1.WTO hosts first World Cotton Day celebrations in Geneva
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The first-ever World Cotton Day (WCD) was hosted by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva on October 7, 2019.This event stems from the application by the Cotton-4 countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali) to the United Nations General Assembly for its official recognition of a World Cotton Day, reflecting the importance of cotton as a global commodity.Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani representing India in the five-day event of World Cotton Day being observed at Geneva.As one of the world’s largest producers and consumers of cotton, India supports the World Cotton Day as an opportunity to recognise the significance of cotton as a global commodity.
2.87th Air Force Day: 08 October 2019
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The Air Force Day is celebrated every year on October 8, the day Indian Air Force was officially established in 1932.This year, the IAF Day is special as the first of 36 long-awaited Rafale fighter jets will be received by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in France.The Indian Air Force will also be showcasing its Chinook and Apache helicopters for the first time.Both these helicopters were acquired from the United States and inducted within in the last few months.
3.Vice President to embark on a two-nation tour to Africa
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Continuing India’s engagement with Africa, the Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu will embark on a tour to Comoros and Sierra Leone on October 10.This will be the first-ever visit by such a high-level Indian dignitary to Comoros, an archipelago situated off the Southeast coast of Africa and to Sierra Leone.The present visit is the second one by the Vice President of India to Africa.Earlier in November 2018, Shri Naidu had visited Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Malawi as part of strengthening bilateral ties with those countries.
4.India to shift to BS-VI vehicular emission norms by April 2020
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The Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar Minister informed that the country will shift to BS-VI vehicular emission norms from BS-IV by April 2020.Bharat Stage Six (BS-VI), is a revolutionary step in the transformation of fuels.He added that there has been an 80% reduction in Particulate Matter emissions and a 30% reduction in Nitrogen Oxides emissions in BS-IV heavy-duty diesel vehicles compared with BS III norms.Nearly ₹60,000 Cr were spent on switching over to BS-VI fuels.
5.National Health Authority and Google tie-up for Ayushman Bharat implementation
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The National Health Authority (NHA) has joined hands with Google to collaborate and strengthen the implementation of the government’s flagship health scheme, Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY).The two organizations will be working closely to explore various use cases for increasing process efficiencies in day-to-day applications.Google will also support NHA in improving PM-JAY’s digital presence and showcasing relevant content to the 50 crore entitled beneficiaries.
6.Jal Shakti Minister Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat launches Ganga Aamantran
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The ‘Ganga Aamantran Abhiyan’ is a pioneering and historic exploratory open-water rafting and kayaking expedition on the Ganga River to be held between 10th October 2019 to 11 November 2019.Starting at Devprayag and culminating at Ganga Sagar, the expedition will cover the entire stretch of over 2500 km of the Ganga River.The expedition will draw attention to the ecological challenges being faced by Ganga.The expedition will encompass the five Ganga basin states including Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal with stops at Rishikesh, Haridwar, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Sonepur and Kolkata.
7.Dr Harsh Vardhan launches eDantseva website and mobile application
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Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare launched the ‘eDantseva’ website and mobile application, the first-ever national digital platform on oral health information and knowledge dissemination.This marks an important milestone as e-DantSeva will reach out to more than one billion people with one click in the form of a dedicated website and mobile application.The Union Health Minister also released the Braille booklet and Voice over on Oral Health Education.e-DantSeva contains information about the National Oral Health Program.
8.India gets the first tranche of Swiss bank account details
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India has received the first tranche of details about financial accounts of its residents in Swiss banks under a new automatic exchange of information framework between the two countries.It marks a significant milestone in the fight against black money suspected to be stashed abroad.India figures among 75 countries with which Switzerland’s FTA has exchanged information on financial accounts within the framework of global standards on AEOI.This is the first time that India has received details from Switzerland under the AEOI framework.
9.UP CM Yogi Adityanath introduces Mukhya Mantri Kanya Sumangala Yojana
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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on the occasion of Mahanavmi introduced the ‘Mukhya Mantri Kanya Sumangala Yojana’.This program aims at empowering the girl child for which an amount of 15 thousand rupees will be provided to every family in which a girl child takes birth.This amount shall be sufficient to adequately facilitate the girl child.
10.2019 Nobel Prize in Medicine
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The 2019 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to scientists William G Kaelin, Jr, Peter J Ratcliffe and Gregg L Semenza.The Nobel Committee announced that they received the award jointly for their discoveries of “how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability”.The jury said that they established the basis for our understanding of how oxygen levels affect cellular metabolism and physiological function.The three will share the Nobel prize sum of nine million Swedish kronor or about 9 Lakh 14 thousand US dollar.It is the 110th prize in the category that has been awarded since 1901.
