1.
28th Oct ’16 was observed as first National Ayurveda Day on occasion of Dhanvanatari Jayanti, with
the theme ‘Ayurveda for Prevention and Control of Diabetes‘.
2.
The
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to allow startups to raise external
commercial borrowings (ECBs) of up to $3 million in a financial year for three
year tenure.
3. India and New Zealand signed three agreements in
the areas of double taxation avoidance (DTA), sports and food security.
Both
countries have reached an understanding on further cooperation on cyber
security, counter-terrorism, customs, education and food safety.
4.
The Union
Ministry of Science and Technology has launched two new schemes: BiotechKISAN
and Cattle Genomics Scheme.
BiotechKISAN(Biotech-KISAN
(Krishi Innovation Science Application Network) Scheme
is to connect farmers, scientist and
science institution across country. Cattle Genomics Scheme aims at boosting
selective breeding of the native livestock more accurately to ensure
high-yielding, disease-resistant, resilient livestock.
5. India has been ranked 130th position among the 190 countries in the
recently released World Bank’s ease of doing business index for the year 2017.
The index
was released as part of the World Bank’s annual report Doing Business 2017:
Equal Opportunity for All. Top 10 Countries: New Zealand
(1st), Singapore (2nd), Denmark (3rd), Hong Kong (4th), South Korea
6.
The
fourth edition of the India-Sri Lanka Joint Military Exercise ‘MITRA SHAKTI
2016’ began at Sinha Regimental Centre in Ambepussa, Sri Lanka.
India is
being represented by a platoon from the RAJPUTANA RIFLES Regiment and Sri
Lankan Army is represented by a platoon from the Sinha Regiment. The main focus
of this edition of joint exercise is to enhance inter-operability while
carrying out Counter Terrorism (CT) and Counter Insurgency (CI) operations
under the UN Mandate.
7. Paul Beatty (54) has won the 2016 Man Booker Prize.
He is the first US author to win this prestigious literary award. His book ‘The
Sellout’ is a racial satirical novel. The Man
Booker Prize world’s most prestigious English-language literary award.
8.
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first National Tribal Carnival in New
Delhi to promote a sense of inclusiveness among the tribals.
The idea
behind the carnival is to preserve and promote various facets of the tribal
life relating to culture, tradition, customs and their skills.
9. According to the World Meteorological Organization’s
(WMO) the level of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the atmosphere has reached
a record high.
10. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the
foundation stone of Urja Ganga, the highly ambitious gas pipeline project in
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. It envisages laying a 2,050-km
pipeline connecting Jagdishpur (UP) to Haldia (West Bengal) by 2018. Under it,
overall 20 lakh households will get PNG connections.