INDIAN AFFAIRS

8th BRICS Summit held in Goa

i. The 2016 BRICS summit is the eighth annual BRICS summit, an international relations conference
attended by the heads of country or heads of government of the five member
countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
ii. The summit held from 15 to 16 October 2016 at the Taj Exotica hotel in Benaulim, Goa,
India. India will hold the chair of the BRICS from February 2016 to December 2016.
iii. The BRICS Summit 2016 adopted the Goa Declaration which unanimously hit out at the growing
threat of terrorism, among other issues. India was the host nation of the 8th Summit and the 9th will
be organised by China
iv. The first ever BRICS-BIMSTEC outreach summit held in Goa under the chairmanship of Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Renewing the BIMSTEC bond, PM Narendra Modi and BIMSTEC
leaders earlier gathered for a special retreat before the BRICS-BIMSTEC Outreach Summit.
Government-constituted expert committee found Saraswatiriver did exist
i. The Saraswati river based on traditional stories existed a government-constituted expert
committee has found. Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti stated that the government
would take action on the report, which according to her, cannot be challenged.
ii. Professor K S Valdiya, who led the panel, explained that they had reached a conclusion that river
Saraswati existed, it flowed.It originated in the Himalayas and met gulf at the western sea.
iii. According to a senior Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) official, Saraswati passed
through Pakistan before meeting Western Sea through Rann of Kutch and was approximately 4,000
km in length.
iv. One-third of the river stretched in present-day Pakistan. The longer, two-third stretch
measuring nearly 3000 km in length fell in India, the official claimed.
Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav (RSM) -2016 begin in New Delhi
i. Home Minister Rajnath Singh would inaugurate the 10-day Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav (RSM)
at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi.
ii. Nearly 2,000 artists from across the country will showcase Indias cultural heritage through
performances, arts and cuisines.
iii. Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav in Delhi is one of the five such festivals planned for this year which
will be organised at multiple venues, including Varanasi, Bangalore and Jammu and Kashmir,
from November 15 to 25.
iv. The seven zonal cultural centres have been given slots to present their arts during the festival
which would showcase an amalgamation of Ek Bharat, Srestha Bharat,
Hamaari Sanskriti, Hamaari Pahchaan and Swachh India.
Odisha celebrated Kumar Purnima festival
i. Celebrated on the last day of the Ashwin month, the Kumar Purnima festival is the occasion to
observe the birthday of Lord Kartikeswara, the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.

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ii. It is a festival of rejoicing for the girls. All of them sing and dance. The songs are of special nature.
They also play a kind of game known as Puchi. They also indulge in other varieties of country-games.
iii. Odisha spirit shows its best in its delicacies prepared during their festival. Highly spritual and pious
towards local traditions, every festival is an occasion to celebrate and rejoice with friends, relatives
and different social groups. This cultural bond is also extended to the relationship with God. No food
is considered eaten unless offered to God.
iv. Young girls of Odisha are gearing up to look their best and seek blessings of the Moon God
on Kumar Purnima festival that is on 18th October 2016.It is believed that unmarried girls get a good
life partner if they perform these rituals.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Global Travel and Tourism Report released by the World Economic Forum
Finland is rated the most safe country while El Salvador was named as the least safe and secure
country in the world in the Global Travel and Tourism Report 2016
Top 10:
Latin American countries dominate the list, with Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico suffering from
similar gang-related issues to El Salvador, and Colombia and Venezuela.Countries like Syria,
Iraq and South Sudan do not appear on the list at all
Top ten safest countries in the world are
1.Finland
6. Luxembourg
2. Qatar
7. New Zealand
3. UAE
8. Singapore
4. Iceland
9. Oman
5. Austria
10. Portugal
The least safe countries in the world are:
1 . Nigeria
9. Hondurus
2. Columbia
10. Thailand
3. Yemen
11. Kenya
4. Pakistan
12. Lebanon
5. Venezuela
13. India
6. Egypt
14. Philippines
7. Guatemala
15. Jamaica
8. El Salvador

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

Renowned writer C Radhakrishnan has been selected for the Mathrubhumi Literary Award
i. Renowned writer C Radhakrishnan has been selected for the Mathrubhumi Literary Award in
recognition of his contribution to the field of literature. A sum of Rs.2 lakh, a plaque and citation
constitute the award.
ii. Radhakrishnan is a writer and film director in Malayalam language from Kerala state, South

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India.
iii. He was born in Chamravattom in Ponnani taluk in Malappuram district on February 15, 1939.
Many of his works had garnered much attention at the publishing stage itself.
Mizorams Pachuau declared Indias oldest working journalist
i. The Mizoram governments Information and Public Relations department and the Mizoram
Journalists Association (MJA) today declared Lalbiakthanga Pachuau, the editor of Zoram
Tlangau, a Mizo language daily, as the oldest working journalist in the country.
ii. State information minister Lal Thanzara handed over a citation to Pachuau for his long innings in
journalism and his contribution to social causes at a function in Aizawl.
iii. Born in Siachal, 80 km distance from the state capital, Pachuau studied only till 8th class before
joining the Assam Regiment of the British Indian Army in 1945 at 18
iv. Under his leadership, the blood donation collection in the state rose from 22.47 per cent to 94
per cent. Pachuaus contribution in this field has earned him three special awards of State Blood
Transfusion Council, not to mention the numerous state awards.
v. He co-founded the Association for Voluntary Blood Donation in Mizoram as its general secretary
and was later elected its president for a number of times from 2001 onwards.
Mangaluru International Airport rated best in Southern region
i. The Mangalore international airport here has been rated the best in southern region and
won the third spot among all the 52 airports from across the country. The performances of all the
airports are rated on the basis of overall customer satisfaction.
ii. The Airports Authority of India conducts survey of all the airports once in six months through
external agency and in the latest survey the airport secured 4.72 marks out of 5 points.
iii. The survey ranks Chandigarh airport as the best in the country followed by Raipur. Third slot
has been shared by Mangaluru and Udaipur airports.
iv.The survey covers areas like achievement of the airport, performance of the staff, facilities,
customs and immigration facilities, safety etc.
v. The Tiruchi airport has ranked sixth at the all-India level in the nationwide survey that was
conducted for the period January to June by an agency commissioned by the Airports Authority of
India (AAI).

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

Amandeep Singh appointed as the next Ambassador/PR of India to the UN Conference on

Disarmament, Geneva
i. Former IAS officer Amandeep Singh Gill was appointed as the next Ambassador/PR of India to
the UN Conference on Disarmament, Geneva.
ii. The Conference on Disarmament (CD) is a forum established in 1979 by the international
community to negotiate multilateral arms control and disarmament agreements.
iii. It was the forum used by its member states(65) to negotiate the Biological Weapons Convention
and the Chemical Weapons Convention.

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 Tata Communications appoints James Parker as president of global sales

i. James Parker was appointed as the president of global sales by Vinod Kumar, Managing Director
and Group CEO of Tata Communications.
ii. Parker will be responsible for leading the companys global sales organisation across all customer
segments, according to a company release.
iii. He has experience in sales, commercial and marketing roles in companies including CenturyLink,
Microsoft and IBM.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Central Government launches satellite-based illegal Mining Detection System

i. The central mines ministry launched a satellite-based illegal mining detection system, which will
receive tip offs in the form of pictures taken from a mobile phone, automatically generate
complaints to state authorities and publish the outcome of a probe in a mobile application.
ii. Mining surveillance system (MSS), a pan-India surveillance network using latest satellite
technology, to check illegal mining. The technology will ensure sustainable utilisation of the countrys
mineral resources. MSS will trigger an alarm whenever there is an instance of illegal mining
outside permitted areas. Karnataka, which saw large instances of illegal mining in the past, stands
to gain tremendously from this technology.
iii. MSS is a satellite-based monitoring system, which aims to check illegal mining activity through
automatic remote-sensing detection
US Navy Commissions Most Advanced Stealth Destroyer, Zumwalt
i. US Navy has commissioned its largest, most expensive and technologically advanced destroyer,
Zumwalt.
ii. The 610-foot-long ship, commissioned in Baltimore also has an advanced power plant and
weapon systems.
iii. The ship is named after Adm. Elmo R Bud Zumwalt, a Bronze Star winner from World War II
who went on to serve in the Korean and Vietnam wars and as chief of naval operations from 1970 to
1974

SPORTS

ICC announced first-ever womens World T20 in 2020

i. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has decided to organise the first ever ICC Womens
World T20 event in 2020. A decision to this effect was taken at the ICC Board meetings which
concluded in Cape.
ii. Cricket Australia, hosts for the mens and womens ICC World Twenty20 in 2020, proposed
holding the womens tournament as a stand-alone event six months ahead of the mens edition.
iii. The ICC Board gave nod for this request considering it a big step forward for the womens game
in a market where there is a clear appetite for womens cricket given the success of the WBBL.

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iv. Chairman of the ICC Governance Committee and Cricket Australia David Peever announced
that Womens cricket was undoubtedly gaining in popularity around the globe and we felt that by
separating the two events we could accelerate that growth.
Usain Bolt confirms retirement after 2017 world championships in London
i. Worlds fastest man, Usain Bolt will retire after 2017 IAAF World Championship in London.
ii. Jamaican athlete is the first athlete in history to claim 3 consecutive Olympic gold medals in the
100, 200 and 4X100m relay events.
iii. The 30-year old has won 9 Olympic Gold medals across three games over the span 8 years and
is widely regarded as the fastest human ever timed.
Neeraj Goyat retained WBC Asia welterweight title
i. Indian boxer Neeraj Goyat out punched Australias Ben Kite to retain the WBC welterweight
Asia title in New Delhi.
ii. The 24-year-old prevailed 120-110 119-109 115-113 in an unanimous decision for the hard 12round contest against his 26-year-old rival, who had the experience of fighting 9 rounds.
iii. Goyat, who came into the contest with seven wins in 11 fights, is now expected to break into the
WBC world rankings, which will be a step towards getting him a shot at the world title.
iv .In the undercard rounds, which were four-round contests, former Commonwealth Games
bronze-medallist Amandeep Singh defeated former Federation Cup champion Sunil Sharma in
the super featherweight division (59kg) to make a winning debut in the professional circuit.
v. In the cruiserweight (91kg) category, multiple-time national champion Kuldeep Singh was
upstaged by Geetanand Singh, while in the super welterweight (70kg) category Deepak Tanwar
got the better of DilbagThakran.
Sourabh Varma wins mens singles title at Chinese Taipei Open
i. 23-year-old from Madhya Pradesh, Sourabh Varma defeated Malaysias Daren Liew 11-4 11-7 119 to clinch the mens single title in the summit clash of the $55,000 Grand Prix tournament in
Taipei. Sourabh, who is on a comeback trail after being on the sidelines with multiple injuries.
ii. It is his third successive summit and he had won the National championship in 2011.
Winner list:
Title
Winner
Runner
Mens Single
Sourabh Varma
Daren Liew
Womens Single
Ayumi Mine
Saena Kawakami
Mens Double
Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto Hung Ling /Chen Chi-Lin Wang
Womens Double Yuki Fukushima /Japansayaka Hirota
Shiho Tanaka / Japankoharu
Yonemoto
Mixed
Chun Man Tang/Hong Kongying Suet
Ryota Taohata/Koharu Yonemoto

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IMPORTANT DAYS

World Food Day 2016 October 16 2016

i. The World Food Daya day to heighten public awareness about the interconnection of
agriculture, food security and world hunger. This years theme is Climate is changing. Food and
agriculture must too.
ii. One of the biggest issues related to climate change is food security. The worlds poorest many of
whom are farmers, fishers and pastoralists are being hit hardest by higher temperatures and an
increasing frequency in weather-related disaster
iii. At the same time, the global population is growing steadily and is expected to reach 9.6 billion by
2050. To meet such a heavy demand, agriculture and food systems will need to adapt to the adverse
effects of climate change and become more resilient, productive and sustainable.
iv. As part of World Food Day celebrations, a Crowd Funded Food and Beverage ATM
(refrigerator) was launched in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
v. The initiative was launched by students of Bannari Ammal Institute of Technology.Anybody can
deposit food materials in the Food and Beverage ATM.

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