- Kazuo Ishiguro Wins 2017 Nobel Literature Prize
British author Kazuo Ishiguro, best known for his novel The Remains of the Day, won the Nobel Literature Prize.
The 62-year-old, “in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world”, the Academy wrote in its citation.
Born in Nagasaki, he moved to Britain with his family when he was five years old, only returning to visit Japan as an adult.
- Nobel Peace Prize 2017 awarded to International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
The 2017 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize was selected by a panel appointed by the Norwegian parliament from a total of 318 candidates.
ICAN is a coalition of non-governmental organisations from around 100 different countries around the globe, which advocates prohibition of nuclear weapons under international law
- Gauri Lankesh, First Indian Journalist to win Anna Politkovskaya Award
Kannada journalist Gauri Lankesh, a strident critic of religious extremism who was shot dead last month, has been awarded a prestigious global award, given in the memory of a slain Russian reporter and political activist.
Lankesh, 55, shared the Reach All Women in WAR (RAW in WAR) Anna Politkovskaya Award with Gulalai Ismail, 31, a Pakistani peace activist who has faced death threats for speaking out against the Taliban.
- Zafar Mahmood Abbasi, Pakistan’s New Navy Chief
Pakistan’s new naval chief Admiral Zafar Mehmood Abbasi has took command of the navy in Islamabad amid several security challenges facing the country.
Outgoing naval chief Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah passed the baton of command to Admiral Abbasi at a ceremony, which was attended by senior officials from the three services and other government functionaries.
- Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and UP Sign MoU to Boost Culture and Tourism
In an attempt to boost cultural ties, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya under the ‘Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat’ programme.
“Under the ‘Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat’ programme, efforts are being made to boost cultural relationship between different states of the country. Under this, the states will connect with each other to know more about the culture, heritage and traditions of each other
- India to be First ASEAN-India Music Festival Begins in New Delhi
Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India in collaboration with Ministry of Culture and Seher presents the first ever ASEAN-India Music Festival from October 6th-8th 2017 at Purana Quila in New Delhi. The Festival is being organised to celebrate the 25th year anniversary of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations.
The theme for this commemorative year “Shared Values, Common Destiny” along with this Music Festival aims to boost cultural influences among the peoples of the ASEAN member states and India.
- Guest Country at the World Government Summit
The World Government Summit has announced India as the guest country for its upcoming annual gathering scheduled for February 11-13, 2018.
Honorary guests from India will join the notable list of speakers synonymous with the World Government Summit to showcase the country’s emerging economic growth, highlight valuable knowledge, skills, and capabilities and elaborate on the country’s unique culture.
- India, EIB Ink Pact for Financing Bangalore Metro Rail Project
India and European Investment Bank (EIB) have signed the finance contract for lending of 300 million euros (about Rs 2,293 crore) for Bangalore Metro Rail Project phase-II.
Bangalore Metro Rail Project Phase II is to be jointly financed by the EIB (500 million euros) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (300 million euros).
- Airtel Gets Approval for Tigo Merger
Bharti Airtel has received Ghana’s National Communications Authority’s approval for the merger between Bharti Ghana (Airtel) and Millicom Ghana (Tigo), subject to certain conditions. This merger will result in an entity which will be the second largest mobile network operations in the country.
- Vijaya Bank Inks MoU with HPCL for Digital Payments
Vijaya Bank has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) for enabling all HPCL retail outlets with BHIM/UPI merchant solutions.
Following the success of the pilot launch at five outlets, the solution is being scaled to enable UPI acceptance in all HPCL outlets throughout Karnataka over the next few weeks.
- HDFC Life Launched Neo, a Bot for Twitter
HDFC Life Insurance Company has launched Neo — a servicing bot for Twitter that uses artificial intelligence for customer service. The insurer hopes to deploy the bot in answering policy —related queries on social media.
Other life insurers like PNB Metlife have launched VR humanoids like Kushi leveraging the power of AI, chat bots, natural language processing.
This is the second bot put in operation by HDFC Life, after the launch of SPOK, which was an email bot to answer customer queries.
- Private insurer Tata AIA Life announced the launch of ‘Eazy Connect’
Private insurer Tata AIA Life has announced the launch of ‘Eazy Connect’ that will extend online customer service to social media platforms.
The chatbot will be available through social media platforms and is developed to respond to the most frequently asked queries.
- MobiKwik, IRCTC Rail Connect Partner for Ticket Bookings
Digital payments firm MobiKwik has announced its partnership with IRCTC Rail connect app, which will allow customers book railway tickets using the former’s payment gateway.
Mobikwik’s Payment Gateway currently powers payments for more than 3,000 ecommerce websites and apps.
The tie-up is aimed at simplifying payment systems by introducing MobiKwik’s easy-to-use interface for all, which supports payment solution through channels like debit card, credit card, net Banking, ATM Cards and Wallets.
- Magicbricks Launches India’s First Online Property Bidding Platform
Magicbricks has announced the launch of India’s first online bidding platform for residential and commercial properties and tied-up with developer M3M for the inaugural ‘My Bid, My Home’ under which consumers can bid for ready-to-move-in residential properties ranging from 1355sqft-7875sqft in Gurugram on Oct 7.
Magicbricks has been recently awarded the Standardisation, Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, making it the country’s only real estate portal eligible for a bidding platform for properties.
- Flipkart Launched Private Label MarQ for Large Appliances Category
India’s largest e-commerce firm Flipkart has launched a new private label brand for its key large appliances category, amid a broader internal push from chief executive Kalyan Krishnamurthy to build out a new billion-dollar business from private labels and simultaneously improve margins.
The new brand called MarQ comes at a time when Flipkart is looking to reduce its dependence on the smartphone business and cement its position at the top of Indian e-commerce, after winning the Diwali festive sale battle against arch-rival Amazon India.
- JSA Becomes First Law Firm in GIFT City
J Sagar Associates (JSA) is the first law firm to have opened an office at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT), which is being promoted like Singapore of India.
Setting up this office would help JSA consolidate their Financial Services Practice, according to the firm release. The office was inaugurated by Sudhir Mankad – Chairman of GIFT IFSC, along with CEO Ajay Pandey.
- October 5, 2017: World Teacher’s Day
Held annually on 5 October since 1994, World Teachers’ Day commemorates the anniversary of the signing of the 1966 UNESCO/ILO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, which celebrated its 50th anniversary during last year’s edition.
World Teachers’ Day 2017 will be celebrated under the theme “Teaching in Freedom, Empowering Teachers”, echoing the 2015 theme that followed the adoption of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) (link is external) in September 2015, when teacher empowerment was reaffirmed as a top priority in all education and development strategies.
- ISRO to Set up Research Centre in Guwahati
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will set up a research centre here for start ups, academicians, environmentalists and entrepreneurs.
ISRO would set up the exclusive research facility in Assam to explore the possibility of using geospatial technology, which include data generated through global positioning system (GPS), geographical information systems (GIS) and satellite remote sensing for expediting the development of Assam.
- India wins its First Ever Wushu World Championship Gold
Pooja Kadian has created history as she bagged India’s first ever gold medal at Wushu World Championships in Russia.
Pooja, an ace Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) Wushu champion, finished on top of the podium in the 75 kg women’s Sanda Category after defeating Evgeniya Stepanova of Russia in the final.
- Filmmaker Kundan Shah Passes Away
Veteran director Kundan Shah, best known for the dark comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, passed away. He was 69.
He had studied direction at the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune and made his feature film debut in 1983 with the cult classic Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983).
- Former Union Minister Purushottam Lal Kaushik Passes Away
Former Union minister and socialist leader Purushottam Lal Kaushik was died due to age-related ailments at his home in Chhattisgarh’s Mahasamund district. He was 87.
He had served as tourism and civil aviation minister in the then Prime Minister Morarji Desai’s cabinet during 1977- 1979.
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