Current Affairs for the Days 16th and 17th October

Current Affairs for the Days 16th and 17th October

National News:

1. India will deliver a Kilo Class submarine INS Sindhuvir to Myanmar Navy as part of defence Cooperation and it is being provided under the vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region). This will be the first submarine of Myanmar Navy.

2. Jammu and Kashmir Government has signed an agreement with Flipkart to provide platform for local artisans, craftsman, weavers to reach customers worldwide.

3. The Government has notified Director General of Shipping as ‘National Authority for Recycling of Ships’ and the office will be set up in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

4. First edition of lectures designed to introduce India to foreign diplomats posted in New Delhi was inaugurated by Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Sringala. It has been named as Sushma Swaraj Lectures 2020.

5. India has been designated the Vice-Chair of Good Laboratory Practice, GLP Working Group of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), recognising the contribution of the Indian GLP programme.

6. The Bhind police have launched an initiative to stamp bullets with quick response (QR) codes which will help in tracing them back to the firearm.

7. Insurance regulator IRDAI asked life insurance companies to launch a standard term insurance policy ‘Saral Jeevan Bima’ by Jan. 1, 2021 to help customers take informed decisions.

8. Union Education Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ virtually launched the ‘KAPILA’ Kalam Program for Intellectual Property Literacy and Awareness campaign on the 89th birth anniversary of former President and Scientist Late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.

9. Hughes India, a subsidiary of Hughes Network Systems has been selected by the government to connect remotely located panchayats with satellite broadband under BharatNet project by March 2021.

10. Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Minister of Rural Development Narendra Singh Tomar virtually Inaugurated the India-International Food & Agri Week being organized from 16th to 22nd October, 2020.

11. India has ranked 94 among 107 countries in terms of hunger, according to the Global Hunger Index 2020.
12. Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman virtually attended the plenary meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee.

13. GreenBase, a Hiranandani Group Subsidiary, has signed an MoU with the Tamilnadu government to set up an industrial and logistics park at an investment of 750 crore.

14. National Fertilizers Limited distributed 95 cotton plucking machines free of cost to the farmers in Haryana under its Corporate Social Responsibility.

15. Leather Sector Skill Council under the aegis of Ministry of Skill Development (MSDE) has launched Skill Certification Assessment for Leather Employees (SCALE) India android app.

International News:

1. President Sooronbay Jeenbekov of Kyrgyzstan announced his resignation and Sadyr Japarov has become new Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan.

2. India and Kazakhstan hold a webinar for defence Cooperation under the aegis of Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence through FICCI.

Theme– Make in India For The World, India-Kazakhstan Defence Cooperation: Webinar and Expo.

State News:

1. Odisha Government has sanctioned ₹205 crores for 2020-21 fiscal to enhance hi-tech based disaster management capacity.

2. The Uttar Pradesh Government launched a social campaign “HatDhonaRokaCorona” to urge people to keep washing their hands at regular intervals to stay away from corona virus.

3. The Punjab Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has approved the launch of state’s post matric scholarship scheme “Dr. B.R.Ambedkar SC Post Matric Scholarship Scheme” to be effective from academic session 2021-22.

4. Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Manoj Sinha on Thursday announced the ‘My Town My Pride’ programme to deliver services at doorsteps to the urban population.

5. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered to set up women help desks in each and every police station of the state.

6. The Asan Conservation Reserve (ACR) in Dehradun, Uttarakhand was declared  as a site of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, becoming the state’s first entry into the coveted list.

National and International Appointments:

1. Vishal V Sharma has been appointed as the next permanent representative of India to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

2. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet extended the tenure of Gurdeep Singh till 2025, the Chairman and Managing Director of NTPC Limited.

3. Cricketer Rohit Sharma has been appointed as an ambassador of India’s leading beauty accessories brand, Vega.

4. Michael Irani has been appointed as the International Weightlifting Federation Interim President.

5. The Managing Committee of the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) elected Rajkiran Rai G, Managing Director and CEO, Union Bank of India, as the Chairman of the Association for the term 2020-21 and Dinesh Kumar Khara, Chairman, State Bank of India, has been elected as Deputy Chairman of the Association for the year 2020-21.

6. Actors Sonu Sood and Dia Mirza have been roped in to co-host the documentary series “Bharat Ke Mahaveer” to celebrate the country’s selfless heroes of COVID-19 pandemic.

Awards and Honors:

1. Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane will be conferred the honorary rank of “General of the Nepali Army” in a ceremony in November.

2. The 2020 Sastra Ramanujan Prize will be awarded to Dr Shai Evra of Princeton University, USA, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

Books and Authors:

1. Pradeep Goorha has authored his second book titled “Mr. Prime Minister, We Shrank the Dragon” , is ready to be released.

2. Sashi Tharoor has authored a book titled “The Battle of Belonging On Nationalism, Patriotism and What It Means To Be Indian Hardcover”.

Obituaries and Retirement:

1. Veteran sports journalist and Cricket commentator Kishore Bhimani has passed away recently.

Banking News (Domestic and International Banks):

1. PhonePe in collaboration with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company launched car and bike Insurance products on its platform.

2. Citibank India (Citi) and Mastercard jointly announced the launch of ”IKEA Family Credit Card by Citi” to make shopping at the Swedish furnishing company more affordable, convenient and rewarding.

3. Jana Small Finance Bank has become the sponsor bank for Ashoknagar Cooperative Bank under the sponsorship Programme and Jana SFB becomes the first SFB to go live under the bank sponsorship Programme.

4. Indian Bank has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for payment of subsidy to street vendors under Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor Aatmanirbhar Nidhi Scheme (PMSvaNidhi).

Important Days:

1. Mahila Kisan Diwas is observed on 15th October. Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), Ludhiana, organised a webinar on “Role of women in dairy farming” to celebrate Mahila Kisan Diwas.

2. International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is observed on 17th October.

Theme 2020- Acting together to achieve Social and environmental justice for all.

3. October 16 marks the 36th Raising Day of National Security Guard was observed.

4. World Food Day is an international day celebrated every year worldwide on 16 October.

Theme 2020- Grow, nourish, sustain. Together. Our actions are our future.