VINTAGE

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF OCTOBER 9^th &  10th , 2019

              IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF OCTOBER 9^th & 10th  2019 

1.      10th October 2019 is observed as World Mental Health Day.

a.       The aim of this day is to raise awareness about mental health issues. 

b.       Theme of World Mental Health Day 2019 : “suicide prevention”

2.      9th October 2019 was World Post Day. 

a.       The day is celebrated every year on 9th October marking the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1874 in the Swiss Capital, Bern.

b.       Aim of World Post Day : to highlight the importance of the postal services.

3.      India has fallen 10 places and ranked at the 68th position on an annual Global Competitiveness Index 2019 compiled by the World Economic Forum. 

a.       The fall has been attributed to improvements witnessed by several other economies. India ranked high in terms of macroeconomic stability and market size. 

b.       Important Note : Singapore has overtaken US to become the most competitive nation in the world.

4.      Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting India for the 2nd Informal Summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Mamallapuram (Tamil Nadu).

a.       As a strategy to build upon the ancient cultural and trade ties with China and also to showcase India's diversity, the venue for this summit had to be outside Delhi and Mamallapuram was selected.

5.      Saudi Arabia has allowed women to join armed forces, calling it another "milestone in women empowerment". 

a.       Women would be able to serve as private first class, corporal or sergeant in the Air Force, Navy and other armed forces. 

6.      Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu today embarked on a 5-day visit to Comoros and Sierra Leone. 

a.       It is the 1st high-level visit from India to the two African countries.

b.       In Comoros he will hold a detailed bilateral meeting with country's President Azali Assoumani tomorrow.

c.       A number of MoUs and agreements are expected to be signed during the visit.

d.       The 3-day visit will witness the Vice President interacting with the Indian community and calling on Abdou Ousseni the President of the Assembly of Comoros.

e.       On the second leg of his visit, Mr. Naidu will arrive in Sierra Leone on Saturday. 

f.        The following day, he will have a detailed bilateral meeting with country's President Julius Maada Wonie Bio and will meet Speaker of Sierra Leone Parliament Chernor Bundu as well as country's Foreign Minister Nabeela Farida Tunia. 

g.       The visit of Vice President is part of India's Africa outreach policy.

7.      Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan along with several State Health Ministers today launched Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN) in New Delhi.

a.       The initiative aims at assuring dignified, respectful and quality health care at no cost and zero tolerance for denial of services for every woman and newborn visiting the public health facility in order to end all preventable maternal and newborn deaths. 

b.       It also provides a positive birth experience to both mother and infant.

8.      Union Minister for Human Resources Development Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank launched ambitious DHRUV programme in the headquarter of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in Bengaluru today. 

a.       DHRUV is a unique programme to identify talented students and mentor them in the centre of excellence for 14 days so that they can reach their full potential and work for the society.

9.      The 1st-of-its-kind 'Garbage Cafe' commenced in Ambikapur city of Chhattisgarh. 

a.       The café is being run by the Ambikapur municipal corporation. 

b.       In this unique Cafe', poor people and rag pickers will get free food in exchange for one kilogram of plastic, while breakfast will be provided if half a kilogram of plastic is brought to the cafe.  

10. In Madhya Pradesh, Governor Lalji Tandon cleared the Municipality amendment bill 2019. 

a.       The approval clears the way for indirect polls of mayors and municipality chairpersons in Madhya Pradesh. 

b.       The civic polls are due in Madhya Pradesh ahead on December this year.

11. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given its final nod to the Kerala Government for the formation of the Kerala Bank. 

a.       With its formation, the proposed Kerala Bank will be the largest banking network in the state.

b.       Objective of the formation of the Kerala Bank : To strengthen the cooperative sector.

12. Lakshmi Vilas Bank has announced that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) did not approve its merger with Indiabulls Housing Finance. 

a.       The lender was recently placed under RBI's "prompt corrective action" due to high level of bad loans, lack of sufficient capital and a negative return on assets for two consecutive years. 

13. India's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has cut the interest rate on savings accounts with balances up to ₹1 lakh to 3.25% from 3.5%. 

a.       It also reduced its Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) by 10 basis points across all tenors after the RBI slashed repo rate. 

b.       The one-year MCLR will now come down to 8.05% per annum from 8.15%.

14. The Union Cabinet has approved to hike the Dearness Allowance (DA) for central government employees by 5% to 17%. 

a.       This move, termed as a 'Diwali Gift', will benefit around 50 lakh employees and 62 lakh pensioners.

b.       The move will cost the government around ₹16,000 crore.

15. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will attend the 9th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, RCEP Intersessional Ministerial meeting beginning tomorrow at Bangkok in Thailand. 

a.       This will be the last Ministerial before the 3rd Leaders Summit to be held on 4th of next month in Bangkok.

b.       Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the Summit. 

c.       The 9th Intersessional Ministerial Meeting comes at a crucial stage where the RCEP is scheduled to be announced as concluded in November this year.

16. Singapore will become the 1st country in the world to ban advertisements for the most unhealthy sugary drinks.

a.       Products deemed "less healthy" must now display labels grading their nutritional and sugar content. 

b.       Additionally, those considered to be most unhealthy will be banned from appearing in ads across all media platforms, including broadcast, print and online channels.

17. The 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature has been announced along with the 2018 Prize. 

a.       2019 : Austrian author Peter Handke has won the 2019 Prize  for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience.

b.       2018 : Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk has received the 2018 Prize for a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life. 

c.       Note : The 2018 Nobel Literature Prize was delayed over a sexual harassment scandal.

18. The 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to John B Goodenough, M Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino for the development of lithium-ion batteries. 

a.       With this, German-born American scientist John B Goodenough (97 years) became the oldest Nobel laureate. 

b.       The previous record-holder was Arthur Ashkin, who won Physics Nobel in 2018 at 96.

19. India Women ODI captain Mithali Raj has become the 1st woman cricketer in history to have an ODI career lasting over 20 years. 

a.       The 36-year-old, who made her ODI debut on June 26, 1999, achieved the feat after taking the field in the first ODI against South Africa Women today.