APPOINTMENTS
- India-born banker Rajeev Misra to head SoftBank, Saudi $100-bn tech fund
India-born Rajeev Misra will head the SoftBank Vision Fund that the Japanese investment company has set up with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Misra (54), a veteran banker, is the head of strategic finance at SoftBank Group. He joined SoftBank in October 2014, around the same time when Nikesh Arora joined the Japanese investor as a potential successor to its founder Masayoshi Son.
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INDIAN AFFAIRS
- Haryana starts ‘farm tourism’ scheme
Haryana‘s hinterlands into tourist hot-spots, the state government started the ‘Farm Tourism‘ scheme, under which registered farm owners can host tourists under holiday packages. The state government has started farm tourism to attract people to villages,” Haryana Tourism Minister Rambilas Sharma. Holiday packages will be offered to tourists at registered farms near Delhi.
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- TRAI propose uniform Broad cast inter-connection norms
TRAI Proposed uniform inter-connection guidelines for transmission of TV channels across all available platforms like cable .The Authority is of the view that the common regulatory framework for inter-connection of all types of addressable systems will ensure a level-playing field among different service providers.
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INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
- 197 nations agree to phase out super greenhouse gases
In a historic step towards realizing theParis Agreement on climate change, nearly 200 nations unanimously decided global phase out of super greenhouse gases, replacing them with climate-friendly alternatives. The heat-trapping organic compounds –HFCs (hydro fluoro carbons) are the super greenhouse gases used in refrigeration and air-conditioning world over.
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- Isreal freezes ties with UNESCO
Israel has suspended ties with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), after a draft decision that Israel says ignores Judaism’s ties to the religion’s holiest site. The draft decision notes the importance of Jerusalem to all three monotheistic religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam, but makes no mention of why the city is significant to Christians or Jews.
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- China to sign $24b loans to Bangladesh
China is set to loans worth more than $24 billion to Bangladesh during President Xi Jinping’s state visit on 14 October 2016. President Xi’s visit, described by Chinese media as a “milestone,” will mark the first visit by any Chinese head of state to Bangladesh in three decades.
The Chinese leader’s trip aims to increase the country’s participation in infrastructure developments during a time when India is pushing investment of its own in Bangladesh.
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IMPORTANT DAYS
- October 15: International Day of Rural Women
The International Day of Rural Women was observed across the world on 15 October 2016. The theme for the day for the year 2016 is Climate is changing. Food and agriculture must too. As per the United Nations, empowering rural women is a pre-requisite to fulfilling the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals that aim to end poverty and hunger, achieve foodsecurity and empower all women and girls.
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- October 15: World Student day
As the 85th Birthday anniversary of Late President “Missile- Man of India”APJ Abdul Kalam is being celebrated around the globe as the “World Student Day”. It was year 2010 when United Nations decided to mark the importance of India’s former President and great scientist APJ Abdul Kalam and declared his birthday as ‘World Students Day’.
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- October 14: World Standards Day
World Standards day is celebrated every year on October 14. The theme for World Standards Day in 2016 is ‘Standards Build Trust‘. The aim of World Standards Day is to raise awareness among regulators, industry and consumers as to the importance of standardization to the global economy. Globally, World Standards day for the first time was celebrated on 1970.
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FOREIGN RELATIONS
- India, Russia Sign units at Kudankulam
India and Russia for setting up units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) are at an advanced stage and a general framework agreement could be announced after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of BRICS Summit in Goa.
An official of the Russian atomic energy corporation Rosatom, the builders of KNPP, the negotiations for units 5 and 6 had been expedited so that an announcement could be made during the leaders’ summit in Goa on October 15-16.
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- India, Germany to collaborate for rail projects worth Rs.1 lakh crore
India would collaborate with Germany on projects for improving rail connectivity of Indian ports. The two countries will work together on projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore being implemented by the Indian Port Rail Corporation Ltd. Gadkari on met with his German counterpart and Infrastructure Minister Alexander Dobrindt and his delegation.
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BANKING AND FINANCE
- SBI CMD as world Bank MD & COO
India has reportedly nominated State Bank of India chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya as the World Bank managing director and chief operating officer’s position, but road to final selection may not be easy. India may need strong backing of US and other category 1 member countries, who have a large voting share. The selection has to be cleared by the World Bank’s board of directors, which consist of country representatives.
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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
- ISRO plans to set up telescope on the moon
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is exploring possibilities of setting up a telescope on moon as part of enhancing its scientific observation capacity. The space agency is expecting the second moon mission to take place by the end of next year, said A S Kiran Kumar, chairman of the ISRO. The agency is looking at what could be the next Astrosat-follow on mission.
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