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Click here to Download GK Eduwrap Weekly (10th October to 15th October 2016) in PDF FormatNational – Across the India:
1. A high altitude glaciological research station ‘Himansh’ has begun functioning above 13,500 ft. in a remote region in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh.
Himansh station will provide the much-needed fillip to the scientific research on Himalayan glaciers and its hydrological contribution.
2. The Union Government has extended anti-dumping duty on import of certain Chinese products, used in garment, toys and footwear manufacturing, for another five years i.e. till 2021.
This extension will protect domestic industry from the harm caused by dumping (import) of the cheap Chinese products.
3. The Union Government is going to float tenders to invite bids for the development for 36 inland waterways projects in the first phase.
This move will help to tap the huge potential in the so-far-untapped inland waterways transport segment despite India being endowed with natural rivers suitable for it.
4. Lalima Abhiyan will be launch by Madhya Pradesh government to make state free from anaemia.
It will be effective from November 1, 2016 in Madhya Pradesh.
5. Telangana has added 31 new districts in its map.
The administration should have up to date information on the districts and their residents over the implementation of various Government programmes as the total population in each of them would only be in lakhs.
6. The Arena by TransStadia in Ahmedabad, venue of the ongoing Kabaddi World Cup, is India’s first convertible stadium.
This project converts an outdoor stadium into an indoor arena in 6 minutes at a touch of a button.
The facility has a seating capacity of 20,000 and can house 14 sports which include football but not cricket.
7. The Union Cabinet has approved the establishment of IIM at Jammu.
It will become operational from the Academic Year 2016-17 at the transit or temporary campus at Old Government College of Engineering & Technology.
8. India has received the first parcel of crude oil from Iran to partly fill the strategic storage in southern India as part of the Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPRs) storage.
9. Maldives leaves Commonwealth after warnings over democracy.
Maldives has announced its decision to leave the saying it was treated unjustly and unfairly by the Commonwealth.
International – Across the Globe:
1. The words Aiyoh and Aiyah were added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) recently.
The words aiyah and aiyoh are interchangeable. Like many Indian words, Aiyoh and Aiyah can mean many things depending on context and tone like irritation, disgust, surprise, dismay, pain, lament, disappointment.
2. The 4th BRICS Science, Technology, and Innovation Ministerial Meeting was held at Jaipur, Rajasthan.
The meeting adopted a five-pronged approach: –
Institution Building
Implementation
Integration
Innovation
Continuity
3. The Russian and Turkish leaders have agreed to intensify military and intelligence contacts after a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey.
They also have agreed on the need for aid to get to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.
4. India and Indonesia have kicked off their bilateral Maritime exercise at Belawan, Indonesia.
It aims for Cooperation in the field of Maritime security.
5. India has been ranked low 97th among the 118 countries surveyed in 2016 Global Hunger Index (GHI).
In 2016 GHI, India has scored low 28.5 on a 0-100 point scale of the index that describes India’s hunger situation as “serious.
The index was released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
6. The first BRICS Trade Fair and Exhibition began in the National Capital, Delhi ahead of the BRICS political summit in Goa.
The fair is scheduled from October 12 – 14, 2016 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
7. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has formally elected Antonio Guterres as the new Secretary-General of the United Nations.
He will succeed retiring Ban Ki-moon who has completed two five-year terms as the world’s top diplomat.
8. India has donated INR 9.3 million to the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
It will help in its welfare work for the people of South Africa.
9. Global Travel and Tourism report by world economic forum has released the most unsafe countries of the world.
India got 13th rank while Pakistan the 4th rank under most unsafe country in the world.
Nigeria was ranked as the most unsafe country with a score of 2.65.
Finland (6.7) is followed by Qatar (6.61) as the safest countries in the world.
Sports:
1. Sprinter Srabani Nanda has bagged the 24th Ekalabya Award for the year 2016.
She won the award in recognition of her sporting excellence.
2. Andy Murray won the 2016 China Open Men’s Singles title at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, China.
He defeated Grigor Dimitrov by 6–4, 7–6.
3. Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska won the 2016 China Open Women’s Singles at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, China.
4. Indian captain Virat Kohli was presented with the ICC Test Championship mace for leading his team to the top of the Test Team Rankings.
India was guaranteed the number-one spot on the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings after it took a 2-0 lead in Kolkata.
5. Indian shooter Jitu Rai named ‘Champion of Champions’ by ISSF.
He has been awarded for pistol shooting in 2016 by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF).
6. Nico Rosberg of Germany and Japanese GP won the Japan Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit.
Rosberg extended his lead over Hamilton to 33 points in the overall standings following his ninth win of the season and with four rounds remaining.
7. Ravichandran Ashwin has topped in test matches.
He was named the man of the series after he finished with 27 wickets in a 3-0 sweep by India.
Now he has 220 wickets, the most by any bowler after 39 Tests.
8. The Formula-F1 driver from Australia Mark Webber will retire from professional racing at the end of this year in Bahrain.
Webber won the World Endurance Championship (WEC) title in 2015.
Awards & Recognition:
1. Two economists Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmstrom have won the 2016 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has selected them for their contributions to contract theory which tells how contracts help people deal with conflicting interests.
2. Chandigarh International Airports limited (CHIAL) won IBC award.
3. Veteran actor Ian McKellen was honoured at the UK Theatre Awards on for his individual contributions to British theatre.
The 77-year-old actor is known for his roles in the “X-Men” and “Lord of the Rings” films.
4. Former Uttarakhand chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank awarded by Ugandan Govt. for his literary work.
He was awarded by the Ugandan government for promoting human values through his literature.
5. R. A. Mashelkar, former Director-General of CSIR, has been conferred the V Krishnamurthy Award for excellence by the Hyderabad-based Centre for Organisation Development.
The award was instituted in 2000 to recognize excellence in management. V Krishnamurthy had contributed enormously to the public sector, BHEL and SAIL.
Appointments & Resignations:
1. P.V. Sindhu now a brand ambassador of Vizag Steel.
Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), the corporate entity of Vizag Steel, has roped in top ranked Indian Badminton Player PV Sindhu as its brand ambassador.
2. Luo Zhaohui was appointed as China’s Ambassador to India.
His appointment was approved by Chinese President Xi Jinping. He succeeds former Chinese Ambassador to India Le Yucheng, who left the position in April 2016.
3. Former Indian Foreign Service officer Ms. Renu Pall has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Austria.
4. Abdelilah Bekirane, the leader of Morocco’s Islamic Justice and Development Party, was appointed as country’s Prime Minister on 10th October 2016.
This will be his second term as Prime Minister of Morocco.
5. The government has appointed Reserve Bank’s Executive Director G. Mahalingam as a Whole-Time Member of markets regulator SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India).
6. Public lender Bank of Baroda sealed a principal sponsorship contract with badminton Olympians P. V. Sindhu and K. Srikanth.
Bank of Baroda logo will now appear on the centre chest of the two athletes’ playing jerseys in international and domestic tournaments under the aegis of Badminton World Federation Events (BWF) and Badminton Association of India-sanctioned events, respectively.
7. Softbank names Rajeev Misra as head of $100 billion tech fund.
Misra joined Softbank Group in 2014 as head of strategic finance and also works with SoftBank Internet and Media Inc, which Nikesh Arora headed as CEO.
8. Amrit Lugun concurrently accredited as the Ambassador of India to the State of Eritrea.
9. Senior IAS officer Ajay Kumar Bhalla has been appointed as new Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
He will succeed Anup Wadhawan, who has been appointed as Additional Secretary in the Union Ministry of Commerce.
Economics & Banking GK:
1. Indian pharmaceutical companies have ranked low at 19th position with an overall score of 59 out of 100 among in the Biopharmaceutical Competitiveness & Investment (BCI) Survey.
The survey of 28 countries was commissioned by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and executed by the Pugatch Consilium.
It was the third edition of the survey.
2. The Union Government has decided to invest 15,000 crore rupees to increase the capacity of Panipat refinery in Haryana to 25 Million Tonnes from existing 15 Million Tonnes.
The expansion of Panipat refinery will help raise specifications of fuel quality from BS-IV to BS-VI to meet future demand.
3. ICICI Bank has become 1st Indian Leader to complete banking transaction using block chain technology.
The bank has successfully executed transactions in international trade finance and remittances using blockchain technology in partnership with Emirates NBD.
4. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the mechanism for revision of ethanol price for supply to Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU):
1. The International Energy Agency (IAE) is going to partner with India to implement its Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) initiative globally for energy savings.
The UJALA scheme is implemented by the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of PSUs under the Union Ministry of Power.
2. Doordarshan and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) have entered into an agreement for transmission of four Gyan Darshan educational channels.
Gyan Darshan ran successfully till June 2, 2014, but was shut down by ISRO to facilitate its migration from INSAT 3C to GSAT-10.
Science & Technology:
1. NASA has developed a new high-tech electroactive bandage to heal wounds faster.
It uses electricity to significantly promote healing of injured wounds.
2. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has detected Great Balls of Fire (GBF), a mysterious super-hot blob of gas seen near a dying star.
IISER, Kolkata students used human hair to produce cheaper use of cathode in solar cells.
This is the first instance where a bio-waste-derived electrode has been used as the cathode in a quantum dot sensitized solar cell device.
Important Dates:
1. The World Post Day is observed each year on 9th October to spread awareness about the postal services and their role in the everyday lives of people and businesses.
2016 Theme for celebration was “Innovation, Integration, and Inclusion”.
2. The World Mental Health Day (WMHD) is observed every year on 10th October to raise awareness about mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health.
2016 theme for the celebration was “Psychological First Aid”.
3. The 2016 International Day of the Girl Child (IDGC) was observed on 11 October 2016 across the world.
The theme of this day is “Girls’ Progress = Goals’ Progress: What Counts for Girls”.
The theme focuses on investment in collecting and analyzing girl-focused, girl-relevant and sex-disaggregated data.
4. The International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR) is observed annually on 13th October across the world to encourage citizens and governments to take part in building more disaster resilient communities and nations.
2016 Theme for the celebration was “Live to Tell: Raising Awareness, Reducing Mortality”.
5. The World Standards Day was celebrated in most countries across the globe on 14th October to mark the development of voluntary engineering and scientific standards.
The theme for World Standards Day 2016 was “Standards Build Trust”.
Death:
1. American boxer Aaron Pryor died on 09 October 2016 at the age of 60 after a long battle with heart disease.
Pryor built a 39-1 record with 35 knockouts during his career.
His biggest moments in the ring were his two junior welterweight victories over Arguello.
2. Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world’s longest-reigning monarch, has died after 70 years as head of state.
Italian playwright and Nobel Literature Prize winner Dario Fo passes away.
He had won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1997.
3. Poland’s most famous film directors, Andrzej Wajda, has died on 12th October 2016 at the age of 90.
He was awarded an Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2000, became a filmmaker only after being rejected by the army in 1939.
4. Renowned writer and litterateur from Uttarakhand, Dayanand Anant, passed away at his residence in Bhowali near Nainital. He was 88.
He was one of the most prominent writers of Uttarakhand who penned two short story books, three novels, five TV dramas and many comics and satires.
Important Abbreviations Used In This Article
| Abbreviation | Full Form |
| OED | Oxford English Dictionary |
| GHI | Global Hunger Index |
| UNGA | United Nations General Assembly |
| ISSF | International Shooting Sport Federation |
| WEC | World Endurance Championship |
| CHIAL | Chandigarh International Airports limited |
| RINL | Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd |
| SEBI | Securities and Exchange Board of India |
| DGFT | Director General of Foreign Trade |
| BCI | Biopharmaceutical Competitiveness & Investment |
| OMCs | Oil Marketing Companies |
| CCEA | Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs |
| IAE | International Energy Agency |
| UJALA | Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All |
| IGNOU | Indira Gandhi National Open University |
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