Current Affairs October 2018 - National

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1 - Now Candidates Can Withdraw Applications: UPSC

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has made the provision of withdrawal of applications by the candidates and the same will be implemented and will begin with Engineering Services Examination, 2019.

On the 92^nd Foundation Day Celebrations, Mr. Arvind Saxena, Chairman of UPSC, announced this provision with the hope of better examination management.

In order to avail this facility, the respective candidate has to provide details of his/her application. Subsequently, separate OTPs will be sent to the candidate’s registered mobile number and email id. Likewise, on successful completion of withdrawal of application, confirmation message will be sent through text message as well as through email. Remember, once the application has been withdrawn, it cannot be revived.

2 - Maharashi Dayanand University Declared As Cleanest Government University

The HRD Ministry has declared Haryana’s Maharshi Dayanand University the cleanest government varsity. Guru Nanak Dev University of Punjab stands second in the ranking.

Raipur’s ITM University ranks at the top among non-residential campuses of private universities.

Among the residential campuses of private universities, Pune’s Symbiosis International University ranks at the top.

Prakash Javadekar, the Union Human Resource Development Minister announced the “Swachh Campus rankings.”

3 - BCCI Covered Under RTI Act

Central Information Commission of India confirmed that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is covered under the RTI Act and is answerable to the people of India.

After going through the orders of the Supreme Court, the Law Commission of India, which is the top appellate body in RTI matters, has concluded that the status, nature and functional characteristics of the BCCI fulfil required conditions to come under the ambit of RTI Act.

The Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu also added that the Apex Court reaffirmed that the BCCI is an approved national-level body holding virtually monopoly rights to organize cricketing events in the country.

4 - Task Force Constituted To Address Skill Gaps in India

The Union ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship in collaboration with World Economic Forum constituted a task force known as “Closing the Skills Gap Task Force in India.” It will be co-chaired by the Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Dharmendra Pradhan along with Infosys MD and CEO Salil Parekh.

The task force will majorly work on bringing together various leaders from different sectors like business, government, education and working on promoting education and training systems in the country.

India is the second country-led public-private collaboration of the World Economic Forum’s ‘Closing the Skills Gap Project’ after South Africa.

5 - Website ‘Aero India 2019’ Launched

Ministry of Defence launched the newly designed website of Aero India 2019. Its URL is aeroindia.gov.in. The purpose of this website is to facilitate payment of registration fee online for business visitors.

Likewise, the website is integrated with multi-currency Payment Gateway where Indian companies can pay in Indian Rupees by using their Credit Card/Debit Card/Net Banking/UPI/NEFT/RTGS and foreign companies can pay in US dollars by using credit card/debit card.

Besides, it will also host latest information about the various events in the Aero India 2019 show.

6 - MoU Signed Between ISRO and Central University of Jammu

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) signed an MoU with the Central University of Jammu (CUJ) to set up Satish Dhawan Center for Space Science, a Space Applications Centre in the university campus. It is the first of its kind institute in Jammu and Kashmir.

The building is proposed in an area of about 1,150 sq. m. This centre will help in various fields including disaster management, health, education, communication, weather forecasting, land use planning, etc.

7 - India’s First Engineless Semi-High Speed Train on Its Trial Run

India's first engineless, self-propelled train the “Train-18” hit the tracks. Normally, engineless trains until now have been running in big cities as part of the Metro network, but Train-18 will be the first semi-high speed train to offer a comfortable inter-city ride.

Highlights

• It would have 16 prototype coaches.

• It will travel at the speed of 160 km/hour.

• It is fully air-conditioned train.

• It has comfortable seats, and WiFi and infotainment among other amenities.

• It is fitted with CCTV cameras and a GPS-based passenger information system.

• It has been developed by a Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory, in 18 months as part of the ‘Make In India’ initiative.

8 - Prime Minister Narendra Modi Unveils World's Tallest Statue

On the eve of India’s first home minister’s 143^rd birth anniversary, Prime Minister Modi inaugurated Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's memorial and named it “Statue of Unity.”

The 182-meter-tall (600 feet) statue built on Sadhu Beyt near Sardar Sarovar Dam was actually conceptualized by Mr. Modi – when he was the chief minister of Gujarat.

“The world’s tallest statute will remind the entire world, the future generations about the courage, capabilities and determination of the person who did this holy work of vanquishing the conspiracy to disintegrate India into pieces.”

9 - Rs.700 Crore Project To Clean Up Courts Proposed

Rs.700-crore project has been proposed to have clean courts, starting from the Supreme Court and the High Courts to the 3,388 lower courts.

At a pre-launch function of the ‘Swachh Nyayalaya’ project, it was also announced that the project will include the construction and maintenance of washrooms in over 16,000 court rooms, and would move on to weeding out of files. Besides, also cleaning the significant amount of space that can then be put to some other use.