COVID- 19 NEWS
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu tested negative for COVID-19: Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu today tested negative for COVID-19. He has been under home-quarantine after he was diagnosed with COVID-19 on 29th of September. As per today’s RT-PCR test conducted by a medical team from AIIMS, both the Vice President and his wife Usha Naidu have tested negative for COVID-19.
Top 5 worst-hit states in terms of Covid cases show gradual improvement in performance Govt :- Government today said that the top five States in terms of percentage of active Covid cases, case fatality rate and recovery rate are showing gradual improvement in their performance. These States are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said government considering use of more than one Covid-19 vaccine to cater to large population size: Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said considering the large population size of India, one vaccine or vaccine manufacturer will not be able to fulfil the requirements of vaccinating the whole country.He was responding to people’s queries on his social media accounts as part of the fifth episode of his Sunday Samvaad. The Heath Minister said, India may have to tie up with more than one vaccine manufacturer to ensure that everyone in the
country receives protection against the coronavirus when a vaccine becomes available.
NATIONAL NEWS
NIT Tiruchirappalli signs MoU with C-DAC Pune for installing state of art super computer: National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Pune for installing a state of the art super computer in the process of becoming part of the National Super Computing
Mission of the Government of India. A total of 10 Centrally Funded Institutions have been inducted into NSM including IISc, Bangalore and seven IITs in addition to NIT, Trichy. The objective of the NSM is to empower technology institutions with high-performance computing
capabilities that can be used for solving socially relevant, computationally intensive problems.
PM Modi releases Rs 100 commemorative coin in honour of Vijaya Raje Scindia: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today released a commemorative 100 rupee coin in the honour of Vijaya Raje Scindia. One of the founder members of BJP, Vijaya Raje Scindia is also popularly known as the Rajmata of Gwalior.
Supreme Court seeks Centre’s response on pleas challenging constitutionality of farm laws: The Supreme Court today sought response from the Centre on a batch of petitions challenging the Constitutional validity of the newly enacted three farm laws. A bench headed by Chief Justice S. A. Bobde issued notice to the Central Government and sought its reply within four weeks. The petitions alleged that the three farm laws passed by Parliament would dismantle the Agricultural Produce Market Committees system intended to ensure fair prices for farm products.
Seven Indian nationals abducted in Libya released: The seven Indian nationals who had been abducted at Asshwerif in Libya on 14th of September have been released. Ministry of External Affairs in a statement said, Indian Ambassador to Tunisia Puneet Roy Kundal spoke to them over phone after they were handed over by the abductors to the company Al Shola Al Mudia. All of the personnel released yesterday are in good health and are currently staying in the company’s premises in Brega. The Ministry said that it is trying to complete requisite formalities to enable their return to India. The Ministry also conveyed its sincere thanks to the Libyan authorities and the tribal elders from the region for their steadfast cooperation in securing the release of Indian nationals unharmed.
STATE NEWS
Arunachal Pradesh to feature on country’s aviation map with Greenfield airport at Hollongi: Arunachal Pradesh will feature on country’s aviation map with a greenfield airport at Hollongi, 15 kilometres from Itanagar. With estimated cost of 650 crore rupees, the project includes the development work, construction of airport pavements, air side work, terminal Building and city
side works.
Power supply in Mumbai restored substantially: Power Minister R K Singh: Minister of Power R. K. Singh has said that the power supply in Mumbai has been restored substantially. He said, out of more than 2,000 Mega Watts which went off, about 1,900 Mega Watts have been restored and the remaining will be restored soon. He said, the national grid is fine, the problem happened in some parts of the state grid.
ADB approves 300 million US dollar loan to finance water supply, sanitation infrastructure in Rajasthan: India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) today signed a 300 million US dollar loan to finance inclusive and sustainable water supply and sanitation infrastructure and services in 14 secondary towns of the state of Rajasthan. On this occasion, Mr Khare said, said the project aims at providing better quality and more sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation (WSS) services in the project towns. He said, it will improve quality of life in these towns, including for the poor and vulnerable after signing the loan agreement. Mr Khare said, the investments in WSS with 10-year operation and maintenance contracts will ensure improved and sustainable service delivery in line with the State Government’s urban sector development plan.
Nagaland Environment Minister C M Chang passes away: Nagaland Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Justice and Law C.M. Chang passed away today at Naga Hospital Authority, Kohima. He was 77. State Health officials confirmed that Chang died of COVID-19. He was the sitting MLA of NDPP from 51- Noksen Assembly Constituency.
Railways to resume service of ‘New Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express’ from Oct 15: In a welcome move for those seeking to travel to Jammu and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine, Katra from Delhi as country is exiting from the Covid-19 lockdown in phased manner, the Railways will resume service of Semi-High speed train, New Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat express from October 15.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
FATF’s Asia Pacific Group keeps Pakistan on ‘enhanced follow-up list’ for slow progress against terror financing: The Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF’s) Asia Pacific Group (APG) on Money Laundering has reprimanded the South-Asian country, Pakistan for its slow progress on
the technical recommendations of the FATF to fight terror financing. Earlier, Pakistan had requested for its ratings pertaining to targeted financial sanctions on terrorism and terrorist financing to be revised. The APG stated that the insufficient progress made by the country fails to justify a re-rating. The APG said, Pakistan will remain in the enhanced follow-up list and will have to continue to report back to the APG on progress to
strengthen its implementation of comprehensive Anti-money Laundering and Terrorist Financing measures.
Bangladesh cabinet approves capital punishment for rape: Bangladesh Cabinet today approved a draft law to include death penalty as the highest
punishment for rape. The decision to amend the Prevention of Women and Children Repression Act-2000 was announced after the Cabinet meeting Chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka. Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Anisul Haq told the media that the ordinance will be issued after getting approval of the President as Parliament is not in session. Currently, the highest punishment for rape is
life imprisonment. Bangladesh has been witnessing widespread protests over the last several days against the gang rape of a woman in Noakhali which came to light on 4th of October. Students, civil society groups and other organizations have been protesting in Dhaka and many other cities of Bangladesh to demand justice for the woman raped in Noakhali and other places in the country over the last few months.
SPORTS NEWS
IPL 2020: Royal Challengers Bangalore defeats Kolkata Knight Riders by 82 runs: Royal Challengers Bangalore continued their impressive run in the Indian Premier League 2020, as the team secured a comprehensive 82-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders. AB de Villiers was the key player for RCB as he scored an unbeaten 73 off 33 balls, helping RCB post
a gigantic 194/2 on the board. In the bowling, it was the spin duo of Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal, who kept KKR on backfoot. The pair bowled a total of eight overs and gave away just 32 runs, which included three wickets