October 21, 2016

21st October 2016 Events - Important Current Affairs

21st October 2016 Current Affairs

International Affairs

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar is going to travel to Sri Lanka over the weekend to discuss economic cooperation and implementation of various decisions taken during the recent visits to India by the President and Prime Minister of the island nation.

The issue of capturing of fishermen is also likely to be discussed during his visit.

National Affairs

Commemoration Parades are held in all police units as a mark of respect to brave police martyrs, who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty.
The arms are reversed and two minutes silence is observed in the honour of the departed souls.
The names of police martyrs of states, police and paramilitary forces are read out, to acknowledge with pride the supreme sacrifices made by them.
The history of Commemoration Day traces back to 21st October 1959, when a patrol party of CRPF, led by SI Karan Singh, was ambushed by the Chinese forces at Hot Springs Ladakh and 10 jawans were killed.

The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee has inaugurated a Global Conference on ‘National Initiative towards strengthening Arbitration and Enforcement in India’ at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.

The Global Conference is being organized jointly by the NITI Aayog, Ministry of Law and Justice, National Legal Services Authority, International Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution and Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.
Aim of the Conference : to provide a platform to the Indian legal and policy making fraternity to engage with the broader international commercial arbitration community especially the top-tier international arbitral institutions and stakeholders.

Maharashtra government has launched ‘Kaushalya Setu’, a skill development programme for students.
The 18th MAMI (Mumbai Acadamy of the Moving Image) Film Festival began today at the Opera House in Mumbai.

The week-long festival will showcase 175 films, including Konkona Sen Sharma’s directorial debut 'A Death in the Gunj'.

Science & Technology

India is all set to test-fire BrahMos from IAF’s Sukhoi-30 MKI in the Bay of Bengal this December.

Note : This is the first time that the BrahMos missile will be tested from an aircraft platform.

MOUs & Agreements

India signs Guarantee Agreement with World Bank for IBRD direct lending of US$ 650 million to Dedicated Freight Corridor Corp. of India Ltd.
The Union Ministry of Railways and Union Urban Development Ministry have inked Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for smart railway stations.

The validity of the MoU is for the five years and can be extended with the consent of both the ministries.

Business & Economy

E-commerce marketplace Flipkart is going to launch offline stores in small cities, where awareness about online shopping is low and users have inconsistent or limited internet access.
State-run carrier Air India is going to tie up with telecom operator BSNL to install Wi-Fi facility on its aircraft.
Government decides to sell 'Chana' from its buffer stock through commodity exchange, National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) to bring down prices.

Sports

The Supreme Court today asked the Lodha panel to appoint an independent auditor for the BCCI.

The auditor will look into BCCI's award of contracts, including the impending sale of IPL's media rights for 2018 season onwards.
Note : The Lodha panel had recommended placing a representative of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in the Board.

The Indian football team saw its ranking in the FIFA international rankings rise by 11 places to reach the 137th place, their best ranking since 2010.

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