Shirui Lily Festival inaugurated in Manipur

NATIONAL NEWS

Textiles Secretary Inaugurates IHGF-Delhi Fair

• Textiles Secretary, Ravi Capoor, inaugurated the 48th edition of the Indian Handicrafts and Gifts Fair (IHGF) at the India Expo Centre & Mart at Greater Noida.
• Overseas buyers from 110 countries are in India to source home, lifestyle, fashion, furniture and textiles products from around 3200 Indian exhibitors who are participating in the Fair that will be on from 16 – 20 October 2019.
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Theme of IHGF-Delhi Fair

Shirui Lily Festival inaugurated in Manipur

• Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism and Culture Prahlad Singh Patel inaugurated Shirui Lily Festival, 2019 at Shirui Vangayan Ground of Ukhrul in Manipur.
• Mr Patel along with State Chief Minister N. Biren Singh inaugurated the Strength of Unity Statue as a mark of opening the third edition of the four-day state festival.

FACTS

Manipur Chief Minister -N. Biren Singh

Governor-Najma Heptulla

INDEX

India Innovation Index 2019

• NITI Aayog -Institute for Competitiveness as the knowledge partner released the India Innovation Index (III) 2019. Karnataka is the innovative primary state in India.
• Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana, Haryana, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh are the remaining ten major states respectively.
• The ten states in southern and western India. Sikkim and Delhi take the top spots among the northeastern & hill states and union territories/city-states/small states, respectively.
• Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh are the most efficient states in translating inputs into output.
• The index released in the presence of Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog; Amitabh Kant. The India Innovation Index would create synergies between different stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem, and India would shift to good competitive governance.
• The India Innovation Index 2019 is calculated as the average of the scores of its two dimensions - Enablers and Performance. The Enablers are grouped in five pillars: (1) Human Capital, (2) Investment, (3) Knowledge Workers, (4) Business Environment, and (5) Safety and Legal Environment.
• The Performance dimension captures benefits that a nation derives from the inputs, divided into two pillars: (6) Knowledge Output and (7) Knowledge Diffusion.

World Giving Index: India ranks 82, USA tops the list

• India ranked 82nd in the 2019 World Giving Index (WGI). The survey ranking was released by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), an international organization. It aims to promote giving to transform lives and communities across the world.
• The survey was conducted by CAF over the past decade, 2009 to 2018. The survey covered 1.3 million people worldwide.
• As per the WGI report, India showed that 34% of people helped a stranger, 24% donated money, and 19% volunteered or donated their time.
• USA topped the WGI 2019 list. It is followed by Myanmar, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Canada, UK, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia.
• Nepal ranked 53, and Pakistan ranked 69.
• The bottom three countries on the list are Yemen, Greece, and China.

FACTS

Charities Aid Foundation (CAF)- Founded-UK, 1974

Headquarters-Kent, UK.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Italy to introduce web tax on digital giants from 2020

• Italy approved a new tax on digital companies, including U.S. tech giants, as part of its 2020 draft budget on October 16, a move that could draw threats of retaliation from Washington.
• The levy, due to be introduced from next year, will oblige companies such as Facebook, Google and Amazon, to pay a 3% levy on internet transactions, according to a text of the draft budget.

UAE announces establishment of 1st graduate-level, research-based AI university in world

• UAE announced the establishment of the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), the first graduate-level, research-based AI university in the world.
• MBZUAI will enable graduate students, businesses and governments to advance the artificial intelligence field.
• The University is named after Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, who has long advocated for the UAE’s development of human capital through knowledge and scientific thinking to take the nation into the future.

DEFENCE

Indian Air Force to begin joint military exercise 'Shinyuu Maitri' with Japanese counterpart in West Bengal

• The Indian Air Force will be carrying out a joint military exercise 'Shinyuu Maitri' with Japanese Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) from 17 to 23 October.
• The exercise will be held at Air Force Station, Arjan Singh in Panagarh town in West Bengal.
• "C-130 J aircraft of the Special Operations Squadron of IAF and C-130 H of Tactical Airlift Squadron of JASDF will participate in the exercise," stated an official press release.
• The focus of the exercise will be to undertake Joint Mobility and Tactical interoperability among the two forces.

BANKING

Home Credit India ties up with Karur Vysya Bank for joint lending

• Home Credit India, the local arm of the international consumer finance provider, has tied up with Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) for a joint lending initiative in the unsecured lending space.

Mastercard and MS Dhoni partner to build ‘Team Cashless India’

• Mastercard, along with cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced the launch of a nationwide initiative to accelerate the acceptance and adoption of digital payments.
• Titled ‘Team Cashless India’, the initiative brings consumers and merchants to the forefront of the digital payments dialogue.
• The campaign encourages all Indians to nominate one or more merchants who currently do not accept digital payments.
• Mastercard will work together with Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), acquirer banks and fintech companies to support nominated merchants to deploy digital payments acceptance infrastructure.

APPOINTMENT

World steel elects Sajjan Jindal as vice chairman; T V Narendran, Lakshmi Mittal as members

• Global body World Steel Association (world steel) on October 16 said it has elected JSW Steel Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Sajjan Jindal as its vice chairman.
• The association has also appointed Tata Steel CEO and MD T V Narendran and ArcelorMittal Chief L N Mittal as its members.

England all-rounder Jenny Gunn announces retirement from international cricket

• England all-rounder Jenny Gunn has announced her retirement from international cricket. Gunn, who is England’s most capped player in T20Is, made 259 appearances for her country, winning three World Cups and five Ashes series.
• Only Charlotte Edwards (with 309) has represented England Women more than Gunn, who made her debut in 2004.
• Gunn was a member of the England side that won the inaugural Women’s World T20 in 2009, and also featured in her country’s Women’s World Cup-winning campaign that same year.

SPORTS

Mumbai teen Yashasvi Jaiswal smashes world record with double hundred in Vijay Hazare Trophy match

• At 17 years and 292 days, Yashasvi Jaiswal became the youngest in the world to score a double hundred in 50-overs cricket including List A and ODIs.
• He broke the record by almost 3 years in the Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Jharkhand. The youngest before Yashasvi was Alan Barrow, who scored a double ton at age of 20 years, 273 days in South Africa’s domestic cricket way back in 1975.

IMPORTANT DAYS

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2019

• Theme: “Acting together to empower children, their families and communities to end poverty”
• This year marks the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) on 20 November 1989. This landmark human rights treaty sets out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of every child, regardless of their race, religion or abilities.