Air India Becomes First Airline to Use Taxibot on A320 Aircraft with Passengers Onboard

NATIONAL NEWS

Indo-Dutch cooperation: 2nd phase of LOTUS-HR project launched in presence of King and Queen

• The second phase of an Indo-Dutch project that seeks to treat dirty water of Barapullah Drain before it deposits into Yamuna was launched in the presence of Netherlands King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima.
• The Local Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse (LOTUS-HR) project was set up in 2017 at the Sun Dial Park here as part of a collaboration between the governments of India and the Netherlands.

FACTS

Capital- Amsterdam

Currency- Euro

10th Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav to be held in Jabalpur from Oct 14-21

• The Governor of Madhya Pradesh Lalji Tandon, in the presence of Minister of State for Culture and Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel, will inaugurate the 10th Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav tomorrow at Mahakoshal Shaheed trust, Gol Bazaar in the city of Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh.
• Ministry of Culture of the central government is organising the 10th edition of Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav under the Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat initiative in Madhya Pradesh from October 14 to 21.
• The Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav 2019 would showcase all the facets of the Indian culture in different areas and aspects including artists and artisans from different states and UTs of the country.

Air India Becomes First Airline to Use Taxibot on A320 Aircraft with Passengers Onboard

• Air India became the first airline in the world to use a Taxibot on a A320 aircraft with passengers onboard.
• Taxibot is a robot-used aircraft tractor for taxiing an aircraft from parking bay to runway and vice versa.
• the national carrier's Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani flagged off flight AI665 - which was carried to runway using Taxibot at terminal 3 of the Delhi airport - to Mumbai

Over 1,500 students participate in Indian Army’s ‘Sangam Youth Festival’ in Jammu

• “Sangam Youth Festival is being organised from October 11 to October 15. This year 1,500 students from 32 colleges are participating in the program. During this festival, several events are being organised so the students can showcase their talents and skills”.
• A total number of 35 events, including outdoor and indoor activities, have been planned during this festival.

Nitin Gadkari inaugurates conference on 'One Nation One Tag – FASTag' in New Delhi

• Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated a conference on 'One Nation One Tag – FASTag' in New Delhi, to roll out the process for having a unified electronic system across the country.
• unified and nation-wide inter-operable RFID-based tag for vehicles is a major step in this direction.
• Under this system the same FASTag affixed on the windscreen of a vehicle can be used to pay toll across all toll plazas in the country.

CBIC launches programme to strengthen Make in India

• Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has launched a revamped and streamlined programme to attract investments into India and strengthen Make in India through manufacture and other operations under bond scheme, of Customs Act, 1962.
• The scheme has been modernized with clear and transparent procedures, simplified compliance requirements ICT-based documentation and account keeping, by issue of Manufacture and Other Operations in Warehouse Regulations 2019.

Tunisia presidential election: Kais Saied declared winner

• Independent law professor Kais Saied has won Tunisia's presidential election with 72.71 percent of the votes, the country's electoral commission has confirmed.
• Saied secured 2.7 million votes against one million received by his opponent, Nabil Karoui, in Sunday's runoff vote, the commission.

AWARD

Director Priyadarshan gets MP govt's Kishore Kumar award

• Noted director and producer Priyadarshan, who has made several blockbuster Malayalam and Hindi films, was conferred the Madhya Pradesh government's National Kishore Kumar Samman for 2018-19 at a function in Khandwa, the birthplace of the legendary singer- actor.
• The award, instituted by MP Department of Culture, carries a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh and a citation.

Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo jointly awarded Booker Prize

• Booker Prize judges have rebelled against the rules and split the prestigious literary award between Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo.
• Atwood has become the oldest Booker winner, at 79, and claimed her second win with The Testaments.
• Evaristo has jointly triumphed with Girl, Woman, Other following a shock decision to divide the £50,000 prize, despite rules forbidding this.

India wins four UNESCO heritage awards; Flora Fountain, others bring three cheers for Mumbai

• The UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation awards were announced at a ceremony held in Penang, Malaysia, marking 20 years since its institution.
• The four winners from India, include one from Ahmedabad -- Award of Distinction for Vikram Sarabhai Library, Indian Institute of Management (IIM); and three from Mumbai -- Award of Merit for Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue and Our Lady of Glory Church; while Honourable Mention for Flora Fountain.

SPORTS

ICC changes super over rule for all its major events

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) has changed the super over rule for all its major events following the uproar over the outcome of the men's World Cup final this year when England were declared winners against New Zealand on boundary count.
• As per new rule, in case of a super over tie there will be a repeated super over until one team has more runs than the other.

Priyanshu, Juhi-Venkat win titles at Bahrain International Series

• Indian shuttler Priyanshu Rajawat overcame top-seed Jason Anthony Ho-Shue from Canada in the final to claim the men’s singles title at the Bahrain International Series.
• Priyanshu had earlier defeated the second-seed Ade Resky Dwicahyo in the pre-quarterfinals.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Students' Day 2019

• World Students' Day is celebrated every year on October 15 on former president APJ Abdul Kalam's birthday. The day is commemorated on his birth anniversary because Dr Kalam was a dedicated teacher and identified himself foremost in that role before anything else.
• Due to the former President's love for students, various educational institutions in India observe Kalam's birthday in their own way. Notably, in 2010, the United Nations declared October 15 to be World Students' Day.

World Food Day- 16 October

• Celebrating the creation of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), events are organized in over 150 countries across the world, making it one of the most celebrated days of the UN calendar.
• These events promote worldwide awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and for the need to ensure food security and nutritious diets for all.
• The focus of the day is that food is a basic and fundamental human right. Yet, in a world of billions, over 820million people worldwide suffering chronic undernourishment, 60% women and almost five million children under the age of five die of malnutrition-related causes every day.