of Indo-Nepal trade has to be seen
and hoped that Kathmandu will "sincerely" address the problems which have caused
the current situation and that their bilateral relationship will return to its original
status

India, US hold key trade meeting to boost ties
 India and the US held a key trade meeting here that focussed on translating
"enhanced" engagement into tangible results amid a "high bar" of relationship set by
their top leadership.
Nanda Kishor Pun elected Nepal's new vice president
 Former guerilla commander from Nepal's UCPN (Maoist) Nanda Kishor Pun was
today elected as the country's new vice-president.
 Pun was elected as the country's vice president after winning 325 out of 547 votes.
His rival Amiya Kumar Yadav of Nepali Congress, received 212 votes, announced
Speaker Onsari Gharti at the Parliament.





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India-Africa Forum Summit adopts framework for strategic cooperation & Delhi
Declaration
 On the concluding day of the third India-Africa Forum Summit 2015 here, India and
Africa Forum on October 26 adopted a “Delhi Declaration 2015” and “India-Africa
Framework for Strategic Cooperation”.
 The Delhi Declaration called for continued collaboration in the fields of peace and
security, besides strengthening of the UN counter-terrorism mechanism and
enhancing cooperation and coordination to combat terrorism in all its forms and
manifestations.
India, Sri Lanka begin naval exercise

 India and Sri Lanka have began their bilateral naval exercise off Lanka's Trincomalee
focusing on anti-piracy exercises, gun firings, cross-deck helicopter operations and
anti-surface operations.
 The Indian and Sri Lankan Navies would undertake the 4th edition of Sri Lanka-India
Exercise (SLINEX) off Trincomalee, Sri Lanka from October 27 to November 1.

France to introduce biometric visas to Indians

 France will introduce biometric visas to Indian nationals from November 2, keeping
in line with all the countries in the Schengen Area.
 All visa applicants will now be asked to come in person at any listed VFS centre of
their choice to register their biometric data, it said, adding children under the age of
12 years are exempted from this procedure.
 The recorded biometric data will be stored for a period of 59 months (almost 5
years), obviating the need for applicants to come in person again for renewing their
visa. Furthermore, the biometric data recorded by France will be valid during this
period for all Schengen Area countries.
Dubai-based Indian business body signs MoU for FDI summit
 A Dubai-based business council has signed a MoU with the Annual Investment
Meeting (AIM) for its participation as an official supporting partner for a three-day
event here to attract FDI.
 The AIM is a Foreign Direct Investment-focused event which is to be held here from
April 11-13 next year and is the first collaboration between the Indian Business and
Professional Council (IBPC) and AIM.





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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
World's Largest Catalogue of Human Genomic Variation created
 An international team of scientists has created the world's largest catalogue of
Human genomic variation among humans, providing researchers with powerful clues
to help them establish why some people are susceptible to various diseases.
 For the 1,000 Genomes Project, the investigators examined the genomes of 2,504
people from 26 populations across Africa, East and South Asia, Europe and the
Americas.
NASA’s newly revealed images showing sun’s coronal hole
 Solar Dynamics Observatory has confirmed a coronal hole at the topmost layer of
the sun.
 According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials, as
the coronal hole continues it way westward on the sun’s surface, the solar winds will
continue to be strong.
 The hole, called the coronal or dark spot, has the size 50 times that of the Earth and
its magnetic field is releasing an ultrafast solar wind.
 The win is harmless to humans of Earth but can interfere with some satellite
communications and few high- altitude radio signals.
New species of Giant Tortoise named Chelonoidis donfaustoi identified in Galapagos
Islands
 Scientists say they have identified a new species of giant tortoise on the Galapagos
Islands in the Pacific. They used genetic data to determine that a group of 250 slow-
moving reptiles was distinct from another tortoise species on Santa Cruz island.
 It is the 15th known tortoise species to be discovered on the archipelago, though
four are now extinct. The new species has been named “Chelonoidis donfaustoi”,
after a retired Galapagos park ranger. Giant tortoises in the Galapagos tend to weigh
up to 250kg and live longer than 100 years.
Four new crab species discovered in Kerala
 Researchers at the Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, University of Kerala,
have reported the discovery of four new species of crab from the Kerala coast.
 The sea off Kovalam coast is home to a rare crustacean – a crab which belongs to a
genus that has never before been sighted in the Indian Ocean.
 The Researchers have aptly named it Afropinnotheres Ratnakara, was found inside
the brown mussel (Perna perna) at Kovalam. ‘Ratnakara’ means Indian Ocean in
Sanskrit.





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WHO: Processed meats do cause cancer
 The France-based International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the WHO, put
processed meat such as hot dogs and ham in its group one list, which already
includes tobacco, asbestos and diesel fumes, for which there is "sufficient evidence"
of cancer links.
GSAT-15 to be launched on November 10 from French Guiana
 ISRO’s latest communication satellite GSAT-15 is all set to be launched on November
10, 2015 from French Guiana on board Ariane 5.
 The Indian space agency, as part of augmenting telecommunication services, had
earlier launched communication satellites GSAT-14 and GSAT-6, respectively.

SPORTS
Name of the Winner Name of the Title Venue/Other Points
Sania Mirza, Martina Hingis Wuhan Open women’s
doubles
China
David Ferrer Malaysian Open First Spaniard to win
Venus Williams Wuhan Open Single’s It is her biggest win since
2010 and her 47th career
title
China International Basketball
Federation (FIBA) Asia
Championship
Direct qualification for the
2016 Olympics in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil
Sergey Karjakin World Cup Chess
Championship
He is from Russia
Russia Women’s European
Volleyball Championship
Russia defeated Netherlands
Deborah Herold Taiwan Cup Indian cyclist won five
medals
Dheeraj Rangi, Lightweight
(60 kg) boxer
World Military Games Held in Mungyeong, South
Korea
N Sriram Balaji National Tennis Champion He defeated Vishnu Vardhan
Lewis Hamilton Russian Grand Prix 2
nd
place Sebestain Vettel
3
rd
Nico Rosberg
Punjab National Bank (PNB) Beighton Cup hockey
tournament
Defeated Indian Oil
Corporation
Shweta Rathore Silver medal in the 49th
Asian championship
First Indian Woman to win.
Held in Uzbekistan
Punam Yadav Commonwealth Youth,
Junior & Senior weightlifting
championships
Won two gold medals. It
held in Pune
Manipur Junior National Football
Championship for U-18 Girls
Held at Rosay Complex
ground, Navelim.

Anirban Lahiri Hilton Asian Tour Golfer of
the Month award

Ranked 39th in the world
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Abhijeet Gupta Hoogeveen International
Open Chess Tournament
He defeated Neelotpal Das
Lewis Hamilton US Grand Prix Nico Rosberg – Second
Sebastian Vettel – Third
Abhishek Verma won silver Archery World Cup Final Gold Medal by Turkey’s
Demir Elmaagcli


SPORTS Misc
Indian women's cricket team stands fourth in ICC team rankings
 The new rankings system will incorporate the results of T20, ODI and Test matches
and then come out with a single rating.
 Australia, England, and New Zealand are at top three ranks respectively.
BCCI launches toss coin to commemorate Gandhi's birthday
 Commemorating Mahatama Gandhi's 146th birth anniversary, the BCCI will launch a
specially-minted toss coin with the images of the Father of the Nation and Nelson
Mandela for the India-South Africa cricket series.
 Designed exclusively for the Freedom Series, the 20 grams gold -plated sterling silver
coin will be used by India and South Africa for all the formats of the game played
with each other in India or South Africa for perpetuity.
MC Mary Kom to hang up gloves after 2016 Olympics
 India’s five-time world boxing champion MC Mary Kom has announced that she has
made up her mind to hang up her gloves after the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
 Mary Kom, who attended the 125th foundation day celebrations of Nepali Girls'
Higher Secondary school, said it was the right time to quit boxing even though
winning a gold medal at Olympics remains her dream.
Sachin Tendulkar buys majority stake in Kerala Blasters
 Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar is acquiring majority ownership in Indian
Super League (ISL) franchise Kerala Blasters in a shareholding re-alignment.
 Tendulkar, who currently owns 40% stake, will partner with Kerala-based Muthoot
Pappachan Group (MPG) and two other investors to buy out the other 60% currently
held by PVP Ventures Ltd.


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South Africa win T20 series 2- 0 as 3rd match abandoned due to rain
 The third and final T20 international between India and South Africa was tonight
abandoned without a ball being bowled because of a wet outfield, allowing the
visitors to clinch the three-match series by 2-0 margin.
 The abandonment of the game after just a passing evening shower again showed the
poor drainage system of the iconic Eden Gardens.
Melbourne to host President Cup golf in 2019; World Cup in 2016
 The Presidents Cup will travel to the golf course of Melbourne in 2019 after it is held
at the Liberty National, New Jersey in 2017.
 The state of Victoria will also host the 2016 World Cup of golf. The partnership marks
a return of The Presidents Cup to Australia for the third time in its 25-year history
and fifth time in the 58-year history of the World Cup of Golf.
Latest Sports Updates : India and World
 Ajay Jayaram Beats Raul Must to Clinch Dutch Open Title
 Wawrinka wins Japan Open title, beats Paire in final
 Undefeated Novak Djokovic humbles Rafael Nadal to win sixth China Open title
 Lahiri loses as US pips Internationals to retain Presidents Cup
Zaheer Khan set to retire from international cricket
 India seamer Zaheer Khan has announced his retirement from international and first-
class cricket.
 He will, however, continue to play in the IPL for one more season.
 In 92 Test matches, Zaheer has taken 311 wickets and is the fourth- highest wicket-
taker amongst Indians in the longer version, after Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434)
and Harbhajan Singh (417).
 He picked 282 wickets in 200 ODIs he played, besides 17 scalps from as many
Twenty20s
Virender Sehwag announces retirement from International Cricket
 Virender Sehwag has announced his retirement from international cricket, more
than two-and-a-half years on from his last appearance for India. With 8586 runs
from 104 Test matches, Sehwag stands at fifth in India's all-time list.
 In ODIs, he scored 8273 runs, with 15 centuries including the second- highest
individual score of 219. In 19 Twenty20 internationals, the right-hander made 394
runs.
 Aside from all those runs, Sehwag took 40 wickets in Tests and 96 in ODIs.

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Yuki Bhambri is first Indian to enter top 100 since 2010
 Yuki Bhambri has cracked the coveted top-100 bracket by achieving a career-best
rank of 99, a reflection of his consistent progress in the last few months.
 In his last three ATP Challenger tournaments, the 23-year-old Yuki won the Shanghai
Challenger, was a runner-up in Taiwan and ended a semifinalist at the $125000
Tashkent event.
 Yuki is the first Indian player since 2010 to enter the top-100 and only the third in a
decade-and-half to be in the list.
First World Indigenous Games began in Brazil
 Some 2,000 athletes from many indigenous ethnic groups and 30 countries are
taking part in the first World Indigenous Games.
 The event in the northern Brazilian city of Palmas officially gets under way on Friday
and will end on 31 October.
 Indigenous peoples from countries including Ethiopia, Mongolia and Brazil sang and
danced at the ceremony, dressed in traditional outfits. From Brazil alone, 24
different indigenous groups are taking part.
Ombudsman to be appointed at BCCI’s AGM
 The Cricket Board is all set to appoint an Ombudsman at its AGM which is scheduled
to be held at its headquarters here on November 9.
 Appointment of the Ethics Officer or Ombudsman is one of the major changes
proposed in the BCCI’s Memorandum of Rules and Regulations at its Annual General
Meeting.
 The Ombudsman will be appointed by the BCCI’s general body “to deal with the
complaints of Conflict of Interest and any act of indiscipline or misconduct or
violation of any of the Rules and Regulations of the Board by an administrator,” as
per the wordings of the clause that has been proposed.
YAI Senior National Championship-2015 Conclude at Mumbai
The Yachting Association of India (YAI) Senior National Championship – 2015, being
organised by the Indian Naval Watermanship Training Centre, Mumbai has concluded.
Winners
 Nethra Kumanan from Tamil Nadu, who is vying for Olympic 2016 qualification,
scheduled at Oman in mid November 15, walked away with a gold medal in Laser
Radial Class of boat.
 In the Laser (Standard) Upamanyu Dutta, the No 1 ranked sailor from INWTC,
Mumbai has won the Gold.
 In the Laser (Radial), Nethra Kumanan was won the Gold Medal.
 In RSX, Dyne Coelho from GBSA won sealed his Gold medal.
 Sandip Jain and Pawan Kumar from Shekhar Singh Yadav and Rahul Yadav won the
Gold and Silver respectively in the Enterprise Class.

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Virat Kohli became the fourth player to register hundred against all the Test playing
countries in ODIs
 Virat Kohli has made a remarkable achievement by scoring the century against South
Africa. The century at Chennai was his first ODI century against South Africa and with
this he completed the set of scoring ODI centuries against all the Test playing
nations.
 This achievement by Kohli is quite remarkable as only four batsmen have done this in
the past. And those four are Ricky Ponting, Herschelle Gibbs, Sachin Tendulkar and
Hashim Amla.
 Kohli made his ODI debut in August 2008, scored his maiden century in December
2009 and by July 2013 he had scored centuries against eight of the nine Test playing
oppositions of India.
 The only team left out was South Africa. Till October 2015, his number of centuries
against South Africa remained nil.
South Asian Games to held from Feb 6-16 in Guwahati, Shillong
 The South Asian Games will be held in Guwahati and Shillong from February 6 to
16, 2016 with eight countries, including hosts India, participating in the regional
multi-sporting event.
 There would be 25 disciplines, with 17 of them scheduled to be held in Guwahati and
eight in Meghalaya’s capital city Shillong. The participating countries are
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, besides
hosts India.
South Africa hit third highest ODI total to win India series
 South Africa posted the joint-third highest total in one-day international history and
lifted the Paytm Trophy as they beat India by 214 runs in Mumbai to win the series
3-2.
 Quinton de Kock (109), Faf du Plessis (133) and skipper AB de Villiers (119) all hit
centuries in their 438-4.
India finishes 9th at Nomura Cup
 The Indian team, led by Aman Raj, finished ninth on the final day of the Asia-Pacific
Amateur Golf Team Championship, Nomura Cup at the Yas Links Golf Club of Abu
Dhabi.
 Raj’s four days total of 10- under 278 played a big role in India collecting the team
total of one-under 863 (218, 219, 210, 216).

Yuki pockets second title of season, set to re-enter top-100

 Yuki Bhambri fashioned an impressive if not dominating win to clinch his second title
of the season with a 6-2 7-6(4) defeat of second seed Evgeny Donskoy in the final of
the USD 50,000 KPIT- MSLTA Challenger, here today.


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Swiss pilot Kuffer wins AAI Paragliding World Cup
 Swiss pilot Michael Kuffer finished a close second in the final Task today but
emerged as the overall champion of AAI Paragliding World Cup here.
 The 26- year-old Kuffer finished a mere 14 seconds behind Mexican Manuel
Quintanilla but his steady performances in the earlier tasks ensured the overall
honours.

Hashim Amla becomes fastest to score 6000 ODI runs, breaks Virat Kohli's record
 Hashim Amla finally had reasons to smile in this series when he became the fastest
batsman to go past 6000 runs in ODIs.
 He achieved this feat in just his 123rd innings, breaking the mark set by Virat Kohli,
who had gotten past the mark in 136 innings.
 Before Amla, Kohli had achieved the landmark during the ODI series against Sri Lanka
in November.
Joe Root back as No.1 ranked Test batsman
 England batsman Joe Root has regained the No.1 ranking while Pakistani wrist
spinner Yasir Shah has become the second highest-ranked bowler in the world in the
latest International Cricket Council (ICC) Test player rankings.
 Root, who entered the Test trailing Smith by 13 points, now leads the Australian by
three points.

ICC released Test, ODI, T20I and Women’s Ranking
 The International Cricket Council (ICC) has released the official ICC men’s Team
Rankings from Test, One Day International (ODI) and T20I cricket.
ICC Test Rankings
1. South Africa
2. Australia
3. England
ICC ODI Rankings
1. Australia
2. India
3. South Africa
ICC T20I Rankings
1. Sri Lanka
2. Pakistan
3. Australia







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OBITUARIES
Name of the Person Associated Field
John Guillermin British filmmaker
Lindsay Kline Former Australian Test player
Edida Nageswara Rao Renowned Telugu producer
Henning Mankell Swedish crime writer
Gajanan Pendharkar Chairman of Vicco Laboratories
Ravindra Jain Veteran music director
N Ramani Flautist
Manorama(Gopi Santha) Legendary Tamil actress
Himani Savarkar Noted pro-Hindutva leader and former
president of Akhil Bharatiya Hindu
Mahasabha
Kikkeri Shamanna Lakshminarayana Swamy
(KSL Swamy)
Renowned Kannada filmmaker
Syed Zahoor Qasim Marine biologist
Ashwini Kumar Member of the International Olympic
Committee
Pijush Ganguly Bengali film, television, and stage actor
Maureen O’Hara Actress
Mada Venkateswara Rao Veteran Telugu actor
Lord Gulam Noon Britain’s Curry King
Sam Sarpong Tommy Hilfiger Model
Bob Minkler Musician - Academy Award Winner


OBSERVED DAYS IN OCTOBER 2015
Date Day Observed Theme of the Day
October 1 Wildlife Awareness Week
October 1 International Day of Older
Persons (IDOP)
Sustainability and Age
Inclusiveness in the Urban
Environment
October 5 World Teachers' Day Objective: To mobilize
support for teachers
First Monday of October World Habitat Day Public Spaces for All
October 9 World Post Day The anniversary of the
establishment of the
Universal Postal Union
October 9 World Egg Day
October 10 World Mental Health Day Dignity in mental health
October 13 International Day for
Disaster Risk Reduction
Knowledge for Life
October 21 Global Iodine Deficiency
Disorders Prevention Day

October 20 World Statistics Day Better Data; Better Lives
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October 22 International Stuttering
Awareness Day (ISAD)
Spread the Word –
Education, Cooperation,
Communication
October 26 to October 31 Vigilance Awareness Week Preventive Vigilance as a tool
of Good Governance
October 24 World Polio Day
October 24 United Nations Day Turn the World UN Blue
October 27 World Day for Audiovisual
Heritage
Archives at risk: protecting
the world's identities.
October 31 World Cities Day 2015: Better City, Better Life;
Designed to live together
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