1. Jamaican writer Marlon James won the 2015 Man Booker Prize for Fiction
i. Jamaican writer Marlon James on 13 October 2015 won the 2015 Man Booker Prize for Fiction for his novel A Brief History of Seven Killings. With this, James became the first Jamaican author to win the prize in its 47-years of history.
ii. James was honoured with the prize money of 50000 Euros, a trophy and a designer bound edition of his book. He was also awarded with additional 2500 Euros for being shortlisted for the prize.
iii. James’s name was shortlisted from a list of writers including Sunjeev Sahota, Chigozie Obioma, Hanya Yanagihara, Anne Tyler, Tom McCarthy and Marlon James.
iv. First awarded in 1969, the Man Booker Prize is recognised as the leading award for high quality literary fiction written in English. The award promotes the finest in fiction by rewarding the very best book of the year. The prize is the world's most important literary award and has the power to transform the fortunes of authors and publishers.
2. Arun Jaitley chosen 'Finance Minister of the Year, Asia' by Emerging Markets
i. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was chosen as 'Finance Minister of the Year, Asia' by London-based publication Emerging Markets in October 2015.
ii. The magazine in an article said that Jaitley too deserves some recognition for India’s relative economic success over the last 18 months. It says that without his decisions and stewardship of India’s financial direction, India would not have achieved what it has.
iii. Apart from this, Atiur Rahman, the Governor of Bangladesh Bank was named as the Central Bank Governor of the Year, Asia 2015. He was awarded for generating considerable strength and resilience in the economy of Bangladesh.
iv. In 2014, the magazine had named governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Raghuram Rajan for Central Bank Governor of the Year award for Asia. In 2010, it also chose Pranab Mukherjee as 'Finance Minister of the Year, Asia'.
3. Reliance Power appointed N Venugopala Rao as CEO
i. Reliance Power on 13 October 2015 appointed N Venugopala Rao as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) with immediate effect. Rao, who has obtained an MBA degree in Finance & Marketing, holds a rich experience of about 35 years in project development, project finance, project planning, contracts management and Finance & Accounts.
ii. Prior to the appointment, Rao was the CEO of Sasan Power Limited, a 100 percent subsidiary of Reliance Power, which developed the world’s largest integrated coal mine and power project, Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP), with an investment of nearly 27000 crore rupees.
iii. Reliance Power Limited, a part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Navi Mumbai.
iv. The company was established to develop, construct and operate power projects in the Indian and international markets.
4. Delhi government launched Bill Banvao, Inaam Pao scheme
i. The Delhi Government on 13 October 2015 launched Bill Banvao, Inaam Pao scheme to encourage people to receive or demand proper bills for purchases.
ii. Citizens will be eligible for the scheme only on a bill or cash memo/retail invoice of not less than 100 rupees for purchases made from a registered dealer in Delhi. The maximum prize to be given under the scheme is 50000 rupees.
iii. To avail the reward, the purchaser can upload the bill/cash memo on the website of the Department of Trade and Taxes within seven days of purchase. A snapshot of the bill can also be sent to the designated number of the department through Whatsapp. After the bill is sent to the department, a unique ID will be generated for each bill and sent to the customer via SMS.
iv. The bill must include the registration number (TIN) of the dealer, full name of each item purchased, rate of tax charged against each and total sale value (excluding VAT). The winner will be selected through a computerised draw of lots using the unique IDs generated against each bill received by the department.
5. Green Indian Mission plans approved for 4 states
i. Union Environment Ministry has approved annual plans of National Mission for Green India (GIM) of four states viz. Kerala, Mizoram, Manipur and Jharkhand. In this regard, National Executive Council (NEC) has approved the Perspective Plans (PP) and Annual Plan of Operations (APOs) of GIM submitted by 4 states.
ii. The approval has been granted for alternative energy devices such as biogas, LPG, solar devices, biomass-based systems and improved stoves. These devices in turn will help to reduce pressure on forests and provide carbon emission benefits, along with health and other associated benefits.
iii. GIM is one of the 8key Missions outlined under National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). It aims at protecting, enhancing and restoring India’s decreasing forest cover and responding to climate change by a combination of mitigation and adaptation measures.
iv. The mission acknowledges the influence forests on environmental amelioration through climate change mitigation, water security, food security, biodiversity conservation and livelihood security of forest-dependent communities. It hinges on decentralized participatory approach by involving grass root level communities and organizations in decision making, planning, implementation and monitoring.
6. China operationalises Zam Hydropower Station on Brahmaputra in Tibet
i. China has operationalised the Zam Hydropower Station built on Brahmaputra River which has raised concerns in India over the likelihood of disrupting water supplies of River.
ii. The dam is considered to be the world’s highest-altitude hydropower station and largest of its kind. Annually it will produce produces 2.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. The power station is located in the Gyaca County of Tibet and is considered as the largest in this region.
iii. It has six stations to harnesses the rich water resources of Brahmaputra River which is known as Yarlung Zangbo River in Tibet and flows through Tibet into India and later into Bangladesh.
iv. Over India’s fears China mentioned that these projects are run-of-the-river and are not designed to hold water. But India is still concerned over China’s ability and dominance to release water in times of conflict which can pose serious risk of flooding.
7. India climbs 16 places in WEF’s Global Competitiveness Index
i. In a rather dramatic turnaround, India has climbed a spectacular 16 places to the 55th position among 140 economies in this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Index, ending five years of decline.
ii. The list was topped by Switzerland, followed by Singapore, the US, Germany and the Netherlands. Among the larger emerging markets, South Africa progressed seven places to 49th place, while China held steady at 28, Indonesia was 37th (down three) and Brazil was 75th, the WEF said.
iii. India’s dramatic reversal is largely attributable to the momentum initiated by the election of Narendra Modi, whose pro-business, pro-growth and anti-corruption stance has improved the business community’s sentiment toward the government.
iv. The quality of India’s institutions is judged more favourably (60th, up 10), although business leaders still consider corruption to be the biggest obstacle to doing business in the country.
v. In a bid to help India leapfrog into the top 50 in the World Bank’s ease of doing business rankings by 2017 from the low 142nd (out of 189 countries), the Modi government, with the help of the bank, has carried out a state-wise assessment of implementation of business reforms.
8. Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo wins record fourth Golden Boot
i. Cristiano Ronaldo has received a record fourth Golden Boot after topping Europe's goalscoring charts for the 2014/15 season. The Real Madrid star scored 48 goals in 35 La Liga appearances last term to win the honour for the third time at Madrid, with his other triumph coming during the 2007/08 season at Manchester United.
ii. It means Ronaldo becomes the first player in the awards' illustrious 47-year history to win the accolade four times.
iii. Long-term adversary, Barcelona maestro Lionel Messi, was edged out into second place, with his 43 goals in 38 Primera Division games unable to secure a fourth Golden Boot of his own.
iv. Ronaldo is level with Raul in Madrid's all-time leading scorer charts with 323 goals and has the chance to surpass the Spaniard when Levante travel to the Bernabeu on Saturday.
1. Kailash Satyarthi selected for 2015 Harvard Humanitarian of the Year Award
i. Nobel Peace laureate Kailash Satyarthi has been selected for the prestigious 2015 Harvard Humanitarian of the Year Award. He has been awarded this award in recognition for championing the cause of child reform and ending all forms of violence against children.
ii. It is annual award is given by US based Harvard University. It recognise the works and deeds individuals who have improved the quality of lives and inspired people to greater heights. Some of the recipients of are Kofi Annan, Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Javier Perez etc.
iv. Through his NGO, he campaigns for protection of child rights and to abolish illegal human trafficking.
v. Satyarthi ss the eighth Nobel laureate from India. He had won Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 and shared it with Malala Yousafzai. He was at the forefront of driving few agendas Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which were announced at United Nations SDG Summit in September 2015.
2. DRDO Missile Complex renamed as Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex
i. The country’s prestigious DRDO Missile Complex in Hyderabad was on 15 October 2015 renamed as Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Complex by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar during an event at Research Centre Imarat on the occasion of the 84th Birth Anniversary of Dr Kalam, the Missile Man.
ii. Dr Kalam joined the Missile Complex, DRDO in 1982 and was a part of it for nearly two decades. The Missile Complex comprises Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL), Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) and Research Centre Imarat (RCI), which are considered to be the brain child of Dr Kalam.
iii. As founder Director, Dr Kalam conceived and steered RCI as a generator of critical missile technologies.
iv. Parrikar also inaugurated two advanced R&D facilities of RCI- Outdoor RCS Test Facility ORANGE at Dundigal and Kautilya Advanced Research Centre at RCI, Hyderabad.
3. India, US and Japan navies kick off 2015 Malabar Naval Exercise
i. India, United States and Japan navies have started 2015 Malabar Naval Exercise of the eastern coast in Bay of Bengal and India Ocean. The high-end warfighting and complex trilateral exercise is part of annual series of exercises conducted to advance multi-national maritime relationships and mutual security issues.
ii. The five-day exercise includes both ashore and at-sea training exercises, that would share knowledge on carrier strike group operations, anti-submarine warfare, maritime patrol etc. Military-to-military coordination, submarine familiarisation, air defence and surface warfare exercise sessions will be also undertaken at-sea.
iii. The joint fleet of 3 navies will include warships, aircraft carriers and fast attack submarines. Total Ten ships, five from India, four from US and one from Japan are participating.
iv. Aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt embarked with Carrier Air Wing 1 having 90 fighter aircrafts. Guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG60), USS Nimitz, Littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS-3), P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft and fast attack nuclear submarine.
4. Pranab Mukherjee becomes 1st Indian President to address Israeli Parliament Knesset
i. Pranab Mukherjee became first Indian President to address Israeli Parliament Knesset. He addressed the Knesset as last leg of his official visit to 3 countries of west Asia viz. Jordan, Palestine and Israel. He is also is first Indian President to make a state visit Israel.
ii. India’s consistent policy had been to build a strong, mutually beneficial and substantive relationship with Israel. Appreciates Israel’s support to India’s bid for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
iii. There is no other option to resolve conflicts other than negotiation and peaceful settlement as a long term measure. Condemed all forms of violence and India always sought a peaceful resolution of disputes.
iv. Both countries also signed agreements on double taxation avoidance, cultural exchange and academic fields.
5. Union Cabinet gives nod to RCE for Kaladan Multi Modal Project in Myanmar
i. The Union Cabinet has given its approval for the Revised Cost Estimate (RCE) of 2904.04 crore rupees for the Kaladan Multi Modal Transit Transport Project in Myanmar. Decision in this regard was taken by Union Cabinet meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
ii. To create a multi-modal mode of transport for cargo shipment from the eastern ports of India to Myanmar. It will provide an alternate access route to India’s north east region and contribute towards the regional economic development.
iii. The strategic link will promote economic, commercial and strategic links between India and Myanmar as it will connect North-East, thereby reducing pressure on the Siliguri Corridor.
iv. This project will connect Sittwe Port in Myanmar to the India-Myanmar border via roadway. Thus it will provide alternative cost effective shortcut to landlocked north eastern states.
6. Union Cabinet approved MoU with Mozambique for cooperation in renewable energy
i. The Union Government on 14 October 2015 approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, India and Mozambique.
ii. The agreement aims at establishing a cooperative institutional relationship to encourage and promote technical bilateral cooperation, investment promotion and partnership on new and renewable energy issues on the basis of mutual benefit, equality and reciprocity.
iii. The agreement was inked between the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy of the Government of India and the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, Government of Mozambique in New Delhi on 5 August 2015.
iv. The focus will be on the development of new and renewable energy technologies in the field of conducting on-the-job and specialized training courses on renewable energy field, research & development and of technology transfer in renewable energy.
7. Tata Housing tied-up with Facebook to sell its affordable homes online
i. Real estate developer Tata Housing on 14 October 2015 tied-up with social networking firm Facebook to sell its affordable homes online. For this purpose, Tata Housing launched the new campaign titled Social sell on Facebook.
ii. Through this new campaign Social sell, the company plans to sell around 250 units of its new five-acre residential project in Goa called Goa Paradise. The initiative is in line with the company’s target to generate over 30 percent of its overall sales online in the next five years.
iii. Tata Housing started selling homes online in India in 2013 through its partnership with Google as part of The Great Shopping Festival. Currently, the company has sold around 2000 homes online in the last three years.
iv. Earlier, Tata Housing tied up with real estate portal Housing.com and online marketplace Snapdeal to sell its housing units across the country.
8. Dell Inc acquired EMC Corporation for 67 billion US dollars
i. Dell Inc and EMC Corporation on 12 October 2015 signed a definitive agreement under which Dell, together with its owners will acquire EMC Corporation, while maintaining VMware as a publicly-traded company.
ii. This will the biggest tech deal in history with a 67 billion US dollars acquisition of EMC Corp by Dell. The owners of Dell include Michael S Dell, founder, chairman and CEO of Dell, MSD Partners and Silver Lake, the global leader in technology investing.
iii. VMware Inc is a US company that provides cloud and virtualization software and services. It is a subsidiary of EMC Corporation.
iv. A valuation for each share of tracking stock of 81.78 US dollars, EMC shareholders would receive a total combined consideration of 33.15 US dollars per EMC share and the total transaction would be valued at approximately 67 billion US dollars.
9. Portugal became the first European country to sign the MoU on establishment of Nalanda University
i. Portugal on 9 October 2015 became the first European country to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of Nalanda University.
ii. The MoU was signed in New Delhi by Portuguese Ambassador to India Ana Martinho and Dr Jitendra Nath Misra, the Ambassador of India to Portugal. With this, Portugal became the 17th country overall and the fourth outside the East Asia Summit to do so.
iii. The revived university is located at Rajgir in Nalanda District in Bihar. It is a non-state, non-profit, secular and self-governing international institution mandated to be engaged in the pursuit of intellectual, philosophical, historical and spiritual studies. It was established through Nalanda University Act, 2010 and formally inaugurated on 19 September 2014.
iv. The ancient Nalanda University was established in 427 AD during the reign of Gupta king Sakraditya. It was destroyed in 1193 AD by the Turkish army of the Bakhtiyar Khilji, the military general of the army of Qutb-ud-din Aibak.
10. Uttar Pradesh Government launched mobile app mSehat for health workers
i. Uttar Pradesh government on 13 October 2015 launched the mobile app mSehat for health workers to record maternal and infant data in real-time.
The application was developed by Kellton Tech, a company that was selected as the technology partner for the initiative by State Innovations in Family Planning Services Agency (SIFPSA).
ii. The application is aimed at improving the infant mortality rate outcomes. mSehat is a cloud-hosted solution to facilitate remote access and enrolment from across the region through 2G-enabled mobile devices. The recorded data will be stored in the cloud, which will act as the central repository.
iii. The initial implementation will be done in five districts, namely Mirzapur, Faizabad, Sitapur, Bareilly and Kannauj, and later it will be extended to the entire state. In the first phase, 10252 ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activists) workers will be equipped with smart phones.
iv. Tablets will be given to 1719 Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANMs) and 300 people comprising medical officers, medical officers in-charge & SIFPSA staff.
1. Govt flags off Science Express special train on climate change
i. The government flagged off the ‘Science Express Climate Action Special’ train from Delhi, as part of its initiative to sensitize the masses, especially children and the youth, about the issue of climate change, in the run-up to the global climate summit in Paris slated for December.
ii. Exhibits on the 16-coach air-conditioned train would cover specific topics like adaptation, mitigation, India’s action on mitigation, international climate change negotiations, nature conservation, innovations in India, science lab, biotechnology applications and others.
iii. The train will run till 7 May 2016 and during the course of these eight months, it would stop at 64 locations across India, covering over 19,500 kilometres. Some of these locations are Patiala, Jaisalmer, Agra, Ambala, New Jalpaiguri, Vishakhapatnam, Vellore, Rameswaram, Mangalore and Gandhinagar.
iv. The Science Express—a joint initiative of the ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC), the ministry of railways and the ministry of science and technology—has had an eight-year run. Last year, its theme was biodiversity. The Climate Action Special was flagged off by union minister for science and technology Harsh Vardhan along with railway minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu and environment minister Prakash Javadekar.
v. The Climate Change Express will explain in detail about climate change and the actions or paths we can take to tackle climate change.
2. President Pranab Mukherjee concluded his 3-nation tour to Jordan, Palestine and Israel
i. President Pranab Mukherjee on 15 October 2015 concluded his 3-nation tour to Jordan, Palestine and Israel. During his 6-day visit, which took place from 10 October to 15 October 2015, President Pranab signed various agreement and MoUs with three nations to boost the bilateral ties.
ii. During his visit, he also met the leaders of the three nations namely President and Prime Minister of Israel Reuven Rivlin and Benjamin Netanyahu respectively, His Majesty King Abdullah-II Ibn Al Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, President and Prime Minister of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas and Rami Hamdallah respectively.
iii. During this tour, he stayed in Jordan (10 to 12 October 2015), Palestine (12 to 13 October 2015) and Israel (13 to 15 October 2015). Mukherjee’s visit to these three countries was the first ever visit by an Indian President.
iv. President invited Israel to participate in the transformation of India and sought Israel’s participation in Digital India programme. He was conferred honorary doctorate by Hebrew University in Jerusalem, University of Jordan and Al-Quds University, Palestine.
v. The president extended invitation to the countries to invest in India and also sought steps to further deepen the ties. The accompanying academic delegation exchanged Memoranda of Understanding in all the three places.
3. SC allowed use of Aadhar Card for all Central and State Welfare schemes on voluntary basis
i. The Supreme Court on 15 October 2015 allowed the use of Aadhaar cards for all central and state schemes, including Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and employee provident fund and pension schemes, on voluntary basis.
ii. After the concession, the citizens can avail benefits under welfare schemes. Also, the absence of an Aadhaar card will not disallow people from benefiting from these schemes.
iii. The government cannot force citizens to enrol for the card. The government cannot make it a criterion for benefits under various schemes.
iv. The order was passed by a Constitution Bench of five judges, Justices M Y Eqbal, C Nagappan, Arun Mishra and Amitava Roy. The bench was headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu. Earlier on 7 October 2015, a three-judge bench of SC had refused to modify its August 11 2015 order limiting the use of Aadhar cards to LPG subsidy, Kerosene and Public Distribution System (PDS).
4. Rameswaram, birthplace of Dr. Abdul Kalam, included as 498th town under AMRUT
i. Union Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu on 15 October 2015 declared that former President Dr. Abdul Kalam’s birth place Rameswaram has been included in Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) for providing basic urban infrastructure.
ii. The announcement was made on the occasion of 84th birth anniversary of Dr. Kalam at a programme organised at DRDO. Rameswaram is the 498th to be included in the Mission. With the addition of Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu would have 32 cities and towns under Atal Mission.
iii. Besides, a committee comprising of Union Ministers M Venkaiah Naidu, Manohar Parrikar, Pon Radhakrishnan and former Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy will work out the details of a Memorial for Dr. Kalam at Rameswaram. This Committee will consult all concerned before giving a final shape to the Memorial.
iv. Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) was approved by the Union Cabinet on 29 April 2015. The mission aims at providing basic infrastructure facilities in 500 cities with an outlay of 50000 crore rupees over the next five years (2015-16 to 2019-20).
5. Central Victim Compensation Fund set up with 200 crore rupees by Union Government
i. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs on 14 October 2015 introduced a scheme called Central Victim Compensation Fund (CVCF) with an initial amount of 200 crore rupees. The scheme aims at enabling support to victims of various attacks, such as rape, acid attacks, human trafficking and women killed or injured in the cross border firing.
ii. States were asked to accordingly modify the State Victim Compensation Schemes to reduce inconsistency in quantum of compensation amount notified by them and claim financial support from the CVCF.
iii. To support and supplement the existing Victim Compensation Schemes (VCS) notified by states/UT administrations. To reduce disparity in quantum of compensation amount notified by different states / UTs for victims of similar crimes.
iv. To encourage states / UTs to effectively implement the Victim Compensation Scheme notified by them under the provisions of Section 357A of Cr. P.C. To continue financial support to victims of various crimes especially sexual offences including rape, acid attacks, crime against children, human trafficking, etc.
v. The victims will be compensated on the grounds of various injuries, loss and death with respect to acid attack, rape, human trafficking, disabilities and burns affected on them. Women victims of cross-border suffering permanent or partial disability or death will also be compensated under the scheme.
6. RBI formed Financial Inclusion Fund with 2000 crore rupees corpus
i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 15 October 2015 formed a single Financial Inclusion Fund (FIF) with a corpus of 2000 crore rupees. The fund was formed by merging the Financial Inclusion Fund (FIF) and Financial Inclusion Technology Fund (FITF).
ii. The RBI also finalised the new scope of activities and guidelines for utilisation of the new FIF in consultation with the Union Government. The new FIF will be administered by the reconstituted Advisory Board constituted by Union Government and will be maintained by NABARD.
iii. The overall corpus of the new FIF will be 2000 crore rupees. Contribution to FIF would be from the interest differential in excess of 0.5 percent on RIDF and STCRC deposits on account of shortfall in priority sector lending kept with NABARD by banks.
iv. All the assets and liabilities of the erstwhile FITF as well as prior commitments from FITF for projects already sanctioned will be transferred to/reimbursed from FIF. The Fund will be in operation for another three years or till such period as may be decided by RBI and Union Government in consultation with other stake holders.
7. Zaheer Khan retired from International Cricket
i. Zaheer Khan, one of India’s finest pacers, on 15 October 2015 retired from all forms of international and first-class Cricket. However, he will continue to play in IPL for one more season.
ii. Zaheer, with 311 wickets, is the fourth highest Indian wicket-taker in Tests behind Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434) and Harbhajan Singh (417). He was also the third highest wicket-taker in international cricket among left-arm pacers.
iii. He was one of the key members of the 2011 ODI World Cup winning team, leading the pace attack with 21 wickets in just 9 games. He was also the part of 2003 World Cup squad of Indian cricket team that lost the final match against Australia at Johannesburg, South Africa by 125 runs.
iv. In 2011 he was conferred with the Arjuna Award, India's second highest sporting award by the President of India. In 2008, he was also selected as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year.