Daily Current affairs - October 18th, 2017 for all competitive exams
In an attempt to end Gender bias in women against women, the Ministry of Women and Child Development is undertaking an online campaign #IamThatWoman.
- Through the campaign, the Ministry seeks to highlight the various aspects of women standing ‘by’ and ‘for’ women.
- Twitter and Facebook users have been encouraged to tag and share stories of women helping women with a photograph and post online with the hashtag #IamThatWoman.
Call Swachh Bharat toilets ‘Izzat Ghar’: Centre to states
Every toilet constructed across the country under the Swachh Bharat Mission could now be called ‘Izzat Ghar’, or something equivalent in a local language that means house of dignity, following a directive from the Centre to the states.
- The Centre has written to all states in this regard, advising Hindi-speaking states to call a toilet an ‘Izzat Ghar’ while urging other states to come up with other terms in the regional languages with the same meaning.
- This move aims to instils a sense of dignity and pride in the entire family for their toilet, and will also have a positive impact on usage.
President Ram Nath Kovind to inaugurate International Gita Mahotsav in Haryana
President Ram Nath Kovind will inaugurate the International Gita Mahotsav in Kurukshetra, Haryana, on November 25.
- The mahotsav which will conclude on December 3 will have Mauritius as partner country and Uttar Pradesh as partner state.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Launches 'Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana'
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan inaugurated the ambitious 'Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojna' for the farmers of the state.
- Madhya Pradesh is the first state to lend money to farmers at zero percent interest. The government has approved a web of irrigation projects across the Sagar District which will cover 96-hectare fields.
Toy train service to resume from Oct. 25
Services of the heritage Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR), popularly known as ‘toy train’, is all set to resume in the hills from October 25, after its suspension for 125 days due to the strike called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM).
- The indefinite strike in the Darjeeling hillswas lifted after 104 days ahead of Durga Puja.
- But the train service was restarted partially up to Sukna from October 15.
Rohingya crisis worse than Syria’s, says UN
The Rohingya refugee crisis is worse than the exodus from Syria, William Lacy Swing, Director-General of the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
- The Rohingya exodus from southwest Myanmar to southeast Bangladesh is “man-made” and “needs a political solution”
- According to the Bangladesh government, between August 25 and October 11, a total of 5,36,000 Rohingya Muslims from Rakhine State in southwest Myanmar crossed over to southeast Bangladesh.
Lakshmi Mittal donates $25 million to Harvard University
Lakshmi Mittal has donated $25 million to the prestigious Harvard University with an aim to increase engagement with South Asian countries, including India.
- The donation will establish an endowed fund for the South Asia Institute at the university.
- As a result of the endowment from the Mittal Foundation, Harvard’s South Asia Institute would be called as Lakshmi Mittal South Asia Institute at Harvard University.Founded in 2003
Sawfish more threatened than tigers, say scientists
World Sawfish day was observed on October 17th. The sawfish have been sighted off the Indian coast less than 10 times in over a decade and they appear to be more threatened than tigers and elephants, as per the scientists.
- The sawfish today may be the most endangered fish species in India. Anecdotal evidence suggested they were once common along the Indian coast.
- The sawfish has been included in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 enacted to save them from exploitation.
Google Viewed as Most Authentic Brand in India: Survey
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.
- In India, Google is followed by Microsoft, Amazon.com, Maruti Suzuki and Apple. Globally, Apple takes the second spot after Amazon in the authenticity race.
Now, explore planets using Google maps
Google Maps has introduced a new feature that allows you to ‘zoom out’ from Earth and explore other planets and moons in the solar system.
- Some of the newer added bodies include the moons of Saturn, like Enceladus, Titan, and Mimas.
- Google has also added Pluto, Venus, and several other moons for a total of 12 new worlds for users to explore.
Lakshmi Mittal donates $25 million to Harvard University
Lakshmi Mittal has donated $25 million to the prestigious Harvard University with an aim to increase engagement with South Asian countries, including India.
The donation will establish an endowed fund for the South Asia Institute at the university.
- As a result of the endowment from the Mittal Foundation, Harvard’s South Asia Institute would be called as Lakshmi Mittal South Asia Institute at Harvard University.Founded in 2003
RIL-BP to invest $1.5 bn in satellite fields
Reliance Industries and its partner BP Plc will invest about $1.5 billion to bring to production six satellite gas discoveries in the flagging KG-D6 block by 2022.
- The RIL-BP combine had, submitted to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons a field development plan for what are known as satellite and other satellite fields.
- They plan to develop four deepsea satellite gas finds, named D-2, 6, 19 and 22, together with two other nearby finds, D-29 and D-30, in the Krishna Godavari basin block.
IISc & IIT Bombay among world’s top 200 for engineering
The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore and IIT Bombay are among the world’s top 200 institutions for engineering and computer science, the Times Higher Education subject-wise rankings have found.
- TIMES rankings scored 500 institutions worldwide
- IISc occupied the 89th spot, IIT Bombay was pegged in the 126- 150 category, globally.
- IITs in Delhi, Kanpur and Kharagpur were placed in the 201-250 band, in that order, and IIT Madras and IIT Roorkee in the 251 – 300 category.
- IIT Guwahati was among institutes in the 301 – 400 ranks and Jadavpur University, NIT Rourkela and Tezpur University were pegged in the 401 to 500 band.
US Author George Saunders Wins 2017 Man Booker Prize
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”.
- The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original novel, written in the English language and published in the UK.
Veteran British Actor Roy Dotrice Passes Away
Roy Dotrice, a veteran British actor, died in London.
- Dotrice was known for his role as Leopold Mozart in the Oscar-winning film Amadeus and his many theater and TV roles.
India's Selena Clinches Triple Gold at Egypt Junior and Cadet TT
India's young paddler Selena Selvakumar completed a golden sweep in the Egypt Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Open, adding the junior girls' singles and doubles titles at Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt.
- The 17-year-old Chennai had claimed the Girls' Team gold earlier to make it three out of three. She remained unbeaten all through this elite 2017 ITTF World Junior Circuit event.
