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Rajasthan
becomes first state to start olive refinery
India
> Rajasthan > 03 October
Rajasthan has started the
country’s first olive refinery and expressed hope that it would be
able to fulfil the country’s demand of olive oil in coming years.
The olive oil produced in the refinery will be marked under the brand
name of ‘Raj Olive Oil’ and will be available in markets after
some time.
Seven leading varieties of
Barnea, Arbequina, Crotina, Picholine, Picual, Coraniki and Frontoy
have been planted in the farms.
Olive is a small tree
belonging to the oleaceae family and is found in coastal areas of
eastern Mediterranean (Italy and Spain), northern Iraq and northern
Iran south of the Caspian Sea.
Telangana
and BHEL sign MoU for power generation
Corporate
> BHEL> 04 October
Telangana State Power
Generation Corporation (TS GENCO) and Bharat Heavy Electricals
Limited (BHEL) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to
establish thermal power plants to generate 6,000 MW of electricity in
Telangana.
BHEL, a central public
sector undertaking is the largest engineering and manufacturing
enterprise in India as well as one of the leading companies in the
field of power plant equipment. Its range of services extend from
project feasibility through design, manufacture, supply, erection and
commissioning, to after sales service.
New
draft bill to replace old Motor Vehicles Act 1988; fines to increase
manifold
Politics
and Government >
Motor Vehicles
Act > 06 October
In a move to reduce
fraudulent practices with regards to motor vehicle insurance, the
proposed Road Transport & Safety Bill seeks to fine owners with
uninsured vehicles, both two-wheelers and four-wheelers.
This Bill, if passed without
any changes will mean that General Insurance Companies will be seeing
quite an increase in their coffers. If a motorcyclist is caught
riding without an insurance policy, the penalty will be Rs 10,000
while owners of light motor vehicles and auto rickshaws may have to
pay Rs 25,000. For any car or a truck driver caught driving without
an insurance policy, the penalty is as high as Rs 75,000. This
compares to the Rs 1,000 fine for all vehicles currently in place.
This new bill is expected to replace the Motors Vehicles Act, 1988.
The Bill seeks to make changes and add stricter penalties for traffic
offences such as drunken driving and an accident in which a child is
killed.
The Insurance Regulatory &
Development Authority is easing its rules as well. It has allowed
longer tenure policies - these include a three-year policy for
two-wheelers as well as third-party insurance. Insurance companies
have suggested to the government that third party liability should be
limited to Rs 10 lakh. So far, liability for motor vehicles is
unlimited while it is capped at Rs 5 lakh for aircraft and Rs 2 lakh
for railways.
Others
Rory
McIlroy wins PGA Tour Player of the Year
Sports
> Golf > 01 October
Irish golfing champion and
world number one, Rory McIlroy was named as the PGA tour Player of
the Year for 2014 after two major title wins, the British Open and
PGA championship. He was previously bestowed with the honour in 2012.
McIlroy was voted by his peers, ahead of - Billy Horschel, Martin
Kaymer, Jimmy Walker and Bubba Watson. He was also awarded with the
Arnold Palmer Award for being the tour's leading monetary prize
winner (8,280,096) and also bagged the Byron Nelson Award for
adjusted scoring average (68.83). In an exceptional display of
consistency, McIlroy, in his last 17 tournament appearances, ended up
being outside side of the top ten only five times, and his worst
performance saw him at the 25th position.
World
Animal Day celebrated
World
> World
Animal Day > 04 October
On 4th of October, 2014,
World Animal Day was observed throughout the world. Also known as the
World Animal Lover's Day, it is observed to pay a tribute to animals
and animal lovers. It is observed world over with an aim to improve
animal welfare by the support of animal-sympathy individuals, groups
and organisations. The occasion is celebrated by uniting the animal
welfare units world over by including all animals and highlighting
region specific issues.
The occasion was first
celebrated in the year 1931, when it was incepted during a convention
of ecologists in Florence, Italy to address the issue of endangered
species. The date was chosen as it coincided with the Feast Day of St
Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals.
Sports
> Asian
Games > 04 October
India ended its 17th Asian
Games campaign at the eighth spot on the medals tally, a drop of two
positions from the previous edition of the mega-event. India signed
off with 57 medals - 11 gold, 10 silver and 36 bronze medals. The
tally dipped considerably compared to the 2010 edition in Guangzhou,
China.
In 2010, the country had
ended sixth with 65 medals - 14 gold, 17 silver, and 34 bronze
medals.
China ended its campaign on
top claiming a whopping 342 medals. The Chinese contingent walked
away with 151 gold, 108 silver, and 83 bronze medals. Hosts South
Korea finished a distant second with 234 medals - 79 gold, 71 silver
and 77 bronze medals. They were followed by the Japanese, who notched
up 200 medals, including 47 gold, 76 silver and 77 bronze medals.
Thus, the line-up of
top-three remained the same as the previous edition.
Doordarshan
to telecast programmes in Europe, Middle East; broadcast TV on
cellphones
Politics
and Government >
I&B Ministry > 06 October
Doordarshan, India's
national broadcaster, is set to go global in January 2015 when it
will be beamed free of cost to 120 million homes in Europe and Middle
East, as per Information and Broadcasting Ministry officials. Prasar
Bharati CEO Jawahar Sircar said that a deadline and a consultative
group for the project will be decided soon.
DD has also revived a
project of digitisation of archaic terrestrial transmitters, and if
things go as planned, viewers in 10 cities across the country would
be able to watch the 20 channels of DD and private channels streamed
by Prasar Bharati on mobile smartphones, tablets or laptops for free
in a few months.
Hewlett-Packard
to split in two companies
Corporate
>
Hewlett-Packard > 06 October
Personal computer and
printer maker Hewlett-Packard Co. plans to split itself into two
separate companies by spinning off its technology services business.
The breakup would create one company that sells HP's computers and
printers and a second that focuses on technology service offerings
including data storage, servers and software.
The Palo Alto,
California-based company has laid off thousands of employees in
recent months due to flagging sales as consumers turn to mobile
devices to perform basic computing chores. The shift has curbed
demand for HP's desktop and laptop computers, as well as its
printers.
John
O’Keefe, May‐Britt Moser, Edvard I Moser win Nobel prize in
medicine
Awards
> Noble
Prize > 06 October
The 2014 Nobel prize in
physiology or medicine has been awarded to British-American
researcher John O Keefe, and Norwegian couple May‐Britt Moser and
Edvard I Moser, for their discoveries of cells that constitute a
positioning system in the brain.
They have discovered a positioning system, an "inner GPS" in the brain that makes it possible to orient ourselves in space, demonstrating a cellular basis for higher cognitive function. In 1971, John O'Keefe discovered the first component of this positioning system. He found that a type of nerve cell in an area of the brain called the hippocampus that was always activated when a rat was at a certain place in a room. Other nerve cells were activated when the rat was at other places. O'Keefe concluded that these "place cells" formed a map of the room.
They have discovered a positioning system, an "inner GPS" in the brain that makes it possible to orient ourselves in space, demonstrating a cellular basis for higher cognitive function. In 1971, John O'Keefe discovered the first component of this positioning system. He found that a type of nerve cell in an area of the brain called the hippocampus that was always activated when a rat was at a certain place in a room. Other nerve cells were activated when the rat was at other places. O'Keefe concluded that these "place cells" formed a map of the room.
In 2005, May‐Britt and
Edvard Moser discovered another key component of the brain's
positioning system. They identified another type of nerve cell, which
they called "grid cells", that generates a coordinate
system and allow for precise positioning and pathfinding. Their
subsequent research showed how place and grid cells make it possible
to determine position and to navigate.
World
Bank: India to top global remittances with $71 bn
Economy
> Global
Remittances > 06 October
According to the World Bank,
India will retain its top spot with $71 billion in remittances this
year as remittances to developing countries are expected to reach USD
435 billion, an increase of five per cent over 2013. In its latest
issue of the Migration and Development Brief, the World Bank said
India, with the world's largest emigrant stock of 14 million people,
will remain in the top spot this year, attracting about USD 71
billion in remittances.
Other large recipients are
China (USD 64 billion), the Philippines (USD 28 billion), Mexico (USD
24 billion), Nigeria (USD 21 billion), Egypt (USD 18 billion),
Pakistan (USD 17 billion), Bangladesh (USD 15 billion), Vietnam (USD
11 billion) and Ukraine (USD 9 billion).
Shah
Rukh Khan receives Global Diversity Award at Britain's House of
Commons
Awards
> Global
Diversity Award > 06 October
Shah Rukh Khan has been
honoured with Global Diversity Award 2014 by British parliament for
his contribution to cinema.
The Award was presented by the
British Parliament by the 136th Leader of the office of Speaker Rt
Hon John Bercow MP. Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP, Chair of the Home Affairs
committee conducted the ceremony. Other members of the Parliament
from both houses, Commons and Lords were also present on this
occasion.
The award of the “Global
Diversity Award” is given to "an outstanding individual who
has made a major contribution to Worldwide Diversity".
Previous recipients of the
Award have included Jackie Chan, Amitabh Bachchan, Sheikh Hasina,
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Lewis Hamilton.
Shah Rukh has previously
been honoured with several international awards, including Chevalier
de la Legion d'Honneur (France's highest civilian award), Wissame Al
Kafaa Al Fikria (Morocco’s highest honour), Malaysian title of
'Datuk' (akin to the British knighthood) and several others. He has
also been entrusted with being the Brand Ambassador of INTERPOL's
“Turn Back Crime” Campaign recently.
Maria
Sharapova and Novak Djokovic win China Open
Sports
> Tennis > 06 October
Maria Sharapova defeated
third seeded Czech Republic opponent, Petra Kvitova (6-4, 2-6, 6-3)
to clinch the China Open title in Beijing. Sharapova, 27, won the
first three games of the final set to win the title. It was her fifth
successive victory over Kvitova, who would have been the world number
two had she won, on the back of her triumph in the inaugural Wuhan
Open last week. This was Sharapova's 33rd career title.
Novak Djokovic thrashed
Tomas Berdych in a one-sided contest to win his fifth China Open
title. Top seed Djokovic took 66 minutes to seal a 6-0, 6-2 win
against Berdych and now has a 24-0 record at the tournament.
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