21 to 30 October 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

WORLD BANK’S EASE OF DOING BUSINESS RANKING

World Bank has released Ease of Doing business Rankings which includes 190 countries. As per the rankings, India has jumped 14 places and has been ranked at 63rd among 190 countries. New Zealand and Somalia retained their 1st and 190th spot respectively. The indicator measures the performance of countries across 10 different dimensions in the 12-month period ending May 1, 2019.
From 2020, the World Bank has expanded its ease of doing business survey to 2 more cities: Bengaluru and Kolkata in addition to Delhi and Mumbai that are currently surveyed. The World Bank has decided to have four cities from every country with a population above 100 million.

KEY FINDINGS OF THE REPORT:

India has become one of the top 10 most improved countries for the third consecutive time.
The country’s score improved from 67.3 (in 2018) to 71.0 (in 2019), as per The Doing Business 2020 study.
India saw the biggest jump in ranking in the “resolving insolvency” category from 108th to 52nd on the back of the government implementing the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
India’s ranking improved substantially in “dealing with construction permits” (from 52nd to 27th) and “trading across borders” (from 80th to 68th).

India’s ranking improved in “registering property” from 166th to 154th despite a drop in score.

CRIME IN INDIA REPORT 2017

National Crime Records Bureau has released the annual “Crime in India Report 2017”. The report has been released after a delay of 2 years.

KEY FINDINGS OF THE REPORT ARE:

According to the report, 3.59 lakh cases of crime against women were reported in the country. Uttar Pradesh topped the list with 56,011 cases followed by Maharashtra with 31,979 cases and West Bengal 30,002 in cases of crime against women.
Majority of cases under crimes against women were registered under ‘Cruelty by Husband or his Relatives’ (27.9%) followed by ‘Assault on Women with Intent to Outrage her Modesty’ (21.7%), ‘Kidnapping & Abduction of Women’ (20.5%) and ‘Rape’(7.0%).
The NCRB report also cited 58,880 incidents of rioting in 2017. Maximum incidents of rioting were reported from Bihar (11,698), followed by Uttar Pradesh (8,990) and Maharashtra (7,743).
The incidents registered under the Scheduled Caste Prevention of Atrocities Act saw an increase from 5,082 incidents reported in 2016 to 5,775 in 2017.
Incidents of crime related to Scheduled Tribes dipped from 844 in 2016 to 720 in 2017. A total of 95,893 cases of kidnapping and abduction were registered during 2017.
The NCRB for the first time collected data on circulation of “false/fake news and rumours”. Under the category, maximum incidents were reported from Madhya Pradesh (138) followed by Uttar Pradesh (32) and Kerala (18).
A total of 28,653 murder cases were registered across the country in 2017 and enmity cited as the maximum triggers for such murders. Among Union Territories, Delhi recorded the most murder cases in 2017 at 487.

BPRD RELEASES “DATA ON POLICE ORGANIZATIONS (DOPO 2018)”

Bureau of Police Research and Development’s flagship publication “Data on Police Organizations” (DoPO 2018) was released in New Delhi. It is an important compilation of information on police infrastructure, manpower and other resources from all States, Union Territories, CAPFs and CPOs.

MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DOPO 2018:

There has been an increase of 19,686 Police personnel in the sanctioned strength of the State Police and 16,051 in the strength of CAPFs
There has been 20.95% increase in the strength of Woman Police which brings the total percentage of women in the Indian Police to 8.73%
The overall Police Population Ratio at the state level stood at 192.95 policemen per lakh population
Police Stations have increased from 15579 to 16422. This includes Cyber Police Stations whose number has risen from 84 to 120.
Electronic surveillance has improved with addition of 2,10,278 CCTV Cameras.

HBR’S LIST OF 10 BEST PERFORMING CEOS HAS 3 INDIAN-ORIGIN CEOS

The Best-Performing CEOs in the World, 2019′ list compiled by the Harvard Business Review (HBR) features 100 CEOs.
The list has been topped by American technology company NVIDIA’s CEO Jensen Huang. Among the top 10 chief executives on the list, 3 spots have been occupied by the Indian-origin CEOs.
Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen was ranked 6th, followed by MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga was ranked 7th and Microsoft chief Satya Nadella on the 9th spot.
The list also features India-born CEO of DBS Bank Piyush Gupta on the 89th spot. Apple CEO Tim Cook was ranked 62nd in the list. The 2019 list has 4 female CEOs in the top 50 of the rankings.
The HBR took into account three metrics for each CEO’s tenure: the total shareholder return (including dividends reinvested) adjusted by country and by industry and change in market capitalisation (adjusted for dividends, share issues, and share repurchases), measured in inflation-adjusted USD.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Statistics Day is observed on October 20, once every 5 years. The theme is “Better Data, Better Lives”. The day acknowledges the fundamental importance of sustainable national statistical capacity.
The United Nations observes World Development Information Day on 24 October every year. 24th October has been celebrated as United Nations Day since 1948. UN Day marks the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter. United Nations will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the UN in 2020 with inclusive global conversation on the role of global cooperation in building the future we want.
World Day for Audiovisual Heritage was celebrated on 27th of October with the theme “Engage the Past Through Sound and Images”.
India is celebrating the 144th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel i.e. 31st October as National Unity Day.
The United Nations General Assembly observed 31st October as World Cities Day with the theme “Changing the world: innovations and better life for future generations” to discuss how urbanization can be used to achieve sustainable development.

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated Col. Chewang Rinchen Setu (Bridge) which is is named in honour of Colonel Chewang Rinchen and has been constructed by the Border Road Organization at an altitude of 14,650 feet in the forward area of Ladakh region.
Union Minister of State for Culture & Tourism (IC), Prahlad Singh Patel launched the E-Portal of Centre for
Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) ‘Digital Bharat Digital Sanskriti’ and CCRT YouTube Channel in New Delhi. Film 'Rahas: Raaslila of Chhattisgarh' directed by Sunil Shukla and a book “Dewas ki Sanskritik Parampara” written by Jeewan Singh Thakur was also released.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has launched a cinema advertisement campaign ‘Feed Our Future’ to raise awareness and take steps against hunger and malnutrition in India.
Government of India has decided to open the entire area from Siachen base camp to Kumar Post for tourism purposes. The step has been taken to boost tourism in Ladakh.
Indian Railways has installed the most advanced Electronic Interlocking System on the Grand Chord route reducing the travel time between Delhi and Howrah to about 12 hours from the existing 17 to 19 hours. Grand Chord is part of the Howrah-Gaya-Delhi line and Howrah-Allahabad-Mumbai line.
IIM Kozhikode and Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Ltd. have announced a special drive Labelled as “La Eve (meaning The Woman)” to support women entrepreneurs in the country.
‘Maharatna’ status has been granted by the Government to state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will observe the Vigilance Awareness Week from 28th October to 2nd November, 2019 with the theme of “Integrity-a way of life”.
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the merger of loss-making telecom firms BSNL and MTNL as part of a revival package.
The Centre’s first-ever common foundation course “Aarambh” (Beginning) for 2019 batch probationer civil servants has begun at the Statue of Unity in Kevadia, Gujarat with the theme ‘How to achieve the goal of making India a 5 trillion dollar economy’.
After the implementation of "Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019" from 31st October 2019, the total number of states in the country has reduced to 28 while the total Union Territories will go up to nine.

STATES IN THE NEWS

The State Cabinet of Assam has decided to make government jobs out of bounds for people with more than 2 children and policy will come into effect from
January 1, 2021.
Ladakh administration is organizing the first-ever Ladakh Literature festival to celebrate the uniqueness of the region in the fields of Art, Culture and Literature.
Odisha has inked a Letter of Understanding on “drink from tap mission” with the United Nations Children’s Fund to provide piped quality drinking water supply to each household on a 24-hour basis.
Odisha has launched “Odisha Mo Parivar” (Odisha, My Family) programme which aims to encourage environment protection, blood donation and the welfare of Odias in distress.
Tamil Nadu has become the 1st state in the country to enact a law on contract farming after the approval of Tamil Nadu Agricultural Produce and Livestock Contract Farming and Services (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2019.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Sri Lanka has been removed from the “Grey List” of the international terror financing watchdog FATF as Sri Lanka made significant progress in addressing the strategic AML/CFT deficiencies identified earlier.
The world’s oldest, 8,000-year-old pearl natural pearl named ‘Abu Dhabi Pearl’ has been discovered on Marawah Island off Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Prime Minister of Lebanon, Saad Hariri has resigned from the portfolio amid anti-government protests.
The 38th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) 2019 was inaugurated by Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, UAE with the theme ‘Open Books Open Minds'.

AGREEMENTS/MOUS SIGNED

The AYUSH ministry has signed an MoU with the Defence Ministry to provide traditional medicine services at the armed forces’ hospitals and dispensaries. Ayurveda Palliative Care Unit was inaugurated at the Base Hospital in the Delhi Cantonment.
Grasim Industries Limited has signed a definitive agreement to form a joint venture company in India with Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen GmbH (MR) of Germany for the manufacturing and sale of Composite Hollow Core Insulators.
The Government e-Marketplace signed a MoU with Federal Bank to offer services including transfer of funds through GeM Pool Accounts (GPA), advising of Performance Bank Guarantees (e-PBG) and Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) to the registered users on the portal.
The Government of India, Government of Odisha and the World Bank have signed a USD 165 million loan agreement for Odisha’s Integrated Irrigation Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture.
Indian Overseas Bank in association with Universal Sompo General Insurance Co Ltd. has launched upgraded health care plus insurance policy designed for IOB customers with a sum insured starting from ₹50,000 and going up to ₹15 lakh.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a book titled ‘Bridgital Nation’ in New Delhi and authored by N Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons and Roopa Purushothaman Eminent industrialist.
Kashi Nath Pandit’s new book entitled “Ten Studies in Kashmir: History and Politics”, published by Academic Foundation.

BANKING/ECONOMY/BUSINESS NEWS

SBI Card announced the launch of ‘SBI Card Pay’, a feature which allows contactless payment using mobile phones at PoS terminals.
Vreedhi Financial Services (VFS) has secured a non-banking finance company licence from the Reserve Bank of India to provide credit and other services to micro-enterprises operating in tier II-III cities and small towns.
RBI has imposed a penalty of Rs 35 lakh on Tamilnad Mercantile Bank for violating norms on fraud classification and notification.

APPOINTMENTS/RESIGNATIONS

SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar will succeed Sunil Mehta as the new chairman of Indian Banks’ Association.
The MD & CEO of IDBI Bank Rakesh Sharma will be honorary secretary of IBA for 2019-20.
The Ministry of External Affairs appoints Upender Singh Rawat, Ambassador of India to the Republic of Panama will be concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Nicaragua.
Ashok Malik has been appointed as the Policy Advisor in the External Affairs Ministry in the rank of Additional Secretary.
The Ministry of External Affairs notified that Godavarthi Venkata Srinivas has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Cabo Verde. He will replace Rajeev Kumar.
The Government of India appointed IAS officer Pankaj Kumar as the new CEO of the Unique Identification Authority of India.
One of India’s most decorated captains Sourav Ganguly takes over as the 39th President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Mahim Verma of Uttarakhand is the new Vice President of BCCI.
Senior BJP leader Manohar Lal Khattar was sworn in as the chief minister of Haryana for second straight time and Dushyant Chautala took oath as deputy chief minister of Haryana.
Birender Singh Yadav has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Iraq.
Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde was appointed as the 47th Chief Justice of India and will take oath as the CJI on November 18th, a day after incumbent Ranjan Gogoi demits office.
The Union Government has appointed Girish Chandra Murmu and Radha Krishna Mathur as the 1st Lieutenant Governors of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh respectively.
Satya Pal Malik has been appointed as Governor of Goa and P S Sreedharan Pillai has been appointed as the 15th governor of Mizoram.
Rafael Mariano Grossi of Argentina has been elected as the new Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Former Mumbai Police Commissioner and Maharashtra DGP Datta Padsalgikar have been appointed as Deputy National Security Advisor (NSA).

DEFENCE NEWS

The India-Myanmar Naval Exercise called IMNEX-2019 is being organised in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The exercise would be conducted in two phases: Harbour phase and Sea Phase.
2-day long manoeuvres by Sudarshan Chakra Vahini of Indian Army Started at Jaisalmer, field firing range in Rajasthan.
The Defence Acquisition Council has approved 03 projects worth Rs 3,300 crore of “indigenously designed and developed equipment’s. The projects include 3^rd generation Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) and Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) for the T-72 and T-90 Tanks to be executed by the Indian industry.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation has started work to produce hypersonic weapon missiles that travel at 5 time’s speed of sound, or a little over a mile every second.
The Indian Army (IA) is to conduct exercise codenamed “Sindhu Sudarshan” for the year 2019 in the deserts of Rajasthan to evaluate the capability of the defence services in an integrated air-land battle.
The bilateral ‘Exercise SHAKTI’ between the armies of India and France will be conducted at Foreign Training Node in Mahajan Field Firing Ranges, Rajasthan.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

Vice President Venkaiyah Naidu presented the “Most Eminent Senior Citizen Award” to the scholar, legal luminary and former Attorney General of India K Parasaran on the occasion of Elder’s Day celebration.
Jennifer Aniston to receive People’s Icon Award 2019 at the 2019 People’s Choice Awards.
Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt-starrer “Gully Boy” won the best film from India award in the regional finals at the Asian Academy Creative Awards ceremony.
Netflix series “Delhi Crime” has won in a number of categories at the Asian Academy Creative Awards. Delhi Crime won for Best Actress, Best Direction, Best Drama Series, Best Editing and Best Original Programme.
The Mohun Bagan Athletic Club has conferred life membership to Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee.
The European Parliament has awarded the Sakharov Prize to Uighur intellectual Ilham Tohti for his attempts to “foster dialogue” between Chinese people & The Uighur.
President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the first National Corporate Social Responsibility Awards to the companies for their outstanding contribution in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility. The CSR provisions under the Companies Act, 2013 came into force from April 1, 2014.

SUMMIT AND CONFERENCE

The 18th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit has been scheduled to be held between 25 October and 26 October 2019 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The 1st India-Bangladesh Stakeholders’ meet was held in Guwahati. Bangladesh was represented by Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi.
The Global Bio-India 2019 will be held for the first time in India in New Delhi from 21st to 23rd November, 2019.
The 9th edition of Bangladesh-India Friendship Dialogue will be held at Cox Bazar in Bangladesh from November 1, 2019.

RANKS AND REPORTS

The IIT Bombay has topped all Indian Institutes in the 2nd edition of Quacquarelli Symonds India University Rankings 2020 with an overall score of 88.5 followed by IISc Bangalore (Ranked 2 with 84.7 score) & IIT Delhi ranked 3rd with score of 82.2.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates overtook Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest person.

SPORTS NEWS

Kuhoo Garg and Dhruv Rawat win the badminton mixed doubles title at the Egypt International 2019 in Cairo, Egypt.
Indian cyclist Ronaldo Singh bagged a gold medal and James Singh clinched a bronze medal in the men’s junior Keirin event at the Asian Track Cycling Championships being held at Incheon in South Korea.
Great Britain defeated India in the finals of the 9th edition of the Sultan of Johor Cup 2019, an international men’s under-21 field hockey tournament, held at Johor Bahru, Malaysia. India’s Shilanand Lakra emerged as a top scorer; Japan’s Kosei Kawabe named as the Best Player and Oliver Payne of Great Britain was named Goal Keeper of the tournament.
Raunak Sadhwani has becomes India’s 65th Grandmaster. He defeated Russian GM Alexander Motylev to become the Grandmaster at the age of 13 years, 9 months and 28 days.
Canadian player Denis Shapovalov defeated Filip Krajinovic by 6-4, 6-4 to won The Stockholm Open title.
Riya Bhati defeated Slovenian player Nastja Kolar 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 to win the ITF women’s tennis tournament in Lagos, Nigeria.
Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma smashed the former Australia cricketer Don Bradman’s record of highest average in Test cricket on home soil. He broke the 71-year-old record that was previously held by Bradman by scoring an average of 99.84.
Former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith and Former Australian off-spinner Tim May has been elected an Honorary Life Member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
Para-athlete Anandan Gunasekaran has won 2 gold medals in the disabled men’s 100m and 400m IT1 events at the 7th CISM World Military Games held in Wuhan, China.
Bengal Warriors defeated Dabang Delhi in the final of 7th season of Vivo Pro Kabaddi League 2019. Most Valuable Player award of the League was bagged by Naveen Kumar from Dabang Delhi.
The logo "circular design with Paris 2024 in the art deco style incorporating the lips and outline of Marianne, the personification of the French Republic since the revolution in 1789" for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games unveiled at a ceremony in the French capital.
Veteran Mumbai all-rounder Abhishek Nayar has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
Praveen Kumar defeated Philippines’ Russel Diaz by 2-1 in the men’s sanda event in the 48kg category and became the 1st Indian man to win a gold medal at the Wushu World Championships.
Poonam in women’s 75kg category and Sanathoi Devi in women’s 52kg category secured silver medals while Vikrant Baliyan bagged the bronze in the men’s 60kg category at the Wushu World Championships.
Karnataka defeated Tamil Nadu by 9 wickets in the finals to win the 2019-20 Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Indian Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and batswoman Smriti Mandhana has won the Wisden India Almanack Cricketer of the Year award.
The book titled “Cricket Country: The Untold History of the First All India Team” by Prashant Kidambi was adjudged the Wisden India Book of the Year 2019 Mercedes’
Driver Lewis Hamilton has won the Mexican Grand Prix 2019.
The Zozo Championship 2019 tournament title was clinched by America’s Tiger Woods.
Indian boxer Shiva Thapa and Pooja Rani has clinched gold medal while Ashish settled for silver, in Olympic Test Event for Boxing in Tokyo, Japan.
Prithvi Sekhar beats Jaroslav Smedek to clinch the men’s singles title in World Deaf Tennis Championships 2019 held in Antalya, Turkey.
Indian men’s doubles pair Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy has won the silver medal in the men’s doubles event at French Open.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned Bangladesh Test and T20 Captain Shakib Al Hasan for 2 years from all forms of cricket for not reporting to the ICC that he was approached by the bookies.

OBITUARIES

Writer, Philosopher and one of the founder members of Dalitha Sangharsha Samithi K.B. Siddaiah passed away.
Former Co-Chief executive Officer(CEO) of Oracle Mark Hurd, passed away.
Dadu Chougule, wrestler and recipient of Major Dhyanchand award, passed away.
Marieke Vervoort, Belgian Paralympic athlete has ended her life at the age of 40 through euthanasia (the practice of intentionally ending a life to relieve pain and suffering).
Former Gujarat Chief Minister Dilip Parikh passed away.
Padma Shri awardee & India’s oldest Yoga teacher Nanammal passed away.
N. Venkatachala, former judge of the Supreme Court and former Lokayukta of Karnataka passed away.
Actor & Comedian John Witherspoon passed away recently.
01st female UN refugee chief Sadako Ogata passed away.