Japan's Morinari Watanabe elected President of International Gymnastics Federation

Japan's Morinari Watanabe elected President of International Gymnastics Federation Japan's Morinari Watanabe on 20 October 2016 was elected the new President of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). Watanabe emerged victorious in the election after defeating rival candidate Georges Guelzec of France by a huge margin in a vote at the governing body's Congress. Watanabe, who is the secretary-general of Japan Gymnastics Association (JGA), won 100 of the 119 votes. Guelzec, the head of the European Union of Gymnastics (UEG), received a mere 19 votes. With this, Watanabe became the ninth President of the FIG since it was established in 1881.  He will succeed Bruno Grandi, who had held the position for 20 years. Watanabe is due to officially take charge on 1 January 2016. About International Federation of Gymnastics • The International Federation of Gymnastics is the governing body of competitive gymnastics. • It is headquartered is in Lausanne, Switzerland. • It was founded on 23 July 1881, in Liege, Belgium. • It is the world's oldest existing international sports organisation. • It was originally called the European Federation of Gymnastics. • It had three member countries, Belgium, France and the Netherlands, until 1921, when non-European countries were admitted and it received its current name. • The federation sets the rules, known as the Code of Points, that regulate how gymnasts' performances are evaluated. • Six gymnastics disciplines are governed by the FIG. They are artistic gymnastics, further classified as men's artistic gymnastics (MAG) and women's artistic gymnastics (WAG), rhythmic gymnastics (RG), aerobic gymnastics (AER), acrobatic gymnastics (ACRO) and trampolining (TRA). • The federation is also responsible for determining whether gymnasts are old enough to participate in the Olympics.

Milan confers honorary citizenship on Dalai Lama

Milan confers honorary citizenship on Dalai Lama The Milan city council on 20 October 2016 bestowed honorary citizenship on the Dalai Lama. However, China has strongly opposed another award given to him. Lamberto Bertole, Chairman of the Council of Milan, honoured the Dalai Lama with the Milan Honorary Citizenship award at a ceremony held at the Arcimboldi Theatre in Milan, Italy.  About Dalai Lama • The 14th Dalai Lama is the current Dalai Lama. • Dalai Lamas are important monks of the Gelug school, the newest school of Tibetan Buddhism, which is nominally headed by the Ganden Tripas. • From the time of the 5th Dalai Lama to 1959, the central government of Tibet, the Ganden Phodrang, invested the position of Dalai Lama with temporal duties. • The 14th Dalai Lama was born in Taktser village, Amdo, Tibet. • He was selected as the tulku of the 13th Dalai Lama in 1937 and formally recognized as the 14th Dalai Lama at a public declaration near the town of Bumchen in 1939. • His enthronement ceremony as the Dalai Lama was held in Lhasa on 22 February 1940. • He eventually assumed full temporal duties on 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, after China's invasion of Tibet. • During the 1959 Tibetan uprising, the Dalai Lama fled to India, where he currently lives as a refugee. • The 14th Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

Police Commemoration Day observed across India Police Commemoration Day

Police Commemoration Day observed across India Police Commemoration Day: 21 October The Police Commemoration Day was observed on 21 October 2016 across India. The day commemorates the sacrifices of ten policemen while defending the borders with China in 1959. Home Minister Rajnath Singh laid wreath and paid homage to the police martyrs at Police Memorial Ground, Chanakyapuri in Delhi. Background • On 21 October 1959, Chinese Army personnel opened fire and threw grenades at the police party of 20 personnel. • Ten of them died, seven were taken prisoners by the Chinese and the remaining managed to escape. • The Annual Conference of Inspectors General of Police of States and Union Territories held in January 1960 decided that 21 October will be observed as Commemoration Day in all Police Lines throughout India to mark the memory of these gallant personnel. • Since 1961, more than 33000 police personnel have sacrificed their lives for security of the nation and service to the society.

Union Government to establish Krishi Vigyan Kendra in each district

Union Government to establish Krishi Vigyan Kendra in each district Union Government in October 2016 decided to establish at least one Krishi Vigyan Kendra in each of the districts in country. These Kendra’s will be developed to provide technical assistance to farmers. The decision was announced by the Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh while interacting via video conference with all the Krishi Vigyan Kendra experts, district level officers associated with agriculture development and progressive farmers of 12 States. Besides, he Singh also called upon the farmers to use the residual husk after paddy farming to make organic fertilizer, in paper making and card-board industry and as animal feed. The Minister said this will prevent the adverse effect of husk burning on the environment.

Tweetcast to predict vote in upcoming US Presidential elections

Tweetcast to predict vote in upcoming US Presidential elections An online tool, TweetCast, can predict whether citizens will vote for Donald Trump or Hilary Clinton in the upcoming US Presidential elections has been developed. The tool was developed by researchers of Northwestern University in the US. TweetCast uses a machine-learning algorithm to examine words, hashtags, tagged usernames and mentioned websites to uncover which terms are most predictive of voting preference. TweetCast • The tool was designed by Larry Birnbaum, a professor of computer science in Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering and his students. • It can also predict which party will dominate a particular state in the November 8 elections. • As per the algorithm, tweet words "lying," "liberal," and "illegal" indicates a vote for Republican candidate Trump. • On the other hand, using the words "single," "humanity," and "rights", predicts a vote for Democratic rival Clinton. • The algorithm was trained on Twitter users who have publicly declared support for one of the two candidates. • Researchers said that 'TweetCast' has a prediction accuracy of over 80 per cent.

Indian football team achieves highest FIFA ranking in six years

Indian football team achieves highest FIFA ranking in six years The Indian football team on 20 October 2016 achieved its best FIFA ranking in over six years. The team jumped 11 placed to be 137th in the latest list. India, who defeated 114th ranked Puerto Rico in an International Friendly in Mumbai in September 2016, garnered 230 points for the month. In August 2010, India were ranked 137th which stayed India’s best ever FIFA Ranking since then. The Indian team was ranked 171st in February 2015 and slipped to 173rd in March 2015. At present, Argentina tops the FIFA World Rankings, followed by Germany and Brazil. About FIFA World Rankings • The FIFA World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football. • The teams of the member nations of FIFA are ranked based on their game results with the most successful teams being ranked highest. • The rankings were introduced in December 1992, and eight teams (Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain) have held the top position, of which Brazil have spent longest ranked first. • A points system is used, with points being awarded based on the results of all FIFA-recognised full international matches. • The ranking system was most recently revamped after the 2006 World Cup, with the first edition of the new series of rankings issued on 12 July 2006. The most significant change is that the rankings are now based on results over the previous four years instead of the previous eight year

SC freezes BCCI's financial transactions

SC freezes BCCI's financial transactions Supreme Court on 21 October 2016 froze all financial transactions between the BCCI and state cricket associations. The apex court directed the apex cricket body not to disburse any funds, even for the match purposes, till BCCI resolved to abide by Justice RM Lodha panel recommendations. A bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur asked Lodha panel to appoint independent auditors to scrutinize all BCCI accounts. The judgment also directed the Lodha panel to ask the auditors to scrutinize the high-value contracts provided by BCCI. Justice RM Lodha Committee submitted its report to Supreme Court The apex court also directed BCCI president Anurag Thakur and Secretary Ajay Shirke to give undertaking on affidavit, before the Lodha panel and apex court by 3 December 2016, stating how much time they would need to implement reforms. Highlights of the Decision • It directed the Lodha panel to ask the auditors to scrutinise the high-value contracts given by BCCI and also fix a ceiling of high-value contracts involving media rights.  • It asked the Ladha panel’s secretary to send a copy of the apex court order to the ICC chairman Shashank Manohar.

Current Affairs One liner of the Day: 21 October 2016

brings for its reader daily updated quizzes that cover the topics like honorary citizenship on Dalai Lama, SBI’s 5th zone in North-East India and book The Adivasi Will Not Dance among others. 1.    Which of the following cities recently bestowed honorary citizenship on Dalai Lama? a)    Rome b)    Venice c)    Milan d)    Sicily 2.    Who of the following was recently elected as the President of the International Gymnastics Federation? a)    Georges Guelzec b)    Morinari Watanabe c)    Bruno Grandi d)    Vasily Titov 3.    Who was appointed as the Commandant of the Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala in Kerala? a)    Vice Admiral S V Bhokare b)    Vice Admiral S V Bhosle c)    Vice Admiral Karambir Singh d)    Vice Admiral G. Ashok Kumar 4.    When is the Police Commemoration Day observed? a)    20 October b)    19 October c)    21 October d)    15 October 5.    The State Bank of India (SBI) declared its 5th zone in North-East India. Name the place where this zone is located. a)    Guwahati b)    Shillong c)    Dibrugarh d)    Silchar 6.    Name the Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC) that was commissioned by Indian Navy in the third week of October 2016. a)    INS Tihayu b)    INS Chakra c)    INS Kalvari d)    INS Kursura 7.    Satyadev Katare recently passed away. Who was he? a)    Leader of the Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly b)    A Gandhian activist c)    An artist d)    None of the above 8.    Who is the author of the book titled The Adivasi Will Not Dance? a)    Kiran Doshi b)    Kunal Basu c)    Manjula Padmanabhan d)    Hansda Sowendra Shekhar 9.    Identify the well-known Gandhian activist, who passed away recently. a)    Eqbal Ahmad b)    Uri Avnery c)    Joan Baez d)    Mewa Ramgobin 10.    Who of the following is the author of the book The Sleepwalker's Dream? a)    Amitav Ghosh b)    Dhrubajyoti Borah c)    Ramachandra Guha d)    Margaret Alva 11.    Name the country that along with the United States imposed sanctions on alleged Hezbollah members and financial backers. a)    Saudi Arabia b)    Israel c)    Japan d)    Iraq 12.    Who of the following has authored the book Andhere Se Ujale Ki Aur that was released in October 2016? a)    Swapan Das Gupta b)    Amit Shah c)    Arun Jaitley d)    Madhu Dandavate 13.    Name the country that will posthumously pardon thousands of gay and bisexual men. a)    China b)    Russia c)    The United States of America d)    The United Kingdom 14.    India was ranked at what position in the FIFA ranking that was released on 20 October 2016? a)    146 b)    137 c)    123 d)    121 15.    Name the cloud service firm that will be acquired by Wipro Limited? a)    Concur Technologies b)    Taleo c)    Appirio d)    Success Factors ANSWER 1. (c) Milan 2. (b) Morinari Watanabe 3. (a) Vice Admiral S V Bhokare 4. (c) 21 October 5. (d) Silchar 6. (a) INS Tihayu 7. (a) Leader of the Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly 8. (d) Hansda Sowendra Shekhar 9. (d) Mewa Ramgobin 10. (b) Dhrubajyoti Borah 11. (a) Saudi Arabia 12. (c) Arun Jaitley 13. (d) The United Kingdom 14. (b) 137 15. (c) Appirio

Current Affairs One liner of the Day: 21 October 2016

Current Affairs One liner of the Day: 21 October 2016 The one liner of the day covers important current affairs of the day like FIFA ranking, country to posthumously pardon thousands of gay and bisexual men and book The Sleepwalker's Dream among others. •    India’s rank in the FIFA ranking that was released on 20 October 2016 is - 137 •    Country that will posthumously pardon thousands of gay and bisexual men is - The United Kingdom •    An online tool that was developed by scientists that can predict whether citizens will vote for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton in the upcoming US Presidential elections is - 'Tweetcast' •    The Police Commemoration Day is observed on - 21 October •    Vice Admiral S V Bhokare was recently appointed as the Commandant of the -Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala in Kerala •    The secretary-general of Japan Gymnastics Association elected as the President of the International Gymnastics Federation is - Morinari Watanabe •    The city that recently bestowed honorary citizenship on Dalai Lama is - Milan •    The well-known Gandhian activist, who passed away recently, is - Mewa Ramgobin •    The author of the book titled The Adivasi Will Not Dance is - Hansda Sowendra Shekhar •    Satyadev Katare recently passed away. He was - Leader of the Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly •    He is the authored the book Andhere Se Ujale Ki Aur that - Arun Jaitley •    The country that along with the United States imposed sanctions on alleged Hezbollah members and financial backers is – Saudi Arabia •    Author of the book, The Sleepwalker's Dream is - Dhrubajyoti Borah, the President of Asam Sahitya Sabha •    The State Bank of India (SBI) on 20 October 2016 declared Silchar as its 5th zone in North-East India to cater to the banking needs of the people of - Mizoram, Tripura and Manipur along with the Barak Valley •    The first ever global conference to strengthen Arbitration and Enforcement in India began in - New Delhi •    Typhoon that killed at least four people in Philippines after lashing the country is - Super Typhoon Haima