Nation pays homage to Father of Nation “Mahatma Gandhi” on his 149th birth anniversary
The Nation pays homage to Mahatma Gandhi on his 149th birth anniversary. President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered floral tributes to Father of the Nation at Rajghat in New Delhi.
A Sarva Dharma Prarthana Sabha was organised at Rajghat on this occasion. The day also marks the launch of 150th-anniversary celebrations of the Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation Convention is also being organised at Rashtrapati Bhavan to mark the occasion.
The UN General Assembly had on 17 June 2007 voted to establish 2nd October as the International Day of Non-Violence.
Source: DD News
Justice Ranjan Gogoi sworn-in as the new Chief Justice of India
Justice Ranjan Gogoi sworn-in as the new Chief Justice of India.
President Ram Nath Kovind will administer him the oath of office at a function in Rashtrapati Bhawan.
He will succeed Justice Dipak Misra.
Justice Gogoi will be the 46th Chief Justice of India. He will have a tenure of a little over 13 months and will retire on November 17, 2019.
Source: DD News
31st All India Railways Chess tournament to begin in Tamil Nadu
The 31st All India Railways Chess tournament will begin at Trichy in Tamil Nadu. The four-day tournament will be formally inaugurated by General Manager, Southern Railway, SM Kulshreshta.
Winners of this tournament will represent the Railways in the National Chess tournament which will be held next month.
Source: AIR
180 butterfly species found and recorded in Arunachal Pradesh
Around 180 species of butterflies were recorded in the three-day North East Butterfly Meet that concluded at the Pakke Wildlife Sanctuary and Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh yesterday.
The important species include the 'Creteus Cyrina', 'Arhopala Oenea' and 'Chersonesia Intermedia'.
The meet provides a common platform for butterfly enthusiasts, wildlife researchers and staff of the forest department to interact on butterfly diversity, distribution and conservation, and also explore their rich diversity in the region.
Around 50 participants from different states participated in the event.
Source: AIR
Tata Starbucks appoints Navin Gurnaney as the new CEO
Tata Starbucks has announced Navin Gurnaney as its chief executive officer effective January 1, 2019.
He will replace Sumitro Ghosh who will returns to the US parent company after a three-year stint.
Tata Starbucks, a joint venture between Tata Group and Starbucks, posted its first positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) after its sales growth nearly doubled during FY17-18.
Starbucks, which started operations in India in October 2012, recorded the fastest store expansion in the company’s 45-year history in the initial few years and now has 125 stores.
Source: The Economics Times
International Affairs
Arthur Ashkin, Gerard Mourou & Donna Strickland won Nobel Physics Prize
Three scientists won the Nobel Physics Prize, including the first woman in 55 years, for inventing optical lasers that have paved the way for advanced precision instruments used in corrective eye surgery.
Arthur Ashkin of the United States won one half of the nine million Swedish kronor (about USD 1.01 million or 870,000 euros) prize, while Gerard Mourou of France and Donna Strickland of Canada shared the other half. Strickland is just the third woman to win a Nobel Physics Prize since it was first awarded in 1901, while Ashkin, 96, is the oldest person to win a Nobel, beating out American Leonid Hurwicz who was 90 when he won the 2007 Economics Prize.
Ashkin was honoured for his invention of "optical tweezers" that grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells with their laser beam fingers.
Source: DD News
Iraq names Barham Salih as new President
Iraq's parliament elected Barham Salih, a veteran Kurdish politician as the country's new president, a step toward forming a new government nearly five months after national elections.
State TV said Barham Salih, of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, won 220 votes out of the 273 lawmakers who attended session.
The new president will have 15 days to task the nominee of the largest parliamentary bloc with forming a new government.
Newly elected Iraqi President Barham Salih has named veteran Shi’ite politician Adel Abdul Mahdi as prime minister-designate and tasked him with forming a new government.
Source: DD News & Reuters
Lisa Borders to become first CEO of Time's Up
The Time's Up movement set up by Hollywood actresses to counter sexual harassment in the workplace announced that it has appointed its first president and CEO, previous WNBA leader Lisa Borders.
Borders, who stepped down as president of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in order to take up the new post, was previously a senior executive at The Coca-Cola Company and chaired The Coca-Cola Foundation.
Source:The Economics Times
Banking Affairs
State Bank of India reduces ATM withdrawal limit to Rs 20,000
State Bank of India has slashed the daily withdrawal limit on its classic debit card from Rs 40,000 to Rs 20,000.
There is no change in the daily withdrawal limits on other cards.
The new limit will be effective from October 31st this year.
A senior bank official said that bank has been receiving many complaints regarding cloning and the decision is taken to reduce the withdrawal limit on these cards to check fraudulent transactions.
Source: AIR
Reserve Bank of India to infuse Rs. 36,000 crores into system through purchase of govt bonds
The Reserve Bank announced that it will inject 36,000 crore rupees into the system through purchase of government bonds in October to meet the festival season demand for funds.
In a release, RBI said the decision to conduct purchase of Government securities under OMOs was based on an assessment of the durable liquidity needs.
The auctions to purchase government bonds as part of the Open Market Operations will be conducted in the second, third and fourth week of October.
Source: AIR
11. Gita Gopinath, the first woman Chief Economist at IMF
Gita Gopinath is the first woman to be appointed as head of IMF's research department, which publishes one of the world's most-anticipated document - World Economic Outlook.
She is also the second Indian after former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan to hold the position.
Gopinath, who hails from Kerala's Kannur district, grew up in Mysore and went on to study at Delhi's Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR).
Gita is also the co-director of the International Finance and Macroeconomics program at the National Bureau of Economic Research. She is also a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and a member of the economic advisory panel of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
