Children Welfare:
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will observe the Vigilance Awareness Week from 29th October to 3rd November, 2018 as per the directions of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), Government of India.
The theme of the vigilance awareness this year is “Eradicate Corruption- Make a New India.”The Central Vigilance Commission aims to promote integrity, transparency and accountability in public life. As part of its efforts to promote probity in public life and to achieve a corruption free society, CVC observes Vigilance Awareness Week every year.
CVC consists of central vigilance commissioner along with 2 vigilance commissioners and submits its report to the President of India.They are appointed by the President of India on the recommendations of a committee consisting of Prime Minister, Union Home Minister and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha (if there is no LoP then the leader of the single largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha).
Chindren Welfare_Adaptations:
Three years after the Missionaries of Charity (MoC) decided to stop giving children in its homes up for adoption, it has agreed to join hands with the country’s nodal agency- Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) for adoption.
In October 2015, soon after the Central government announced new rules for adoption and made it mandatory for all homes to be linked to the Child Adoption Resource Authority(CARA), which would be the only body in the country authorised to process adoptions, the Missionaries of Charity sought de-recognition of its homes.
CARA is a statutory body of Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India.It functions as the nodal body for adoption of Indian children and is mandated to monitor and regulate in-country and inter-country adoptions.Missionaries of Charity is a Roman Catholic religious congregation established in 1950 by Mother Teresa
Communication:
The government of India has notified the new telecom policy on 29th October 2018.It has renamed the Telecom Commission as the ‘Digital Communications Commission’.Under the new telecom policy, the government plans to optimally price spectrum, review levies such as license fees and spectrum usage charge.
Among the chief aims of the policy is data security of the country.
Energy/Power:
Japan announced joining the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and submitted the instrument of ratification on 29th October 2018.As of now, there are 70 countries that have signed the ISA Framework Agreement (ISA FA) and 47 countries that have ratified it.Japan will be the 71st country to sign and 48th country to ratify the ISA FA.
Environment_Pollution:
CSIR develops Less Polluting Firecrackers named – safe water releaser (SWAS), safe minimal aluminium (SAFAL) and safe thermite cracker (STAR).SWAS crackers eliminates usage of (KNO3) Potassium nitrate and Sulphur with consequent reduction in particulate matter (30-35%) SO2 and NOx. STAR eliminates usage of KNO3 and S with consequent reduction in particulate matter (35-40%), SO2 and NOx. It has matching sound intensity with commercial crackers in the range of 105-110 dBA.
SAFAL has minimal usage of aluminium (only in flash powder for initiation) with consequent significant reduction in particulate matter (35-40 %) compared to commercial crackers. It has matching sound intensity with commercial crackers in the range of 110-115 dBA.
This endeavour of CSIR aims at addressing the pollution concerns at the same time protecting the livelihoods of those involved in this trade. These Firecrackers are not only environment friendly but 15-20 % cheaper than the conventional ones.
Health:
Sarbanand Sonowal (Assam Chief Minister) and J P Nadda(Union Health Minister) jointly inaugurated the three-day 5th National Summit on Good and Replicable Practices and Innovations in Public Health Care Systems at Kaziranga in Assam. The main objective of the Summit is to share and learn the good practices and innovations being implemented by several states and organizations for the betterment of the health sector.
The Health Ministry also gave away awards to the states for best performances. The award for Highest Annual Decline in Neonatal Mortality Rate 2015 vs 2016 among states was given to Himachal Pradesh – 1st (- 15.8%), Tamil Nadu 2nd (-14.3%) and Delhi-3rd (-
14.3%). The award for highest annual decline in Infant Mortality Rate was given to Kerala-1st (-16.7%), Mizoram-2nd (-15.6%) and Karnataka-3rd (-14.3%).The award for highest annual decline in Under 5 Mortality was given Himachal Pradesh-1st (-18.2%), Assam- 2nd (-16.1%) and Jharkhand, Gujarat and Kerela (-15.4%). For best performance in Family Planning awards, were given to West Bengal, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan.
Human Rights:
The International Committee of the Red Cross stated on October 29, 2018 that over 100,000 people around the world are missing, which has created a global “crisis.” International organisation’s protection adviser, Agner Coutou told the UN General Assembly’s human rights committee that the quoted number represents only a fraction of those estimated to be missing because of past and ongoing conflicts.
India & Japan Relations:
Japan and India have entered into a $75-billion currency swap arrangement that will bolster the country’s firepower as it battles a steep drop in the rupee’s value. An agreement to this effect was signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ongoing visit to Japan.
The Agreement shall aid in bringing greater stability to foreign exchange & capital markets in India. The facility will serve as a second line of defence for the rupee after the $393.5 billion of foreign exchange reserves that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has at its disposal.
This is an important measure in improving the confidence in the Indian market and it would not only enable the agreed amount of capital being available to India, but it will also bring down the cost of capital for Indian entities while accessing the foreign capital market.It should aid in bringing greater stability to foreign exchange and capital markets in India. With this arrangement in place, prospects of India would further improve in tapping foreign capital for country’s developmental needs.
India & Qatar Relations:
India and Qatar decided to establish a joint commission to strengthen their relations in various fields with a view to furthering the common interest of the people of the two countries.The joint declaration signed by Sushma Swaraj (External Affairs Minister of India) and Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani (Foreign Minister of Qatar) in Doha, highlights the decision to set up the joint commission.
The objective of the joint commission is to focus on various areas including economic, commercial, cultural, scientific, technological, Information Technology and educational fields.
During the 13th annual summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, following which six agreements, including on a high-speed rail project and naval cooperation between the two nations were signed. The two leaders also discussed a range of bilateral, regional and global issues including the situation in the Indo-Pacific region.They also agreed to hold a 2+2 dialogue between the Foreign Ministers and Defence Ministers of the two countries.
Internationl Affairs:
An ill-fated Indonesian plane Lion Air’s 12th 737 Max 8 crashed minutes after take off, into Java sea with 188 passengers and crew on board while en-route to Pangkal pinang city, killing all, including Indian pilot Bhavye Suneja. The flight en-route to Pangkal pinang city lost contact with ground officials and crashed in the Java Sea on its way to Indonesia’s tin-mining hub. The flight carried 178 adults, 1 child and 2 infants, including 3 crew under training and 1 technician.
The aircraft was commanded by Captain Suneja and co-pilot Harvino with six cabin crew members.The 31-year-old captain has 6,000 flight hours and the co-pilot more than 5,000 flight hours. Captain Suneja was a resident of Jakarta originally from New Delhi.
The world’s largest airport terminal “under one roof” with a capacity to serve 90 million passengers has been officially opened on October 29 in Istanbul, which marks the Republic Day of Turkey. Overall the first phase has cost 7.5 billion Euro. The airport has been envisioned to have a total capacity of up to 200 million passengers, once all four phases are completed in the next 10 years.
Sri Lanka’s Petroleum Minister and cricket legend Arjuna Ranatunga was arrested for the first violent incident amidst the on going political crisis in the country that killed one person, police said.The political crises in Sri Lanka took an ugly turn on Sunday when bodyguards of 54-year-old Ranatunga, a loyalist of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, fired live rounds at the supporters of the new premier Mahinda Rajapaksa, leaving one person dead.
Mahinda Rajapaksa assumed charge as the new Prime Minister of the Srilanka. The latest development in the country comes after the surprise sacking of his predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe by President Maithripala Sirisena which plunged the island nation into an unprecedented political crisis.
Sirisena on Friday night sacked Wickremesinghe and appointed Rajapaksa as the new prime minister in a surprise move that is being debated as a constitutional coup. Sirisena also suspended parliament till November 16 after Wickremesinghe sought an emergency
session to prove his majority.
The Republic of Seychelles launched the world’s first Sovereign Blue Bond, a financial instrument designed to support sustainable marine and fisheries projects. The bond raised USD 15 million from international investors. The bond demonstrates the potential for countries to harness capital markets for financing the sustainable use of marine resources.
With this, Seychelles became the first nation to pioneer such a novel financing instrument.
India_States:
Gujarat’s first Mega Food Park has been inaugurated in Surat.Promoted by M/s Gujarat Agro Infrastructure Mega Food Park Pvt. Ltd the Park is located at Village Shah and Vasravi, Taluka Mangrol, District Surat. It will provide direct and indirect employment to 5,000 persons and benefit about 25,000 farmers.
The Scheme of Mega Food Park aims at providing a mechanism to link agricultural production to the market by bringing together farmers, processors and retailers so as to ensure maximizing value addition, minimizing wastages, increasing farmers’ income and creating employment opportunities particularly in rural sector.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched Early Warning Dissemination System (EWDS) and mass messaging system to provide timely information on natural calamities to the public.
Six coastal districts named Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Puri and Ganjam have been covered under the system.Around 122 towers have been installed along the 480 km long coastline of the odisha state to produce sound and sirens during emergency situations. Sound producing from the towers can be heard in communities within a radius of 1.5 km. The button will be pressed from the state emergency centre in Bhubaneswar during an emergency situation.It’s a part of the last-mile connectivity programme under the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project an aimed at protecting people from the cyclone effects.
Transport:
Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) will transport container cargo belonging to the food and beverage giant PepsiCo (India) from Kolkata to Varanasi on river Ganga (National Waterway-1).This would be the country’s first container movement on inland vessel post-independence.
PepsiCo (India) will move 16 containers – equivalent to 16 truckloads- filled with food and snacks in the vessel MV RN Tagore which will reach Varanasi in 9-10 days. MV RN Tagore will make its return journey with fertilizers belonging to IFFCO that will be procured from its Phulpur plant near Allahabad.States covered under NW-1: States: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal.
Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the statutory authority in charge of the waterways in India. Its headquarters is located in Noida, UP. It does the function of building the necessary infrastructure in these waterways, surveying the economic
feasibility of new projects and also administration.
Tributes:
Qazi Abdul Sattar (8 February 1933 at Machreta near Sitapur- 29 October 2018 at New Delhi) was an Urdu novelist and short story writer.He had penned several Urdu novels – mainly set in historical contexts – including Shab Gazida, Dara Shikoh, Salahuddin Ayyubi, Khalid Ibn-e-Waleed, and Ghalib
Further:
The Executive Committee (EC) of the National Mission for Clean Ganga has approved 12 projects worth Rs. 929 Crore under the Namami Gange programme in its 16th meeting Namami Gange programme was launched as a mission to achieve the target of cleaning river Ganga in an effective manner with the unceasing involvement of all stakeholders, especially five major Ganga basin States – Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar
and West Bengal.
Conference on “CCTNS–Good practices and success Stories
Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) is a project initiated in June 2009 which aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of policing at the Police Station level.
The Project will interconnect about 15000 Police Stations and additional 5000 offices of supervisory police officers across the country and digitize data related to FIR registration, investigation and charge sheets in all Police Stations.
The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) organized a seminar in Wardha district of Maharashtra. The seminar, titled “Gandhian Thoughts and Sanitation”, was centered on the Gandhian ideology on sanitation and the implementation of the same through the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM).
The seminar on Gandhian Thoughts and Sanitation included addresses on topics such as appropriate technologies in rural sanitation, organic waste management, and preventive sanitation linked with Nai Talim and industrialization: Gandhi’s concept of Swachh evam
Swawalambhi Sankul.
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