Title

Daily Current Affairs Capsule

Title 2019
11th October
International Day of The Girl Child: 11 October

International Day of the Girl Child is an important observance held every year on October 11.

 There are several other names of the day, such as Day of Girls, World Girl Child Day, International Girl
Child Day and International Day of The Girl.
 The aim behind this international observance declared by the United Nations (UN) and first celebrated in
2012 is to raise girls' issues worldwide.
 The observation supports more opportunities for girls and increases awareness of gender inequality faced
by girls worldwide based upon their gender.
 Theme : GirlForce: Unscripted and unstoppable

Singapore will become the first country to ban ads for sugary drinks

Singapore will become the first country in the world to ban advertisements for the most unhealthy sugary drinks.

 The health ministry called the ban as its latest move to combat rising diabetes rates.
 Products deemed "less healthy" must now display labels grading their nutritional and sugar content.
  Those considered to be most unhealthy will be banned from appearing in ads across all media platforms,
including broadcast, print and online channels.

Piyush Goyal to attend 9th RCEP Intersessional Ministerial Meeting in Thailand

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will attend the 9th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, RCEP
Intersessional Ministerial meeting in Bangkok, Thailand.

 This will be the last Ministerial before the 3rd Leaders Summit to be held on the 4th of next month in
Bangkok.
 The 9th Intersessional Ministerial Meeting comes at a crucial stage where the RCEP is scheduled to be
announced as concluded in November this year.
 Points to Remember
 The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA)
between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and its
six FTA partners (China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand).

Govt launches SUMAN initiative

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan along with several State Health Ministers
launched Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan, SUMAN, initiative in New Delhi.

 The initiative was launched during the 13th Conference of Central Council of Health and Family Welfare.
 The initiative aims at ensuring dignified, respectful and quality health care at no cost and zero tolerance
for denial of services for every woman and newborn visiting the public health facility in order to end all
preventable maternal and newborn deaths.

First National Hindi Science writers conference begins in Lucknow

In Uttar Pradesh, the first 2-day long National Hindi Science writers conference started in Lucknow.

 The aim of this conference is to release science writing from the clutches of English and to promote the
use of Hindi and other vernacular languages.
 More than one thousand science writers from across the country are expected to take part in this
conference.
 A dedicated website WWW.VIGYANLEKHAN.COM has been prepared for this event.

38th India Carpet Expo started in Varanasi

The Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) is organizing the 38th India Carpet Expo (15th in Varanasi) from
11th- 14th October 2019 in Sampurnanand Sanskrit University Ground in Varanasi.
  The aim of this Expo is to promote the cultural heritage and weaving skills of Indian hand-made carpets
and other floor coverings for the visiting overseas carpet buyers.
 The Expo is organized twice a year in Varanasi and Delhi.
 India Carpet Expo is one of the largest handmade carpet fairs in Asia.
 Indian handmade carpet industry is number one in the international handmade carpet market both in terms
of value and volume.
 India exports 85-90% of its total carpet production.

‘Garbage Cafe' in Chhattisgarh's Ambikapur to provide a free meal in exchange for plastic waste

The first-of-its-kind 'Garbage Cafe' commenced in Ambikapur city of Chhattisgarh.

 In this unique Cafe', poor people and rag pickers will get free food in exchange for one kilogram of plastic,
while breakfast will be provided if half a kilogram of plastic is brought to the cafe.
 The café has been inaugurated by Health Minister of Chhattisgarh T. S. Singh Deo.
 The collected garbage will be sold at Solid-Liquid Resources Management Centre.
 The collected plastic waste would further be turned into granules and will then be used in the construction
of roads in the city.
 Ambikapur is Chhattisgarh’s first dustbin-free city.
 The city has been hailed as the second cleanest city in the country in Swachhata rankings.

GST Council forms 12-member panel to suggest compliance, revenue reforms

Government has constituted a 12 member committee of officers to suggest measures to augment Goods and
Services Tax revenue.

 The panel comprising state-level GST commissioners and central government officials has been asked to
suggest urgent measures to arrest the fall in tax revenues and suggest steps to be taken to improve revenue
collection.
 The panel comprises state GST commissioners of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal
and Punjab besides central government officials including Principal Commissioner of GST and Joint
Secretary (Revenue).
 This development took place ten days after the collection for the month of September was found to dip to
₹91,916 crores, the lowest after February 2018.
 The Government has set a target of collecting over ₹1 lakh crore every month during the current fiscal.

RBI gives final nod to Kerala govt for the formation of Kerala Bank

The Reserve Bank of India has given its final nod to the Kerala Government for the formation of the Kerala Bank.

 With its formation, the proposed Kerala Bank will be the largest banking network in the state.
  Kerala Bank would be formed amalgamating the 13 District Co-operative Banks (DCBs) with Kerala State
Co-operative Bank.
 The government had claimed that the objective of the formation of the Kerala Bank is to strengthen the
cooperative sector.

Nobel Prize in Literature awarded to Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk for 2018 and to Austrian author Peter
Handke for 2019

The 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature has been announced along with the 2018 Prize.

 Austrian author Peter Handke has won the 2019 Prize while Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk has received
the 2018 Prize.
 Tokarczuk becomes just the 15th woman to have won the prestigious distinction, out of 116 literature
laureates honoured since 1901.
 The 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature was announced along with the 2018 Prize as the latter was delayed by
a year following a scandal that included allegations of sexual misconduct.