1. Third India-Africa forum summit begins in New Delhi
i. The third India-Africa forum summit (IAFS) began in New Delhi on 26 October 2015. The four day summit (from 26 October to 30 October 2015) is one of the largest gatherings of African countries outside Africa as all 54 nations of the continent have participated.
ii. It will address the key challenges faced by African nations which include food, health and environmental security etc. Provides India an opportunity to forge a constructive and deeper alliance with the resource-rich continent.
iii. India hopes to create favourable conditions through this summit to stimulate trade and investment flows between India and African countries. Both sides are expecting to reinforce their partnership on the global platform and deepen security cooperation including on countering terrorism and maritime security.
iv. IAFS is an official platform for the African-Indian relations. It is held every 3 years and the venue is selected on rotational basis from both sides.
v. Present summit was earlier scheduled in December 2014 in New Delhi, but it was postponed to October 2015 due to deadly Ebola outbreak in few western African countries.
2. Department of Heavy Industries drafted National Policy on Capital Goods
i. The Department of Heavy Industries (DHI) came out with draft national policy on capital goods. This is the first time that such a policy is being framed after active consultation with industry associations.
ii. The Policy on Capital Goods is focused on the most critical sector for achieving the vision of Make in India and also is envisages unlocking the potential for this promising sector and establish India as a global manufacturing hub.
iii. The policy proposes a governance mechanism for smooth implementation and effectiveness of the policy. The mechanism will be in the form of inter-ministerial and inter-departmental committees at the highest level to ensure due consideration of the interests of all stakeholders.
iv. The committees will be tasked with driving coordinated action and monitoring the progress and effectiveness of policy on an annual basis. The capital goods sector operates in a dynamic local and global environment and it is imperative for the policy to undergo a periodic review and revision to maintain its relevance.
3. Financial powers of Health Institutions enhanced to 5 lakh rupees per patient under Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi
i. Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare enhanced delegated financial powers of designated Central Government Hospitals and institutes under the Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN) scheme.
ii. After the enhancement, only cases for financial assistance beyond 5 lakh rupees would now be required to be referred to the Ministry from the earlier upper limit of 2 lakh rupees per patient.
The move is aimed at curtailing procedural delays for treatment, which would bring relief to thousands of patients annually.
iii. Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi was set up in 1997 to provide financial assistance to patients, living below poverty line (BPL). Patients suffering from major life threatening diseases related to heart, liver, kidney and cancer cases, etc., are covered under the scheme.
iv. Patients receive medical treatment only at any of the designated super specialty Government hospitals / institutes or other Government hospitals. Revolving Funds have been set up in 12 Central Government hospitals/institutes and amount up to 50 lakh rupees is placed at their disposal for providing financial assistance.
4. FIIs/RFPIs can now invest up to 74 percent in DEN Networks Limited: RBI
i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 26 October 2015 notified that the Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs)/Registered Foreign Portfolios Investors (RFPIs) can now invest up to 74 percent of the paid up capital of DEN Networks Limited under the Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS).
ii. DEN Networks Limited has passed resolutions at its Board of Directors’ level and a special resolution by the shareholders, agreeing for enhancing the limit for the purchase of its equity shares and convertible debentures by FIIs/RFPIs.
iii. The purchases could be made through primary market and stock exchanges. The purchases would be subject to Regulation 5(2) of FEMA Notification and other terms and conditions stipulated by the Reserve Bank.
iv. The Reserve Bank notified this under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999.
5. Guatemala elected comedian Jimmy Morales as the President
i. Jimmy Morales, a former TV comedian, swept to power in Guatemala's presidential election. He will take the office on 14 January 2016. In the presidential election, Morales won more than 67 percent of votes. On the other hand, the ex-first lady Sandra Torres received less than 33 percent of votes.
ii. In 2015, Morales was nominated as the presidential candidate of National Convergence Front (FCN/Nation). Initially, he was considered an outsider. However, he finished first in the first round of the election and qualified for the runoff.
iii. Morales, who identified himself as a nationalist, supported death penalty and opposed abortion, came out with a slogan of Neither corrupt nor a thief that attracted the masses. His success came after both former vice president Roxana Baldetti and outgoing president Otto Pérez Molina had to step down and were arrested on fraud and corruption charges.
iv. Jimmy Morales born as James Ernesto Morales Cabrera on 18 March 1969 earned fame as a TV comedian when he starred in the popular TV series Moralejas (Morals). He joined the FCN party in 2013 and became its secretary-general.
6. China launched third mapping satellite of Tianhui-1 series
i. China successfully launched the Tianhui-1C mapping satellite into its designated orbit from Jiuquan satellite launch centre in the north-western province of Gansu. A Long March-2D carrier rocket carried the Tianhui-1C mapping satellite blasts off from the launch pad.
ii. The satellite will offer a boost to country's ability to carry out scientific experiments, land resource surveys, mapping, crop yield estimation and disaster relief.
iii. The Tianhui-1C, which is the third satellite in the Tianhui-1 series, was designed by a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASTC). The first Tianhui 1 mapping satellite was launched in August 2010, and Tianhui 1B was launched in May 2012.
7. BlackBerry appoints Narendra Nayak as Managing Director of India operations
i. BlackBerry today said it has appointed Narendra Nayak as the Managing Director of its India operations to steer the Canadian handset maker's restructuring efforts. He replaces Sunil Lalvani, who had quit the organisation in June.
ii. Based in New Delhi, Nayak will be responsible for driving BlackBerry's software and services business through all channels in India direct enterprise customers, network operators, distribution partners, the company said in a statement.
iii. Nayak will also be responsible for BlackBerry's growing ecosystem of indirect channels in India that includes Value-Added Reseller (VAR), systems integrator and reseller partners, it added.
iv. Nayak joins BlackBerry from venture-funded software company Linguanext Technologies, where he was responsible for growing the business in India and across South East Asia, Middle East and Africa. Prior to Linguanext, he has held executive roles at CSC, IBM, Motorola and Digital Equipment India.
8. Yes Bank advances after operationalising IFSC Banking Unit in GIFT city
i. has operationalised its IFSC Banking Unit in Gujarat International Finance Tec City. The bank made announcement during market hours today, 27 October 2015.
ii. The IBU will propel the bank's growth plans further by providing it access to international financial markets, as well as provide a comprehensive product suite to its corporate clients requiring foreign currency funding.
iii. It will also allow the bank to raise foreign currency funding through MTNs and other routes as appropriate. Besides, the IBU will help the lender in further diversification and expansion of cross border asset products as well as widen the scope and depth of liabilities base.
iv. Earlier this year, the Government of India announced the setting up of an IFSC in Gujarat, namely in the GIFT city in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Later, the RBI, in April mandated that Indian public sector and private banks that are authorised to deal with foreign exchange will be allowed to set up IBUs with prior permission.
9. RBI, Bangladesh Bank ink MoU on information exchange
i. The Reserve Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bangladesh Bank for exchange of supervisory information.
ii. RBI has entered into Memorandam of Understanding, Letter for Supervisory Co-operation and Statement of Co-operation with supervisors of a few countries to promote greater cooperation and share supervisory information.
iii. With this, RBI has signed 30 such MoUs, one Letter for Supervisory Cooperation and one Statement of Cooperation, the central bank said in the release.
10. RIL first corporate to sign revised listing pact with BSE
i. Reliance Industries today became the first corporate to sign the revised listing agreement with the BSE as mandated under the newly introduced Listing Regulation notified by SEBI.
ii. Earlier, the listing agreement was a bilateral agreement between the stock exchange and the company and market regulatory SEBI didn't have regulations on this. Thus each company's agreement with stock exchange could be at variance and lacking the full force of SEBI's rigour.
iii. SEBI last month came out with such regulations and a six-month deadline for all companies in which it prescribed the listing agreement. With the signing of the agreement with BSE, RIL is the first listed company to conform to SEBI norms, a statement said.
iv. As part of the Listing Regulations, SEBI has mandated all existing listed entities to execute a fresh and simplified Listing Agreement with the stock exchange where they are listed, within six months of the notification date of September 2.
11. Indian-American farmer Anita Adalja to be honoured for exemplary agriculture work
i. Indian-American farmer is among 12 individuals from across the country who will be recognised as White House Champions of Changefor sustainable and climate-smart agriculture at an event in the US.
ii. Anita Adalja, is social worker who merged her career with farming. Currently, she is working as a manager at the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture.
iii. Anita said, she is committed to food access solutions, community building and sustainable land stewardship. Before being called to farming, she was a social worker in Brooklyn. While working with formerly homeless, mentally ill adults in a supportive housing facility, Anita co-founded a rooftop farm on top of the building.
iv. Anita, has worked to create a more equitable and sustainable food system by increasing food access, sustainable farming, farmer training and farm-to-school education. Under her management, Arcadia Farm grows thousands of pounds of naturally grown produce that is sold in low-or no-food access areas in Washington, through its mobile farmers' market programme.
12. Hashim Amla becomes fastest to score 6000 ODI runs, breaks Virat Kohli's record
i. South African batsman Hashim Amla has broken yet another record held by India's ODI vice-captain Virat Kohli.
ii. This time, the right-handed opener has broken Kohli's record of by becoming fastest 6000 runs in the ODIs. For this Amla took just 123 innings as compared to Kohli, who achieved this feat in his 136th innings.
iii. Earlier in January this year, Amla bettered a joint record owned by Kohli and Sir Vivian Richards of West Indies to become the fastest to 5,000 ODI runs club.
iv. Amla reached the 5,000-run milestone in 101 innings (104 matches). Kohli and Richards took 114 visits to the crease to get there. Earlier on March 3, the 32-year-old Amla struck his 20th ODI hundred (159, his highest in ODIs) to become the quickest to the landmark and surpassed Kohli.
13. Deepika Kumari won silver medal in Archery World Cup Final
i. Indian archer Deepika Kumari on bagged the silver medal in the Archery World Cup Final held in Mexico City. Kumari went down 2-6 in finale to South Korea’s Chou Misun.
ii. Currently ranked World No. 5, Kumari clinched a gold medal in the 2010 Commonwealth games in the women's individual recurve event. She also won a gold medal in the 2010 Commonwealth games in the women's team recurve event along with Dola Banerjee and Bombayala Devi.
iii. In May 2012, she won her first World Cup individual stage recurve gold medal at Antalya, Turkey.
iv. In 2012, the Ranchi-born archer was honoured by the President of India with the prestigious Arjuna Award, India's second highest sporting award. She was also named as the FICCI Sportsperson of the Year Award in February 2014.