1. Indian short film An Old Dog’s Diary wins award at 2015 London Film Festival
i. An Indian short film, An Old Dog’s Diary has won prestigious Best Short Film Award at the 2015 London Film Festival (LFF). The award was bestowed by the British Film Institute (BIF) at 59th edition of LFF.
ii. The 11-minute film has been directed by Shai Heredia and Shumona Goel. It story of film reveals the cultural conditions of Indian avant-garde painter Francis Newton Souza’s work and its institutionalisation by assembling the puzzle-piece evocations of his portrait. Earlier the film was showcased in the Wavelengths category at 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.
iii. London Film Festival was founded in 1957 and is an annual film festival held at London to show the best of the year’s world cinema to a British audience. The Festival showcases the best work of world cinema that champions originality, creativity, vision and imagination.
iv. It is organised by British Film Institute and is United Kingdom’s largest public film event. It screens more than 300 features, documentaries and shorts films from almost 50 countries.
2. Swadhar Greh scheme approved by Haryana Government for women in distress
i. The Haryana Government on 18 October 2015 approved Swadhar Greh scheme, which will assure economic and social security to women in distress. The scheme aims at creating a supportive institutional framework catering to their primary needs in difficult situations.
ii. The scheme will work upon providing basic amenities, such as shelter, food, clothing and health along with economic and social security to women in distress. Also, the scheme will make sure that the special needs of these women are taken care of.
iii. Under the scheme, Swadhar Greh will be set up in every district with capacity to accommodate 30 women. The Greh will cater to the needs of shelter, food, clothing, medical treatment and care of the women in distress. It will enable them to regain their emotional strength.
iv. The scheme promises to provide the benefits to women who are deserted and are without social and economic support, prisoners released from jail and are without family, survivors of natural disasters left homeless and are without social and economic support.
v. Swadhar Greh will also cover female victims of domestic violence, family tension or discord, who are made to leave their homes without any means of subsistence and have no special protection from exploitation and/or facing litigation on account of marital disputes.
3. Telecom operators to compensate consumers by Rs 1 for call drop: TRAI
i. Telecom Regulatory Authority of Indian (TRAI) has made it mandatory for telecom operators to compensate consumers by Rs.1 for call drops with effect from 1 January 2016.
ii. As per new TRAI rules The compensation will be limited to three dropped calls in a particular day. It is mandatory for telecom operators to send a message to the calling customer within 4 hours of the occurrence of call drop along with details of amount credited in his account.
iii. In case of post-paid customers, the compensation details of the credit should be provided in the next bill.
4. Typhoon Koppu hits northern Philippines
i. Powerful Typhoon Koppu (also known as Lando) has hit the northern Philippines battering the coast with powerful winds with speed of 240 kph.
ii. The eye of tropical cyclone (typhoon) Koppu has struck the remote northern coastal town of Casiguran which is 215 kms northeast of Philippines capital city Manila. US military’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center has categorised this typhoon equivalent of a Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
iii. The Typhoon Koppu is considered as the strongest landfalling of tropical cyclone in past five years faced by Philippines. The most ominous threat of this cyclone is its prolific rainfall which may cause flood like situations followed by mudslides across the mountains and valleys of Philippines main northern island of Luzon.
iv. Each year, Philippines is hit by an average of 20 tropical storms, most of them many are deadly. The North eastern coat of the country is one of the most tropical cyclone-prone coastlines on Earth.
5. Smita Patil: A Brief Incandescence by Maithili Rao launched
i. The book titled Smita Patil: A Brief Incandescence authored by Maithili Rao was launched on 18 October 2015. The book, which was launched on Smita Patil’s 60th birth anniversary, acquaints the readers with a remarkable journey of the short-lived actress.
ii. It traces the journey of the actress from her childhood to stardom. The book shows glimpses of Patil’s controversial marriage and untimely tragic death.
iii. The book also throws light on Patil’s several unfortunate forays into mainstream commercial cinema.
iv. In addition, the book offers a sharp analysis of some best movies of the New Indian Cinema, including Bhumika, Mandi, Manthan, Umbartha, Bhavni Bhavai, Akaler Sandhane, Chakra, Chidambaram, Mirch Masala.
6. Great Britain beat India to win Sultan of Johor Cup Hockey tournament
i. Great Britain on 18 October 2015 defeated Indian junior men's hockey team and captured Sultan of Johor Cup (SOJC). Great Britain defeated defending champions India by 4-3 in sudden death penalty shootout in the final after the match had ended 2-2 in regulation time.
ii. For the third place, the host Malaysia defeated Argentina to settle for Bronze.
iii. Sultan of Johor Cup (SOJ Cup) is an annual international under-21 field hockey tournament held in Malaysia. It is the only invitational junior hockey competition played at international level.
The championship started in 2011 and is named after the Sultan of Johor, ceremonial head of the Malaysian state of Johor.
iv. So far, India is the more successful team in the tournament reaching 4 finals out of 5 editions. The 2014 edition of the International U-21 hockey Tournament was won by India.
7. Renowned Egyptian writer Gamal al-Ghitani died
i. Renowned Egyptian novelist and journalist Gamal al-Ghitani died on 18 October 2015 in Cairo, Egypt. He was 70. Al-Ghitani was born on 9 May 1945 in Gihena, Egypt. He began writing at a young age. His first short story was published when he was only 14.
ii. For critically commenting on the regime of Gamal Abd el-Nasser, the second President of Egypt, Al-Ghitani even faced imprisonment from October 1966 through March 1967.
iii. Al-Ghitani also worked as a journalist for the Egyptian newspaper Akhbar El Yom (The Day's News) in 1969. He was also the editor-in-chief of the literary periodical Akhbar Al-Adab (Cultural News) from 1993 to 2011.
iv. He was awarded with the Egyptian National Prize for Literature in 1980. In 2005, he won a French Award for translated literature Laure Bataillon, one of the highest French awards to be conferred upon non-French writers.
8. Post-doctoral fellowship in name of APJ Abdul Kalam
i. The ministry of environment, forest and climate change has announced the launching of post-doctoral research fellowships in the name of APJ Abdul Kalam on his 85th birthday.
ii. The post-doctoral fellowship programme of the ministry is targeted towards young scientists working in the area of environment and ecology in the country, said the press release issued by ministry of environment and forest.
iii. The target group of this programme are young scientists who have completed their PhD, or are about to complete their PhD, in areas related to environment and ecology and possess a good, academic record. The applicants should preferably be below the age of 35 years.
iv. The ministry proposes to constitute a committee of experts headed by RA Mashelkar for selection of APJ Abdul Kalam post-doctoral research fellows. The advertisement, calling for applications for the fellowship programme will be brought out by the ministry shortly and the guidelines for the programme will be uploaded on the ministry's website.
9. Infosys to acquire Noah Consulting for $70 mn
i. IT major Infosys today announced a definitive agreement to acquire Noah Consulting, LLC, a provider of advanced information management consulting services for the oil and gas industry in a $70 million all-cash deal.
ii. Noah Consulting helps upstream oil and gas companies, including super majors, independents and oil field service companies plan, architect and deploy information solutions to unlock the value of their oil and gas assets.
iii. Noah’s domain expertise in upstream oil and gas, coupled with their tools, solution accelerators and proprietary methodologies, makes them a leader in driving strategic data management engagements.
iv. This acquisition by Infosys combines Noah’s industry knowledge, information strategy planning, data governance and architecture capabilities with Infosys’ ability to provide technology and outsourcing services on a global scale to oil and gas clients.
v. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the third quarter of FY 2016, subject to customary closing conditions.
10. Housing.com appointed Mani Rangarajan as CFO
i. Realty giant Housing.com on 18 October 2015 appointed Mani Rangarajan as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO). The appointment was made to strengthen its senior management team.
ii. Rangarajan holds over 20 years of experience and has successfully played executive level roles in companies such as Yahoo! and Citigroup. He also played vital roles in many Silicon Valley start-up companies, like Boku, Kosmix and Media Boost.
iii. Rangarajan obtained an MBA degree from the Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He also received a post graduate management diploma from IIM Calcutta and is also a Cost & Works Accountant.
iv. Housing.com is a Mumbai-based real estate search portal, which was founded by a group of 12 students from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in June 2012. The website allows the users to search for housing based on location, number of rooms, budgets and various other filters.
11. China’s Xuerui Li wins 2015 Denmark Open Title of Badminton
i. China’s Xuerui Li has won the prestigious 2015 Denmark Open Badminton Title in the women’s single category. In the final match played at Odense, Denmark, she defeated P V Sindhu of India by 19-21, 12-21 score. It was Li’s second title of Denmark Open and earlier she had won it in 2014.
ii. In the men’s single category, China’s Chen Long has won the 2015 title. He has won the title for record 3rd time after he had earlier won it in 2013 and 2014 .
iii. It is formerly known as Danish Open and is organized by Danmarks Badminton Forbund.
12. Saketh Myneni wins 2015 Vietnam Open Tennis Trophy
i. India’s ace tennis player Saketh Myneni has won the 2015 Vietnam Open trophy. In the summit clash which lasted for one hour and 27 minutes he defeated Australia’s Jordan Thompson by 7-5, 6-3 score.
ii. It was Saketh’s first singles ATP Challenger title of the 2015 season. It was also overall his second singles title at the Challenger level. Earlier he had won the Indore Open.
iii. Presently, he is ranked 168 and this victory will help him to score 90 points in his pocket to break into top-150 when the new rankings chart.
13. Novak Djokovic won 2015 Shanghai Rolex Masters tennis title
i. World Number 1 ranking Novak Djokovic on 18 October 2015 won the 2015 Shanghai Rolex Masters tennis title in the men’s singles category. To clinch the title, the top seeded Serbian player defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2 6-4 in the final match held in Shanghai, China.
ii. It was the third Shanghai title for Djokovic in four years, having defeated Andy Murray (the UK) and Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina) in the 2012 and 2013 finals respectively.
iii. In early 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 six other titles in the 2015 season that include Indian Wells Masters, Miami Open, Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Italian Open, China Open and Shanghai Open.
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