Current Affairs Update – 25th-26th October, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 25th and 26th October, 2015. These are Important for the upcoming IBPS Clerk Exam.

• Sin Tax was in news in fourth week of October 2015. It was
  in news as it has been included under the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST)
  law that will be effective from 1 April 2016. GST is being seen as one of the
  biggest tax reforms in the country.
• Sin tax is an excise tax levied on products and services
  like alcohol, tobacco and gambling considered bad for health or society. These
  additional taxes are also seen as efforts to discourage people from use of such
  products or services.
• This kind of tax is often used by government to attract
  higher their tax revenues as people generally refrain from opposition to such
  levies as they are indirect in nature and affect only their end users.

• The Ministry of Railways on 23 October 2015 announced that
  India’s first AC double-decker Shatabdi train will soon run between Mumbai and
  Goa route.
• As per the announcement, the proposed train between Mumbai
  and Goa will cater to growing demand by tourists that come to Goa from all over
  the globe.
• The first double-decker air conditioned train between Howrah
  and Dhanbad was flagged off in October 2011. Since then, the service is
  operational between many cities, including Ahmedabad-Mumbai, Chennai–Bangalore,
  Delhi-Jaipur and Delhi-Lucknow.
• Shatabdi Express, which is considered prestigious by the
  Indian Railways, runs over short to medium distances.

• Haryana Government on 25 October 2015 announced that it
  planned to commission 215 additional sub-stations of various capacities to
  reduce transmission and distribution (T & D) losses.
• These new facilities will be deployed by 2018 and are in
  addition to some of the recent initiatives taken by state and Union Governments
  to improve power supply in the state. The state government’s inititatives are
• Initiative to augment 418 existing sub-stations and putting
  in place 3171 kilometre transmission and distribution lines by 2018.
• Mhara Gaon – Jagmag Gaon scheme was launched in 1 July 2015,
  to provide 15 hour uninterrupted power supply from the existing 12 hours in
  rural areas.
• Gave in-principle approval to develop a Smart Power Grid in
  Gurgaon at estimated cost of 7000 crore rupees with the help of Union
  Government.

• Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu on 25 October 2015 flagged
  off Vigithon marathon in Mumbai to sensitise people for a fight against
  corruption at the grass-root level. Vigithon was a run for corruption free
  India and was organised by public sector lender Union Bank of India.
• Several school children, common people, customers and
  employees of the bank participated in Vigithon. It brought in all the
  stakeholders together on a common platform to create sensitisation against
  corruption.
• Vigithon was aimed at educating the people about several
  instances of corruption and empowering them with the means to fight the
  problem. The run will be organised at other metro centres across the country as
  well.
• The run was organised as a precursor to the Vigilance
  Awareness Week which is going to be observed from 26 October 2015 till 31
  October 2015. Vigilance awareness week is observed every year since 2000 as per
  the guidelines of the Central Vigilance Commission.

• Indian Railways has developed a vandal-proof warning system
  for unmanned level crossings which is working satisfactorily for the last three
  months on Coimbatore-Metupallayam section.
• The specifications of the system have been finalised by the
  Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), the research wing of Indian
  Railways.
• The system has been developed with a Mumbai-based vendor and
  RDSO will call for an expression of interest from other vendors for the production
  of more such systems.

• The system is equipped with two blinkers and one siren to
  alert people when a train is within one km radius of the level crossing.
• Fitted with solar panel, it has a theft protection system.

• Chief Minister of Haryana on 24 October 2015 announced to
  open a Sanskrit University for Schedule Castes (SCs) at Mundri village, which
  will be named after Maharishi Valmiki.
• The announcement was made during an address at Bhagwan
  Valmiki Prakat Diwas Samaroh, which was celebrated as Samrasta Diwas in the
  state.
• Besides, the state government also decided to provide the
  children of Scheduled Caste families a relaxation of 10 percent marks in the
  eligibility criteria for getting scholarship under Dr Ambedkar Medhavi Chhattar
  Yojna.
• It was also announced that Government Residential Senior
  Secondary Schools will be opened at each district headquarters in the state to
  impart quality education to the students.
• In addition, 5 crore rupees each will be granted to three
  Assembly segments of the district, Kaithal, Kalayat and Guhla, for various
  development works announced by the government.

• Government of Andhra Pradesh on 22 October 2015 signed a MoC
  for development of economic infrastructure and a MoU to develop Amaravati with
  the Government of Japan. They were signed on the sidelines of foundation stone
  laying ceremony of Amaravati, the new capital of Andhra Pradesh.

• It was signed by the state chief minister N Chandrababu
  Naidu and Japanese State Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Yosuke
  Takagi.
• Its primary objective is to accelerate industrial
  development in the state through effective policy coordination. To achieve
  this, Andhra Pradesh Investment Task Force will be established in Japan.
• Its focus is on development of industry, ports and super
  critical power stations and transfer of agriculture technology.

• It was signed between Andhra Pradesh Finance department and
  Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).
• Its focus is on inviting foreign investments and developing
  the state’s new capital city and the surrounding region.

• India’s elite disaster mitigation combat force, National
  Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in October 2015 tied up with about 30 Public
  Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in order to develop mutual understanding and enhance
  capabilities to jointly tackle man-made or natural emergencies.
• In regard to the same, a coordination meet was held on 23
  October 2015 between the NDRF and prominent PSUs like Oil and Natural Gas
  Corporation (ONGC), Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), Air India and those
  in the mining and shipping and heavy industries sector.
• This first of its kind initiative will ensure that in case
  of any emergency or disaster the two sides can come together and act as one
  strong unit and also ensure that in case of small or mid-level exigencies these
  units can function as first responders till the NDRF arrives on the scene.

• South Africa on 25 October 2015 won the five-match One Day
  International (ODI) series against India 3-2. This was South Africa’s first
  ever bilateral ODI series win on Indian soil.
• In the fifth and final match played at Wankhede stadium in
  Mumbai, South Africa defeated India by 214 runs, which was India’s second
  biggest ODI loss in terms of runs. South Africa after winning the toss chose to
  bat first and posted 438 runs at a loss of four wickets; this was third highest
  score in the history of ODIs.
• In reply, Indian team was bundled out for 224 in the 36th
  over, with Ajinkya Rahane top scoring with 87.

• South Africa registered their first ever bilateral ODI
  series win on Indian soil.
• The defeat was also the second biggest loss for India in
  ODIs in terms of runs.
• The fifth match saw three centuries by Faf Du Plessis (133),
  skipper AB DeVilliers (119) and Quinton de Kock (109). Three centuries in an
  ODI inning was made for the second time in the history.
• Bhuvneshwar Kumar created the record of being the most
  expensive figures by an Indian bowler in ODIs, 106 for 1 wicket from 10 over.
• Hashim Amla, who made 23, broke Virat Kohli’s record and
  became the fastest player to reach 6000 ODI runs.

• Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton on 25 October 2015 won the
  2015 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix title. It was the third title for
  Hamilton at the Circuit of the Americas in Elroy, Texas of the USA where
  championship is being held annually.
• In the final race, while his team-mate Nico Rosberg of
  Germany stood at the second position, Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel (Germany)
  was at the third.
• Also, driver of Force India Sergio Perez (Mexico) was the
  fifth person to complete the race.

• Indian archer Abhishek Verma 25 October 2015 created history
  by winning a silver medal in the Archery World Cup Final medal in the compound
  section held in Mexico City. With this, he became the first ever Indian to bag
  Archery World Cup Final medal.
• Verma went down 143-145 to Turkey’s Demir Elmaagcli in the
  summit clash.
• In 2014, Verma bagged the gold medal in the men’s compound
  archery team event along with Rajat Chauhan and Sandeep Kumar, and the silver
  medal in the men’s individual compound event at the Asian Games held at
  Incheon, South Korea. He also won a gold medal in the compound men’s individual
  section on 15 August 2015 in the third leg of Archery World Cup held in
  Wroclaw, Poland.

• Emily Kristine Pedersen of Denmark on 25 October 2015 won
  the Hero Women’s Indian Open 2015 at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon,
  Haryana. It was her maiden European Tour title.
• She beat the trio of Cheyenne Woods, Becky Morgan and Malene
  Jorgensen, who tied for the second position, to pocket the winner’s cheque of
  60000 US dollars.
• While amateur Aditi Ashok was the best Indian performer, who
  tied at the 13th position, Vani Kapoor, finished tied 20th, was adjudged as the
  best Indian professional at the tournament.

• Renowned Indian nuclear scientist Shekhar Basu on 23 October
  2015 took over the posts of Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and
  Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) in Mumbai.
• Basu was appointed as the chairman of AEC on 10 October
  2015. He succeeds Ratan Kumar Sinha who headed the AEC for nearly 3.5 years.
• Basu started his career in 1975 by joining Bhabha Atomic
  Research Centre (BARC) in its Reactor Engineering Division. His initial
  assignments were design fuel for boiling water reactors. In 1988, he was
  transferred to  Kalpakkam as the project
  Director with the responsibility to build India’s first compact Pressurised
  Water Reactor powered by enriched uranium.

• The Punjab Government on 25 October 2015 appointed Suresh
  Arora, a 1982-batch IPS officer, as the Director General of Police (DGP). The
  appointment came after the government removed Sumedh Singh Saini from the post
  of DGP.
• Suresh Arora, who has a spotless record, had played a
  pivotal role in fighting terrorism. He was posted in Amritsar as Superintendent
  of Police (SP) and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) when Operation Black
  Thunder I and II were conducted.
• Arora obtained his masters degree in law from the University
  of London. He has won various gallantry medals and awards, including the
  President’s Meritorious Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal and the Prakram
  Medal.

• As per the Ninth amendment of Criminal Law of China,
  students trying to copy in examinations in China will face a jail term of up to
  seven years. This new law will be effective from 1 November 2015. The
  information was published by China Radio International on 25 October 2015.
• The law will make cheating on major exams in China a crime
  punishable with a jail sentence. Parents involved will also be seriously punished.
• The amended criminal law stipulates that those who aid in
  cheating will be sentenced to three to seven years in prison and face
  penalties. The law also stipulates that people trying to impersonate during
  examinations will be detained by police.

• The World Health Organization (WHO) on 22 October 2015
  released a report titled Reducing global health risks through mitigation of
  short-lived climate pollutants.
• The report was produced in collaboration of the Climate and
  Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, a voluntary
  global partnership of governments, intergovernmental organizations, businesses,
  scientific institutions and civil society.
• WHO rated more than 20 affordable measures to mitigate
  short-lived climate pollutants including vehicle emissions standards, switching
  from fossil fuels to renewables, reducing food waste and improving household
  cooking fuels, to see which have the greatest potential to prevent climate
  change.
• The report spotlights the need to reduce short-lived climate
  pollutants like black carbon, ozone, methane and carbon dioxide that contribute
  to climate change and lead to more than 7 million deaths linked to air
  pollution each year. Every day, these pollutants threaten the health of people.

• Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Ranjan Mathai in October
  2015 honoured Dr MN Nandakumara and Sivasakthi Sivanesan with Lifetime
  Achievement Award and Sangeet Acharya Ratna Award respectively in London.
• Nandakumara, Executive Director of the Bharatiya Vidya
  Bhavan, London, and Sivasakthi Sivanesan, Resident Carnatic Music at the Bhavan
  were awarded for their contribution to Indian arts and music at a function held
  at the Nehru centre.
• The duo has been propelling the Bhavans mission of teaching
  and promoting traditional Indian arts and culture in the UK.

• Nritya Acharya Award – Pushkala Gopal
• Tarang Musician of the Year – Jasdeep Singh Degun
• Samyo Musician of the Year – Sanjuran Keerthikumar
• Young Musician of the Year – Yarline Thanabalasingham
• Young Dancer of the Year – Parbati Chaudhury

• World Polio Day was observed on 24 October 2015. The day was
  observed to create awareness about the hazards of the crippling disease.
• The Day was established by Rotary International over a
  decade ago to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk, who led the first team to
  develop a vaccine against poliomyelitis.
• Use of this inactivated poliovirus vaccine and subsequent
  widespread use of the oral poliovirus, developed by Albert Sabin, led to the
  establishment of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988. Since
  then, GPEI has reduced polio worldwide by 99percent.

Regards

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