October 7/2015 – Current Affairs 

Dear Aspirants,

This is just a glimpse of today’s updates. If you are a serious candidate, we strongly recommend you to read our Current Affairs in a well detailed manner.

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Cabinet approves National War Memorial in Delhi

The union cabinet on 7th October 2015 approved construction of a ‘National War Memorial and a ‘National War Museum’  in the memory of 22, 500 soldiers who sacrificed their lives while fighting wars for post-independent India. The cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took the decision in this regard.

RBI relaxed norms of FPI investment in Government Securities

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has relaxed the norms of Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) of government debt and also announced higher investment limits in rupee terms in government securities with a view to bring in an additional 1.2 lakh crore rupees by March 2018. The RBI fixed the FPI investment limits in rupee terms and raised the limits in phases to reach 5 percent of the outstanding stock by March 2018.

California signed Right to Die Bill for terminally ill people into a Law

California finally allowed terminally ill patients to end their lives legally under the supervision of doctors as they now have a right to die. California has now become the fifth state in United States to allow terminally ill patients to legally end their lives. The other four states are Oregon (1997), Washington(2009) , Vermont(2013) and Montana(2009).

Nobel Prize in Chemistry : Lindahl, Modrich and Sancar win for DNA repair

The 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded for discoveries in DNA repair. Tomas Lindahl and Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar were named as the winners at a news conference in Stockholm, Sweden. Their work uncovered the mechanisms used by cells to repair damaged DNA – a fundamental process in living cells and important in cancer. Prof Lindahl is Swedish, but has worked in the UK for more than three decades. The prize money of eight million Swedish kronor (£634,000; $970,000) will be shared among the winners.

Abraaj teams up with Aditya Birla for Indian solar investments

Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj Group and India’s Aditya Birla Group have agreed to invest jointly in building and operating new solar power plants in India. The firms are the latest companies to plan solar investments in India ahead of an expected boom in clean energy projects after New Delhi hiked its solar energy target to 100 gigawatts by 2022, a 33-fold rise from current levels.

Sergey Karjakin wins 2015 World Cup Chess Championship

Russia’s Sergey Karjakin has won the chess World Cup, beating compatriot Peter Svidler 6-4, in the final match. Karjakin and Svidler thus joined five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand of India, Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and American duo of Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura in the line-up for the Candidates tournament to decide the challenger for Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the next world championship. Three more slots remain to be filled for the eight-player tournament.

Sagarmala Project : GOI to spend 70K crore for major port’s development

The government has announced that it intends to spend Rs 70,000 crore under Sagarmala Project to make the major ports more efficient and reduce logistics cost in India. The new target for investment in the port sector was made by the Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, who chaired the first meeting of the National Sagarmala Apex Committee (NSAC). Once implemented, this will result in cargo traffic increasing three-fold while the ports will also go under performance audit.

Twelve Pacific Rim countries sign Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement

Twelve Pacific Rim countries reached the most ambitious trade pact that cuts trade barriers, sets labour and environmental standards and protects multinational corporations’ intellectual property. It aims to counter the might of China and will cut trade barriers affecting everything from the price of cheese to the cost of cancer treatments. The deal covers about 40% of the world economy and was signed after five days of talks in Atlanta in the US.

Achary panel recommended 400% hike in basic salary of Delhi MLAs

A three-member Committee chaired by former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha PDT Achary favoured a 400 per cent hike in the basic salary of the Capital’s MLAs — from Rs. 12,000 to Rs. 50,000 per month — in addition to a slew of allowances for purposes ranging from travel to office furniture.

Nearly 700 killed by dengue in Brazil

According to the report from Brazil’s Health officials, nearly 700 people have died so far this year after contracting dengue fever, the deadly mosquito-borne disease running rampant across Central and South America. Most of the deaths occurred in Sao Paulo state. The actual number of fatalities is presumably higher, since the official figure reflects deaths in Brazil from dengue from the beginning of the year just through the end of August.

Arunachal Pradesh launches programme on conservation of Eastern Hoolock Gibbon

Arunachal Pradesh Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Dr Shashi Kumar  laucnhed a community and school-based education programme on conservation of the endangered Eastern Hoolock Gibbon. The program has been launched in Arunachal’s Lower Dibang Valley district and at Sadiya sub-division under Assam’s Tinsukia district. It would be implemented by ENVIRON, North-East based NGO.

Rear Admiral SV Bhokare takes over as Eastern Fleet Commander

Rear Admiral SV Bhokare has took over as Eastern Fleet Commander. Bhokare was handed over the command by Rear Admiral A B Singh, Flag Officer Commanding, Eastern Fleet. AB Singh will now move to Delhi to assume duties at HQ Strategic Forces Command.

Home Minister inaugurates conference on anti-human trafficking

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has inaugurated a national conference on anti-human trafficking in the national capital. The day-long conference is being organised by the Ministry of Home Affairs along with key stake-holders like state nodal officers for anti-human trafficking, officers of anti-human trafficking units set up in various districts, other stakeholders like ministries or departments, NGOs and experts in the field of anti-human trafficking.

India to grow at 7.5% in 2016: IMF

Indian economy is expected to grow faster than China’s economies, the IMF said. It projects a growth rate of 7.5 per cent for India in 2016 as against China’s 6.3 per cent. India’s growth is expected to strengthen from 7.3 per cent this year and last year to 7.5 per cent next year. On the other hand, growth in China is expected to decline to 6.8 per cent this year and 6.3 per cent in 2016.

Utkal starts ‘Project Saksham’ to empower rural women

In its bid to empower rural women, Utkal Alumina International Limited (UAIL), a unit of Aditya Birla Group, has launched a unique project for the welfare of communities living in the vicinity of its project area in Odisha. Named as ‘Project Saksham’, the new initiative involves an advanced training-cum-garment manufacturing unit at Tikiri in Rayagada district to help unemployed rural women engage in a sustainable livelihood and become self-reliant, said Vijay Sapra, Unit Head and President, UAIL.

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