News : 15-22 Oct 2013

Appointments :

1. The Madhya Pradesh government  constituted a judicial commission headed by Rakesh Saxena to probe the stampede at Ratangarh in Datia district on October 13.

Books

1. RICHARD DAWKINS : An Appetite for Wonder

International

1. India has moved from 65 to 63 in the Global Hunger Index, making a marginal improvement since 2012, but continues to languish far behind other emerging economies. The score for the country improved slightly from 22.9 in 2012 to 21.3 this year. As has been the trend, within SAARC countries too, India continued to trail behind Pakistan and Bangladesh on the index.The index is prepared by the International Food Policy Research Institute along with Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.


2. Pre-COP (Conference of Parties), is organised to firm up the agenda for the meeting, where all member-countries of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change gather held at POLAND.


3. Typhoon Wipha, packing winds of 140 kilometre per hour (km/hr), is moving towards north Tokyo where the crippled Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant lies

National

1. “My Stamp”, an innovation of India Post, gives individuals the opportunity to get a postage stamp with their photos on it.To get personalised “My Stamp”, the customers will have to fill in the form indicating choice of stamps from available stamp sheets and deposit Rs.300 along with his or her colour photo (with white background) or provide the same in soft copy.


2. The Indian Navy inducted into service its largest offshore patrol vessel (OPV), INS Sunayna,

Polity

1. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has joined government and PSU oil firms against the Supreme Court order making Aadhaar card not mandatory for availing social benefits


2. Co-operative societies do not fall within the ambit of Right to Information Act, the Supreme Court has said.

Economics

1. Economics Nobel Prize : Shared by Eugene Fama, Robert Shiller and Lars Peter Hansen. Their work ranges from the foundations of modern finance (Fama) to defects in the mainstream models (Fama and Shiller) and improvements in statistical methodology (Fama and Hansen). More

Science & Tech

1. The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) has recommended scale-up of the pentavalent vaccine across the country, along with activities to monitor potential adverse effects.The pentavalent vaccine simultaneously provides protection against the five life threatening diseases — Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Hepatitis B and Hib (Haemophilus influenza type b). DPT (Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus) and Hepatitis B are already part of the national routine immunisation programme. Protection against Haemophilus influenza type B (Hib), which causes severe pneumonia, meningitis and other life-threatening conditions in children less than five years of age, is a new addition.The pentavalent vaccine, which is being used in 188 countries, is an important tool to reduce under-five mortality in India. Its rollout in Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Vietnam was briefly suspended to investigate concerns over a few deaths, but has since been re-introduced in all of these countries.


2. The 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to Dr. James E. Rothman, Dr. Randy W. Schekman and Dr. Thomas C. Südhof for their discoveries of machinery regulating vesicle traffic, a major transport system in our cells