Appointments:
Sanjay Kumar Mishra, a 1984-batch Indian Revenue Service officer, on Saturday took charge as the Interim Director of Enforcement Directorate (ED), replacing Karnal Singh, whose tenure ends on Sunday. Mishra is expected to hold the post for three months or until the appointment of a regular chief. He has also been appointed as Principal Special Director in the ED.
Banking_RBI:
RBI Governor Urjit Patel will brief Parliamentary panel, of which former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a member, for the third time on the government’s demonetisation move and its ramifications. The government had scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8, 2016 and announced issuance of new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes. Patel has been called on November 12 to brief the committee’s members on demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes and the “ramifications thereof”, according to the panel’s meeting notice.
The RBI governor will also brief the committee on the banning of the Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill and related issues.The 31-member Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, headed by Veerappa Moily, has been deliberating on the issue for almost two years.
Business:
Apple India’s profit surged by 140% in 2017-18 to ?896 crore, compared to ?373 crore in the previous fiscal. The Indian unit of the US-based company posted a 12% growth in revenue last fiscal at ?13,098 crore. Apple’s share of the Indian smartphone market dropped to 1% in the second quarter of 2018, according to Counterpoint Research.
America’s IBM has acquired software company Red Hat in a $34 billion cash and debt deal, marking its biggest ever acquisition till date. Founded 25 years ago, Red Hat was valued at about $20.5 billion at the end of trading.
The open source, enterprise software maker will become a unit of IBM’s Hybrid Cloud division, with Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst joining IBM’s senior management team and reporting to CEO Ginni Rometty.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani has won the oil regulator’s approval for selling his loss-making natural gas pipeline to Canadian investor Brookfield. The 1,400-kilometre pipeline from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh to Bharuch in Gujarat was made a decade ago. However, the pipeline has been operating at less than 5% of its capacity as output from RIL’s KG-D6 block fell sooner than expected.
Climate Change:
According to a recent study, climate change is a threat to even the most tolerant oysters.Climate change-associated weather events may cause flooding that threatens the survival of the Olympia oyster. Oceans around the world typically have a salt content (salinity) of around 3.5 per cent, but the percentage varies more in shallow coastal waters affected by rainfall.
The findings of the study were presented at the American Physiological Society’s (APS) Comparative Physiology: Complexity and Integration conference in New Orleans.
A Hawaiian East Island vanished from its location after Hurricane Walaka ravaged Hawaii in October, The Guardian reports.Scientists captured images of the area where the 11-acre island once stood. It’s now gone.
Economic Offences:
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth over ?33,500 crore in the over three-year tenure of its chief Karnal Singh who retires Sunday. Officials said the agency filed around 390 chargesheets in connection with its money laundering probes during the period. The government on Saturday appointed Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer Sanjay Kumar Mishra as interim ED chief.
Environment_Pollution:
The national capital, which has been battling dangerous levels of pollution, recorded the “worst” air quality of this season. Haze engulfed Delhi with the region recording 381 as the overall Air Quality Index in the morning, which falls in the very poor quality. According to the data of the Central Pollution Control Board, the air quality improved during the day and an overall AQI of 360 was recorded at 4 pm which also falls in very poor category. An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”.
The Central Pollution Control Board has advised people in Delhi to avoid strenuous outdoor exercises like jogging or running between November 1 and 10, as the air quality in the city is expected to deteriorate. Toxic fumes from stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana as well as localised emissions during Diwali could contribute to the deterioration in Delhi’s air quality.
Health_Research:
The study, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, was carried out on ten cosmonauts, each of whom had spent an average of 189 days on board the International Space Station (ISS).Spending long periods in space not only leads to muscle atrophy and reductions in bone density, but it also has lasting effects on the brain.The study, led by a team of neuroscientists from the University of Antwerp in Belgium and Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) of Munich, showed that differential changes in the three main tissue volumes of the brain remain detectable for at least half a year after the end of their last mission.
According to Uma Kumar, HOD, Rheumatology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), wearing high heels every day for long hours can lead to cumulative damage of bones and emerge as a leading cause for arthritis.
Osteoarthritis, one of the most common chronic and long-lasting joint condition, is caused by joint damage where the cartilage breaks down, causing the bones within the joint to rub together. This leads to pain, stiffness and other issues.High heels cause unequal weight distribution on the foot bones, exposing those areas of joints to bear weight which are normally not designed to do so. This results in painful foot conditions like bunions and meta-tarsalgias — also known as fore-foot pain.
India & Japan Relations:
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Japan visit. Describing PM Modi as one of his most ‘valuable’ and ‘dependable’ friends,
India & US Relations:
US President Donald Trump reportedly turning down India’s invite to attend the Republic Day celebrations comes weeks after a rough patch over Iran oil and Russian missile deal
The World Trade Organisation’s dispute settlement body has set up a panel to examine the US complaint against certain export-subsidy measures by India as both the sides failed to resolve the issue at consultation level.
International Affairs:
Ranil Wickremesinghe was recognised as the prime minister of Sri Lanka by the speaker of the Parliament.According to his party Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the former President secured a majority in the island’s 225-member Parliament and will continue to retain his job despite protests from the UNP.
Sirisena on yesterday night sacked Wickremesinghe and appointed former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa as the new prime minister. Next day, Sirisena suspended parliament till November 16 after Wickremesinghe sought an emergency session to prove his majority.
In a referendum held on Friday, Ireland voted to remove the offence of blasphemy from the constitution, with 64.85% of the voters supporting the move and over 35% voting ‘No’. Minister for Justice and Equality Charlie Flanagan called it a significant step in Ireland’s constitutional history. The offence carried a fine of up to €25,000 (over ?20 lakh).
Judiciary:
A new Supreme Court bench has been formed to hear the pleas in Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute. It is headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and includes justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph. On October 29, the bench will decide on whether the case should have day-to-day hearings or fix a hearing schedule for it.
Oil Prices:
Amid the reduction in global oil prices, the petrol price was cut by 40 paise a litre and diesel by 33 paise a litre on Sunday, the 11th straight reduction in the fuel rates. Petrol in Delhi now costs ?80.05 a litre and diesel ?74.05 per litre. In 11 straight cuts, petrol price reduced by ?2.78 and diesel by ?1.64.
Polity:
Former Vice President Hamid Ansari has said that India was just as responsible as Pakistan for Partition. “We are not ready to accept that we are equally responsible,” he added. Further, Ansari said that as politics of the country changed, someone had to be made responsible for Partition, and everyone agreed to blame the Muslims.
The BJP has slammed former Vice President Hamid Ansari for his remark on the 1947 Partition and demanded an apology. Stating that India was just as responsible as Pakistan for Partition, Ansari had claimed that with changing politics, everyone agreed to hold Muslims responsible for it. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said Ansari is known to show a “Muslim bias”.
President:
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, will visit Himachal Pradesh on October 29 and 30, 2018. On October 29, 2018, the President will grace the first convocation of Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College in Kangra. On October 30, 2018, the President will grace the 24th convocation of Himachal Pradesh University in Shimla.
Prime Minister:
49th episode of Mann Ki Baat on 28.10.2018
The 49th episode of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s monthly radio address to the nation ‘Mann ki baat’ began at 11 am.
Key Points:
The 31st of October is the birth anniversary of our beloved Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. This year too, the youth of the country is all set, to take part in the ‘Run for Unity’. The weather too these days is pleasant. I urge you to participate in the largest possible numbers in this run for unity.”
PM Modi has also shared the experience of his meetings with Para Athletes who participated in the Asian Para Games 2018 held at Jakarta and winners of the Summer youth Olympics 2018 held in Argentina. Modi also remembered the sacrifice of Indian soldiers in World War I.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a visit to Japan, said his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe taught him the Japanese way of eating food using chopsticks. “Extremely grateful to PM Shinzo Abe for the warm reception at his home. I am truly honoured by this gesture,” tweeted PM Modi. Earlier, Abe called PM Modi one his “most dependable” friends.
Social Networks:
Researchers from the University of Michigan in the US have developed a web-based tool to monitor fake news on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.
The tool uses a Platform Health Metric called the ‘Iffy Quotient’, which draws data from two external entities: NewsWhip and Media Bias/Fact Checker.
The tool divides the URLs into three categories based on the media bias and fact checklists:
Iffy: If the site is on the Questionable Sources or Conspiracy lists
OK: If the site is on any other list, such as Left-Bias, Right-Bias or Satire
Unknown: If it is not on any list.
Sports:
The 2018 World Wrestling Championships are the 15th edition of World Wrestling Championships of combined events and are to be held from October 20 to 28 in Budapest, Hungary.Organised by the United World Wrestling was started in 1904 with the Men’s Greco-Roman wrestling tournament.
In the 2018 event, Japan won the most medals with 5 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronze. Russia comes second with 8 medals….
India is at the 17th place with 2 medals – 1 silver and 1 bronze. Bajrang Punia bagged the silver medal. Pooja Dhanda won Bronze medal and became fourth Indian woman to win a medal at the World Wrestling Championship.
Taxation:
GST Council met 30 times, took 918 decisions since its Constitution; 96% of decisions already been implemented through 294 Notifications
Till date, the Goods and Services Tax ( GST) Council has taken 918 decisions related to GST laws, rules, rates, compensation and taxation threshold etc. More than 96% of the decisions have already been implemented through 294 Notifications issued by the Central Government and the remaining are under various stages of implementation. Almost equal number of corresponding SGST Notifications have been issued by each State.
The GST Council was constituted on 15th September 2016 under Article 279A of the Constitution. It consists of the Union Finance Minister (Chairperson), Union Minister of State in charge of the Revenue or Finance and the Minister in charge of Finance or Taxation or any other Minister nominated by each State Government. Union Revenue Secretary is the ex-officio Secretary to the GST Council.
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