21 October 2016 - Current Affairs

21 October: Police Commemoration Day

  • The Police Commemoration Day was observed on 21 October 2016 across India.
  • The day commemorates the sacrifices of ten policemen while defending the borders with China in 1959.
  • Home Minister Rajnath Singh laid wreath and paid homage to the police martyrs at Police Memorial Ground, Chanakyapuri in Delhi.

SBI declares Silchar as its 5th zone in North East

  • The State Bank of India (SBI) has declared Silchar as its 5th zone in North East to facilitate banking issues for the customers of the region.
  • The 5th zone will further help to cater the banking needs of the people of Mizoram, Tripura and Manipur along with the Barak Valley of North east India.
  • SBI also opened its administrative office at Silchar, Assam.
  • Other four zones of SBI in North East are Guwahati, Shillong, Dibrugarh and Jorhat.

FinMin announces fresh tranche of gold bonds

  • In time for Dhanteras and Diwali, the Finance Ministry announced the sixth tranche of sovereign gold bonds.
  • Applications for the bonds will be accepted from October 24 to November 2 whereas the bonds will be issued on November 17.
  • Hoping to attract more investors, the Finance Ministry also said the issue price of the gold bonds will be ₹50 per gram less than the nominal value.
  • They will be be sold through banks, Stock Holding Corporation of India, designated post offices and stock exchanges.
  • The tenor of the bond will be for a period of eight years with exit option from the fifth year to be exercised on the interest payment dates.
  • Minimum investment of one gram will be allowed while the maximum will be 500 gram per person per fiscal year.

Protein-enriched rice variety developed by IGKV Chattisgarh

  • Researchers from Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (IGKV), Chattisgarh have developed a protein-enriched rice variety.
  • The new developed rice variety has over 10% protein content, which is 3% more than what is found in any popular variety and has 30 PPM (parts per million) zinc content.
  • The protein-enriched rice variety was developed by researchers from IGKV’s Department of Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology.
  • This protein rice variety will play a crucial role in addressing issues of protein deficiencies and it will serve as a boon for malnourished population, especially children, in tribal-dominated Chhattisgarh.

Railway ministry inks MoU for Smart Railway Stations

  • The Union Ministry of Railways and Union Urban Development Ministry have inked Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for smart railway stations.
  • The validity of the MoU is for the five years and can be extended with the consent of both the ministries.
  • Under this initiative Railway stations and surrounding areas will be redeveloped under the Smart City plan.
  • 500 railway stations in the country will be ‘smarten up’ with better passenger amenities, integrated public transport hubs and easy access.

Pakistan to enforce complete ban on Indian TV, radio contents from 21 October

  • Pakistan’s media regulatory authority has decided to enforce a complete ban on Indian TV and radio contents from 21 October 2016.
  • It has warned that the licences of those found guilty of violating the ban will be suspended.
  • In a statement, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) said that it has decided to ban airing of Indian content at the request of the federal government.

No relook into allocation of Krishna water: Tribunal

  • The Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal II (KWDT-II) headed by Justice Brijesh Kumar, has decided to maintain status quo on the allocation of Krishna River water among all four riparian states viz. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
  • However, tribunal decided to confine the reallocation of Krishna water to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Okha-Kanalus, Porbandar-Wansjaliya sections of Gujarat become Green Train Corridors

  • The Union Ministry of Railways has declared the Okha-Kanalus and the Porbandar-Wansjaliya railway sections of Gujarat as Green Train Corridors.
  • All trains passing on these 175-km long lines (141-km-long Okha-Kanalus route and the 34-km-long Porbandar-Wansjaliya route) are now equipped with bio-toilets.
  • On these routes, about 29 trains consisting of nearly 700 coaches have been equipped with bio-toilets to prevent open discharge free zone on tracks as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission.
  • Green Train Corridors are sections of the railways which will be free of human waste discharge on the tracks.
  • The 114-km long Rameswaram-Manamadurai section of Tamil Nadu was made the India’s first Green Rail Corridor in July 2016.

Milan confers honorary citizenship on Dalai Lama

  • The Milan city council bestowed honorary citizenship on the Dalai Lama.
  • However, China has strongly opposed another award given to him.
  • Lamberto Bertole, Chairman of the Council of Milan, honoured the Dalai Lama with the Milan Honorary Citizenship award at a ceremony held at the Arcimboldi Theatre in Milan, Italy.

Sunil Mishra appointed as Odisha’s CIC

  • Retired bureaucrat Sunil Kumar Mishra was appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of Odisha.
  • He will succeed former chief secretary Tarun Kanti Mishra.
  • The post of CIC was vacant since February 2015.
  • TK Mishra had resigned six months before his scheduled retirement on personal ground.

Indian Boxing Council inducted in WBO

  • The Indian Boxing Council, a licensing body for the country’s professional boxers, has been inducted into the World Boxing Organisation with voting rights in the WBO’s annual convention at Puerto Rico.
  • IBC President Brig. PKM Raja attended the meet in which the Indian body was welcomed into the fold by WBO founder Chairman Luis Batista Salas.
  • This paves the way for Indian Boxers to participate in WBO Events and be eligible to compete for WBO Asia Pacific as well as WBO World Titles.

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