World
Space Week 2016
World Space Week is an international celebration of space and its impact on our lives
The United Nations General Assembly declared in 1999 that World Space Week will be held each year from October 4-10.
It is meant to honor two seminal events in space exploration.
The launching of the first satellite, Sputnik 1, on Oct. 4, 1957 & the Oct. 10, 1967, signing of the Outer Space Treaty.
Baby Robot ‘Kirobo Mini’ Unveiled
A palm-sized robot dubbed Kirobo Mini has been unveiled in Japan.
It is designed to be a companion for the growing number of women left childless by the country’s aging population crisis.
It was created by Toyota’s non-automotive department & is equipped with artificial intelligence and a camera so it can recognise the face & respond.
The Kiboro Mini is expected to go on sale from 2017.
Putin Scraps Plutonium Disposal Deal
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to suspend an agreement with the United States on the disposing of weapons-grade plutonium
The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PDMA) was suspended for “a threat to strategic stability posed by the hostile actions of the US.
The 2010 agreement, called on each side to dispose of 34 tonnes of plutonium.
India
Singapore’s PM Arrives in New Delhi
Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has arrived in New Delhi.
The aim is to deepen bilateral ties in a range of areas including trade and investment.
He is accompanied by a high-level delegation which includes key Ministers, Members of Parliament and senior officials.
Singapore is India’s second largest investor, especially in the power and port sectors.
K’taka Decides to Release Cauvery Water
Karnataka has started the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
The move in compliance with the Supreme Court order to release water to Tamil Nadu.
A resolution was passed at a special legislative session to release water to farmers in the Cauvery basin for irrigation & drinking water.
The sharing of waters of the Cauvery river has been the source of a serious conflict between TN & Karnataka
Awards & Appointments & Resignation
Reliance Nippon Name Ashish Vohra as CEO
Ashish Vohra has been appointed as the head of Reliance Nippon Life Insurance.
The Board of Directors of Reliance Nippon Life Insurance (RNLI) has announced the appointment.
Before this, Vohra spent eight years with Max Life Insurance, serving as Senior Director and Chief Distribution Officer.
Nippon Life Insurance is a strategic partner in Reliance Nippon Life Insurance with 49 per cent stake.
Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar Resigns
Prasar Bharati Corporation CEO Jawhar Sircar has submitted his resignation four months ahead of the end of his tenure.
He was appointed as Prasar Bharati CEO in 2012 by the UPA-II government & whose term expires next February.
He had served as secretary of the Ministry of Culture for over three years from 2008 to 2012.
Prasar Bharati runs Doordarshan and All India Radio.
Yoshinori Wins Nobel Prize in Medicine
The 2016 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine goes to Yoshinori Ohsumi of Japan.
The professor is currently at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.
He has been awarded for discoveries about autophagy – how the body breaks down and recycles cellular components.
His work is important because it helps explain what goes wrong in a range of diseases, from cancer to Parkinson’s.
Sports
India Reclaim No. 1 Test Ranking
India once again became the number one side in the world, replacing Pakistan at the top of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Rankings.
The Virat Kohli-led Indian side thrashed New Zealand by 178 runs in the 2nd Test at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens
India now lead the 3-Test series 2-0.
India has already won the first Test in Kanpur by 197 runs.
Business & Economy
ADB Signs Risk-Transfer Deal with SIDA
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) & Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) have signed a risk-transfer agreement.
It will help the ADB to increase its lending capacity by around USD 500 million over the next 10 years.
Under the agreements, specified risks from one party are passed to another in return for a fee.
This can release capacity for additional operations.
Jharkhand Launches DBT in Kerosene
Jharkhand has become the first state in the country to launch the ambitious Direct Benefit Transfer in Kerosene (DBTK) scheme.
The scheme aims at eliminating pilferage & black-marketing & adulteration.
Under the scheme, consumers pay the non-subsidized price of kerosene at the time of purchase.
Subsequently, the amount of subsidy is directly transferred to the bank account of the beneficiary.
Fewer People Living Below Poverty Line
The number of people living in extreme poverty has declined by more than 100 million across the world.
The World Bank said 767 million people were living on less than $1.90 a day in 2013 down from 881 million people the previous year.
This was according to WB report “Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016”.
The findings bring the world closer to meeting the UN goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030.
No EPFO Benefits for Workers
The Union cabinet has rejected a proposal to bring all companies with 10 or more workers within the ambit of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
The rejection came after the govt realized that, it would have affected the micro,small & medium enterprises sector financially.
At the moment, only those companies that deploy 20 or more workers come under the EPF & Miscellaneous Act.
RBL Picks up stake in Utkarsh Microfin
RBL Bank has acquired 9.99% stake in Utkarsh Microfinance in a bid to reach out to consumers in the unbanked area.
RBL has also entered into a MoU to extend its product portfolio to Utkarsh customers.
Utkarsh will benefit from RBL Bank’s domain knowledge of the banking & financial sector,
Utkarsh is one of the 10 players that were granted an in-principle approval for a small finance bank (SFB).
Reliance Ties up with Dassault
Reliance Group has entered into a partnership with Dassault Aviation of France to help the company spend up to $4.51 billion that it must invest in India as part of a recent fighter jet deal.
India requires foreign defence companies to invest a percentage of the value of deals.
Dassault agreed to invest 50 percent of the $8.7 billion deal it signed to supply 36 of its Rafale fighter jets.
SBI Opens New Branch in Myanmar
State Bank of India (SBI) became the first Indian bank to open a branch in Myanmar.
The branch in Yangon was inaugurated by SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya
This is the 54th foreign branch of India’s largest bank.
Earlier this year, SBI was awarded a banking licence to open a branch in Myanmar with the primary objective of extending wholesale banking services to foreign corporates.
New Simplified Incorporation Procedure
The govt has simplified the process for incorporation of companies to improve ease of doing business.
The new Simplified Proforma for Incorporating a Company Electronically (SPICE) is aimed at providing speedy incorporation related services within stipulated time frame.
The new proforma will have a standard format of e-Memorandum of Association and e-Articles of Association
ADB to Fund Millions of LED Lights, Pumps
Asian Development Bank (ADB) will extend a $200 million loan to India for installation of energy-efficient home & street lights, & water pumps.
ADB will provide the funds to Energy Efficiency Services Ltd.
EESL will use the ADB funds, alongside another $200 million of its own, to finance energy service activities.
The entire exercise could save energy to the tune of 3,800 gigawatt-hours per year.
Robot in NEWS
NASA Prize for Sample-Retrieving Robot
The West Virginia University Mountaineers of Morgantown bagged the largest prize awarded in the five-year run of NASAs Sample Return Robot Challenge.
A team in the US has won a whopping USD 750,000 prize from NASA for designing a robot that can retrieve samples from challenging terrains.
It could help the space agency explore surfaces of planets such as Mars in future missions.
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