State Career Guidance Centre

Current Affairs – 2019

(Oct’01 – Oct’15)

1
 Bathukamma:

2
  The flower festival of Telangana, is being celebrated in state’s Warangal
district.

 The nine-day long festival of flowers will be celebrated from 29 September to 6

October 2019. Bathukamma marks the beginning of Sharath Ruthu and it is
widely celebrated by young girls and women.

 IAU – International Astronomical Union

 The IAU – International Astronomical Union has named a minor planet

between Mars and Jupiter after an Indian classical singer Pandit Jasraj.
 He is the first Indian musician to receive this honor. The planet was discovered
on November 11, 2006.
 Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) cards:

 The Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) cards along with valid foreign passport
will be considered for exit or entry into India till 31 March 2020.
Government of India had earlier advised all PIO card holders to convert their
cards to Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) cards by 30 September 2019.

 The 62 year old Physicist and Cosmologist Thanu Padmanabhan was conferred the
prestigious M P Birla Memorial Award 2019 for his contributions to the world of
cosmology. He received the award at a programme held at M P Birla Planetarium in
Kolkata.

3
 The Government of India think tank NITI Aayog released the SEQI – School
Education Quality Index. SEQI evaluates the performance of states and union territories
in the school education sector. The report has categorized the states as small and large
states for ease of comparability. The Union Territories are categorized separately.
 Outcomes – It includes learning, infrastructure and facility, access and equity
 Apart from SEQI, NITI Aayog also release heath index and composite water
management index annually.

 The World Heart Day

 The World Heart Day (September 29) was created by the World Heart
Federation to inform the people around the globe that Cardio Vascular diseases
are the world’s leading cause of death.
 Its main objective is to educate people that by controlling risk factors such
as unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, tobacco.

 September 30: World Translation Day.

 The World Translation Day is marked by the United Nations to pay tribute to
the language professionals.

 The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare organized first National

Nutrition Survey.
 The ministry took help from UNICEF to complete the survey. The survey
was conducted between 2016 and 2018. In India, for the first time the
ministry measured malnutrition that included micro nutrient deficiencies.
 Recently India marked the National Nutrition Week between September
1 and September 7, 2019 and marked September as Poshan month.
 The Global Nutrition Report 2018, prepared by WHO, states that India is
home to 46.6 million stunted children out of 150.8 million stunted children
all over the world.

4
 Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways (MORTH)
 Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the Delhi-Meerut Package-3 connecting Dasna in
Ghaziabad to Hapur. It is the most awaited third package of Delhi Meerut
expressway.

 UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization) and Doordarshan, country’s public service broadcaster has join
hands to telecast TV bilingual programme ‘Mahatma Lives‘ or ‘Bapu Zinda Hain’ on
1-2 October 2019, to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the
Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.
 The objective of programme is to celebrate his ideas and teachings and how it has
shaped the lives of people in India as well as around the world.

 BRAHMOS Supersonic Cruise Missile, with major indigenous systems, was

successfully test fired from Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur in Odisha.
 The missile was test-fired for its full strike range of 290-km during the launch
jointly conducted by Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO)
and BrahMos Aerospace.

 An assam school encourages students to bring plastic waste for recycling. They turn it
to bricks for roads and benches.

 Rapidly-moving Typhoon ‘Mitag’ is bearing down on northern Taiwan, where it is

expected to bring high winds and heavy rain. With the worst of the weather expected to
arrive in the island country, the warnings have been issued for parts of island’s east and
north, including the capital, Taipei.
 The Taiwan’s weather bureau has categorized Typhoon Mitag been as at the second-
strongest typhoon level.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi has presided over the valedictory function of Arogya

5
 Manthan in New Delhi on 1 October 2019. At the event PM Modi has launched a new
mobile application of Ayushman Bharat and ‘Ayushman Bharat Start-Up Grand
Challenge’.
 It is a two-day national workshop which is being organised by National Health
Authority (NHA) to mark the first year anniversary of Ayushman Bharat or PM-
JAY (Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana). The PM-JAY was launched on 23rd
September 2018.

 The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in association with IIT
Bombay, is organizing the Global Student Solar Assembly on 2 October 2019 to
commemorate 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi as well as to promote the
Gandhian idea of sustainable living.

 The 94th Raising Day of the Military Nursing Service (MNS) is being celebrated on 1
October 2019.
 On the occasion, nursing officers would re-dedicate themselves to render high
quality, selfless nursing care to their patients by reading the Florence Nightingale
Pledge, a modified version of the Hippocratic Oath.

 India has doubled the number of LED street lights from 49 lakh in March 2018 to 1
crore as on 1 October 2019.These lights have been installed under Street Light
National Programme (SLNP) and are being implemented by state-owned Energy
Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL).
 EESL adopted Pay-As-You-Save (PAYS) model, where it makes the entire upfront
investment in installation of LED street lights and no additional budget allocation
from the municipalities is required.

 Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog’s Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) and
UNICEF India, including Generation Unlimited, launched ‘The Gandhian Challenge’

6
 for school children.
 This innovation challenge provides a platform for every child across India to ideate
innovative solutions for a sustainable India of their dreams, using Gandhi’s
principles.
 The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has launched a computer-generated
Document Identification Number (DIN) to ensure greater transparency and
accountability in tax administration.
 Thus from now onwards, every CBDT communication will have to have a
documentation identification number. It has been created as per the direction of
Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of Finance.

 The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of

Economist Surjit S Bhalla as Executive Director for India on board of International
Monetary Fund (IMF).

 October 1: International Day of Older Persons Observed.

 President Ram Nath Kovind will be conferring ‘Vayoshreshtha Samman- 2019’
on Eminent Senior Citizens & Institutions.
Objective: The Awards are intended-
 To show case Government’s concern for senior
citizens and its commitment towards them with the aim of strengthening their legitimate place in
society.
 To provide an opportunity to younger generation to understand contribution of
elderly in building of society and nation.
 The 11th DefExpo is scheduled to be held for the first time in Lucknow between 5th and
8th February 2020.
 It is an exhibition where the Indian Defense industry showcase its capabilities and
promotes its export potential. It is a biennial exhibition. The last DefExpo was held in
Chennai in 2018.
Theme: India: The Emerging Defense Manufacturing Hub.

7
  The IMD (Indian Meteorological Department) said that India received 10% above
average monsoon rains in 2019. It is the highest in 25 years. Climatologists believe that
climate change is the main reason for the increased floods.

 Fit India Plog Run.

 Plogging is picking up plastic and waste while jogging. The Fit India Plog run is a
part of the Fit India Movement launched by Prime Minister Modi on August 29,
2019. The Fit India Plog Run will catalyze PM Modi’s “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan”
and “Fit India movement” The run was organized at several parts of India to
celebrate 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhiji. It was flagged off by the
sports minister Kirren Rijju.
 PM Modi declares country open defecation free on the banks of the Sabarmati on
the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi’s dream
of “Clean Bharath” fulfilled, he added.
 The Tamil Nadu Accident and Emergency Care Initiative (TAEI) has developed a
map that gives the location of the nearest government hospitals equipped to treat patients with
Cardiac arrests and strokes.

 RBI today released its 4th bi – monthly policy review.

 The Reserve Bank of India cut repo rate by 25 base points to 5.15%. It is the
lowest since 2010. This is the fifth consecutive rate cut of the Shaktikanta Das led
panel.
 The RBI also cut GDP growth estimates to 6.1% from earlier 6.9% All the
members of the MPC – Monetary Policy Committee unanimously voted to reduce
the repo rate. Last month Government cut the corporate tax rate from 30% to 22%
to revive the slow growth rate.
 Repo rate is the rate at which the central bank lends money to the commercial banks. With RBI
cutting repo rate, inflation would increase in the future. The current inflation of India is 3.21%.
This is below the RBI target of 4%.
 After North Korea tested a ballistic missile from the coast of Wonsan, US tested an

8
 unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile. The missile was launched from
the California base.
 Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) have launched an
Automated Real Time Performance Smart-board for effective monitoring and measurement of
key programmes
of government. The key programmes include Digital India, Aadhaar, Digital Payments among others.
Digital Charkha’ - the Digital Charkha is an amalgamation of the traditional design with a digital
spin. The wheel of the Charkha is made up of interlinked digital grids in place of fine threads
thus portraying that the core of Digital India is embedded in Gandhian philosophy of equality (PIB)
 The annual military exercise called KAZIND 2019 between India and Kazakhstan army
commenced at Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand on 3 October 2019.
 Union Ministers Piyush Goyal, Harsh Vardhan and Harsimrat Kaur Badal flagged off ‘Sarbat Da
Bhala Express’ train at New Delhi railway station.
 The Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the luxurious Vande Bharat Express -that will run
between Delhi and Katra station in Jammu and Kashmir
 The Delhi Cabinet on 3rd October, 2019, approved the bill to set up India’s first Sports

University.
It will offer graduation, post-graduation and doctorate degrees in hockey, football and cricket.
The announcement was made by the CM Kejriwal. He said the university is to come up in 90 acres of
land.
 US widens trade war with European states; Indian Sensex dips 200 points
 Union Power Minister (Independent charge) Raj Kumar Singh and Coal, Mines and Parliamentary
 Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi have jointly launched PRAKASH– Power Rail Koyla Availability
through Supply Harmony Portal in New Delhi.Objective of Portal: To bring better
coordination (monitering)for coal supplies among all stakeholders.
 The portal is developed by NTPC (Electric power distribution company). It sources data from
different stakeholders such as CEA (Central Electricity Authority)
 The Indian Oil had taken several initiatives to support Government drive to eliminate single use
plastic.
The Corporation announced about the conversion of plastic to bitumen on 150th birth anniversary
of Mahatma Gandhi. The initiatives are part of Clean India Campaign.
9
  The company is set to supply bitumen commercially for road construction. The project was
first launched in Faridabad where a bituminous road was laid by the corporation. The performance
of these bituminous roads will be monitored by Indian Oil R&D.
 Bitumen is also called Asphalt. It is highly viscous and road construction is its primary use.
It is also used to seal flat roofs and in producing water proof products.
 Union Ministry of Tourism launches Audio Guide facility App called ‘Audio Odigos’ for 12 sites
of India (including Iconic Sites). The launch was made during the ongoing celebrations of
nationwide ‘Paryatan Parv 2019’. This year is the 3rd edition of Paryatan Parv.
 The Audio Odigos app contains an inbuilt map of site for a smooth navigation during tour of the
site.
The Audio guide odigo offers Government of India verified content, with visuals & voice over
support. Listeners will be offered various versions of history such as Podcasts, Synopsis and
Detailed History. The audio can be chosen in their preferred language & version of history.
 The National Health Authority (NHA) has joined hands with international giant Google to
collaborate as well as strengthen the implementation of government’s flagship health insurance
scheme, Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY).
 The collaboration will bolster PM-JAY’s objective of reaching the poor and vulnerable,
thereby reducing their high out-of-pocket health expenditure, and improving access to
quality healthcare.

 Union Minister of Health Harsh Vardhan launched the ‘Trans Fat Free’ logo of FSSAI (Food Safety
and Standards Authority of India) at 8th International Chefs’ Conference held in New Delhi.
 Food Facilities or Establishments that use trans-fat free fats/oil as well as do not have industrial trans-fat
over 0.2g per 100g of food, in compliance with Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and
Claims) Regulations, 2018 are eligible to display the logo. However, the use of the logo by restaurants
and food manufacturers is voluntary.
 Initiative by India: As part of ‘Eat Right India’ led by Food Safety and Standards Authority of
India (FSSAI), India targets to reduce industrially produced trans fatty acids on food supply to less than
2% by 2022. The country’s objective of trans fat elimination by 2022 in a phased manner is a year ahead
of global target set by WHO.

10
  October 5: World Teachers Day by UNESCO. It is on this day the Recommendation concerning the
Status of Teachers was adopted in 1966. In 1997
Theme: Young Teachers: The Future of the Profession.
 The Indian army will begin its first ever mountain combat on October 7. The exercise (Him Vijay) is to test
the mobility, coordination and communication of the troops in difficult terrain. The exercise is to
be conducted in two phases.
 The Wildlife Week is celebrated all over the country every year between 2nd October and 8th
October.
The aim is to preserve animal life in India. Throughout the week events and campaigns are organized to
teach people about animal life and encourage them save large number of animals by not killing them for
food and other purposes.
 Theme: Life Below Water: For people and plane
 The 39th World Congress of Poets was inaugurated at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology.
 Theme: Compassion through Poetry.
 On 6th October, 2019, Ministry of Science and Technology launched new set of
crackers called
Eco – friendly crackers. These crackers help to reduce particulate emissions by 30% by producing same
level
of light and sound.
 The Ministry has signed contracts with around 230 firework manufacturers to use the
formulations developed by CSIR (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research ). The
crackers are expected to reach markets for this Diwali.

 Britain’s Peter Ratcliffe and William Kaelin and Gregg Semenza of US shared the 2019 Nobel
Medicine Prize for their work on how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability. The team revealed
the understanding of how oxygen levels affect cellular metabolism.
 Under the new Automatic Information Exchange pact, India received its first tranche of Swiss
Bank Account details. India hence is legally one among 75 countries with which the
Switzerland Federal Tax Administration (SFTA) has exchanged information.

11
 The World Cotton Day (WCD) is being organized by the WTO in collaboration with UN, FAO
(Food and Agriculture Organization), UNCTD (United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development), International Trade Center and International Cotton Advisory Committee.
The World Cotton Day is being observed for the first time.
 According to RBI Consumer Confidence Survey, the consumer confidence dipped to a six-year low.
The federal bank says that this is mainly due to decline in employment, income and
discretionary spending.
 World Space Week: 4-10 October. World Space Week is the largest space event on the Earth.
More than 80 countries are participating commemorating the week this year
Theme: The Moon: Gateway to the stars
The theme celebrates the 50th anniversary of human kind’s first step on moon on 20 July, 1969.
 Sputnik was the first human made satellite that was launched into the space in 1957.
It was launched by Soviet Union. The satellite orbited elliptically in the lower orbits of the earth.

 On October 7, 2019, the eDant Seva was launched by the Ministry of Health and
Family welfare. It is an initiative under the National Oral Health Program. The initiative
aims to sensitize the importance of maintaining oral health. It provides information
about nearest oral health service facility. It also provides oral health information
collected from authentic scientific sources.
 The 2019 Nobel prize for Physics was awarded to Swiss Scientists Michel Mayor and
Didier Queloz and Canadian – American physicist James Peebles. One half of the
prize was won by the American for his contribution towards “Theoretical discoveries
in physical cosmology”. The other half was shared between the Swiss scientists for
their work on “Discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a star similar to sun”.
 The National E – assessment scheme was launched to make income tax assessment
faster, smoother and hassle – free. The system focuses on eliminating the middle men
between the tax payer and the officer. It aims at communicating directly to the tax
payer when an issue arises in the process of tax assessment.
 The World Habitat Day is organized by the United Nations. The organization has
designated the first Monday of every October to commemorate the day.

12
  Theme: Frontier Technologies as an innovative tool to
transform waste to wealth.
 On 8th October 2019, 20 new moons of Saturn were discovered. With this Saturn has a total
of 82 moons today. It is the highest of any planet in solar system. Till date Jupiter had the
highest number of moons. It has 79 moons.
 The moons of Saturn discovered are relatively smaller moons. The
discovery was made at the Subaru telescope set up atop Hawaii’s
Mauna Kea volcano.

 India ranked 68th in the annual Global Competitive Index. It is the worst performing
among the BRICS nations along with Brazil that is ranked at 71. The Global Competitive
Index is compiled by World Economic Forum. The Forum has mapped 141 countries
using 103 indicators.
 The centre for Aerospace Research (CASR) of Anna University will soon help the
northeastern states in construction of road in difficulty terrain by providing accurate
information to them by using special technology.
 Latest data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis cell of the Ministry of Petroleum
shows that indigenous crude oil and condensate Production during Aug 2019 was lower
by 5.4% than that of Aug 2018.
 The Government of India is planning to set up a National Coordination Center (NCC)
that will function as a data bank of Maoists. It will act as a synergy point for anti –
Maoist operations and intelligence gathering.
 The most formidable strong hold of Maoism is southern areas of Chattisgarh,
Andhra – Odisha border, parts of Jharkhand. In particular the three districts Bijapur,
Sukma and Dantewada have strong hold of Maoists.

 October 11: International Day of Girl Child by the United Nations. The day is important
as it raises awareness of issues faced by girls internationally.
 Theme: Girl force – Unscripted and unstoppable
 India has a target of 175 GW of clean energy by 2022. In order to achieve the target, India

13
plans to set up solar and wind projects on fallow lands along the international border with
Pakistan. Currently India is generating 82,580 MW of solar power which is 23% of its total
power production.
 Smart Fencing
 Solar Powered BSF posts – The border areas were fitted with solar power
panels to help the jawans recharge their communication and safety gears.
Earlier soldiers guarding the border had to travel 4 to 5 kms to charge their
gadgets.
 On October 9, 2019, the United Nations called its member states to pay their outstanding
dues. As the organization is facing severe financial crisis, there may not be enough funds
to pay staff salaries next month. According to the United Nations, out of 193 members,
129 had paid their regular budget. The regular budget for the UN for a year is 5.4 billion
USD. This is separate from the peace keeping budget of 6.3 billion USD. India paid its
regular contributions of 230 million USD on January 30, 2019 and India was one of the
few countries to pay on time.
 United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Children’s agency of the United
Nations has now become the first UN organization to hold and make transactions in
cryptocurrency. UNICEF now joins a number of other aid agencies that accept donations
in cryptocurrencies, such as American Red Cross.
 On October 10, 2019, at the Conference of Central Council of Health and Family
Welfare, Union Minister Harsha Vardhan released National Diabetes and Diabetic
Retinopathy survey, 2019. The survey was conducted between 2015 and 2019. Diabetes
and Diabetic retinopathy have been emerging as significant non – communicable diseases
that lead to ocular morbidity. The survey was conducted by Rajendra Prasad Center for
Ophthalmic sciences and AIIMS, New Delhi
 In order to tackle malnutrition, GoI is planning to develop an atlas to map crops and food
grains grown all over the country. The initiative was launched by the Union Minister of
Women and Child Development Smriti Irani during the fifth National Council on India’s
Nutrition Challenges
 The initiative will aid Poshan Abhiyan that is focusing on ensuring
nutrition of women, children and pregnant mothers. The atlas is to be

14
 developed along with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Deenadayal
Research Institute.
 As the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia embarks on a broad programme of economic and social
reforms, the country announced that it will allow women in kingdom to serve in armed
forces. This move is the latest in a series of measures aimed by country towards women
empowerment and increasing the rights of women in kingdom, even as rights groups
accuse Saudi Arabia of cracking down on women activists.
 Researchers from Kerala have discovered new species of eel-loach named ‘Pangio
bhujia’ in Kozhikode district of state. It is unique species of miniature well-dwelling
subterranean fish.
 The ‘India Sports Summit- Fitness: $10 Billion Opportunity’ was held on 10 October
2019 in New Delhi. It was organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), in
partnership with Union Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (MYAS), Sportscom, and
Sportskeeda
 A two – day state power ministers conference starting on October 11, 2019, is to be held
in the banks of Narmada river at Kevadia, Gujarat. The conference will be inaugurated
by Union Minister of State for Power RK Singh.
 Jyoti Gram yojana It was an initiative of the Gujarat Government
to ensure 24 – hour power supply to rural areas to farmers in
scattered farm houses.
 9-15 October: National Postal Week 2019 celebrated
 SARAS Aajeevika Mela is an initiative under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana –
National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY – NRLM). The objective of the initiative is to
bring the rural women SHGs – Self Help Groups under one platform. This is to help them
show – case their skills, sell their products and build linkages with buyers. Through the
initiative the women will get exposure to understand the demand of urban customers.

Highlights of the Mela

 Kalamkari sarees of Andhra Pradesh – Kalamkari is the ancient style of

15
 painting done on cotton or silk fabric. They are hand painted. Only natural
dyes are used in the process. It involves 23 steps.
 Apart from these, there are also Kosa sarees from Chattisgarh, IIkal saress
from Karnataka,Tasar silk from Jharkhand, etc.
 Madhubani painting from Bihar – It is an art that has eye – catching
geometrical patterns. It includes ritual content like Kali Puja, surya shasti,
upanayana, holi and durga pooja.
 It also includes Sikki crafts and lac bangles from Bihar, terracotta from
Haryana, Dokra craft, Sabai grass products
 Natural food Products
 The 100th Nobel Prize for peace has been awarded to the Ethiopian Prime Minister
Abhiy Ahmed Ali for his efforts towards peace and international cooperation. The prize
was awarded in particular to honor his initiatives to resolve border conflict with Eritrea.
 October 12: World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is an awareness – raising campaign
organized by CMS (Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of wild
animals) and AEWA (Agreement on the Conservation of African – Eurasian Migratory
water birds) that highlights the conservation of migratory birds, threats faced by them,
their ecological importance the need for international cooperation to conserve them.
 Theme: Protect birds – Be the solution to plastic pollution.
 The annual Ganges river Dolphin census is conducted by the World Wide Fund in
collaboration with Uttar Pradesh Forest Department. The census is undertaken along the
250 km stretch of Upper Ganga between the Hastinapur Wild life sanctuary and Narora
Ramsar site
 The Ganges River Dolphins are placed under “Endangered Category” in the
IUCN Red List.
 The Indian Space flight mission Gaganyaan will orbit the Earth for seven days and is
scheduled in December 2021. Four Indian Air Force Pilots are to participate in the
mission. The training for the pilots to enter space has commenced in Russia.
 The state government of West Bengal is setting up Kanyashree University in Nadia
district and Kanyashree colleges across the state so as to empower girls. The Kanyashree
university would be only for women.

16
 1. Objective:
 To ensure that girls study in schools and delay their marriages until they
attain 18 years of age.
 To empower girls from school to university level so that they can become
independent women.
 To improve the status and well-being of girls, particularly those from
socio- economically disadvantaged families through conditional cash
transfers.
 Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu was given ‘The Order of the Green Crescent’, the
highest Civilian Honour of Comoros, in Moroni. He was conferred the honour by Azali
Assoumani, President of the Union of Comoros. He is the first to receive the honour from
India.
 Every 10 years the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India operating under
the Ministry of Home Affairs carry out the massive exercise to count different aspects of
India’s billion plus population. At the recently held conference of state coordinators and
directors of Census operations it was decided that the 2021 census will be conducted
through mobile phone application.
 The mHariyali mobile application was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban
Affairs to encourage public engagement in planting trees and Green drives. The
application provides automatic geo – tagging of plants. It will hence enable the nodal
officers to periodically monitor the plantation.
 Hariyali Mahotsav : The Mahotsav is a mass plantation drive that was
conducted in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. Under the program around 500
plants were planted by 150 people.
 Navies of India and Bangladesh will participate for the first time in a IN-BN Bilateral
Exercise at Visakhapatnam from 12 to 16 October 2019.
 Objective: To develop mutual communication and sharing best practices
between the two navies.
 NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has launched a satellite
called ICON or Ionospheric Connection Explorer to explore the mysterious, dynamic
region where air meets space. The ICON satellite rocketed into orbit following a two-year

17
 delay and was dropped from a plane flying over the Atlantic off the Florida coast.
 Dubai will be hosting the 2019 First Global DXB Challenge, a large gathering for
creative young minds in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence. It will be held for
the first time in the region from 24 to 27 October 2019 at the Festival Arena in Dubai,
UAE
 Objective: First Global Challenge seeks-
 To encourage and empower youth with a passion for science, technology,
mathematics, engineering, and develop their skills and equip them with
tools necessary to contribute to shaping future.
 To address the world’s most critical environmental issues like
sustainability and pollution, wastage of energy and water through a global
robotics competition.
 Organised by: The Dubai Future Foundation
 The Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) is a global research program to outreach carbons
role on Earth. It is a community of scientists including physicists, biologists, geo –
scientists and chemists working across several traditional disciplinary lines.
1. DCO Explorations
 The DCO explores
 High pressure and Extreme temperature organic synthesis
 Complex interactions between organic molecules and minerals
 Conducts field observations of deep microbial eco systems
 Constructs theoretical models of lower crust and upper mantle
carbon sources
 Conducts observations of anomalies in petroleum geochemistry
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting on ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’
programme. Under the initiative, the government plans to hold people-to-people
exchange between states to enhance knowledge about each other’s culture.
 Objective: The unique Mission seeks to develop a holistic national
perspective on important issues as well as encourage celebration of
India’s vibrant regional cultures.
 October 13: International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction.

18
  The International Day of Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR) was begun
in 1989 by the United Nations General Assembly. The purpose of the day
is to promote global culture towards risk awareness and disaster reduction.
It celebrates how people and communities around the world reduce their
exposure to disasters. Also, the day raises awareness towards the
importance of reining in the risks that are faced by the global citizens.
 Theme: Reduce disaster damage to critical infrastructure and
disruption of basic services
 The 25th Technology Summit is a bilateral platform that provides opportunities to
industries, government agencies and institutes from India and other countries to interact
with each other.
 Theme: Young entrepreneurship

 Cabinet approves relaxation of Aadhaar seeding of data of the beneficiaries under

Pradhan Mantri KisanSamman Nidhi (PM-Kisan)

 A joint military training exercise “Vajra Prahar” is conducted in Seattle between

October 13, 2019 and October 28, 2019. The exercise is conducted alternately in India
and US. The Special Forces and the Southern Command of Indian Armed Forces will
participate in the exercise

 The World Youth Chess Championship concluded in Mumbai, Maharashtra on 12

October 2019. India ended the World Youth Chess Championship by bagging 7 medals
including 1 gold and 3 silver and 3 bronze medals.

 India has joined the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) G20 Global Smart Cities
Alliance on Technology Governance, a league of 15 of world’s leading city networks and
technology governance organisations that will work towards advancing responsible and
ethical use of smart city technologies. India’s joining the league is a critical first step
towards accelerating global best practices, fostering greater openness and public trust as
well as mitigating risks regarding the collection of data in public spaces.

19
 The flagship and premier festival of Ministry of Culture, the Rashtriya Sanskrit Mahotsav
is to be conducted in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh on 14th October, 2019. It is a part of the
Ek Bharat Shreshta Bharat initiative that is being organized between 14th October, 2019
and 21st October 2019.

 The Skill India Rozgar Mela is conducted by the National Skill Development Corporation
(NSDC) under Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. It was recently
organized on 12th and 13th October, 2019. 100+ corporate participated in the event and
2000 youths were shortlisted.

 India and Japan will be holding a two-week-long joint military exercise called Dharma
Guardian-2019 in Mizoram from 19 October to 2 November 2019. This Joint Military
Exercise will be conducted at Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School in
Vairengte, Mizoram.
 Objective:
 To increase interoperability between forces of two nations and
enhance coordination in dealing with various security challenges
including counter-terrorism
 To cover platoon-level joint training on counter-terrorism
operations in jungle and urban scenario
 The World Bank recently released its South Asia Economic Focus, 2019. The report says
that Bangladesh and Nepal are growing faster than India. However, it assured that India is
still a fast-growing economy. India is relatively hit hard by the recent global economic
slowdown.
 The report is titled “Exports Wanted” highlighting the export potential of
the South Asian region being not used to the fullest.
 Vajra Prahar: India-US Joint Military Exercise, 2019. A joint military training exercise
“Vajra Prahar” is conducted in Seattle between October 13, 2019 and October 28, 2019.
 India has joined the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance
on Technology Governance, a league of 15 of world’s leading city networks and

20
 technology governance organisations that will work towards advancing responsible and
ethical use of smart city technologies.
 On 12 October, 2019, the GoI signed a 190 million USD loan with the Asian
Development Bank (ADB) to upgrade road transport in the state of Rajasthan.
 Torrential rain and tornado-like winds lashed large parts of Japan, as the country was hit
by Typhoon Hagibis. The typhoon is being touted as the strongest storm the country
faced in past 60 years since Kanogawa Typhoon (1958).
 The flagship and premier festival of Ministry of Culture, the Rashtriya Sanskriti
Mahotsav is to be conducted in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh on 14th October, 2019. It is a
part of the Ek Bharat Shreshta Bharat initiative that is being organized between 14th
October, 2019 and 21st October 2019.
 In order to further the Fit India Movement, Union Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports
(MYAS) has decided to allow national and state sports federations, leagues and clubs to
organise sports events in all sporting facilities owned by the government, without paying
any fee.
 The Skill India Rozgar Mela is conducted by the National Skill Development Corporation
(NSDC) under Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. It was recently
organized on 12th and 13th October, 2019. 100+ corporate participated in the event and
2000 youths were shortlisted.
 The Mela is one of the largest job fairs organized by the NSDC. The job
fair also included Kaushal Mela. Under Kaushal Mela, counselling is
provided for candidates and parents as well. It helps them understand the
various opportunities that are available in the skill development
ecosystem.
 The National Blindness and Visual Impairment Survey was released by the Union Health
Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan at the 13th Conference of Central Council of Health and
Family Welfare.
 The survey was conducted by the AIIMS, Delhi and Union Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare. The report was released in October 10, 2019.
The survey was conducted between 2015 and 2019.
 India is the first country to launch National Program for Control of

21
 Blindness in 1976. The aim of the program is currently to reduce the
blindness prevalence to 0.3% by 2020.
 As per the report released by World Bank on ‘South Asia Economic Focus, Making
(De)Centralization Work’, Bangladesh has become the second-fastest growing economy
in South Asia after Bhutan. According to the World Bank, Bangladesh and Nepal are
estimated to grow faster than India in 2019.
 More than 1,500 students from 32 different colleges and universities participated in the
‘Sangam Youth Festival’ held at Bhadarwah, Jammu and Kashmir. The festival is being
organised from 11 October to 15 October 2019.
 The members of IEC, ITU and ISO celebrated the World Standards Day on October 14.
The day is celebrated to pay tribute to the experts all over the world who develop
voluntary technical agreements that are published as International Standards
 Theme: Video Standards create a global stage
 The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund-UNICEF provides emergency and
healthcare to children and mothers in countries that were devastated by world war II. The
organization releases “The State of the World’s Children Report” annually.
 The second phase of an Indo-Dutch project called Local Treatment of Urban Sewage
Streams for Healthy Reuse, or LOTUS-HR was launched at Barapullah drain in New
Delhi by Minister of Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan and the Dutch Royal
couple, Netherlands King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima.
 Objective: To demonstrate a holistic waste-water management approach
that will produce clean water which can further be reused for various
purposes.
 Indian Born Economist Abhijit Banerjee, along with his wife/research partner Esther
Duflo bagged Noble. Both are professors of US based Massachusetts Institute of
Technology for, “Experimental approach to poverty alleviation”
 Their Book – “Poor economics – Rethinking poverty and the ways to end
it”
 The book won The financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of
the Year Award – 2011.

22
 Noble Prize with Indian Connection :
 Rabindranath Tagore was the first Indian to win Noble Prize for Literature
in 1913
 Sir CV Raman won Noble Prize for Physics in 1930
 Har Gobind Kharana won Noble Prize for Medicine in 1968
 Mother Teresa won Noble Prize for Peace in 1979
 Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar won Noble Prize for Physics in 1983
 Amartya Sen won Noble Prize for Economics in 1998
 Venhatraman Ramakrishnan won Noble Prize for Chemistry in 2009
 Kailash Satyarthi won Noble Prize for Peace in 2014

 The Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad recently announced that the 5G
spectrum auction will be conducted by the year end or early next year. Under 5G
spectrum the GoI plans to auction around 8,293 MHz of air waves. The total base prize of
the wavelengths is set as Rs 5.86 lakh crore rupees.
 Spectrum Auction is a process where a government uses an auction system to sell
the rights to transmit electromagnetic signals overs specific bands. The 5G
spectrum will deliver faster and better broad band services as compared to 4G. It
can deliver up to 20 Gbps (Giga Bytes per second). In addition, 5G spectrum will
also deliver lower latency and higher data rates even when users are moving
around
 Spectrum Auction is a process where a government uses an auction system to sell
the rights to transmit electromagnetic signals over specific bands. The 5G
spectrum will deliver faster and better broad band services as compared to 4G. It
can deliver up to 20 Gbps (Giga Bytes per second). In addition, 5G spectrum will
also deliver lower latency and higher data rates even when users are moving
around
 Esther Duflo has become the second woman to win prize after Elinor Ostrom (2009) of
US. She is also the youngest-ever to win prize.
 India Mobile Congress is the largest mobile technology event in South Asia. It is
organized by Department of Telecommunications along with Cellular Operation

23
 Association of India (COAI). This year the event is being conducted between October
14, 2019 and October 16, 2019.
1. It acts as a common platform to discuss and display the latest technology in the
world. Apart from being the largest digital technology event, it is also the largest
networking event in India.
 The third India Energy Forum by CERAWeek was held in New Delhi from 13-15
October 2019. At the forum the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel
Dharmendra Pradhan called for the inclusion of petroleum products under GST regime
and urged Union finance minister to at least begin by including natural gas and ATF
(aviation turbine fuel) in GST.
1. CERA - Cambridge Energy Research Associates
2. India is expected to get $58 billion investment in the exploration and production
sector by 2023 and an estimated investment of $60 billion is underway for
augmenting gas infrastructure.
 Four sites from India have been chosen for the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for
Cultural Heritage Conservation. The awards were announced in Penang, Malaysia on 14
October 2019. This year marks the 20 years since the institution of awards.
1. List of Awards Category- Award of Distinction: Vikram Sarabhai Library,
Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad. It is restored by architect
Brinda Somaya Award of Merit: Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue (Mumbai), a
Jewish Synagogue restored by Abha Narain Lambah and Our Lady of Glory
Church (Mumbai) restored by David Cardoz and and Ainsley Lewis Honourable
Mention: Flora Fountain (Mumbai). It is restored by conservation architect Vikas
Dilwari and his team. Award of Excellence: historic Tai Kwun – Centre for
Heritage and Arts, Hong Kong.
 Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways 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. MoS Road Transport and Highways, Gen.
(Retd.) V.K Singh and ministers and senior officials from several states were also present
on the occasion.

24
 Air India, the flag carrier airline of India has become the first airline in the world to use a
Taxibot on an A-320 aircraft with passengers on board.
1. It is the first such usage on any Airbus aircraft worldwide and is a giant step
forward towards a cleaner environment. It is expected to bring down the
consumption of fuel by 85% and reduce engine wear and tear as the ignition will
be turned on only when the aircraft reaches runway. Taxibots will also help in
decongesting boarding gates and the apron area by providing efficient pushbacks.
 The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Indian Veterinary Research
Institute (IVRI) have developed two diagnostic kits under Make in India initiative. The
kits are called Blue tongue sandwich ELISA (sELISA) and Japanese Encephalitis lgM
ELISA.
 The kit helps to assess the active infection of the Japanese-Encephalitis
virus in the swine population
 These kits are highly inexpensive as compared to the commercial kits that
are available in the market at price of Rs. 52,000/-. These kits cost
Rs.5,000/- only.
 The Blue tongue virus is an insect-transmitted viral disease that is
common among domestic animals. It is widespread among sheep, cattle,
goats, camels and buffaloes.

25
26