DAILY GK - OCTOBER 2015 101 TO 150 BANKERS ADDA.COM

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101. Dell Inc acquired EMC Corporation for 67 billion US dollars

i. Dell Inc and EMC Corporation on 12 October 2015 signed a definitive agreement under which Dell, together with its owners will acquire EMC Corporation, while maintaining VMware as a publicly-traded company.

ii. This will the biggest tech deal in history with a 67 billion US dollars acquisition of EMC Corp by Dell. The owners of Dell include Michael S Dell, founder, chairman and CEO of Dell, MSD Partners and Silver Lake, the global leader in technology investing.

iii. VMware Inc is a US company that provides cloud and virtualization software and services. It is a subsidiary of EMC Corporation.

iv. A valuation for each share of tracking stock of 81.78 US dollars, EMC shareholders would receive a total combined consideration of 33.15 US dollars per EMC share and the total transaction would be valued at approximately 67 billion US dollars.

102. Portugal became the first European country to sign the MoU on establishment of Nalanda University

i. Portugal on 9 October 2015 became the first European country to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of Nalanda University.

ii. 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.

iii. The revived university is located at Rajgir in Nalanda District in Bihar. It is a non-state, non-profit, secular and self-governing international institution mandated to be engaged in the pursuit of intellectual, philosophical, historical and spiritual studies. It was established through Nalanda University Act, 2010 and formally inaugurated on 19 September 2014.

iv. The ancient Nalanda University was established in 427 AD during the reign of Gupta king Sakraditya. It was destroyed in 1193 AD by the Turkish army of the Bakhtiyar Khilji, the military general of the army of Qutb-ud-din Aibak.

103. Uttar Pradesh Government launched mobile app mSehat for health workers

i. Uttar Pradesh government on 13 October 2015 launched the mobile app mSehat for health workers to record maternal and infant data in real-time.

The application was developed by Kellton Tech, a company that was selected as the technology partner for the initiative by State Innovations in Family Planning Services Agency (SIFPSA).

ii. The application is aimed at improving the infant mortality rate outcomes. mSehat is a cloud-hosted solution to facilitate remote access and enrolment from across the region through 2G-enabled mobile devices. The recorded data will be stored in the cloud, which will act as the central repository.

iii. The initial implementation will be done in five districts, namely Mirzapur, Faizabad, Sitapur, Bareilly and Kannauj, and later it will be extended to the entire state. In the first phase, 10252 ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activists) workers will be equipped with smart phones.

iv. Tablets will be given to 1719 Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANMs) and 300 people comprising medical officers, medical officers in-charge & SIFPSA staff.

104. Govt flags off Science Express special train on climate change

i. The government 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.

ii. Exhibits on the 16-coach air-conditioned train would cover specific topics like adaptation, mitigation, India’s action on mitigation, international climate change negotiations, nature conservation, innovations in India, science lab, biotechnology applications and others.

iii. 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. Some of these locations are Patiala, Jaisalmer, Agra, Ambala, New Jalpaiguri, Vishakhapatnam, Vellore, Rameswaram, Mangalore and Gandhinagar.

iv. The Science Express—a joint initiative of the ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC), the ministry of railways and the ministry of science and technology—has had an eight-year run. Last year, its theme was biodiversity. The Climate Action Special was flagged off by union minister for science and technology Harsh Vardhan along with railway minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu and environment minister Prakash Javadekar.

v. The Climate Change Express will explain in detail about climate change and the actions or paths we can take to tackle climate change.

105. President Pranab Mukherjee concluded his 3-nation tour to Jordan, Palestine and Israel

i. President Pranab Mukherjee on 15 October 2015 concluded his 3-nation tour to Jordan, Palestine and Israel. During his 6-day visit, which took place from 10 October to 15 October 2015, President Pranab signed various agreement and MoUs with three nations to boost the bilateral ties.

ii. During his visit, he also met the leaders of the three nations namely President and Prime Minister of Israel Reuven Rivlin and Benjamin Netanyahu respectively, His Majesty King Abdullah-II Ibn Al Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, President and Prime Minister of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas and Rami Hamdallah respectively.

iii. During this tour, he stayed in Jordan (10 to 12 October 2015), Palestine (12 to 13 October 2015) and Israel (13 to 15 October 2015). Mukherjee’s visit to these three countries was the first ever visit by an Indian President.

iv. President invited Israel to participate in the transformation of India and sought Israel’s participation in Digital India programme. He was conferred honorary doctorate by Hebrew University in Jerusalem, University of Jordan and Al-Quds University, Palestine.

v. The president extended invitation to the countries to invest in India and also sought steps to further deepen the ties. The accompanying academic delegation exchanged Memoranda of Understanding in all the three places.

106. SC allowed use of Aadhar Card for all Central and State Welfare schemes on voluntary basis

i. The Supreme Court on 15 October 2015 allowed the use of Aadhaar cards for all central and state schemes, including Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and employee provident fund and pension schemes, on voluntary basis.

ii. After the concession, the citizens can avail benefits under welfare schemes. Also, the absence of an Aadhaar card will not disallow people from benefiting from these schemes.

iii. The government cannot force citizens to enrol for the card. The government cannot make it a criterion for benefits under various schemes.

iv. The order was passed by a Constitution Bench of five judges, Justices M Y Eqbal, C Nagappan, Arun Mishra and Amitava Roy. The bench was headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu. Earlier on 7 October 2015, a three-judge bench of SC had refused to modify its August 11 2015 order limiting the use of Aadhar cards to LPG subsidy, Kerosene and Public Distribution System (PDS).

107. Rameswaram, birthplace of Dr. Abdul Kalam, included as 498th town under AMRUT

i. Union Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu on 15 October 2015 declared that former President Dr. Abdul Kalam’s birth place Rameswaram has been included in Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) for providing basic urban infrastructure.

ii. The announcement was made on the occasion of 84th birth anniversary of Dr. Kalam at a programme organised at DRDO. Rameswaram is the 498th to be included in the Mission. With the addition of Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu would have 32 cities and towns under Atal Mission.

iii. Besides, a committee comprising of Union Ministers M Venkaiah Naidu, Manohar Parrikar, Pon Radhakrishnan and former Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy will work out the details of a Memorial for Dr. Kalam at Rameswaram. This Committee will consult all concerned before giving a final shape to the Memorial.

iv. Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) was approved by the Union Cabinet on 29 April 2015. The mission aims at providing basic infrastructure facilities in 500 cities with an outlay of 50000 crore rupees over the next five years (2015-16 to 2019-20).

108. Central Victim Compensation Fund set up with 200 crore rupees by Union Government

i. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs on 14 October 2015 introduced a scheme called Central Victim Compensation Fund (CVCF) with an initial amount of 200 crore rupees. The scheme aims at enabling support to victims of various attacks, such as rape, acid attacks, human trafficking and women killed or injured in the cross border firing.

ii. States were asked to accordingly modify the State Victim Compensation Schemes to reduce inconsistency in quantum of compensation amount notified by them and claim financial support from the CVCF.

iii. To support and supplement the existing Victim Compensation Schemes (VCS) notified by states/UT administrations. To reduce disparity in quantum of compensation amount notified by different states / UTs for victims of similar crimes.

iv. To encourage states / UTs to effectively implement the Victim Compensation Scheme notified by them under the provisions of Section 357A of Cr. P.C. To continue financial support to victims of various crimes especially sexual offences including rape, acid attacks, crime against children, human trafficking, etc.

v. The victims will be compensated on the grounds of various injuries, loss and death with respect to acid attack, rape, human trafficking, disabilities and burns affected on them. Women victims of cross-border suffering permanent or partial disability or death will also be compensated under the scheme.

109. RBI formed Financial Inclusion Fund with 2000 crore rupees corpus

i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 15 October 2015 formed a single Financial Inclusion Fund (FIF) with a corpus of 2000 crore rupees. The fund was formed by merging the Financial Inclusion Fund (FIF) and Financial Inclusion Technology Fund (FITF).

ii. The RBI also finalised the new scope of activities and guidelines for utilisation of the new FIF in consultation with the Union Government. The new FIF will be administered by the reconstituted Advisory Board constituted by Union Government and will be maintained by NABARD.

iii. The overall corpus of the new FIF will be 2000 crore rupees. Contribution to FIF would be from the interest differential in excess of 0.5 percent on RIDF and STCRC deposits on account of shortfall in priority sector lending kept with NABARD by banks.

iv. All the assets and liabilities of the erstwhile FITF as well as prior commitments from FITF for projects already sanctioned will be transferred to/reimbursed from FIF. The Fund will be in operation for another three years or till such period as may be decided by RBI and Union Government in consultation with other stake holders.

110. Zaheer Khan retired from International Cricket

i. Zaheer Khan, one of India’s finest pacers, on 15 October 2015 retired from all forms of international and first-class Cricket. However, he will continue to play in IPL for one more season.

ii. Zaheer, with 311 wickets, is the fourth highest Indian wicket-taker in Tests behind Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434) and Harbhajan Singh (417). He was also the third highest wicket-taker in international cricket among left-arm pacers.

iii. He was one of the key members of the 2011 ODI World Cup winning team, leading the pace attack with 21 wickets in just 9 games. He was also the part of 2003 World Cup squad of Indian cricket team that lost the final match against Australia at Johannesburg, South Africa by 125 runs.

iv. In 2011 he was conferred with the Arjuna Award, India's second highest sporting award by the President of India. In 2008, he was also selected as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year.

111. Civil Aviation Minister inaugurates International Civil Helicopters Conclave 2015

i. Union Minister of Civil Aviation Sh. P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju inaugurated the International Civil Helicopters Conclave 2015 in New Delhi today. Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Culture and Tourism (I/C) Dr Mahesh Sharma was also present on the occasion. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony Shri Raju called upon all stakeholders to come up with new ideas to give a boost to the civil aviation sector as a whole, and the helicopter industry in the country in particular.

ii. He said that a new Civil Aviation Policy is in the process of being drafted. Once it is ready, response and comments of stakeholders will be sought, so that a vibrant and forward looking policy can be put in place. The minister also said that the facility of flying should not be restricted to only the privileged people in the country. We should put policies in place so that flying becomes affordable and reaches the masses.

iii. Speaking on the occasion MoS Civil Aviation, Culture and Tourism (I/C) Dr Mahesh Sharma stressed upon the need to increase helicopter services to the North Eastern and hilly areas of the country where road connectivity is a major problem. He talked about the need to create Helihubs in Delhi and Guwahati to facilitate smooth navigation of helicopters.

iv. Shri 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. The conclave marks the 30th anniversary of Pawan Hans Limited. It is a one day event with three technical sessions.

112. GR Chandak appointed as Director of CDFD

i. G R Chandak, has been appointed as the Director, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), Hyderabad, under the Department of Biotechnology.

ii. A group leader at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, here, Chandak received his MD in Biochemistry from Benaras Hindu University and PhD from Osmania University.

iii. His research interests include genetic understanding of complex disorders of pancreas,  type 2 diabetes etc.  His group has identified novel genes associated with chronic pancreatitis and showed its genetic basis to be different in Indians from that in the Europeans.

iv. He has published close to 80 articles in peer-reviewed journals including Nature, Nature  Genetics, Lancet etc. He is a member of Science Akademi's and an Adjunct Group  Leader at Genome Institute of Singapore.

113. M.K. Surana appointed new HPCL CMD

i. M.K. Surana will be the new chairman and managing director of Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL), India’s third largest oil marketing company. The Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB) selected Surana for the top job at HPCL after interviewing a dozen candidates. Surana, 53, is currently the chief executive officer of Prize Petroleum Co. Ltd, the upstream oil exploration arm of HPCL.

ii. He will replace Nishi Vasudeva on her retirement at the end of March 2016. PESB in a notification said it interviewed 12 candidates including HPCL director (HR) P.K. Joshi and State Trading Corp. of India Ltd (STC) chairman Khaleel Rahim. Four HPCL executive directors—S.P. Gupta, G.S. Ganesh, S. Jeyakrishnan and Ajit Singh were the other candidates interviewed.

iii. The non-controversial and low-profile Surana was selected after PESB in the first round of interviews on 6 August found none of the nine candidates appearing suitable for the job. Those appeared for the interview in August included Joshi. Surana had not appeared for the interview then.

iv. Surana is executive director with HPCL since September 2012 who has been posted as chief executive officer at Prize Petroleum. A mechanical engineer, he is a refineries man and had served as the general manager of projects for the Vishaka Refinery of HPCL.

114. Nepal Elects First Woman as Parliament Speaker

i. Nepalese lawmakers today elected the country's first woman speaker of Parliament following formation of a new government after promulgation of the Constitution. Parliament unanimously elected UCPN-Maoist lawmaker Onsari Gharti Magar as the Speaker of the House.

ii. Nepal's Constituent Assembly was converted into the legislative Parliament after the promulgation of the Constitution on September 20 following which K P Sharma Oli was elected as the new prime minister defeating incumbent Sushil Koirala in a contest which became necessary after parties failed to forge a consensus amid violent protests over the country's new Constitution.

iii. Ms Gharti was elected unanimously to the post after Nepal Workers and Peasants Party withdrew the candidacy of its lawmaker Anuradha Thapa Magar. With the victory, Ms Gharti became the first woman to lead the legislative body in Nepal's parliamentary history. Earlier she had served as Deputy Speaker in Parliament.

iv. Ms Gharti was backed by the ruling coalition, consisting of CPN-UML, UCPN-Maoist, Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal, Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum-Democratic and some fringe parties. The main opposition Nepali Congress had also extended support to her candidacy.

115. AMFI elects Leo Puri as chief

i. The Association for Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), the industry body for mutual funds, on Friday elected Leo Puri of UTI AMC as its new Chairman and retained A Balasubramanian as Vice-Chairman. The former chairman had been Sundeep Sikka of Reliance AMC.

ii. In a board meeting in Mumbai on Friday, the mutual fund body also decided to improve the representation of smaller fund houses in the decision-making process. “Henceforth, all important meetings with SEBI and the Ministry of Finance will have a representative from smaller AMCs,” said the CEO of a fund house requesting anonymity.

iii. The 13 lakh crore mutual fund industry is comprised of 44 fund houses, whose individual assets under management range from 1.7 lakh crore to as less as 30 crore. Over time, the business models of the large and small AMCs have diverged considerably while the representation at AMFI had always largely been in favour of larger AMCs.

iv. Usually, the CEO added, only representatives from the top 10 fund houses would be part of delegations to the regulator or the government. The new resolution passed by AMFI now ensures that a representative from a smaller fund house will also be part of such a delegation hereon.

116. Mumbai metro users can recharge their smartcards on Paytm

i. Paytm, a leading mobile commerce platform, has tied up with the Mumbai metro to offer online ticketing and recharges on the ‘Paytm platform’.

ii. With this initiative, Paytm has further widened its bouquet of offerings to consumers and added another use case for the Paytm wallet.

iii. With this initiative, Paytm has further widened its bouquet of offerings to consumers and added another use case for the Paytm wallet.

iv. This facility is available across the Paytm app, website and mobile site and is seeing significant traction among the Mumbai travellers. Paytm is also promoting this offer aggressively among their customer base in Maharashtra.

v. "Recharging a Metro Card online is a frequent need, and we believe our consumers will find it very useful", Shankar Nath, Sr. Vice President, Paytm, said in a statement.

117. PM Narendra Modi says India proud to host India-Africa Summit

i. Ahead of the India-Africa Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said India was proud to host the event which reflects a desire by the two sides to engage more intensively for a better future. In a series of tweets, the Prime Minister said India’s engagement with Africa has been scaled up and trade has been growing remarkably in recent years.

ii. “India is proud to host @indiafrica2015. The Summit reflects India & Africa’s desire to engage more intensively for a better future,” he tweeted. “India’s relations with Africa are historic. India is a major investor in Africa & trade has been growing remarkably in recent years,” he said.

iii. Representatives of 54 African nations including heads of state and government of around 40 countries and powerful African Union are expected to participate in the four-day India-Africa Summit beginning here on October 26.

iv. The Prime Minister said in another tweet that the “Level of engagement for @indiafrica2015 has been tremendously scaled up. Several African leaders will join us”

118. Prasoon Joshi gets award

i. Bank of Baroda has conferred poet, lyricist and advertising guru Prasoon Joshi with Maharaja Sayajirao Bhasha Samman.

ii. The bank said in a statement that the award, in memory of Bank of Baroda’s founder Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad-III, was given to Joshi for his outstanding contribution in promoting Hindi.

119. China launches new communication satellite for HK firm

i. China today 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.

ii. Developed using China’s homegrown DFH-4 platform for the Hong Kong-based APT Satellite Company Ltd, ‘APSTAR-9’ is designed to stay in service for at least 15 years. It will replace its predecessor ‘APSTAR-9A’, which was launched in 1998 with a designed mission life of 15 years also.

iii. With the new satellite, APT’s ‘APSTAR’ fleet will be able to cover some three quarters of global population in Asia, Europe, Africa and Australia to provide TV transmission and transponder, data and satellite communication services.

iv. Today’s launch is the 214th mission of the Long March carrier rocket series developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASTC).

120. Indian short film An Old Dog’s Diary wins award at 2015 London Film Festival

i. An Indian short film, An Old Dog’s Diary has won prestigious Best Short Film Award at the 2015 London Film Festival (LFF). The award was bestowed by the British Film Institute (BIF) at 59th edition of LFF.

ii. The 11-minute film has been directed by Shai Heredia and Shumona Goel. It story of film reveals the cultural conditions of Indian avant-garde painter Francis Newton Souza’s work and its institutionalisation by assembling the puzzle-piece evocations of his portrait. Earlier the film was showcased in the Wavelengths category at 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.

iii. London Film Festival was founded in 1957 and is an annual film festival held at London to show the best of the year’s world cinema to a British audience. The Festival showcases the best work of world cinema that champions originality, creativity, vision and imagination.

iv. It is organised by British Film Institute and is United Kingdom’s largest public film event. It screens more than 300 features, documentaries and shorts films from almost 50 countries.

121. Swadhar Greh scheme approved by Haryana Government for women in distress

i. The Haryana Government on 18 October 2015 approved Swadhar Greh scheme, which will assure economic and social security to women in distress. The scheme aims at creating a supportive institutional framework catering to their primary needs in difficult situations.

ii. The scheme will work upon providing basic amenities, such as shelter, food, clothing and health along with economic and social security to women in distress.  Also, the scheme will make sure that the special needs of these women are taken care of.

iii. Under the scheme, Swadhar Greh will be set up in every district with capacity to accommodate 30 women. The Greh will cater to the needs of shelter, food, clothing, medical treatment and care of the women in distress. It will enable them to regain their emotional strength.

iv. The scheme promises to provide the benefits to women who are deserted and are without social and economic support, prisoners released from jail and are without family, survivors of natural disasters left homeless and are without social and economic support.

v. Swadhar Greh will also cover female victims of domestic violence, family tension or discord, who are made to leave their homes without any means of subsistence and have no special protection from exploitation and/or facing litigation on account of marital disputes.

122. Telecom operators to compensate consumers by Rs 1 for call drop: TRAI

i. Telecom Regulatory Authority of Indian (TRAI) has made it mandatory for telecom operators to compensate consumers by Rs.1 for call drops with effect from 1 January 2016.

ii. As per new TRAI rules The compensation will be limited to three dropped calls in a particular day. It is mandatory for telecom operators to send a message to the calling customer within 4 hours of the occurrence of call drop along with details of amount credited in his account.

iii. In case of post-paid customers, the compensation details of the credit should be provided in the next bill.

123. Typhoon Koppu hits northern Philippines

i. Powerful Typhoon Koppu (also known as Lando) has hit the northern Philippines battering the coast with powerful winds with speed of 240 kph.

ii. The eye of tropical cyclone (typhoon) Koppu has struck the remote northern coastal town of Casiguran which is 215 kms northeast of Philippines capital city Manila. US military’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center has categorised this typhoon equivalent of a Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

iii. The Typhoon Koppu is considered as the strongest landfalling of tropical cyclone in past five years faced by Philippines. The most ominous threat of this cyclone is its prolific rainfall which may cause flood like situations followed by mudslides across the mountains and valleys of Philippines main northern island of Luzon.

iv. Each year, Philippines is hit by an average of 20 tropical storms, most of them many are deadly. The North eastern coat of the country is one of the most tropical cyclone-prone coastlines on Earth.

124. Smita Patil: A Brief Incandescence by Maithili Rao launched

i. The book titled Smita Patil: A Brief Incandescence authored by Maithili Rao was launched on 18 October 2015. The book, which was launched on Smita Patil’s 60th birth anniversary, acquaints the readers with a remarkable journey of the short-lived actress.

ii. It traces the journey of the actress from her childhood to stardom. The book shows glimpses of Patil’s controversial marriage and untimely tragic death.

iii. The book also throws light on Patil’s several unfortunate forays into mainstream commercial cinema.

iv. In addition, the book offers a sharp analysis of some best movies of the New Indian Cinema, including Bhumika, Mandi, Manthan, Umbartha, Bhavni Bhavai, Akaler Sandhane, Chakra, Chidambaram, Mirch Masala.

125. Great Britain beat India to win Sultan of Johor Cup Hockey tournament

i. Great Britain on 18 October 2015 defeated Indian junior men's hockey team and captured Sultan of Johor Cup (SOJC). Great Britain defeated defending champions India by 4-3 in sudden death penalty shootout in the final after the match had ended 2-2 in regulation time.

ii. For the third place, the host Malaysia defeated Argentina to settle for Bronze.

iii. Sultan of Johor Cup (SOJ Cup) is an annual international under-21 field hockey tournament held in Malaysia. It is the only invitational junior hockey competition played at international level.

The championship started in 2011 and is named after the Sultan of Johor, ceremonial head of the Malaysian state of Johor.

iv. So far, India is the more successful team in the tournament reaching 4 finals out of 5 editions. The 2014 edition of the International U-21 hockey Tournament was won by India.

126. Renowned Egyptian writer Gamal al-Ghitani died

i. Renowned Egyptian novelist and journalist Gamal al-Ghitani died on 18 October 2015 in Cairo, Egypt. He was 70. Al-Ghitani was born on 9 May 1945 in Gihena, Egypt. He began writing at a young age. His first short story was published when he was only 14.

ii. For critically commenting on the regime of Gamal Abd el-Nasser, the second President of Egypt, Al-Ghitani even faced imprisonment from October 1966 through March 1967.

iii. Al-Ghitani also worked as a journalist for the Egyptian newspaper Akhbar El Yom (The Day's News) in 1969. He was also the editor-in-chief of the literary periodical Akhbar Al-Adab (Cultural News) from 1993 to 2011.

iv. He was awarded with the Egyptian National Prize for Literature in 1980. In 2005, he won a French Award for translated literature Laure Bataillon, one of the highest French awards to be conferred upon non-French writers.

127. Post-doctoral fellowship in name of APJ Abdul Kalam

i. The ministry of environment, forest and climate change has announced the launching of post-doctoral research fellowships in the name of APJ Abdul Kalam on his 85th birthday.

ii. The post-doctoral fellowship programme of the ministry is targeted towards young scientists working in the area of environment and ecology in the country, said the press release issued by ministry of environment and forest.

iii. The target group of this programme are young scientists who have completed their PhD, or are about to complete their PhD, in areas related to environment and ecology and possess a good, academic record. The applicants should preferably be below the age of 35 years.

iv. The ministry proposes to constitute a committee of experts headed by RA Mashelkar for selection of APJ Abdul Kalam post-doctoral research fellows. The advertisement, calling for applications for the fellowship programme will be brought out by the ministry shortly and the guidelines for the programme will be uploaded on the ministry's website.

128. Infosys to acquire Noah Consulting for $70 mn

i. IT major Infosys today announced a definitive agreement to acquire Noah Consulting, LLC, a provider of advanced information management consulting services for the oil and gas industry in a $70 million all-cash deal.

ii. Noah Consulting helps upstream oil and gas companies, including super majors, independents and oil field service companies plan, architect and deploy information solutions to unlock the value of their oil and gas assets.

iii. Noah’s domain expertise in upstream oil and gas, coupled with their tools, solution accelerators and proprietary methodologies, makes them a leader in driving strategic data management engagements.

iv. This acquisition by Infosys combines Noah’s industry knowledge, information strategy planning, data governance and architecture capabilities with Infosys’ ability to provide technology and outsourcing services on a global scale to oil and gas clients.

v. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the third quarter of FY 2016, subject to customary closing conditions.

129. Housing.com appointed Mani Rangarajan as CFO

i. Realty giant Housing.com on 18 October 2015 appointed Mani Rangarajan as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO). The appointment was made to strengthen its senior management team.

ii. Rangarajan holds over 20 years of experience and has successfully played executive level roles in companies such as Yahoo! and Citigroup. He also played vital roles in many Silicon Valley start-up companies, like Boku, Kosmix and Media Boost.

iii. Rangarajan obtained an MBA degree from the Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He also received a post graduate management diploma from IIM Calcutta and is also a Cost & Works Accountant.

iv. Housing.com is a Mumbai-based real estate search portal, which was founded by a group of 12 students from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in June 2012. The website allows the users to search for housing based on location, number of rooms, budgets and various other filters.

130. China’s Xuerui Li wins 2015 Denmark Open Title of Badmintoni. China’s Xuerui Li has won the prestigious 2015 Denmark Open Badminton Title in the women’s single category. In the final match played at Odense, Denmark, she defeated P V Sindhu of India by 19-21, 12-21 score. It was Li’s second title of Denmark Open and earlier she had won it in 2014.

ii. In the men’s single category, China’s Chen Long has won the 2015 title. He has won the title for record 3rd time after he had earlier won it in 2013 and 2014 .

iii. It is formerly known as Danish Open and is organized by Danmarks Badminton Forbund.

131. Saketh Myneni wins 2015 Vietnam Open Tennis Trophy

i. India’s ace tennis player Saketh Myneni has won the 2015 Vietnam Open trophy. In the summit clash which lasted for one hour and 27 minutes he defeated Australia’s Jordan Thompson by 7-5, 6-3 score.

ii. It was Saketh’s first singles ATP Challenger title of the 2015 season. It was also overall his second singles title at the Challenger level. Earlier he had won the Indore Open.

iii. Presently, he is ranked 168 and this victory will help him to score 90 points in his pocket to break into top-150 when the new rankings chart.

132. Novak Djokovic won 2015 Shanghai Rolex Masters tennis title

i. World Number 1 ranking Novak Djokovic on 18 October 2015 won the 2015 Shanghai Rolex Masters tennis title in the men’s singles category. To clinch the title, the top seeded Serbian player defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2 6-4 in the final match held in Shanghai, China.

ii. It was the third Shanghai title for Djokovic in four years, having defeated Andy Murray (the UK) and Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina) in the 2012 and 2013 finals respectively.

iii. In early 2015, Djokovic joined Roger Federer and Rod Laver as the only men in the Open era to reach all four major finals. His only defeat came in the final of the French Open against Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland.

iv. Apart from the Grand slam titles in Australia, the UK (Wimbledon) and the USA, he won six other titles in the 2015 season that include Indian Wells Masters, Miami Open, Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Italian Open,  China Open and Shanghai Open.

133. Narendra Modi inaugurates IDFC Bank

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the IDFC Bank in New Delhi. IDFC Bank Limited, which started its operations on 1 October 2015, is an Indian Banking company with headquarters in Mumbai that forms a part of IDFC, an integrated infrastructure finance company.

ii. IDFC Bank was granted a universal banking license in July 2015 by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

iii. IDFC was incorporated on 30 January 1997. It founded a non-operative financial holding company (NOFHC) in 2014 to manage its five subsidiaries IDFC Bank, IDFC MF, IDFC Alternatives, IDFC IDF & IDFC Securities to conform with RBI guidelines.

134. PM Narendra Modi, President Pranab Mukherjee to launch one stop research funding mechanism 'IMPRINT'

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee will next month launch a single window funding clearance mechanism backed with a Rs 1,000-crore kitty to get Indian technical institutions to conduct original research in areas where the country is heavily dependent on foreign technology. 

ii. An Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) is being set up as the single window mechanism that will screen research projects and proposals by India's leading research and technology institutes and then approve them and earmark funds for the same. 

iii. The IMG will have on board the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD), Ministry of Defence, Department of Science & Technology, Department of Biotechnology, and Ministry of Rural Development, among others.

iv. Named 'IMPRINT' — the one stop research funding mechanism to boost indigenous technology and research will be launched by the PM and President on November 5 at the Visitor's Conference. 

v. The move to set up a one stop funding system has been made after a number of scientists and researchers conveyed how the current bureaucratic systems were coming in the way and delaying projects as well as discouraging institutes from taking them up. 

135. RBI, UAE Central Bank ink MoU for supervisory information exchange

i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Central Bank of United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information.

ii. It was signed at Abu Dhabi, UAE by Saeed Abdulla Al Hamiz, Assistant Governor of Central Bank of UAE and Meena Hemchandra, Executive Director of RBI.

iii. By signing the MoU, RBI is seeking to promote greater co-operation and share supervisory information among the authorities. So far RBI has signed 29 such MoUs, one Letter for Supervisory Co-operation (LSC) and one Statement of Co-operation (SoC) in this regard.

136. NATO launched military exercise Trident Juncture in Italy

i. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies and partner nations on 19 October 2015 launched the Alliance’s Trident Juncture military exercise at the Trapani air force base in Italy. Trident Juncture will end on 6 November 2015.

ii. The three week long intensive training involves 36000 troops from more than 30 nations across Italy, Spain and Portugal. 

iii. The Trident juncture is the largest NATO exercise for over a decade and will increase readiness and ability to work together. It will also demonstrate that NATO is capable of responding to threats from any direction.

iv. The exercise will also certify next year’s NATO Response Force headquarters and the functions of the new very-high readiness Spearhead Force.

137. Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index report 2015 released

i. The 2015 Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index (MMGPI) report was released on 19 October 2015. This seventh edition of MMGPI report measured 25 retirement income systems against more than 40 indicators, under the sub-indices of Adequacy, Sustainability and Integrity.

ii. The 2015 report rated Denmark as the country with the best retirement system for the fourth consecutive year in 2015, with an overall score of 81.7. This study of retirement income systems in 25 countries confirmed that there is great diversity between the retirement systems around the world with scores ranging from 40.3 for India to 81.7 for Denmark.

iii. Australia was ranked as having the most adequate pension system, however there was decline in the overall score from 79.9 in 2014 to 79.6 in 2015, moving further away from an elusive A grade that is given to pension systems that score above 80.

iv. Denmark held onto the top position for the fourth consecutive year in 2015 with an overall score of 81.7. Denmark’s well-funded pension system with its good coverage is the primary reason for its top spot. Denmark and Netherlands are the only countries to achieve an A grade in the history of the index.

v. A number of countries have changed grade, with the Netherlands joining Denmark with an A-grade. Mexico and Italy improved to a C-grade. None of the countries in this study has an E-grade system, which would be represented by an index value below 35.

138. VK Malhotra appointed as head of the All India Council of Sports

i. The Union Government on 19 October 2015 named veteran sports administrator Vijay Kumar Malhotra as the President of the All India Council of Sports. His position will be in the rank of Minister of State. The council also includes former sportspersons, including PT Usha, Limba Ram, N Kunjarani Devi, IM Vijayan, Baichung Bhutia and P Gopichand.

ii. Malhotra acted as the Senior Vice President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the acting President of the IOA after the arrest of Suresh Kalmadi in connection with the alleged irregularities in awarding contracts for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

iii. Malhotra had also been the President of the General Association of National Sports Federations and the President of the Archery Association of India. He was born on 3 December 1931 in Lahore, Pakistan. He holds a Doctorate in Hindi Literature.

iv. The Government of India on 24 July 2015 constituted the All India Council of Sports as an advisory body for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The council advises the Ministry on matters relating to the promotion and development of sports and games in the country.

v. Popularizing sports amongst the youth as a way of life. Increasing outreach of sports to rural and tribal areas, areas affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE), North-East and Jammu & Kashmir. Implementation of policies for promotion of sports and games in the country

139. Urvashi Rautela crowned Miss Diva 2015

i. Model-actress Urvashi Rautela on 18 October 2015 was crowned as Yamaha Fascino Miss Diva 2015 at a star-studded event in Mumbai. With this, she became India’s representative for the Miss Universe pageant.

ii. Natasha Assadi from Bangalore was crowned 1st runner up while Naveli Deshmukh from Aurangabad was crowned 2nd runner-up.

iii. Born on 25 February 1994 in Nainital, Uttarakhand, Rautela had won the I Am She – Miss Universe India in 2012 but was dethroned from crown due to a controversy over her age. She had also been a winner of the title of Miss Asian Supermodel 2011 in South Korea.

iv. A part of Femina Miss India pageant, Miss Diva competition chooses India's representatives for Miss Universe and other pageants after Miss Universe Organization awarded back the franchise to Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.

140. Konkan Railway to set up a tunnel technology institute at Margao in Goa

i. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu announced on 19 October 2015 that Konkan Railway will establish a tunnel technology institute at Goa's Margao town. The institute will enable training for the technology, which is still not available in India.

ii. The institute, which is first of its kind in the nation, will be established in the honour of former Railway Minister George Fernandes, who is said to be the driving force behind the Konkan Railway. The institute will be called as George Fernandes Institute of Tunnel Technology.

iii. The proposed institute aims at being a depository of knowledge on tunnels and underground structures. The institute will provide training of tunnel technology and consultancy services for tunnels and underground construction.

iv. Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) was formed in 1990 as company and was incorporated as a public limited company under the Companies Act, 1956, with its headquarters at CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai.

141. Moody's released a report on the Global Green Bonds Market

i. Moody’s Investors Service on 19 October 2015 released a report on the global green bonds market titled Third Quarter Issuance Lags, but COP21-Linked Increase Is Likely.

ii. The report says that in the third quarter (Q3) of 2015, the global green bond issuance reached 7.5 billion dollar, compared to bond issuance of 27.2 billion dollar in Q3 2014. But the increase is down from Q2, Moody's expects issuance will pick up in the last quarter and exceed 40 billion dollar for the full year 2015.

iii. Issuance continued to break new ground in the third quarter in terms of noteworthy and first-time transactions. 7.6 billion dollar issued in Q3 lagged the 13.4 billion dollar that came to market during the second quarter of the year, but did outpace the first quarter's 6.3 billion dollar.

iv.  Based on the 9-month average monthly volume of 3.02 billion dollar, green bonds would end the year at 36.3 billion dollar, or just shy of the 36.5 billion dollar issued in 2014. The organisation expects the volume will pick up towards the end of the year to coincide with the December 2015 United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCC) Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris and is likely to exceed 40 billion dollar for the full year 2015.

142. Aditya Birla Group launches fashion portal abof.com

i. The profile of the $41-billion Aditya Birla Group is increasingly changing. Announcing the launch of abof.com, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group said, "The e-commerce sector is a sunrise sector from an investment point of view".

ii. Although there are no profitability estimates now, the e-commerce fashion vertical as a whole is expected to see a potential demand of $15 billion in five years. The new venture will compete with the likes of Flipkart-owned Myntra and Rocket Internet-backed Jabong, besides horizontal e-commerce players such as Amazon and Snapdeal.

iii. Whilst the aggressive depth is sort of excessive, the overall perception is this isn't actually a one-participant-wins-all type of market. "Though ecommerce may not be a sizeable part of the group's turnover eventually, it will constitute a significant portion of the group's valuation", Birla said. Birla sees abof.com remaining an independent company at least in the foreseeable future. But, going ahead, Birla stated abof.com can be open to roping in an investor.

iv. Besides, the portal also offers various trendy looks of the season from around the world through its curated collection of products, handpicked from different brands and from its own brand "abof". We are trying to build the Apple of this industry, which is very iconic, where we will have a more curated range. The group has also tied up with third party vendors for logistics.

143. Bank of Baroda first PSU bank to join Chillr platform
i. Bank of Baroda has become the second bank after HDFC Bank to join the Chillr payment platform which enables peer-to-peer payment through a mobile application.
ii. Only those whose banks are integrated with Chillr can use the application for remitting funds. However, customers of any bank can receive funds using Chillr.
iii. This app is presently made available on Android platform for fund transfer and will be made available for IOS and Windows platform shortly."

iv. It added that utility bill and merchant payments on Chillr app will be enabled for Bank of Baroda customers soon. The Chillr application was developed by Kerala-based start up Mobme Wireless. It was subsequently farmed out into a separate company promoted by Sony Joy, founder and CEO Chillr.

144. Reliance AMC to acquire Goldman Sachs AMC for Rs 243cr
i. In its first ever acquisition, Reliance Capital Asset Management (RCAM) today announced takeover of global giant Goldman Sachs' mutual fund business in India for Rs 243 crore in an all-cash deal as yet another foreign player exits the Rs 13 lakh crore Indian MF market.
ii. The deal, under which RCAM will acquire all 12 onshore mutual fund schemes of Goldman Sachs Asset Management India with total asset under management of Rs 7132 crore, would also make Reliance MF the exclusive fund manager for the government's ambitious Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) Exchange Traded Fund.
iii. GSAM India currently manages 12 mutual fund schemes, including 10 ETF schemes, and is the largest ETF provider in India. It has a total AUM of Rs 7,132 crore (USD 1.1 billion) as of September 30, 2015 which includes Rs 2,172 crore (USD 334 million) of AUM in the CPSE ETF for which GSAM India is currently the exclusive fund manager.
iv. The transaction has been approved by the boards of the two companies and is expected to be completed in the current fiscal, RCAM's parent firm Reliance Capital said in a statement.
v. Reliance Capital is the financial services arm of Anil Ambani-led business conglomerate Reliance Group and is also present in insurance, brokerage and wealth management among other areas.

145. Snapdeal appointed Anup Vikal as CFO
i. E-commerce firm Snapdeal on 20 October 2015 appointed Anup Vikal as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Vikal replaced Aakash Moondhra, who had quit the company in October 2015.

ii. Before joining Snapdeal, Vikal was working as the CFO of Aircel since January 2013.
iii. Before Aircel, he worked as the group-CFO & head of strategy and IT with budget carrier IndiGo's parent InterGlobe Enterprises, wherein he handled multiple responsibilities like incubating and developing new business, mergers and acquisitions and portfolio management. He also served as a part of Bharti Airtel's finance team for around seven years before joining Colt, where he worked for a few years.
iv. Anup Vikal learned mechanical engineering from NIT, Surat. He obtained his MBA degree from South Gujarat University.

146. Justin Trudeau elected as Canada’s new PM
i. Justin Trudeau of Liberal Party has been elected as 23rd Prime Minister of Canada. He is eldest son of Canada’s former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau who was in office for 16 years and led the country till 1984.

ii. With this Justin Trudeau (age 43 years) became the second youngest Prime Minister of Canada and the first to follow a parent into office. The youngest Prime Minister was Joe Clark (age 40 years) of Conservative party who was elected to office in 1979. Trudeau is a former school teacher and was elected as Member of Parliament for first time in 2008 and again in 2011 and 2015.
iii. In the 2015 Canadian Federal election, Liberal Party has emerged victorious by winning 185 seats (54% votes) in 338 member House of Commons (Lower House of Parliament).
iv. Conservative Party led by former Prime Minister Stephen Harper has emerged as largest opposition party by winning 99 seats by securing 29% votes. It was followed by New Democratic Party (NDP) of Canada led by Thomas Mulcair which has won 44 seats.

147. Reva Khetrapal selected as Lokayukta of Delhi
i. Former Delhi High Court judge Reva Khetrapal has been selected as Delhi’s new Lokayukta. The post was lying vacant since 2013 after retired Justice Manmohan Sarin had relinquished office after completing five-year term.
ii. With this, she will become the fourth Lokayukta of Delhi and shall have five years terms as per Delhi Lokayukta and Uplokayukta Act, 1995.
iii. Justice Khetrapal was chosen as head of anti-corruption ombudsman unanimously by a four-member panel. The panel included Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Justice of Delhi High Court G Rohini and Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta.
iv. Reva Khetrapal had practiced in the Delhi High Court and Supreme Court from 1975 to 1991. She was elevated to the HC in 2006 and she retired in September 2014. In 1991, she was appointed sessions judge and additional district. Later she was posted as special judge (narcotics) in 1994.

148. Veteran Kannada film-maker K.S.L. Swamy passes away
i. Renowned Kannada filmmaker Kikkeri Shamanna Lakshminarayana Swamy (KSL Swamy) passed away in Bengaluru, Karnataka. He was 77. He was popularly known Ravee and was also Kannada film producer, actor and playback singer.

ii. Swamy was born in 1938 in Kikkeri in then Mysore Kingdom of British India. He had started his cinematic journey as an assistant director to legendary filmmakers such as G.V. Iyer and M.R. Vittal.
iii. Swamy made his directorial debut with Kannada film Thoogudeepa in 1966. In his 49-year celluloid career, he had directed as many as 37 films. His directed films such as Gandhinagara (1968) and Bhagya Jyothi (1975) and Malaya Marutha (1986) were successful hits.
iv. His is film Jamboo Savari (1989) had won the National Award for the Best Children Film. He is also recipient of Padma Bhushan (2013) and B. Saroja Devi National Award (2013).

149. AB de Villiers named brand ambassador of MRF
i. Tyre manufacturing giant MRF Limited on 20 October 2015 named South African batsman AB de Villiers as its brand ambassador. As per company norms, the association is for a period of three years.
ii. AB de Villiers, the ODI captain of South Africa team, in his new role will endorse the company’s products and services through advertising campaigns and other such promotional programmes during the term of the agreement.
iii. AB de Villiers who captains the South African One Day International (ODI) team is regarded as the current best batsman in the world and one of the greatest of all time. He holds the record for most Test innings without registering a duck (78), before being dismissed for nought against Bangladesh in November 2008.
iv. He also holds the second-highest individual score by a South African batsman in an innings, with 278 not out.

150. Yuki Bhambri is first Indian to enter top 100 since 2010
i. Yuki Bhambri on Monday 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.
ii. 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 USD 125000 Tashkent event last week.

iii. 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. His next assignment is the Pune Challenger, starting October 26 after he pulled out of the Bangalore event due to some niggles.
iv. Not only Yuki but Saketh Myneni is also making a steady progress on the tour. He won the Vietnam Open on Sunday and is now ranked 166. Somdev Devvarman though has dropped further to 181. India now have three singles players in top-200 in a rare feat for country's tennis players.
v. Rohan Bopanna is country's highest ranked player in doubles at number 15, followed by Leander Paes (36) and Purav Raja (96). In the WTA rankings, Sania Mirza continues to be world number one player.