16 Oct News Update

 top news:16 Oct*

 1. *The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) Result 2020 will be announced on Friday* (October 16) by the National Testing Agency (NTA). check results at ntaneet.nic.in

 2. *PM Modi  took a review meeting of the research and vaccine deployment ecosystem against the COVID-19 pandemic* including testing technologies, contact tracing, drugs and therapeutics.

3. *J-K parties come together to bring back special status:* Mainstream political parties in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday held a meeting and formed an alliance for restoration of the special status of the erstwhile state as it existed before August 5 last year and also to initiate a dialogue between all stakeholders in the issue. NC chief Farooq Abdullah said that the Centre must restore J&K's special status

4. The meeting was held at the residence of National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and attended by People's Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti, People's Conference chairman Sajad Lone, Peoples Movement leader Javaid Mir and Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami.

5. *Heavy rains batter Maharashtra,* 3 die in Pune; Mumbai hit too.

6. *Government has requested all citizens to connect with the cause of war-widows, Ex-Servicemen, wards of the martyred soldiers and contribute generously to Armed Forces Flag Day Fund* in solidarity with the soldiers and their next of Kin or dependents. Contributions to Armed Forces Flag Day Fund are exempt from Income Tax under Section 80G(5)(vi) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

7. *PM Modi  took a review meeting of the research and vaccine deployment ecosystem against the COVID-19 pandemic* including testing technologies, contact tracing, drugs.

8. *Union Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari began the ZojiLa Tunnel works* with ceremonial blast, at ZojiLa in Kargil district on Thursday. The tunnel is strategically important for all weather movement of troops on National Highway No. 1 It reduce travel time from 3 hrs to 15 mins 

9. *The Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan launched second phase of Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojana* . The scheme was launched for the Thalassemia patients. It is a blood disorder that creates less haemoglobin than normal body. It reduces the ability of Red Blood Cells to carry oxygen. It can lead to anaemia. The scheme aims to provide one-time cure for Haemoglobinopathies such as sickle cell disease and Thalassaemia for patients who have matched family donors. It is funded by the Coal India Corporate Social Responsibility programme called the “Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Programme”. 

 10. *Heavy rains & Worst spells of downpour spanning over a few days in Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana, 50 people died* while the government pegged the losses from the deluge at an estimated Rs 5,000 crore.

11.  *Reprising the Karnataka Waqf Board scam, the 2012 report by the Karnataka Minorities Commission was tabled in the state Assembly on Thursday.* The tabled report shows that 29,000 of the 54,000 acres of Karnataka Waqf land was neither used to help poor Muslims and neither a hospital was built but it was used for commercial interests, as revealed by BJP MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar

12. *The Ministry of Food Processing and the ministry of Railways have jointly provided subsidised rate of 50% for freight transportation of perishable agriculture* produce such as vegetables and fruits. The step is being implemented to boost Operation Green. *Operation Green is implemented by Ministry of Food Processing*.

13. Lauding the Assam government's to shut down state-run madrassas, Maharashtra BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar on Thursday, wrote to CM Uddhav Thackeray to emulate it. He claimed that this should be done so that Muslim community students can get modern education. 

 14. *A court in Amravati on Thursday sentenced Maharashtra minister Yashomati Thakur to three months rigorous imprisonment* in an eight-year-old case of assault on a policeman and also imposed a fine of Rs 15,500.

15. When there is a ban on exit polls, prediction of poll results in the media by astrologers, tarot readers and analysts is a violation of the electoral law, the Election Commission said

16. *Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari flags off Special Kisan Rail* ‘Nagpur-Adarsh Nagar New Delhi’ carrying oranges

17. *Tax Bar Association, Bhilwara has requested Smt. Nirmala Sitaraman, Hon’ble Finance Minister to further extend the due date of filing tax audit report to 28 February 2021* and Income tax return filing to 31 March at the earliest.

18. The Supreme Court on Thursday said the Allahabad high court be allowed to deal with the Hathras case in which a Dalit girl was allegedly brutally raped and died of injuries.

19. *PM Modi declares his assets. All about where he has invested his personal wealth* :  PM Modi's wealth is worth nearly ₹2.85 crore as of June 30, 2020, up from ₹2.49 crore worth of assets declared by him in 2019. The increase in assets is largely due to increase in his bank balance and addition in the value of his bank fixed deposits.

20. *New Time Table From 1 December: Indian Railways To Discontinue 10,200 Station Halts* And 600 Trains To Boost Efficiency

21. *Cabinet approves STARS* (Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States) project for school education in six states; partially funded by World Bank.

22. *Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said attempts to malign and “finish off” the Hindi film industry or “to shift it” will not be tolerated.* Thackeray’s statement came against the backdrop of probe by multiple agencies into actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death and its media coverage which was seen by some as a deliberate campaign to target Bollywood.

23.  *Flight Lieutenant Gunjan Saxena tells Delhi High Court that she faced no discrimination on the basis of her gender during her service* with the Indian Air Force. Delhi High Court on September 18 had asked real-life Gunjan Saxena to submit an affidavit stating her assessment of the content shown in the Netflix movie Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl.

24. Costume designer Bhanu Athaiya, India's first Oscar winner, died at her home on Thursday after prolonged illness, her daughter said. She was 91.

25.  *The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has said that it can develop a complete hypersonic cruise missile system in the next four to five years* which will have the capability to strike its targets at speeds at least double than that of world`s present fastest BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.

26. An Indian Air Force team, led by a two-star officer, is currently in France to review the progress of the Rafale project even as the second batch of fighters is set to reach their home base in Ambala in the next few weeks.

27. *Coronavirus Cases* :

7,349,290

Deaths: 111,726

Recovered: 6,425,716

*✈INTERNATIONAL NEWS*

  

 1. *India and China are engaged in talks to resolve the border standoff* and what is going on is 'something confidential' between the two sides, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.

2. *China is rotating its troops on the banks of Pangong Tso, and creating, for the first time, permanent barracks in Ngari in Tibet,* it seems that Beijing is readying to dig in for the winter, never mind the several rounds of talks that have been taking place.

3. *India and France were re-elected as the President and Co-President of the International Solar Alliance (ISA),* for a term of two years at the virtual meeting of the Third Assembly, informed the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

4. President Ram Nath *Kovind, received a telephone call on Thursday from Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the President of Turkmenistan* . The leaders agreed on the immense potential that exists in trade and economic spheres and noted the success of joint collaboration between Indian and Turkmen companies, particularly in the pharmaceutical sector. 

5. *Maldives to Moscow — India prepares for brave new Biden world*:  Army chief M.M. Naravane is being sent to Nepal to repair brotherly ties between the Indian and Nepalese armies – since time immemorial, the two army chiefs have held honorary ranks of General in the fighting force of the other.

6. *India to deliver Kilo Class submarine INS Sindhuvir to Myanmar Navy* 

7. Last week, India’s ambassador to Bangladesh, Vikram Doraiswamy, drove from Tripura to Dhaka and went straight to the home of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rehman and paid homage at the site where he was brutally massacred. Earlier this week, Dhaka announced it would not co-fund Chinese trials of the Sinovac vaccine in Bangladesh.

*🌎WORLD NEWS🌍*

 

1. *Chinese capital city Beijing has tightened the entry of people from Qingdao* after it reported five close contacts linked to confirmed COVID-19 cases in east China city.

2. Every year *International Day of Rural Women is celebrated on October 15* by the United Nations and various other international organizations.

3.  India on Thursday told off Beijing for its repeated complaints about infrastructure projects on the Indian side of the border with a clear warning, asserting that China should not comment on India’s internal matters just as it expects other countries to steer clear of its internal affairs

4. *World Bank approves $12 bn to help developing countries get Covid vaccines* .

5.  *Tanzania’s government is hoping helicopters and planes will help put out a fire raging on Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest mountain at 19,443 feet (5,926 meters).* The fire has burned 28 square kilometers (11 square miles) of vegetation and is very active in an area known as Kifunika Hill. The fire started on Sunday afternoon in the Whona area, a tourist stopover for those climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and using the Mandara and Horombo routes. The cause is still unknown.

6. *Afghanistan forces foil Taliban attempt to capture Helmand, JeM terrorists involved in attack.* Taliban's plot to capture Lashkargarh city of Afghanistan has been foiled by the Afghani forces. This is the first massive attack by the Taliban since a peace deal was signed with the US this year. Hundreds of Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists have also been seen in Helmand

8. Pakistan will celebrate the 551th birth anniversary of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev from November 28 to 30

7.  *Coronavirus Cases:* 

38,947,137

Deaths:1,099,629

Recovered: 29,236,037

ACTIVE CASES 8,611,471

*🚣🚴🏇🏁🏊Sports:*

1. *IPL 2020* : Thursday, 15th October 2020

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE *171/6* 

Vs 

KINGS XI PUNJAB *177/2* 

 *Punjab beat Bangalore by 8 wickets .* The struggling Punjab unit is currently placed at the bottom of the Dream11 IPL 2020 points table as they have managed to win just one game out of their seven matches so far.

2. Double world championship bronze medalist boxer and Olympic quota winner Lovlina Borgohain and para-archer Ankit have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus

3.  *IPL 2020 : Friday, 16th October 2020* 

MUMBAI INDIANS

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS

19:30 IST (14:00 GMT), 18:00 LOCAL

Match 32 Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi.

4. *The Sports Ministry has issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for use of swimming pools* for sports persons. The Home Ministry had allowed swimming pools to open for the purpose of training from 15 October.

5. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has condoled the demise of former New Zealand skipper John Reid, who breathed his last at the age of 92 on Wednesday.