Current Affairs for October 2017 : Useful for UPSC, GPSC, CLAT, CAT, IIFT, XAT, SNAP, CMAT & other entrance exams

Current Affaires

Oct-2017

1) Union Government announced an outlay of 6.92 trillion for building an 83,677 km road network over the next five years. The outlay includes the Bharatmala Pariyojana with a Rs. 5.35 trillion outlay for 34,800km while the state-run National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) will spend Rs.1.57 trillion for 48,877 km of roads.

The almost Rs. 7 trillion investment in road construction is the largest ever single outlay for road construction in India till date. This is expected to generate 142 million man-days of jobs.

2) The Union Finance Ministry announced a Rs. 2.11 trillion bank recapitalization plan for state-owned banks.  With this the government seeks to help banks that have been weighed down by bad loans and to stimulate the flow of credit to spur private investment. Of the total bank recapitalization outlay, Rs1.35 trillion will come from the sale of recapitalization bonds and the rest through the Indradhanush plan and fundraising from the markets. The bank recapitalization would ensure genuine borrowers get adequate funding.

3) Girija Devi was often known as ‘Thumri Queen” as she helped elevate the status of the typical ‘Thumri’ style of singing. She was known for her melodious renditions of classical and light classical compositions. She took lessons in singing khayal and tappa from vocalist Sarju Prasad Misra in early childhood.

4) During meeting in Paris as part of the C40 cities network, the mayors of London (UK), Paris (France), Los Angeles (UK), Cape Town (South Africa), Copenhagen (Denmark), Barcelona (Spain), Quito (Ecuador), Vancouver (Canada), Mexico City (Mexico), Milan (Spain), Seattle (US) and Auckland (New Zealand) signed a historic declaration with the vow to buy only zero-emissions buses from 2025 and to make major areas free of fossil fuel emissions by 2030.

C40 is a network of the world’s megacities committed to tackling climate change. The ultimate goal of this declaration is not only to limit air pollution and counter global warming, but implement the 2015 Paris climate agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

5) Former chief of the Intelligence Bureau Dineshwar Sharma appointed Centre’s interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir. The government also gave him “complete freedom” to talk to all groups and individuals” including Kashmiri separatists.

In 2010, the Manmohan Singh government too had appointed a group of three interlocutors led by eminent journalist Dilip Padgaonkar who had given their final report in a year. But most recommendations that called for review of laws that give security forces immunity from prosecution without the government’s approval and allow detention of people for years on suspicion, were not accepted.

6) The Department of Revenue in the Finance Ministry during October 2017 issued a gazette notification making an amendment to the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Act (PMLA). The new rule now requires the reporting entity to compare “the copy of officially valid (identification) document so produced by the client with the original and recording the same on the copy” when doing cash transactions over Rs. 50,000.

Intermediaries like stockbroker, chit Fund Company, cooperative bank, housing finance institution and non-banking finance companies are also classified as reporting entities.

7) India’s first Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) for Skilling in smart cities was inaugurated in New Delhi

8) United Nations Day is observed globally on 24 October. UND 2017 marks the 72nd anniversary of the UN Charter’s entry into force and celebrates everything that the UN represents and has achieved since its establishment in 1945.   

Mr. Antonio Guterres of Portugal is the Secretary-General of the United Nations. UN is headquartered in New York.

9) The Reserve Bank of India has constituted a 10-member ‘High Level Task Force on Public Credit Registry (PCR) for India’, which will suggest a roadmap for developing a transparent, comprehensive and near-real-time PCR for India.

The committee will be headed by YM Deosthalee, ex-CMD, L&T Finance Holdings. The terms of reference of the task force include reviewing the current availability of information on credit in India and assessing the gaps in India.

RBI was established in 1935. It Headquarters in Mumbai. The 24th and Current Governor of RBI is Dr Urjit Patel.

10) Central American country Nicaragua has signed the Paris Agreement on climate change, leaving the United States and Syria as the only two countries holing out to sign this global climate pact.

President Donald Trump on 1 June 2017 withdrew the United States from the landmark 2015 Paris agreement to fight climate change. Till June 2017, 195 UNFCCC members have signed the agreement, 148 of which have ratified it.

11) The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

As per the report, economic inequality goes hand in hand with inequality in reproductive health. As of 2017, half of 1.6 billion women of reproductive age living in developing regions want to avoid a pregnancy.

Only about half of the world’s women hold paid jobs. Globally, women earn 77 percent of what men get. Three in five women worldwide lack maternity leave, many pay "motherhood penalty"    Headquarters of UNFPA is located in New York, US.

12) Gitanjali Rao, an 11-year-old Indian-American schoolgirl, was named as “America’s top young scientist” for inventing a cost-effective, quick lead-contamination detector in water.

The seventh-grade student was inspired by the large-scale lead contamination in water in Flint, Michigan, that came to light recently. Rao won $25,000 for taking the top position at the 2017 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge.

13) NS Venkatesh has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). AMFI was incorporated on August 22, 1995, as a non-profit organization. AMFI is headquartered in Mumbai.

14) Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has beaten Lionel Messi and Neymar to win the Best FIFA Men's Player award for the second year running. Ronaldo was presented the award at The Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony in London, UK.

15) The Union Ministries of Power and Textiles have jointly launched an initiative 'SAATHI' (Sustainable and Accelerated Adoption of efficient Textile technologies to Help small Industries).

16) After making Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) mandatory for transactions in interest rate, forex and credit derivative market, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to make LEI compulsory for companies having aggregate fund-based and non-fund based exposure over Rs 5 crore.

17) Singapore's passport has become the most powerful in the world with a Visa-Free Score of 159, according to the Passport Index developed by advisory firm Arton Capital. This is the first time an Asian country has been announced as having the most powerful passport.

India secured the 75th rank in the index with a Visa-Free Score of 51.  Historically, the top 10 most powerful passports in the world were mostly European, with Germany having the lead for the past two years. Afghanistan was on bottom most position (94th) with the score of 22. Pakistan was on 93rd Position with Iraq with the score of 26.

The Top 3 countries with score are- Singapore (159), Germany (158), Sweden and South Korea (157)

18) Madhya Pradesh has emerged as the top state in terms of digital initiatives undertaken, with a maximum score of 100.1 on the performance index, followed by Maharashtra at 99.9 and Andhra Pradesh at 99.8, according to a report by Coeus Age Consulting. Chhattisgarh (97.4) and Karnataka (95.3) occupied the fourth and fifth positions in the list, respectively. The report is based on a comparative assessment of digital initiatives by 36 states and Union Territories.

19) The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced that former India men’s national team head coach Scott Fleming has joined NBA India as Head of Basketball Operations.

The Commissioner of National Basketball Association (NBA) is Adam Silver. NBA Headquarters in New York City, USA.

20) Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu combined to give India their first gold medal of the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup Final in New Delhi. 

Jitu Rai is a Commonwealth and Asian Games gold medalist. Hina Sidhu is also a Commonwealth Games gold-winner.

21) Sampoorna Bima Gram (SBG) Yojana and an initiative for expansion of clientele base of Postal Life Insurance (PLI).

Under Sampoorna Bima Gram (SBG) Yojana, at least one village (with min. 100 households) will be identified in each of the revenue districts of the country. Coverage of all households is the primary objective of this scheme.

Under the scheme for expansion of PLI, benefits of Postal Life Insurance (PLI) will no more be confined to government and semi-government employees, but will also be available to professionals such as doctors, engineers, management consultants, charted accountants, architects, lawyers, bankers etc.

The PLI, introduced in 1884, is one of the oldest life insurance schemes for benefit of government and semi-government employees.

22) The world’s largest combustion research center was inaugurated at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) in Tamil Nadu.

23) The US and Israel announced their withdrawal from the UN’s cultural agency UNESCO after Washington accused it of anti-Israeli bias. The withdrawal of the United States, which is meant to provide a fifth of Unesco’s funding, is a major blow for the Paris-based organization.

24) Veteran and one of India’s eminent historian Satish Chandra passed away the age of 95. Satish’s important works include Mughal Empire and its downfall. He was also the author of NCERT’s leading history book ‘History of Medieval India’.

Chandra has founded JNU’s Centre for Historical Studies. He was also the chairman and vice chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India during the 1970s.

25) Going digital, the Rajasthan assembly has become the first in India to call attention and adjournment motions and proposals online from legislators to send them to the state government.

26) International Day of Rural Women was observed on 15th October

 The first International Day of Rural Women was observed on 15th October 2008. This new international day, established by the UN General Assembly, recognizes “the critical role and contribution of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.”

27) FAO celebrates World Food Day each year on 16 October to commemorate the founding of the Organization in 1945.

FAO stands for Food and Agriculture Organization.The Headquarters of FAO is in Rome, Italy.

28) Former President Pranab Mukherjee has released the third part of his memoir ‘The Coalition Years: 1996-2012’.

Mukherjee’s memoir is the third in the series. The other two are -- The Dramatic Decade: The Indira Gandhi Years and The Turbulent Years: 1980-1996.

29) Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has commissioned an indigenously-built anti-submarine warfare stealth corvette INS Kiltan into the Indian Navy at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam.

30) The South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu has become host to the world’s first government to accept bitcoin in exchange for citizenship. Vanuatu’s citizenship program costs $200,000 USD, meaning that at current prices the residency program costs less than 41.5 bitcoins.

31) Actor Varun Dhawan will get a wax statue at Madame Tussauds Hong Kong, making him the youngest Indian actor to have his statue at the museum.

32) International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP) is observed globally on 17 October. The theme of this year's IDEP is ‘Answering the Call of October 17 to end poverty: A path toward peaceful and inclusive societies’. This year’s celebration also marks the 25th anniversary of the declaration of the day by the UN General Assembly, which had adopted the resolution on 22 December 1992.

33) 2nd Ayurveda Day is celebrated on 17 October in New Delhi by the Ministry of AYUSH.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first ever All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) in New Delhi.

34) Footwear Design & Development Institute (FDDI) has been declared an ‘Institute of National Importance’ under Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India.

Presently FDDI is imparting skill based graduate and postgraduate courses in the fields of footwear, leather goods, retail, and management to around 2,500 students across eight campuses spread over India.

FDDI was established in 1986. The Headquarters of FDDI is located in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

35) Actress Deepika Padukone launched Hema Malini's biography 'Hema Malini: Beyond the Dream Girl'.

The biography has been penned by journalist turned writer Ram Kamal Mukherjee and also contains a short foreword written by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

36) Kavita Devi, a former competitive powerlifter, has become the first ever Indian woman to be signed by the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

37) India's first Olympic swimmer Shamsher Khan passed away in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur district. Mr. Khan had represented India in 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Shamsher Khan took part in the 1962 war against China and the 1971 war against Pakistan.

38) In an attempt to end Gender bias in women against women, the Ministry of Women and Child Development is undertaking an online campaign #IamThatWoman.

39) Indian consumers regard Google as the most authentic brand, even though Amazon.com tops the list globally, reveal results of the 2017 "Authentic Brands Study" by the new survey of global communications agency Cohn & Wolfe.

40) US author George Saunders has won the 2017 Man Booker Prize. He became only the second American writer to win Britain’s renowned Prize, which was awarded for his first full-length novel “Lincoln in the Bardo”.

41) 20th October observed World Statistics Day

42) The RBI has issued guidelines to 21 public sector banks and 19 private banks will provide funds to women self-help groups, SHGs, in rural areas at 7 percent under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) in the current fiscal (2017-18).

National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) is a poverty alleviation project implemented by Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. NRLM is focused on promoting self-employment and organization of rural poor.

Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana or DAY is a Government of India scheme for the helping the poor by providing skill training.

43) The National Police Commemoration Day is observed every year on 21st October remembering the brave policemen who sacrificed their lives while discharging their duties. Rich tributes are paid to the martyrs on this day. On October 21st, 1959, twenty Indian soldiers were attacked by the Chinese troops in Ladakh. This altercation between the troops led to the death of ten policemen. Seven of the others who were also imprisoned managed to escape from the Chinese troops.

44) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the first phase of ambitious Ghogha-Dahej Roll-on Roll-off ferry service at Ghogha in Bhavnagar district in Gujarat.

With the opening of this 615-cores rupees ferry service, the distance between Saurashtra and South Gujarat regions could be covered in less than an hour via-sea route. This passenger movement service reduced the distance between the Ghogha and Dahej from 310 kilometres by road to just 30 kilometres, which can be covered in one hour.

45) The Jaipur and Srinagar Airport got First and Second rank respectively in the category of 2-5 million passengers in ACI-ASQ Survey. Dr. Guruprasad Mohapatra, Chairman, Airports Authority of India along with his team received the ACI-ASQ Award at a function held in Mauritius.

Jaipur was ranked as the Best Airport in the World catering to a traffic volume of 2 to 5 million passengers per year in 2016 also.

46) Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana was appointed the special director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Asthana, a 1984-batch IPS officer, had been serving in the Central Bureau of Investigation as additional director.

47) The playback singers Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan and music composers Usha Khanna, Bappi Lahiri, Anu Malik have been selected for the Madhya Pradesh government's prestigious National Lata Mangeshkar Award.

48) Cristiano Ronaldo is the richest sports personality in the world, according to the latest Forbes' Rich List.

The Top 5 Sports Stars in the List are-

1. Cristiano Ronaldo – football

2. LeBron James – basketball

3. Lionel Messi – football

4. Roger Federer – tennis

5. Kevin Durant – basketball

49) India beats Malaysia 2-1 in the finale to win the 2017 Asia Cup Hockey tournament held in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This was India's third continental title. Ramandeep Singh scored the opening goal in the third minute while Lalit Upadhyay extended India's lead in the 29th minute of the game.

50) Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated Diwali with the jawans of Indian Army and BSF, in the Gurez Valley, near the Line of Control (LoC), in Jammu and Kashmir. This was the fourth successive Diwali that the Prime Minister has celebrated with jawans on the border.

51) Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) launched its options trading on 1-kg futures contracts of gold on 17 October 2017 on the auspicious occasion of Dhanteras.

MCX is India’s first ever commodity options contract. To boost participation in options contracts, MCX has decided to waive transaction charges until 31 December 2017.

52) The Ministry of Women and Child Development launched new online campaign in an attempt to end gender bias in women against women is #IamThatWoman

53) Carnatic vocalist T.M. Krishna was chosen for the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration for 2015-16 for his services in promoting and preserving national integration in the country. The award consists of a citation and a cash prize of Rs. 10 lakh

54) SANKALP & STRIVE Schemes to boost Skill India Mission-  The Cabinet has approved two new World Bank supported schemes of Rs. 6,655 crore - Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) and Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE). SANKALP is Rs 4,455 crore Centrally sponsored scheme including Rs. 3,300 crore loan support from World Bank whereas STRIVE is a Rs. 2,200 crore - central sector scheme, with half of the scheme outlay as World bank loan assistance.

55) The nation's largest lender State Bank of India is creating a 15,000-sqft innovation center in Navi Mumbai investing around Rs 100 crore. The center, to be built at its Global IT Centre in Belapur in Navi Mumbai, will be the largest innovation center by any financial services company in the country. The innovation center is part of an Rs 200-crore allocation that the bank has earmarked for innovation 2016.

56) The International Day for Disaster Reduction was observed across the world on 13 October. The theme for 2017 IDDR is ‘Home Safe Home: Reducing Exposure, Reducing Displacement’.

57)  India, which has more than a fifth (21 percent) of its children wasted (weigh too little for their height), slipped three places to 100th in the 2017 Global Hunger Index (GHI). The ranking of India in the list was 97th in 2016.

The 2017 GHI released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) termed India's hunger levels ‘serious’ problem at hand. The data from the report showed that India ranked lower than all its neighboring countries - Nepal (72), Myanmar (77), Bangladesh (88), Sri Lanka (84) and China (29) - except Pakistan, which has been placed at 106th in the global hunger list.

58) Japanese capital city Tokyo has topped The Economist Intelligence Unit's Safe Cities Index 2017, which ranked 60 cities on parameters including personal and health security.

Singapore and Japanese city Osaka have ranked second and third, while Indian cities Delhi and Mumbai have ranked 43rd and 45th respectively.

59) General Insurance Corp of India (GIC Re) kicked off its mega Rs 11,370 Crore initial public offer (IPO). This is India's third biggest IPO ever after Coal India's Rs 15,200 Crore and Reliance Power's Rs 11,700 Crore issues.

General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) is the largest reinsurance company in India in terms of gross premiums accepted in fiscal 2017.

60) Samsung Electronics chief executive Kwon Oh-hyun has resigned citing an "unprecedented crisis".

Mr Kwon is one of three co-chief executives of Samsung Electronics. His resignation comes on the same day the firm forecast record quarterly profits, citing higher memory chip prices. Samsung Electronics is a South Korean multinational electronics company headquartered in Suwon, South Korea.

61) Bharti Airtel will acquire the Tata Teleservices Limited, the entity that constitutes Tata Sons’ consumer mobile business. Tata had earlier announced that it is quitting the telecom business due to continuous losses.

62) Anupam Kher appointed Chairman of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. Kher replaces Gajendra Chauhan, who had a controversial tenure as head of the institute.

63) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to the American trio of Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm. All three winners are from the US.

The 2017 Nobel Physics Prize has been awarded “for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves” to Rainer Weiss, Barry C. Barish and Kip S. Thorne of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory.

Kazuo Ishiguro, “who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world”, has been awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Swedish Academy announced.

Nobel Peace Prize for 2017 to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) "for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons".

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2017 was awarded to Richard H. Thaler "for his contributions to behavioural economics".

64) Nation Pays Homage to Mahatma Gandhi on his 148th Birth Anniversary

International Day of Non-Violence observed 02nd October

Nation Pays Homage to Former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri on his Birth Anniversary October 2

Lal Bahadur Shastri led the country during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965 and gave the slogan - "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" which is remembered even today.

Lal Bahadur Shastri, who had earlier suffered two heart attacks, died of a third cardiac arrest on 11th January 1966 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award posthumously in 1966. Vijay Ghat is the memorial of Lal Bahadur Shastri.

65) International Day of Older Persons: 01st October

This was preceded by initiatives such as the Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing – which was adopted by the 1982 World Assembly on Ageing – and endorsed later that year by the UN General Assembly.

66) President of European Council, Donald Franciszek Tusk and President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker will be on a three-day visit to India to hold the 14th India-EU Summit on 6th of next month in New Delhi.

EU is India’s largest regional trading partner with bilateral trade in goods standing at 88 billion dollars in 2016.  India and EU are also strategic partners since 2004.

67) A 38-year-old Sikh lawyer was elected the leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, becoming the first non-white politician to head a major political party in the country.

68) Burqa Ban Comes into Effect in Austria

69) China marked the 68th National Day on 01st October 2017 with more than 115,000 people from across the country gathering at the Tian'anmen Square to watch the raising of the National Flag in Beijing. The National Day is celebrated with a week-long holiday.

Xi Jinping is the current president of China. Beijing is the capital city of China. China is the most populous country in the World. Li Keqiang is the current Premier China.

70) Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City)'s International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) has bagged the 10th spot in the latest edition of Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI), London.

GIFT IFSC is ranked tenth, ahead of Luxembourg, Seoul, Abu Dhabi, Toronto and Beijing in the list of the GFCI report, which has 15 centers that are likely to become more significant in the next few years. Including GIFT City's IFSC, six of the top ten emerging centres are in Asia.

GIFT IFSC is operational with approximately 10 leading banks, 8 insurance companies and participating brokers, and 2 International Exchanges (India INX and NSE IFSC) along with around 100 capital market players have established their base at GIFT IFSC.

71) Madurai’s Meenakshi Temple Named Best ‘Swachh Iconic Place’ in India

72)  Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2017 to be Held in Hyderabad

73) Brenda Hale, First Female President of UK's Supreme Court

74) The Government named Rajnish Kumar as the new chairman of State Bank of India, for a three-year term. Kumar will succeed Arundhati Bhattacharya.

75) The first US crude oil cargo of 1(point) 6 million barrels bought by Indian Oil Corporation from the US reached Paradip Port, Odisha. Indian Oil will process the crude at its East-Coast base refineries, located at Paradip, Haldia, Barauni and Bongaigaon.

76) The World Health Organization (WHO) appointed Soumya Swaminathan one of two Deputy Directors General. This is the first time such a post has been ever created within the organisation. The position is also the highest post held by an Indian in the WHO.

Dr Swaminathan is currently the Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

77) The Karnataka government launched the Rs. 302-crore Mathru Poorna scheme, aimed at providing free mid-day meals to pregnant and lactating women in rural areas.

The meals, which will be provided in Anganwadi centres, will include an egg, rice, pulses, vegetables, and milk. This is aimed at reducing child malnutrition and in turn curb infant mortality.

78) Foundation stone for the first ever Industrial Training Institute for the Divyangans exclusively was laid at Dibrugarh ITI Complex at Borboruah, Dibrugarh by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

79) Russia has launched the world's largest nuclear-powered icebreaker ship in a bid to expand its strategic presence in the resource-rich, terrain of the Arctic.

The massive vessel, named Sibir (Siberia), was developed as part of a huge push by the Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation to open up crucial shipping lanes in the icy Northern Sea Route.

80) The Queen's Baton for the 2018 Commonwealth Games arrived in New Delhi, India. The 2018 Commonwealth Games will be held in Australia.

81) Forbes Magazine has released its India Rich List for 2017, with Reliance Industries Limited chairman Mukesh Ambani topping the charts for the 10th consecutive year with a net worth of $38 billion.

Mr Ambani is followed by tech czar Azim Premji who jumped two places with the net worth of $19 billion. Ranked third are the Hinduja brothers who added $3.2 billion to their net worth.

According to Forbes, the combined net worth of the 100 richest Indians stood at $479 billion, a jump of 26% from $374 billion in 2016. Acharya Balkrishna, CEO of Patanjali Ayurved, figures at No. 19 with net worth of $6.55 billion.

82) World Teachers’ Day is held annually on 5 October since 1994 to commemorate the anniversary of the signing of the 1966 UNESCO/ILO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers.

83) Centre has set up a high-level committee for proper management of water resources in the North-Eastern region. The Committee will be headed by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar.

84) India to be Guest Country at the World Government Summit

85) The World Space Week is organized across the World from 4 to 10 October. In 1999, The United Nations General Assembly declared that World Space Week will take place from 4th October to 10th October every year, in commemoration and celebration of two key dates in the advancement of space technology and exploration.

86) Pooja Kadian became the first ever Indian sportsperson to win a gold medal at the Wushu World Championship in Kazan, Russia.

87) Donald Trump is now the world’s most followed leader on Twitter, while Narendra Modi is the third, according to the latest report by Twiplomacy, a Burson Marsteller research project that tracks the use of Twitter by governments and international organisations. Trump overtook Pope Francis by a few thousand followers to occupy the first place

88) Journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead by unknown assailants recently, has been posthumously accorded with the prestigious Anna Politkovskaya Award, instituted by Reach All Women (RAW) in War.

It was honoured to award the annual Anna Politkovskaya Award for women human rights defenders from war and conflict zones jointly to Gauri Lankesh posthumously and to a brave Pakistani activist Gulalai Ismail, who similarly is fighting against Islamic extremism.

89) The first ever ASEAN-India music festival began at Purana Quila in New Delhi.  

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional intergovernmental organisation comprising ten Southeast Asian states.

90) FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 Started

In Delhi, the inaugural match would be played between Groups A teams Colombia and Ghana at Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium, followed by hosts India who would take on Team USA in the second match. In Mumbai, Group B team New Zealand would be taking on Turkey in the first game at DY Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai.

The Official Mascot of the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 is a clouded leopard called Kheleo.

This is the first FIFA tournament hosted by India. The final will be held at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata

91) Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) is a not-for-profit Public Sector Enterprise

92) VASTRA 2017 is an all-encompassing trade fair and conference on Textiles and Apparel presenting a fusion of the finest and the latest in textiles products

93) Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of a four-lane cable-stayed bridge between Okha and Beyt Dwarka. The bridge is a link between old and new Dwarka. The 2.32 km bridge, including 900 metres of central double span cable-stayed portion, will be constructed at a cost of Rs. 962.43 crore.

The four-lane 27.20-metre wide bridge will have 2.50 metre wide footpaths on each side. Solar panels installed on the roof of footpath will produce 1 MW power for street lights on the bridge.

94) Magicbricks 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 in Gurugram.

95) J Sagar Associates (JSA) is the first law firm to have opened an office at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT). Setting up this office would help JSA consolidate their Financial Services Practice. The office was inaugurated by Sudhir Mankad - Chairman of GIFT IFSC.

96)The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will set up a research centre in Guwahati, Assam for startups, 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).

97) The Indian Air Force (IAF) is celebrating its 85th anniversary on 08th October 2017

The Indian Air Force was officially established on 08th October 1932. Its first ac flight came into being on 01st April 1933. Birender Singh Dhanoa is present Air Chief Marshal of Indian Air Force. He assumed the post after Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha retired.

98) Karnataka is the largest producer of coffee in India.

99) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone for Bhadbhut Barrage to be built over Narmada River in Bharuch Gujarat. Mr Modi also flagged off the Antyodaya Express between Udhna in Surat and Jaynagar in Bihar. Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister has inaugurated a new 500-crore rupees civil hospital and a medical college in Vadnagar, Gujarat. The Prime Minister, in his hometown (Vadnagar), also launched the intensified mission Indradhanush to accelerate progress towards the goal of full immunization coverage.

100) The government was appointed Committee on Haj Policy has recommended phasing out of subsidy for Haj pilgrims and allowing women devotees above 45 years of age to travel in a group of at least four without a male. The Committee presented its report on New Haj policy 2018-22 to Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in Mumbai.

101) In the United States, hurricane Nate has made landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana. According to the US National Hurricane Center, the storm with maximum sustained winds of 137 kilometres per hour is moving north and a second landfall is expected on the Mississippi coast later.

102) India's First Portal Dedicated to Para-Sports Launched

103)  Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has launched the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) at Vadnagar in Gujarat.

104) The government has made biometric identification Aadhaar mandatory for all post office deposits, PPF, the National Savings Certificate scheme and Kisan Vikas Patra.

According to the provision, which is already in effect, all depositors have been given time till December 31, 2017, to provide the 12-digit unique identification number and link it with their accounts.

105) International Conference on Dialogue of Civilizations – IV held at Delhi, Gandhinagar and Dholavira. The first conference of this series was inaugurated in Guatemala in 2013 followed by Turkey in 2014 and China in 2015.

106) World Mental Health Day is observed on 10 October every year, with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health.

107) Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the third International Conference on Yoga in New Delhi. The theme of this year’s conference will be ‘Yoga for Wellness.’

108) India is ranked the eighth most valuable nation brand while the United States retained its top position and China took the second spot in the league of nations according to Brand Finance’s Nation Brands 2017.

The Top 10 Valuable Nation brands are: United States, China, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, France Canada India Italy South Korea.

109) since 2012, 11 October has been marked as the International Day of the Girl Child. The day aims to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face while promoting girls' empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights.

110) 21st FIFA World Cup will be held in 2018 in Russia. This is the first time when Iceland and Panama will be participants.

111) The mixed pair of Jemson Ningthoujam and Ankita Bhakat clinched the gold medal as India returned with three medals from the World Archery Youth Championship in Rosario, Argentina.

This is India’s first world title at the youth championships since Deepika Kumari’s victories in 2009 and 2011. India also bagged one silver and one bronze in a promising show by the youngsters.

112 )FIFA has decided to suspend the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) with immediate effect in accordance with the decision of the Bureau of the FIFA Council on account of undue third-party interference.

113) The first edition of BIMSTEC disaster management exercise started at Delhi.– BIMSTEC stands for Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation and involves countries in South and South East Asia. These member nations are: Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.

114) Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL), the telecom unit of diversified conglomerate Tata Sons, is shutting its operations. This was confirmed on 10 October 2017. Tata Docomo is the flagship company of TTSL, while other subsidiaries are T24 Mobile, Wireless Tata Telecom Infrastructure Limited and Virgin Mobile India Pvt. Limited.

115) African country Djibouti became President Ramnath Kovind’s first official overseas destination after assuming the charge of President of India during July 2017. He also became the first Indian leader to visit the country.

116) A 5-member commission under Justice G. Rohini, Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, was constituted by President Ram Nath Kovind to examine the sub-categorization of Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

117) EBITDA: Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) is a measure of a company’s operating performance. Essentially, it’s a way to evaluate a company’s performance without having to factor in financing decisions, accounting decisions or tax environments.

118) India could provide universal basic income of Rs 2,600 a year: IMF

119) A near-complete Jurassic-era fossil of an intriguing animal that looks like a mashup of a dolphin and lizard has been unearthed in Kutch, Gujarat. The 5.5 metre ichthyosaur, believed to be at least 90 million years old, has been discovered by an Indo-German research team led by Guntupalli Prasad, a geologist at the University of Delhi.

The animal’s skeleton was first found in Kutch in 2016. Then it was suspected to belong to a dinosaur. But the bone was too long and later the whole skeleton was unearthed. It’s the first Jurassic ichthyosaur find in India.

Ichthyosaurs (or ‘fish- lizards’ in Greek) were large reptiles that lived at the same time as dinosaurs. While many ichthyosaur fossils have been found in North America and Europe, the fossil record in the Southern Hemisphere has mostly been limited to South America and Australia.

120) Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on 26 October 2017 became the first Indian corporate entity to cross Rs. 6 trillion market capitalization after its shares surged on 26 October 2017.

121) The Union Government told a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra that the deadline for mandatory Aadhaar linking to avail benefits of the schemes was to end in December and it has now been decided to extend it until 31 March 2018.

122) Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications (RCom) has decided to shut down its direct-to-home (DTH) business under the brand Reliance Digital TV

Currently, there are six private DTH firms – Zee group-owned Dish TV India Ltd, Reliance Digital Ltd, Tata Sky Ltd, Videocon d2h Ltd, Sun Direct TV Pvt. Ltd and Bharti Telemedia Ltd. In addition to these, state broadcaster Doordarshan also runs a DTH platform for free-to-air channels called DD Free Dish.

Reliance Digital TV is the smallest player with a market share of 2% in the 65.31 million DTH subscriber market (as of June 2017), according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

123) Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a global conference on consumer protection in New Delhi. This is the first time that an international conference on consumer protection is being organized by India for countries of the region.

124) Gujarat will go to polls in two phases on December 9th and 14th for 182 assembly seats. The Chief Election Commissioner of India Mr. A K Joti made this announcement. The 89 seats will go to polls in the first phase and the rest 93 in the second phase.

4 crore and 33 lakh electorates will exercise their right at 50 thousand and 128 polling stations. Counting will be held on 18th December along with Himachal Pradesh, which goes to poll on 9th of November. According to Mr. Joti  EVMs with VVPAT will be used at all polling stations.

125) The Madras high court has banned the use of pictures of living persons on banners and hoardings in Tamil Nadu.

126) 3rd Global Investors’ India Forum Held in New Delhi

127) L&T Technology Services Ltd (LTTS), a leading global pure-play Engineering Services Company was conferred with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Industrial Innovation Award, 2017.

128) top 10 athletes with highest brand value:

1. Roger Federer $37.2m, LeBron James $33.4m,Usain Bolt $27m,Cristiano Ronaldo $21.5m,Phil Mickelson $19.6m, Tiger Woods $16.6m,Virat Kohli $14.5m, Rory McIlroy $13.6m,Lionel Messi $13.5m, Steph Curry $13.4m

129) India has 108 publicly-listed family-owned businesses, third highest in the world, while China tops the tally with 167 such companies followed by the US which has 121, according to the Credit Suisse report.

The top 5 countries in terms of number of family-owned companies include-

1. China, USA, India, France, Hong Kong

130) The travel guide company Lonely Planet has ranked Chile as the number one country to visit in 2018 in its Best in Travel 2018 list.

Top 5 Countries in the list are:

Chile, South Korea, Portugal, Djibouti, New Zealand

131) Qatar Introduces Minimum Wage for First Time

132) Saudi Arabia has become the first country to give a robot citizenship. The move is an attempt to promote Saudi Arabia as a place to develop artificial intelligence and, presumably, allow it to become a full citizen. The Robot is named as 'Sophia'.

133) England made a remarkable comeback from two goals down to outclass three-time runners-up Spain 5-2 and clinch their maiden FIFA U-17 World Cup at a packed Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (Salt Lake Stadium) in Kolkata

English player Phil Foden was named the best player of the FIFA U-17 Football World Cup that took place in India

English striker Rhian Brewster, who scored the highest number of goals (8) in the tournament, was awarded the “Golden Boot” award for being the leading scorer of the tournament.

Brazilian goalkeeper Gabriel Brazao was awarded the “Golden Glove” award for being the best goalkeeper of the tournament. Fair Play Award was also given to the Brazilian team.

134) India began shipment of wheat to Afghanistan through the Iranian port of Chabahar. This shipment has paved the way for operationalization of the Chabahar port as an alternative, reliable and robust connectivity for Afghanistan.

135) ICG Vikram, the first Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) to be fully designed by an Indian private sector company Larsen & Toubro (L&T)