External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj participated in the 17th Council of Heads of Government, CHG, meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to be held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. This was the second CHG meeting since India became a full member of SCO in June 2017.
Last year, CHG meeting was held in Sochi, Russia and was also attended by EAM. The SCO CHG meeting is a forum that enables India to engage with SCO member countries and Observer states of Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia. It is the first major meeting since Kyrgyzstan took over as chair of the Organisation.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has left for Paris on a three-day visit to France. Ms Sitharaman will hold wide-ranging talks with her French counterpart Florence Parly on ways to deepen strategic cooperation between the two countries and also deliberate on major regional and global issues of mutual interests.
During the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron, the two countries decided to expand strategic ties and deepen counter-terror cooperation. The two sides also inked a strategic pact providing for the use of each other’s military facilities including opening naval bases to warships.
Note: France President: Emmanuel Macron, Capital: Paris, Currency: euro, CFP franc.
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the merger of the existing regulatory institutions in the skills space – National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) and the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) into the National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET).
NCVET will regulate the functioning of entities engaged in vocational education and training, both long-term and short-term and establish minimum standards for the functioning of such entities. The primary functions of NCVET will include –
Coal India and NLC India (NLCIL), formerly Neyveli Lignite Corporation, will jointly set up 5000 MW of power generation capacity of which 3000 MW would be solar powered while the rest 2000 MW would be coal-fuelled. CIL and NCIL signed an MoU for setting up a 50:50 joint venture company that would undertake the projects.
Coal India has been tasked to become a net zero emission energy company by the ministry of coal, a move which requires it to generate 3,000 MW of solar power. The MoU also extends for setting up of 2,000 MW of thermal power generation across CIL’s subsidiaries.
IIT-Madras will collaborate with Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency (TNeGA) to enhance data-driven governance. Through this engagement, the Robert Bosch Centre for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (RBC DSAI ) at IIT-Madras has agreed to support the State government on various data science and ICT-related challenges.
The collaboration is expected to contribute towards various aspects of governance, including (but not limited to) education, healthcare, and agriculture, says a press release from IIT-Madras.
Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has been appointed as the new Solicitor General of India. The senior lawyer will assume the office of the Solicitor General till June 30, 2020. Presently, Mehta is serving as the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) of India.
The post had been lying vacant since October 2017 when the then Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar had resigned. Solicitor General is the second highest ranking law officer of the government after the Attorney General.
Note: KK Venugopal is the present Attorney General of India.
State-run IDBI Bank has announced that Rakesh Sharma has taken charge as the managing director and chief executive officer of the bank. He has replaced B Sriram.
Mr Sharma has been appointed for the period of six months. He retired from Canara Bank as the MD and CEO after serving for a period of three years.
Note: IDBI Bank was established in 1964.
IDBI Bank Headquarters in Mumbai.
PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) has announced that Mahesh Y Reddy has taken over as its Secretary General with immediate effect.
He holds 28 years of experience in national level trade, infrastructure and industry bodies in various capacities, the chamber said in a statement. Earlier, Reddy served as Director General of Infrastructure Industry and Logistics Federation of India for eight years.
The government has appointed 58-year-old Pravin Srivastava, a senior officer with the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), as the Chief Statistician of India (CSI). Srivastava’s tenure will be till August 31, 2020. His appointment would take effect from the date of assumption of charge by him.
UK-based charity ‘Oxfam International’s report named ‘Commitment to Reducing Inequality (CRI) Index was released in which India ranked 147th among 157 countries analysed and was labeled as “a very worrying situation” with respect to the rising inequality in the country.
Out of 157 countries measured, Denmark topped the list based on its high and progressive taxation, high social spending and good protection of workers. Ranking at 11th, Japan became the topper among the Asian countries. Among the BRICS nations, China was ranked 81st on the list, Brazil 39th and Russia 50th.
The Top 3 Countries include:
Veena Sendre from Chhattisgarh has been chosen as India’s first ‘Miss Trans Queen’. Veena defeated Namita Ammu of Tamil Nadu to claim the title at the national-level beauty contest organised in Mumbai. Sendre, a former Miss Chhattisgarh, belongs to Mandir Hasaud village in Raipur.
Indus Towers, world’s largest telecom tower company (outside China), won the Deming Prize for 2018, being the first Indian company in the service sector and the fifth in the world to achieve this. The Deming Prize was bestowed on Indus Towers for distinctive performance improvements through the application of Total Quality Management (TQM) practices.
Note: Indus Towers is only the 29th Indian company to win this coveted award, with other notable names including Tata Steel, Ashok Leyland, Mahindra and Mahindra, and NBC Bearings, etc.
The Deming Prize for 2018 was announced by JUSE – Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers.
It was established in 1951 and was originally designed to reward Japanese companies for their major advancements in quality improvement.
Pistol shooter Saurabh Chaudhary has bagged the Gold Medal in the 10-meter air pistol event in the ongoing Youth Olympic Games in Argentina. In Buenos Aires, the 16-year old blew the field away in the final as he finished a massive Seven and a half points ahead of his closest rival. It is India’s third gold medal in the history of Youth Olympic Games and all three have come in this edition in Buenos Aires.
The International Olympics Committee (IOC) has picked its first African host of any Olympics, formally awarding the 2022 Youth Games to Senegal.
Senegal President Macky Sall was present to see IOC members confirm the executive board’s preference from four candidates. Senegal will host the youth games in three places: Dakar; a new city of Diamniadio, close to the capital; and the coastal resort of Saly.
Note: Senegal Capital: Dakar, Currency: West African CFA franc.
Archer Harvinder Singh notched up the men’s individual recurve gold, while track-and-field athletes added a silver and a bronze to India’s tally in the Asian Para-Games in Jakarta.
Harvinder defeated China’s Zhao Lixue 6-0 in the W2/ST category final to claim the top honors and take India’s gold tally to seven.
Well-known Malayalam poet M N Paloor passed away at the age of 86-year due to age-related ailments. Paloor won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award, the state’s highest literary honour, in 1983 for his collection ‘Kalikalam’.
He also received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his autobiography ‘Kathayillathavante Katha’ in 2013. Some of his major collections include ‘Kalikalam‘, ‘Pedithondan‘, ‘Theerthayathra‘and ‘Bhangiyum Abhangiyum‘.
Since 2012, 11 October has been marked as the International Day of the Girl. The theme for International Day of the Girl Child 2018 is ‘With Her: A Skilled Girl Force’.
The day aims to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face, while promoting girls’ empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights.
