1) A tributary of the Brahmaputra River in Tibet has been blocked by china.
- China has blocked a tributary of the Brahmaputra river in Tibet as part of the construction of its "most expensive" hydro project, which could cause concern in India as it may impact water flows into the lower riparian countries.
- The Lalho project on the Xiabuqu river, a tributary of the Yarlung Zangbo (the Tibetan name for Brahmaputra), in Xigaze in Tibet involves an investment of 4.95 billion yuan ($740 million), Zhang Yunbao, head of the project`s administration bureau was quoted.
- India’s largest spectrum auction worth Rs. 5.63 lakh crore starts.
- India’s largest-ever spectrum sale where mobile airwaves worth Rs. 5.63 lakh crore are up on the block kicked off.
- Leading operators, including Reliance Jio, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Bharti Airtel, are in the fray for frequencies that are crucial for next-generation telecom services.
- The spectrum auction has entered the third round, with activity in 2,100 MHz, 2,300 Mhz and 2,500 Mhz bands and most of the action is seen in 1,800 Mhz band.
- Arunachal Pradesh CM flags off all-women Mt Gorichen Expedition.
- Chief Minister Pema Khandu flagged off the all-women Mount Gorichen Expedition from his office premises in Itanagar.
- This will be the first all women team attempting to summit Mount Gorichen the second highest peak of Arunachal Pradesh. Its altitude is 6488 meter (21286ft) high above sea level.
- It belongs to the Himalaya Mountain Group and is a sub-range to Assam Himalaya. It is also the Headwaters of the Kameng River in Tawang.
- Union Government approves Rs. 1269 crore rupees for drought affected Maharashtra.
- A central assistance of Rs. 1,269 crore has been approved by the Union government approved a for drought-hit Maharashtra against a demand of Rs. 3,200 crore.
- The state government had sought Rs. 2,000 crore as supplementary relief aid for losses in the kharif season and Rs. 1,200 crore for relief of farmers who suffered losses during the rabi season.
- The demand was raised under the National Disaster Relief Fund, but Union home minister Rajnath Singh approved Rs. 589.47 crore as supplementary assistance for damage to kharif crop and Rs. 679.54 crore for damage to rabi crop.
2) Rajasthan becomes 1st state to adopt LED street lights under all bulbs.
- Rajasthan becomes the first state to adopt centre`s Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP) in all its urban local bodies (ULB).
- Almost 5 lakh conventional street lights have been replaced with LED street lights across the state.
- The project has been funded by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a Public Energy Services Company under the administration of Ministry of Power, Government of India (GoI), at no cost to the state.
- Selfies for safety by Delhi govt.
- In a fresh initiative to enable a sense of security for the city’s elderly, the Delhi Police’s beat officers will be required to take a selfie whenever they visit a senior citizen.
- The policeman will then be required to upload the selfie on a mobile app especially designed for senior citizens.
- SBI to close down 59 SBT branches in TN.
- The State Bank of India (SBI) proposes to close down 59 branches of its associate State Bank of Travancore (SBT) in Tamil Nadu where it operates 175 branches.
- This is over and above 204 SBT branches that the SBI proposes to be close down in Kerala.
- The government has already taken a decision to merge all five associate banks, State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Mysuru (SBM), State Bank of Travancore (SBT), State Bank of Patiala (SBP) and State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH), with its parent SBI.
- PM inaugurates Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra.
- The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, inaugurated the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in New Delhi.
- Speaking on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri was an apt occasion for such an event.
- Department of Posts releases two Commemorative Stamps on Gandhi Jayanti.
- As a part of Swachh Bharat Mission, Department of Posts organised a nation-wide competition inviting entries for designing the commemorative postage stamps of denominations of Rs. 25 and Rs. 5 and a miniature sheet.
- The designs on the stamp & miniature sheet are based on three best entries submitted by Ms. Binita Biswajeeta, Ms. Sanjula S. and Ms. Arushi Aggarwal in a competition conducted by central govt.
- Nation pays homage to Mahatma Gandhi & former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri on their birth anniversary.
- The nation pays homage to Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi on his 147th birth anniversary on 2nd October, 2016.
- The nation also remembers the former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on his 112nd birth anniversary. Born in 2nd October 1904, he joined the Indian independence movement in the 1920s and held several important portfolios in the Jawaharlal Nehru`s government including Railways and as Home Minister.
3) National Mission on Bioeconomy launched in Meghalaya.
- In order to boost rural economy by utilising bio-resources, a National Mission on Bioeconomy was launched by the Institute of Bio-resources and Sustainable Development (IBSD) under the Ministry of Science and Technology.
- The purpose of the mission is to boost rural economy by utilizing bio-resources. Besides, it can be optimally utilized can create a large number of jobs at village level.
- IBSD chief: Dinabandhu Sahoo.
- 60th founders day celebrations of Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya, Gwalior.
- On the occasion of six decades of establishment of the institution. The President appreciated Shrimati Vijaya Raje Scindia for the vision and courage of establishing an educational institution exclusively for girl children that too sixty years ago when literacy amongst women in our country lingered around 10 percent.
- Government unveils sustainable Urban Development strategy for next 20 years.
- The Government made public the Urban Development strategy for the next 20 years intending to give a big push to use growing urbanization for rapid economic development while at the same time committing itself to address issues of sustainable development and climate change.
- Key Facts:
- Reducing water and power use by half, renewable energy, public transport, inclusivity key elements.
- Focus on cities for rapid economic growth while addressing sustainability and climate change issues.
- Over 10 lakh houses for urban poor sanctioned in one year; as many as during 9 years of JNNURM.
- Jharkhand becomes first state to launch Direct Benefit Transfer in Kerosene.
- Jharkhand has become the first state in the country to implement Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) in Kerosene in four identified districts namely, Chatra, Hazaribagh, Khunti and Jantara from 1st October, 2016.
- Under the DBTK Scheme, PDS kerosene is being sold at non-subsidised price, and, subsidy, as admissible, is being transferred to consumers directly into their bank accounts.
- This initiative of the governments is aimed at rationalising subsidy, based on the approach to cut subsidy leakages but not subsidy per se.
- Minister of Railways Modifies Senior Citizens Concession Rules.
- Ministry of Railways has decided to grant concession only to senior citizens of Indian Nationality, permanently residing in India.
- It has been clarified that Senior Citizen concession shall not be admissible to the senior citizen of foreign nationals & NRIs.
- A Senior Citizen of Indian Nationality, permanently residing in India of the age of 60 years and above for Men Senior citizen and 58 years and above in case of Women Senior Citizen shall only be eligible for concession in passenger fare.
- Developing and Operating Inland Water Transport Terminal at Kolkata and Patna under PPP Model.
- Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), Ministry of Shipping, has identified development and operation of Kolkata Terminal’s GR Jetty-I, GR Jetty-II & BISN and Patna Terminal’s Gaighat & Kalughat on National Waterways-1 i.e. River Ganga under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.
- This is the first PPP project undertaken by the IWAI. Under the transactional structure worked out by International Finance Corporation (IFC), the operator will undertake the operations and maintenance services at both Kolkata and Patna clusters and invest in equipment handling mechanism, goods, items, container loading and unloading equipment and warehousing.