1. Sushil Chandra, a 1980 batch Indian Revenue Officer was appointed as the chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet chairman by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October, 2016 in New Delhi Prior to his elevation as CBDT chief, he was the member of it. He succeeds Rani Singh Nair.
2. India’s communication satellite. GSAT-18 was successfully launched on October 6, 2016 onboard the European launcher Ariane 5-VA-231 from Kourou in French Guiana. GSAT 18 that emboldens ISRO’s current fleet of 14 opersational Telecom satellites, was launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer orbit with the Master Control Facility at Hassan, Karnataka. It is expected to be operational for a period of 15 years.
3. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) on October 11, 2016 released the 2016 Global Hunger Index (GHI) in which India has been poorly and lowly placed on 97th rank among 118 developing countries surveyed across the globe. The GHI describes India’s hunger situation as ‘serious’ giving it just 28.5 points on a 0-100 point scale.
4. The Indian Coast Guard Ships ‘Aryaman’ and ‘Atulya’, the 18th & 19th in the series of 20 Fast Patrol vessels were commissioned on October 21, 2016 at Kochi by Mr. Sunil Kumar Kohli, Financial Advisor to Defence Services. These FPVs are designed and built by Cochin Shipyard Ltd. 50 meters long indigenous vessels with 317 tonnes displacement each, can achive a maximum speed of 33 knots.
5. Total twelve countries of the World participated in the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup which was organized at the Arena by TransStadia in Ahmedabad, Gujrat from October 7 to 22, 2016. India clinched the World Cup, beating Iran 38-29 in the final. This was India’s third World Cup title in the standard style Kabaddi version. India’s Ajay Thakur with 12 points and Nitin Tomar with 6 points played key role to ensure India’s historic win.
6. India has been ranked at 87th position in the 2016 Global Gender Gap Index, compiled and released by Geneva-based World Economic Forum. Despite a jump of 21 places in the index since last year, India’s performance is not very satisfactory. India successfully curtailed its gender gap by 2% in a year and it stands at 68 per cent now across the four pillers that WEF measures-economy, education, health and political representation to prepare the index.
7. The 8th BRICS summit concluded in Goa on October 16, 2016. The summit was held on October 15-16, 2016 and was attended by all the heads of state / government of the BRICS countries. The grouping comprises countries like Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Prime Minister Modi on October 16, 2016 succeeded in getting BRICS members to make its strongest ever statement on terrorism. The summit of the five emerging economies in scenic Goa began with Modi launching a scathing attack on Pakistan, without naming the neighbour and calling it the "mothership of terrorism…linked to terror modules across the world."
8. India retified the Paris Agreement on Climate Change by depositing the instruments of ratification with the United Nations on October 2, 2016, the 147th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. A special event was organised to mark the occasion, also observed as the International Day of Non-violence at the UN headquarters. India is the 62nd country to ratify the agreement, which will enter into force one month after 55 percent of global emissions ratify the agreement.
9. An Indian NGO ‘Swayam Shikshan Prayog’ has been chosen for the UN Climate Award 2016. The NGO trains women to become clean energy entrepreneurs across Maharashtra & Bihar. It is one of the 13 winners of the UN Climate Award.
10. India’s ace shuttler Saina Nehwal has been appointed member of the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes Commission which is presently chaired by Angela Ruggiero. Saina on October 17, 2016 recived a letter to this effect from IOC President Thomas Bach. It is a big and rare honour to an Indian female athlete. Apart from the President of the IOC Athletes Commission, it comprises nine vice President and 11 members.
1. The Global Tiger Forum (GTF) will push India’s Tiger Estimation Method in Five Southeast Asian countries to boost the big cat population. Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Myanmar are the five countries earmarked by the GTF for pushing India’s methodology. The method will be introduced in a workshop to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in November. Established in 1994, GTF is the only intergovernmental organisation dedicated to tiger conservation. The GTF membership includes seven tiger range countries : Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal and Vietnem.
2. Portugal’s former Prime Minister Antonio Guterres was on October 13, 2016 elected the new Secretary General of the United Nations when the 193 members countries of the UN General Assembly adopted by acclamation, a resolution appointing 67-year-old Guterres as the 9th UN Secretary-General for a five year term beginning January 1, 2017. He will succeed Ban-ki-moon whose tenure will end on December 31, 2016.
3. British-born economist Oliver Hart and Finland’s Bengt Holmstrom were declared the joint winners of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Economics on October 10, 2016 for shedding light on how contracts help people deal with the conflicting interest, from CEO pay packages to weather to privatise a public service.
4. FIFA, the global football governing body declared ‘Zabivaka’, a wolf as the official mascot of the 2018 FIFA World Cup scheduled to be held in Russia in 2018. Zabivaka recived 53 per cent votes in its support followed by a tiger (27 per cent) and a cat (20 per cent). More than one million people cast their votes to choose the mascot. Zabivaka means ‘the one who scores’ in Russian and it symbolizes fun, charm and youth.
5. Reigning Formula one champion Lewis Hamilton of Britain on October 23, 2016 won the US Grand Prix 2016, beating his Mercedes’ teammate Nico Rosberg of Germany by 4.520 seconds in Austin, U.S.A Hamilton dominated the US Grand Prix from pole position to chequered flag to win his seventh F1 GP of this season and 50th in his international career.
6. The Maldives on October 13, 2016 decided to quit the Commonwealth of Nation group, citing unjust and unfair treatment to his Indian Ocean archipelago by the commonwealth grouping. The decision of the Maldives came weeks after the organization warned it of suspension by the commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) if it failed to take further step to promote the rule of law and democracy in the country.
7. China on October 17, 2016 launched a pair of astronauts into space on a mission to dock with an experimental space station and remain aboard for 30 days in preparation for the start of operations by a full-bore facility six years from now. The Shenzhou 11 mission took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre on the edge of the Gobi Desert in Northern China at 7.30 am local time aboard a Long March-2F carrier rocket.
8. Film director Andrzej Wajda, best known for chronicling Poland’s struggle for democracy during half a centuary of communist rule, died on October 9, 2016 at the age of 90. Wajda won international acclaim for ‘Man of Iron’ (1981), which tells the story of anti-communist solidarity movement and the film’s subversive predecessor ‘Man of Marble’ (1977).
9. Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 3, 2016 ordered a halt to an agreement with the United States on plutonium disposal, citing Washington’s unfriendly actions’. The deal signed in 2000, was meant to allow both nuclear powers to dispose of weapons-grade plutonium from their defence programmes, a move seen as a key step in the disarmament process.
10. Colombian President Jaun Manuel Santos was awarded the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize on October 7, 2016 for his "resolute" efforts to end more than 50 years of civil war. He recently struck a peace deal with the FARC rebels of Colombia to put an end to violence however, the people of Colombia rejected the deal in a referendum. Despite the collapse of deal by the Colombians, the Nobel Committee appreciated the sincere efforts of santos to bring peace in war-ravaged country which witnessed more than two lac deaths in war.
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