1. The 2015 Nobel Prize in Economics awarded to Angus Deaton
i. Angus Deaton, a British economist, has won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Economics “for his analysis of consumption, poverty, and welfare.”
ii. “To design economic policy that promotes welfare and reduces poverty, we must first understand individual consumption choices. More than anyone else, Angus Deaton has enhanced this understanding. By linking detailed individual choices and aggregate outcomes, his research has helped transform the fields of microeconomics, macroeconomics, and development economics,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.
iii. Angus Deaton is a professor in the Economics Department at Princeton University, where he looks at the determinants of health in rich and poor countries, as well as on the measurement of poverty in India and around the world. He also maintains a long-standing interest in household surveys.
iv. The award was established by Sweden’s central bank, Sveriges Riksbank, in 1968 in memory of Alfred Nobel.
2. YES Bank gets RBI nod for mutual fund, AMC and trustee company
i. Private sector lender YES Bank on Monday said it has got the RBI's approval to set up a mutual fund, asset management company (AMC) and a trustee company.
ii. In a regulatory filing, YES Bank said it "has received an approval from the RBI to sponsor a mutual fund, and to set up an asset management company and a trustee company."
iii. Asset management companies and trustee companies will be wholly owned subsidiaries of YES Bank, it added. The lender said its AMC will channelise savings of retail and institutional investors in equity and debt capital markets.
iv. "This will complement YES Bank's retail liabilities strategy and also allow the AMC to leverage the Bank's distribution network for customer acquisition," it added.
3. Hamilton wins Russian Grand Prix, closes in on F1 world title
i. Lewis Hamilton has won the Russian Formula One Grand Prix in Sochi, taking a massive step toward winning the drivers’ championship in the process. Russia’s Daniil Kvyat managed to finish in the points as he claimed sixth place.
ii. Starting second on the grid, Hamilton took advantage of his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg’s early crash to move into the lead. The 30 year-old Briton never looked back as he cruised to victory ahead of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.
iii. Hamilton, wearing a traditional Russian ushanka (fur hat), picked up the Russian Grand Prix trophy from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who watched the race from the stands. The British driver now needs just nine more points to retain his drivers’ championship title.
iv. In winning for the second successive year in Sochi, Hamilton passed the legendary Ayrton Senna’s record of 41 wins. The Briton was delighted and honored to have surpassed his hero’s achievement.
v. Around 55,000 fans came to watch the second-ever Russian Grand Prix. The first took place in Sochi in 2014, the same year that saw Sochi host the Winter Olympics.
4. PM lays foundation stone of 4th terminal of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone of fourth terminal of country’s largest container port – Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Mumbai.
ii. The ambitious project will augment JNPT’s present capacity situated off the financial capital’s eastern seafront by doubling it in next two years.
iii. The fourth terminal project will be carried out in two phases at estimated cost of 7,900 crore rupees and will be complete by the end of 2017. The project involves construction of two berths of 1 km in each of the two phases.
iv. It will be executed by Bharat Mumbai Container Terminal (BMCT), a subsidiary of Port of Singapore on a design, fund, built, operate and transfer (BOT) basis. The terminal will play important role in India’s Export-Import (exim) trade by doubling existing 4.5 million container handling capacity of JNPT to 10 million standard units.
v. The expansion of port seeks to make it in top 15 ports of the world as it is presently ranked 31st. At present, JNPT operates one of the three terminals at the port while the other two are operated by DP World and APM Terminals.
5. Veteran Tamil actress Manorama died
i. Legendary Tamil actress Gopishantha, popularly known by her stage name Manorama, died on 10 October 2015 due to multiple organ failure in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. She was 78.
ii. Manorama acted in over 1500 movies in her career spanning almost six decades. She was also a brilliant comedian, singer and a stage artiste. Her first film was Malayitta Mangai, which released in 1958. She sang her first song in Ratha Thilagam in 1963. She also sang a song composed by A R Rahman for the film May Madham in 1994.
iii. She was affectionately called as Aachi Manorama for her popular grandmother roles in TV serials, which she played in the later part of her career.
iv. She also fetched a Guinness World Record for acting in more than 1000 number of films. The Tamil Nadu Government awarded her with the Kalaimamani award and she was also honoured by the Government of India with Padma Shri in 2002. She also received the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for the movie Pudhiya Pathai in 1989.
6. K P Sharma Oli of CPN-UML elected as the new Prime Minister of Nepal
i. Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli of Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist)-CPN-UML was elected as new Prime Minister of Nepal. With this victory, he became first Prime Minister of Nepal under the newly adopted secular, republic and federal Constitution of Himalayan country. It was adopted in 20 September 2015.
ii. In the election for PM post in Nepalese Parliament, Mr. Oli received 338 votes out of a total of 598. He had secured 39 votes more than the 299 votes needed to get elected as PM as per provisions of new constitution. His rival Sushil Koirala of Nepali Congress President on the other hand received 249 votes.
iii. Born on 22 February 1952 in Terhathum District of Nepal. Commonly known as K P Oli. Earlier had served as Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Girija Prasad Koirala-led interim government formed in 2006.
iv. He also had served as Minister for Home Affairs (MHA) in 1994 in the government led by the then UML Chairman Manmohan Adhikari. He was elected as member of the Parliament thrice in 1991, 1994 and 1999. He had started his political career in 1966 and was elected as the chairman of CPN-UML Party in July 2014.
7. Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal to win 2015 China Open Men’s Singles title
i. Novak Djokovic on 11 October 2015 won the China Open Men’s Singles title by defeating Rafael Nadal of Spain.
ii. In the summit clash held at the National Tennis Centre in Beijing the top seeded Serbian overpowered Nadal by 6-2 6-2. For Djokovic, it was the fourth consequent win in Beijing and the fourth consequent title since 2012.
iii. Overall, he is the only player to have won the title six times. His other two titles were in 2009 and 2010. In 2015, Djokovic joined Roger Federer and Rod Laver as the only men in the Open era to reach all four major finals. His only defeat came in the final of the French Open against Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland.
iv. Apart from the Grand slam titles in Australia, the UK (Wimbledon) and the USA he won eight titles in the 2015 season that include Indian Wells Masters, Miami Open, Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Italian Open and China Open.
8. Sania Mirza, Martina Hingis win China Open
i. Extending their incredible unbeaten record, Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis today lifted their eighth trophy of the season and fourth in a row, winning the WTA China Open on Saturday.
ii. The top seeds faced stiff resistance from sixth seed Taipei girls Hao-Ching Chan and Yung-Jan Chan before winning 6-7 (9) 6-1 10-8 in the final which lasted one hour and 40 minutes.
iii. It is the fourth title in a row for the Sania-Martina pair. In a remarkable run, they have dropped only two sets in their last 17 matches in four tournaments.
iv. It was ninth title for Sania in the 2015 season and eighth with Swiss great Martina. They had won titles at Indian Wells, Miami, Charleston, Wimbledon, the US Open, Guangzhou and Wuhan before today's win.
9. Mission Abaas launched in Odisha to provide affordable houses to urban poor
i. The Odisha Government on 11 October 2015 launched Mission Abaas, state’s urban housing mission, to provide affordable houses to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), Low Income Groups (LIG) and slum dwellers.
ii. The scheme aims at fulfilling the promise of protection and welfare of slum dwellers by providing affordable housing along with basic amenities such as piped water supply, electricity, concrete roads, drainage and community centre.
iii. As notified in August 2015, Abaas will be the nodal agency to execute the Policy for Housing for All in Urban areas.
iv. 10000 houses for EWS and Low Income Groups will be constructed in Bhubaneswar. Free land will be provided by the government for affordable housing projects in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode to developers.
v. Land on the city outskirts will be renewed into urban land by developing and expanding infrastructure. Pre-cast and pre-fabrication technology will be used under the mission. Mission Directorate will be set by the government for implementation of the policy.
10. Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram won 2015 Dutch Open Men’s Singles title
i. Ajay Jayaram of India on 11 October 2015 defended the 2015 Dutch Open Men’s Singles badminton title. In the summit clash held at Almere in Netheralnds, the World Number 26 ranker defeated Estonia’s Raul Must by 21-12 21-18.
ii. While Jayaram won his maiden title in 2014, it was the fourth overall title for India. The other two titles were won by Prakash Padukone and Chetan Anand in 1982 and 2009 respectively.
iii. Dutch Open is a Grand Prix category tournament that is held annually since 1932 in Netherlands. It is currently organized by Nederlandse Badminton Bond (NBB) and is a part of the European Badminton Circuit.