Current Affairs Current Affairs October 2018

 Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi unfurled India’s highest tricolour on the terrace of the majestic Haj House in Mumbai. The national flag measured 20x30 feet and stood 350 feet above the ground level. The flag atop a 20-metre high mast on top of the iconic building is near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in south Mumbai. The tricolour is made of non-fading polyester and manufactured by The Flag Company, which is famous for manufacturing big flags. 
Source- Times Now

 National Award winning music director Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi, famous as ‘Khayyam’, has been named for this year’s Hridaynath Award for Lifetime Achievement. Instituted by the Hridayesh Arts, the award carries a cash prize of Rs100,000 and a memento and shall be conferred by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Hridaynath is the only and youngest brother of the legendary Mangeshkar singer-sisters – Lata, Asha, Usha and Meena, all children of the great composer, Deenanath Mangeshkar.
Source- Business Standard

 Social Entrepreneur Suheil F. Tandon has won the International Olympic Committee’s Sport and Active Society Commission’s Grant Award for his contribution to sports for development.  Suheil is the Founder of Pro Sports Development (PSD) and Executive Director of Martha Farrell Foundation. Worth USD 25,000 each, these grants are awarded to grassroots organisations running effective sport for all programmes in different regions across the world. The award ceremony was held during the Olympism in Action forum at Buenos Aires.
Source- Business Standard

 A new book on Maharana Pratap named “Maharana Pratap: The Invincible Warrior” authored by historian Rima Hooja has been released. The book narrates the life of Maharana Pratap, the great Rajput warrior and also talks about the famous battle of Haldighati. 
Source- Business-Standard

 The government launched a national campaign ‘Swasth Bharat Yatra’ on the World Food Day (16th October) under which a pan-India cycle rally is being organized to sensitise people about eating safe food and be healthy. It was announced by the FSSAI chief executive Pawan Kumar Agarwal. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is leading this campaign where about 7,500 cyclists are expected to participate in over 18,000 km relay cycle rally travelling across six tracks through almost every state and UT over 100 days to propagate a powerful message ‘Eat Right India’. 
Source: The Moneycontrol

 After huge efforts for a year, now Shahi Litchi of Muzaffarpur, Bihar has got official recognition as it receives the geographical indication (GI) tag. The sweet, pulpy and juicy Litchi of Bihar is mostly grown in Muzaffarpur, and adjoining areas including East Champaran, Vaishali, Samastipur, and Begusarai districts. The GI registration was done in the name of Litchi Growers Association of Bihar, who had applied for the tag. 
Source- The Telegraph

  Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu is in Brussels, Belgium to attend the 12th Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit. Mr Naidu will lead the Indian delegation at the two-day Summit. The theme of this year’s ASEM Summit is “Global Partners for Global Challenges”. ASEM Agenda for 2018 will prioritize issues related to connectivity, trade and investment, sustainable development, climate change, terrorism, migration, maritime security and cyberspace. 
Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB)

 Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries made it official that it is entering a strategic investment partnership with Den Networks Limited and Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited, which will be a ‘win-win’ outcome for customers, local cable operators, content producers, and the companies. 
All you need to know about the RIL-Hathway-Den strategic partnership:   
  • RIL’s strategic investment in and partnership with Den, Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited will accelerate JioGigaFiber rollout to 50 million homes across 1,100 cities. 
  • RIL will make the primary investment of Rs 2,045 crore through a preferential issue under SEBI regulations and secondary purchase of Rs 245 crore from the existing promoters for a 66% stake in Den. 
  • The Mukesh Ambani conglomerate will also make the primary investment of Rs 2,940 crore through a preferential issue under SEBI regulations for a 51.3% stake in Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited (Hathway). 
  • Hathaway will issue 90.8 crore shares to Reliance Jio at Rs 32.35 per share
  • RIL also plans to make open offers in DEN and Hathway subsidiaries.
  • Reliance and Jio aim to strengthen 27,000 LCOs that are aligned with DEN and Hathway.
  • RIL is being advised by JM Financial Limited, Citigroup Global Markets, Khaitan & Co, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, AZB Partners and EY LLP for the deal. 
  • Source- The Financial Express

     Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Ltd’s quarterly earnings from the financial sector have edged past that of Accenture Plc, which is nearly double its size, making company theworld’s largest pure-play information technology (IT) and consulting firm servicing megabanks and insurers. During the July-September period, TCS got $2.07 billion in business from banking, financial services and insurance, or the BFSI sector. This included $1.63 billion from work across application development and maintenance, and other traditional solution offerings, besides $445.9 million from its proprietary platforms such as TCS iON. 
    Source- The Livemint

     In a move aimed at promoting digital transactions, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released operational guidelines to facilitate payments among prepaid instruments (PPI) such as mobile wallets. The guidelines elaborate on requirements for achieving inter-operability for mobile wallets and cards, and norms for customer protection and grievance redressal. According to the notification issued by the RBI, inter-operability among mobile wallets, and between bank account and e-wallet would be enabled through the UPI system. Paytm, MobiKwik, Oxigen and Ola Money are some of the popular mobile wallets in the country. Currently, a mobile wallet does not allow customers to send or receive money from a wallet run by another company. 
    Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB)


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