8 October 2015 Current Affair Updates |Daily GK Download
1. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has trimmed its growth
forecast for India to 7.3% for the current fiscal, from 7.5% predicted
in July, although it maintained the country’s near-term growth prospects
still remained favorable. The multilateral agency also cut its
projection for global economic growth to 3.1% for 2015. .
2. Writer Nayantara Sahgal has returned the prestigious Sahitya Akademi
Award, recording her protest against what she calls a "vicious assault"
on India's diversity and debate, and the government's failure to
safeguard it. Ms Sahgal, 88, is the niece of India's first prime
minister Jawaharlal Nehru. She received the literary award in 1986.
3. Easing norms for foreign ownership of government debt, RBI announced
higher investment limits in rupee terms in government securities by
foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) with a view to bringing in an
additional Rs 1.2 lakh crore by March 2018. The announcement follows a
decision by RBI to fix FPI investment limits in rupee terms and raise it
in phases to reach 5 per cent of the outstanding stock by March 2018.
4. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi,
has approved the protocol amending the Convention and the Protocol
between India and Israel, and between India and Vietnam for avoidance of
double taxation and for prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to
taxes on income and on capital.
5. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi,
gave its approval for setting up of three new All India Institutes of
Medical Sciences (AllMS) at Nagpur in Maharashtra, at Manglagiri in
Andhra Pradesh and at Kalyani in West Bengal under Pradhan Mantri
Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY). This involves financial implication of
Rs.4949 crore.
6. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi,
approved the construction of a National War Memorial and a National War
Museum at Princess Park, near India Gate, New Delhi in memory of all
Indian soldiers who have made the supreme sacrifice for the country
post-independence. The estimated cost of the project will be around Rs.
500 crore and the total time for completion of the entire project is
estimated to be five years.
7. Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh, presented the Award of
Excellence to Shri Rajiv Ranjan Verma, Director General / RPF, for the
commendable contribution of Railway Protection Force (RPF) during
“Operation Smile”, in the field of Anti Human Trafficking. It was
presented in a function on National Conference of Anti Human Trafficking
held at New Delhi on 07.10.2015.
8. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi,
has given its ex-post facto approval to the protocol for cooperation in
the field of blue economy which was signed between India and Seychelles
during the visit of the President of Seychelles to India on August 26,
2015.
9. Sweden's Tomas Lindahl, the US-based Paul Modrich and Turkish-born
Aziz Sancar won the 2015 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for work on mapping
how cells repair damaged DNA.
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| 8 October 2015 Current Affair Updates |Daily GK Download |
10. Ahmed Mansoor of UAE has been was awarded the Martin Ennals award.
The award is named after the former secretary general of Amnesty
International. This is also known as nobel prize of human rights. He
campaigned for freedom of expression and greater political and civil
rights in the United Arab Emirates since 2006, and successfully pushed
for the liberation of two bloggers jailed for highlighting social
problems in the country.
11. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi,
has given its approval for the formation of a Group ‘A’ service of the
technical cadre of the Ministry of Skill Development &
Entrepreneurship (MSD&E). This was earlier called the Directorate
General of Employment & Training, Ministry of Labour Employment. The
new service will be called the Indian Skill Development Service (ISDS).
12. The State Secretary for Home Affairs, Sweden, Ms. Ann Linde called
on the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju. During the
meeting both the Ministers discussed various issues of importance to
the two countries including Disaster Management, threat of Islamic State
of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and radicalization and steps being taken
for counter-terrorism etc.
13. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by the
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval to: (i)
implement the World Bank assisted National Watershed Management Project
"Neeranchal" with a total outlay of $357 million (Rs 2142.30 crore at
Rs. 60 = $1 Government Share 50%) (ii) implement the project at the
National level as well as in the nine States of Andhra Pradesh,
Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha,
Rajasthan and Telangana.
