African Union seeks India’s help

• In a bid to fight the rapid spread of the Ebola virus disease, the African Union Support to Ebola Outbreak in West Africa, a team formed for emergency response on Ebola that is under the African Union Commission Social Affairs, has urged the Indian government to lend support with medical human resources.
• The Indian government has had disasters, including natural and human made in many aspects and is very good at emergency preparedness and emergency response, hence, working with them in that aspect could really be supportive to tackle the issues, according to Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko, the commissioner for social affairs at the AUC. — IANS

U.N. support to Satyarthi, Malala

• Lauding this year’s Nobel Peace laureates Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said the two “remarkable” Asians give hope to people around the world struggling against exploitation and assured the world body’s support to their “vitally important work”.
• Mr. Ban congratulated Mr. Satyarthi and Ms. Yousafzai in his remarks to the Asia Society Game Changer Awards here on Thursday, noting that the awards celebrate an array of “remarkable” Asians.
• The inaugural award has been instituted by leading educational and cultural organization Asia Society honouring “true leaders making a positive contribution to the future of Asia.”

Hong Kong demonstrators try to retake protest camp

• Fresh clashes broke out in Hong Kong on Friday night as demonstrators attempted to retake a protest camp partially cleared by police earlier in the day, jeopardising talks to end weeks of mass democracy rallies.
• Officers used pepper spray and batons to beat back activists as they tried to reoccupy a busy main road in the bustling Mongkok district, which has been home to a protest camp for nearly three weeks, an AFP reporter on the scene saw.
• “We want to take back this spot because it’s what we had,” said Gary Yip, a 17-year-old high school student.
• It is the third consecutive night that violence has broken out after a fortnight of comparative calm — a development that risks sinking only recently resurrected plans to hold talks between student leaders and the city’s Beijing-backed authorities.
• The Asian financial hub has been rocked by demonstrations for nearly three weeks — some of which drew crowds of tens of thousands — calling for free elections and the resignation of the city’s leader Leung Chun-ying.
• Protesters have held sit-ins at three major intersections causing significant disruption to a city usually known for its stability, and presenting Beijing with one of the most significant challenges to its authority since the 1989 Tiananmen protests.
• China has insisted that Mr. Leung’s successor must be vetted by a loyalist committee before standing for election in 2017, a proposal protesters have dismissed as “fake democracy”.
• Earlier in the day, officers had significantly reduced the size of the northern Mongkok camp — the second largest after the main protest site opposite the government’s headquarters in central Hong Kong — in a swift dawn raid that saw no resistance from demonstrators.
• Mongkok had previously seen clashes between protesters and masked government loyalists earlier in the month.
• Throughout Friday, demonstrators managed to hold on to one side of a multi-lane road where the camp had been located. Police then struggled to maintain order as crowds of pro-democracy supporters began to swell during the evening.
• Violence broke out around 8 p.m. (1200 GMT) after several protesters tried to push through a police cordon.

Nigeria claims deal with Boko Haram

• Nigeria’s military and presidency on Friday claimed to have reached a deal with Boko Haram militants on a ceasefire but released contradictory statements on whether a deal for the release of more than 219 kidnapped schoolgirls was in place.
• “A ceasefire agreement has been concluded between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad [Boko Haram],” Chief of Defence Staff Air Marshal Alex Badeh said. “I have accordingly directed the service chiefs to ensure immediate compliance with this development in the field.”
• Separately, President Goodluck Jonathan’s Principal Secretary Hassan Tukur told AFP that an agreement to end hostilities had been reached following talks, as well as the release of 219 girls held captive since April. “Boko Haram issued the ceasefire as a result of the discussions we have been having with them,” said Mr. Tukur, adding that the announcement was made “last night” (Thursday). “They have agreed to release the Chibok girls,” he continued, referring to the 219 teenage girls held hostage after their April 14 kidnapping from a secondary school in Chibok, northeast Nigeria.
• Nigeria’s chief security spokesman, however, said that there was no deal in place for the release of the schoolgirls. “No. That part has not been agreed but we are inching closer and closer,” the head of the National Information Centre, Mike Omeri, said.
• The different branches of the government have frequently made contradictory statements on major national events in the past, with competing agendas often leading to confusing and contradictory positions.
• Questions surrounded the purported deal, given that Jonathan is expected to declare his re-election bid and positive news about the hostages and violence could give him a political boost.
• There was also uncertainty about the identity of Danladi Ahmadu, who was said by Mr. Tukur to be Boko Haram’s representative at the talks and who gave a radio interview broadcast this morning.
• Multiple analysts cast doubt on Mr. Ahmadu’s credibility as a Boko Haram envoy while Nigeria has made similar ceasefire claims in the past which failed to materialise.

India, China agree to defuse tensions

• Indian and Chinese diplomats agreed to defuse tensions of the past three months at a two-day meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) in Delhi that concluded here on Friday. But a month after Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to restarting the high-level talks of Special Representatives on border issues, India is yet to announce its nominee for the dialogue.
• Sources tell The Hindu that officials in New Delhi and Beijing are deadlocked over “issues of bureaucratic rank,” given that Chinese Special Representative Yang Jiechi is a “state councillor,” equal to the Indian rank of Minister of State, while National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, who would have been the obvious choice for the post, has not been designated to that rank.
• Ahead of Mr. Xi’s visit to India, Mr. Doval travelled to Beijing as the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy, and the announcement of his nomination as Special Representative was expected during the President’s visit. However, Chinese officials made it clear informally that Mr. Doval should have the Minister of State rank for the talks to continue. Former NSAs Shivshankar Menon and M.K. Narayanan were both of that rank. Upset with China’s rebuff, New Delhi is learnt to have put off the announcement.
• Some reports speculated that the Chairman of the National Security Advisory Board Shyam Saran or India’s Ambassador to the U.S., S. Jaishankar, both of whom have been Ambassadors to China, could be alternative choices and would be given other responsibilities on external security issues.
• Experts say the delay has come at the cost of resumption of dialogue at the highest level, making the Line of Actual Control more vulnerable to stand-offs of the kind seen in Chumar since July 25 — first over the construction of a road near Chumar by China and then an irrigation canal and observation post by India.
• “Clearly, without having the Special Representatives in place, the government cannot signal any interest in resuming this very important process of clarifying the LAC,” says Srinath Raghavan, a military expert at the Centre for Policy Research.

CPI inflation declined to 6.46 percent in September 2014

• Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation or retail inflation of September 2014 stood at 6.46 percent as compared to the 7.3 percent in August 2014. The CPI inflation data was released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on 13 October 2014.
• The retail inflation of September 2014 is the second straight fall, due to lower food and fuel costs. This fall is the lowest since the new series of Consumer Price Index was released in January 2012.
• The retail inflation of fuel and light cost came down to 3.45 percent from 4.15 percent of August 2014.
• The retail inflation for over all food inflation dropped to 7.67 percent in September 2014 from 9.35 percent in August 2014.
• The retail inflation of fruits slowed to 22.4 percent in September 2014 from 24.27 percent in August 2014. There is a price rise in protein rich items like eggs, fish and meat was slower in September against August 2014.
• The retail inflation is 6.34 percent in urban areas and 6.68 percent in rural areas in September in 2014.
• The RBI is expected to reduce the CPI inflation 8 percent by January 2015 and 6 percent by January 2016.

Global Hunger Index Report 2014 released: India Ranked at 55th Position

 > Global Hunger Index Released

• The 2014 Global Hunger Index (GHI) was released on 13 October 2014 by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide.
• It revealed that two billion people were suffering from hidden hunger even though the levels of hunger in many developing countries decreased. The 2014 GHI was calculated for 120 developing countries and countries in transition, 55 of which have a serious or worse hunger situation.
• The 2014 GHI presented a multidimensional measure of national, regional, and global hunger. It showed that the world has made progress in reducing hunger since 1990, but still has far to go as the levels of hunger remain alarming or extremely alarming in 16 countries. Globally, 805 million people still suffer from hunger.
• Regionally, the highest hunger levels are observed in Africa South of the Sahara and South Asia which have also experienced the greatest absolute improvements since 2005. South Asia saw the sharp absolute decline in GHI scores since 1990. Progress in addressing child underweight was the main factor behind the improved GHI score for the region since 1990.
• From 1990 to 2014, 26 countries reduced their scores by 50 percent. In terms of absolute progress, Angola, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Chad, Ghana, Malawi, Niger, Rwanda, Thailand, and Vietnam witnessed the biggest improvement in scores since 1990.
• The severity of hunger was found to be low in 44 countries. These countries include Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Iran, Kazakhstan, Mexico and Turkey.
• Moreover, countries like Burundi and Eritrea were classified as extremely alarming as per the 2014 GHI. However, reliable data for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia was sorely lacking.

 > Hidden Hunger

• One form of hunger that is often ignored or overshadowed by hunger related to energy deficits is hidden hunger which is also called micronutrient deficiency. It affected some 2 billion people around the world.
• Hidden hunger can coexist with adequate or even excessive consumption of dietary energy from macronutrients such as fats and carbohydrates and also with obesity in one person or community.
• Poor diet, disease, impaired absorption and increased micronutrient needs during certain life stages, such as pregnancy, lactation, and infancy are among the causes of hidden hunger.
• Possible solutions to hidden hunger include food-based approaches: dietary diversification, fortification of commercial foods and biofortification, in which food crops are bred with increased micronutrient content.
• Food-based measures require long-term, sustained and coordinated efforts to make a lasting difference. On the other hand, vitamin and mineral supplements can help vulnerable populations combat hidden hunger in short span of time.
• Moreover to eliminate hidden hunger, Governments and multilateral institutions need to invest in and develop human and financial resources, increase coordination and ensure transparent monitoring and evaluation to build capacity on nutrition.
• Governments must also create a regulatory environment that values good nutrition. This could involve creating incentives for private sector companies to develop more nutritious seeds or foods.

> India's Performance as per 2014 Global Hunger Index 

• India improved its position in the Global Hunger Index in 2014 as it climbed to 55th position among  76 emerging economies from 63rd position in 2013. Though, it is still trailing behind countries like Thailand, China, Ghana, Iraq, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
• A sharp reduction in the percentage of underweight children has helped India improve its hunger record. India’s improved ranking is due to its progress in dealing with underweight children.
• However, India remains home to the largest number of chronically malnourished and stunted children under five. In the first GHI in 2006, India ranked 96 among 119 countries.

> About Global Hunger Index

• The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger globally and by country and region. It is calculated each year by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
• The GHI highlights successes and failures in hunger reduction and provides insights into the drivers of hunger. To reflect the multidimensional nature of hunger, the GHI combines three equally weighted indicators in one index number: 1. Undernourishment: The proportion of undernourished as a percentage of the population (reflecting the share of the population with insufficient calorie intake) 2. Child underweight: The proportion of children younger than the age of five who are underweight (low weight for age reflecting wasting, stunted growth, or both), which is one indicator of child under-nutrition. 3. Child mortality: The mortality rate of children younger than the age of five (partially reflecting the fatal synergy of inadequate dietary intake and unhealthy environments).
• The GHI ranks countries on a 100-point scale. Zero is the best score (no hunger) and 100 is the worst, although neither of these extremes is reached in practice. A lower GHI score implies better nutritional standard and a higher rank for a country.

Khaled Bahah appointed as Prime Minister of Yemen

• Khaled Bahah on 13 October 2014 was appointed as Prime Minister of Yemen. He was appointed by the President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. At the time of appointment Bahah was serving as permanent representative of the Republic of Yemen to the United Nations.
• The appointment comes under a power-sharing deal signed between Houthis and President Mansour Hadi in September 2014. The deal aims to bring the Houthis and the wing of a separatist group into a more inclusive government.
• In October 2014, President Mansour Hadi proposed Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak as Prime Minister but he was rejected by Houthi, Shiite Muslim group. Houthi group proposed three names and Khaled Bahah was one among them.
• Khaled Bahah was born in 1965.
• He holds the master’s degree in administration, business and finance from University of Pune, India.
• He served previously as oil minister in Yemen before being appointed Yemen's envoy to the United Nations.

British House of Commons passed symbolic motion to recognise Palestinian state

• British lawmakers on 13 October 2014 voted in favour to recognise Palestine as an official state. The vote saw 274 MPs in support of the motion, while 12 voted against. This move of the lawmakers would not alter the government policy but carries symbolic value as Palestinians pursue international recognition.
• The non-binding motion that was passed in Britain’s lower house (House of Commons) by 274 votes reads - this House believes that the Government should recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution.
• Although the motion was passed with an overwhelming majority but does not signify an official change in Britain’s position regarding the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. 
• The government may not officially recognize Palestine as a state, but says that it can change that position if it feels doing so would be constructive step to the peace process.
• The vote was closely watched by Palestinians and Israelis seeking to gauge the readiness of European countries to act on Palestinian hopes for unilateral recognition by United Nations member states.
• Palestinians want an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza, with its capital in East Jerusalem. 
• The debate on Palestinian statehood was first hosted by the House of Commons since 2012, after an online petition calling for the motion gathered over 100000 signatures.
• The UN General Assembly in 2012 approved the de facto recognition of Palestine as a state but the United States, the European Union and most EU countries, including Britain, have yet not approved unilateral independence of Palestine.

Earth-observing instrument activated on ISS

• NASA successfully installed and activated its first Earth-observing instrument - the ISS-RapidScat - on the International Space Station (ISS).
• The ISS-RapidScat will monitor ocean winds for climate research as well as weather predictions and hurricane monitoring. The instrument has already begun collecting data.
• “Its antenna began spinning and it started transmitting and receiving its first winds data Oct 1,” a NASA statement said.
• “Most satellite missions require weeks or even months to produce data of the quality that we seem to be getting from the first few days of RapidScat,” informed Ernesto Rodriguez from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Pasadena, California.
• “The quality of these data reflect the level of testing and preparation that the team has put in prior to launch,” Dr. Rodriguez added. ISS-RapidScat instrument was launched aboard the SpaceX CRS-4 mission on September 21.

A multi-sectoral approach to control dengue

• Dengue fever is rearing its ugly head again in India with new cases of infections and even deaths being reported from different States. The world’s fastest growing vector-borne disease, dengue sees an estimated 50-100 million cases being reported annually in over 100 endemic countries.
• Ever since its detection in the early 1950s, there has been a 30-fold increase in dengue incidence. Almost half of the world’s population is currently considered at risk of contracting dengue. The Southeast Asia region contributes to more than half of the global burden of the disease. About 52 per cent of the world’s population at risk resides in this region. Dengue is endemic in 10 of the 11 member states, and India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand are among the 30 most endemic countries in the world. 
• The good news is that deaths due to dengue have been brought down substantially. This is because of greater awareness among treating physicians on the proper use of World Health Organization protocols in providing care to dengue patients. This is also attributed to increased knowledge among communities to seek early treatment for symptoms that resemble those of dengue. However, an area of concern is that the number of cases has been increasing year after year. To understand it, we need to comprehend and keep pace with the changing epidemiology of dengue, especially the multiple ecological factors that influence its spread. 
• Being a vector-borne disease, ever-increasing numbers and varieties of mosquito-breeding habitats are being created with rapid and poorly planned urbanisation, globalisation, consumerism, poor solid waste and water management, and increasing population movement without adequate measures to prevent vector breeding.

SEBI ban puts DLF in a spot

• The Securities and Exchange Board of India’s ban on the country’s largest property developer, DLF, means the company could now struggle to pay down its debt using equity or debt instruments regulated by the market regulator. Its debt, which swelled as the firm ramped up land acquisitions before the financial crisis, stood at Rs.19,100 crore ($3.13 billion) at the end of June.
• The ban, a blow to the heavily indebted real estate firm, follows what the regulator said was DLF’s failure to provide key information on subsidiaries and pending legal cases at the time of its record-breaking 2007 initial public offering.
• A DLF spokesman said the company was reviewing the order, but declined to comment further.
• “As far as non-disclosure cases are concerned, this is the biggest case in SEBI’s history, and this is by far the biggest punishment they have imposed,’’ said J. N. Gupta, a former Executive Director at the regulator, who now runs a shareholder advisory firm.
• DLF raised $2.3 billion in 2007 at the height of the pre-financial crises euphoria, in what was then the country’s biggest market debut. New Delhi-based DLF builds homes, offices and shopping centres, and is now developing a 1.9-million square-foot retail mall close to the capital, which is expected to be the biggest in the country when it is completed next year.

Tata Value Homes plans to launch three new projects

• Tata Value Homes (TVH), a fully-owned subsidiary of Tata Housing Development Company, plans to launch three new ‘Value Home’ projects in the Mumbai metropolitan area, the Delhi NCR region and Kolkata. These projects, to be launched this financial year, will develop 12,000 flats, and these will be ready in phases over a 7-8 year horizon.
• Tata Housing Development Company Managing Director and CEO Brotin Banerjee said two of these projects were under the joint venture model, while the other one would be in a development management model.
• Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of its e-commerce platform for home buying, www.tatavaluehomes.com, he said the plan was to also add some international projects on the portal in this fiscal. TVH was working on projects in Sri Lanka and the Maldives under the public-private-partnership model, and was also considering projects in Africa, he added.
• TVH sold more than 750 flats online in a year, valued at over Rs.300 crore, and has now launched the e-commerce portal, Mr. Banerjee said, adding that the new user-friendly platform would allow buyers from anywhere in the world to book their flats in three easy steps, including selection of location, reviewing the details and booking online. 
• The booking entails a non-refundable payment of Rs.30,000, and the inaugural offer is ‘one price one nation’, starting from October 15. Accordingly, buyers can buy units at a uniform price across projects in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune and Chennai.

Continue with MGNREGA: Economists

• Several leading economists have appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to continue with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act amid apprehensions that the government might restrict the programme and not offer it adequate support.
• In a letter to Mr. Modi, Dilip Abreu, Pranab Bardhan, V. Bhaskar, Ashwini Deshpande, Jean Dreze, Maitreesh Ghatak, Jayati Ghosh, Dilip Mookherjee, R. Nagaraj, Debraj Ray and others argued that despite numerous hurdles, the NREGA had achieved significant results.
• The letter said: “We are writing to express our deep concern about the future of India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act .
• “The NREGA was enacted in 2005 with unanimous support from all political parties. It is a far-reaching attempt to bring some much-needed economic security to the lives of millions of people who are on the margin of subsistence.
• “Despite numerous hurdles, the NREGA has achieved significant results. At a relatively small cost (currently 0.3% of India’s GDP), about 50 million households are getting some employment at NREGA worksites every year. A majority of NREGA workers are women, and close to half are Dalits or Adivasis. A large body of research shows that the NREGA has wide-ranging social benefits, including the creation of productive assets.
• “Recent research also shows that corruption levels have steadily declined over time. While corruption remains a concern, experience shows that it can be curbed, and the battle against corruption in NREGA has helped to establish new standards of transparency in other social programmes as well.

Jean Tirole wins Nobel Prize for Economics

• French economist Jean Tirole won the 2014 Nobel Prize for economics for his work that has shed light on how governments should regulate powerful companies that dominate markets, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.
• “Jean Tirole is one of the most influential economists of our time,’’ the academy said. “Most of all, he has clarified how to understand and regulate industries with a few powerful firms.’’ The economist will receive an 8 million Swedish crown ($1.1 million) prize.
• Mr. Tirole’s research showed that market regulations should be carefully adapted to the conditions of specific industries, rather than general regulations such as price caps which can do more harm than good, the academy said.
• “This year's prize in economic sciences is about taming powerful firms,’’ Staffan Normark, Permanent Secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, told a news conference.
• The economics prize, officially called the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, was established in 1968. It was not part of the original group of awards set out in 1895 will of Nobel, the inventor of dynamite.

‘IS’ site closed down by Iceland

• Iceland has closed down a website believed to be used by IS, according to the authority responsible for the country’s Internet domain name “.is”.
• Internet in Iceland Inc, or ISNIC, said in a statement that it had “suspended domains that were used for the website of a known terrorist organisation”.
• The site “khilafah.is” — which ISNIC said was run by a group calling itself Islamic State — was believed to have been online since mid-September.

U.S. pressed Turkey to play stronger role against IS

• Kurdish fighters engaged in fierce clashes with jihadists on the Turkish border near Kobane, as Washington pressed Ankara to play a stronger role in the campaign against the Islamic State (IS) group.
• Turkey denied allowing the United States to use its bases against IS, after U.S. officials said access had been granted and that Ankara would also host training for “moderate” Syrian rebels.
• American and Saudi warplanes carried out seven new strikes around Kobane, the U.S. military said, including on ARE staging posts used in its bid to cut the town off from the outside world.
• A Kobane politician who is now a refugee said IS fighters had surrounded Kobane to the south, east and west, and warned of a “massacre” if they take the northern front bordering Turkey.
• Fighting spread to less than a km from the barbed wire frontier fence, with the jihadists carrying out two suicide car bomb attacks in the border zone, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
• With the jihadists advancing on its doorstep, NATO member Turkey has come under intense pressure to take action as part of the U.S.-led coalition that has been carrying out air strikes in both Syria and Iraq.
• Iraqi forces are reported to be under intensifying pressure in Anbar province between Baghdad and the Syrian border, where a roadside bomb killed the police chief.

President interacts with Indian scientists at Arctic station

• As five Indian scientists from “Himadri,” India’s Arctic station at Svalbard, listened in by video link, a dire climate change warning that linked varying monsoon patterns in India with Arctic ice melts was presented to President Pranab Mukherjee.
• Jan-Gunnar Winther, director of the Norway Polar Institute, said at the Fram maritime museum that scientists had consistently underestimated the process of climate change.
• Sitting alongside Norwegian King Harald V, President Mukherjee asked the five scientists about the links they had managed to establish between Arctic ice melting and monsoon pattern changes in India.
• “I wish you all success,” the President told the five scientists who were standing in snow at temperatures of minus five degrees at the “Himadri” station. He said the Indians at the Arctic station were taking risks by subjecting themselves to the cold, hostile climate.
• Mr. Mukherjee also sought suggestions from three Indian Ph.D candidates Archana Mesram, Srikumar Rai and Tina Chauhan, who joined in by a separate video link from the University Centre, Svalbard, on how India-Norway cooperation could be taken forward.
• Ms. Mesram said being able to study in Norway presented a huge opportunity for her and suggested to the President that more Indian universities should be involved in research activities with their Norwegian counterparts.

Rejuvenation of river Yamuna project

• With an aim to rid the Yamuna of pollutants and to end the discharge of effluents into it, the Delhi Government has embarked on an ambitious project to rejuvenate the river that runs through the Capital city.
• The "Rejuvenation of River Yamuna" project is being implemented by the Delhi Government with assistance from the Centre and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). The government has also sought assistance from the Netherlands in areas of its expertise like in river engineering and modelling, water resources management and pollution control to clean the Yamuna.
• Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung chaired a meeting of the governing body of the Unified Centre for Rejuvenation of River Yamuna on Monday and said the plan to rejuvenate the river is being coordinated by the Delhi Jal Board through its interceptor sewage project. The riverfront development has been entrusted to DDA which will set up biodiversity parks and recreational spaces.
• “While DJB's interceptor sewage project shall be able to check 70 per cent of the sewage flow into the river, the sewage from other drains also needs to be intercepted to check pollutants from entering the Yamuna,” he said.
• Asking all departments and agencies concerned to work on the project, Mr. Jung instructed Environment Secretary Sanjeev Kumar to take steps through the Delhi Pollution Control Committee to ensure that pollutants, especially from industries, are not allowed to flow into the Yamuna.

Post-Hudhud, relief efforts in A.P., Odisha

• The Andhra Pradesh government, with the support of the Army, the Navy, the National Disaster Response Force and other authorities, swung into action to provide relief to over 2,80,000 people in 44 mandals in four districts of north Andhra Pradesh affected by Cyclone Hudhud that crossed the coast, claiming 21 lives.
• Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu reached the city to oversee the operations. The cyclone, which made landfall here, was a 400-km-long system that wreaked havoc across the four districts. Fifteen lives were lost in Visakhapatnam district, five in Vizianagaram and one in Srikakulam. 
• Over 6,695 houses and 5,727 electric poles and transformers were damaged in the four districts. Nineteen tanks and canals breached their banks in Vizianagaram district.
• The focus of restoration was Visakhapatnam city, which has a large number of industrial establishments, apart from being the headquarters of the Eastern Naval Command. The 12 NDRF teams deployed in the district have been systematically cutting the fallen trees and clearing the National Highway and main thoroughfares in the city. Power distribution companies have deployed over 5,000 employees, apart from hiring 1,000 people to work on restoring power supply.

Overseas investors pull out Rs. 800 crore from stock market

• Overseas investors have pulled out nearly Rs. 800 crore from the Indian stock market since the beginning of this month, mainly on account of profit booking. In comparison, the debt market saw huge inflow of over Rs. 6,300 crore during the period.
• Foreign investors were gross buyers of equities worth Rs. 20,252 crore till October 10 and sellers to the tune of Rs. 21,038 crore — a net outflow of Rs. 786 crore (USD 128 million), according to the latest data.
• The outflow comes after overseas investments in the stock market hit seven months low in September. Market experts attributed the outflow to profit booking and consolidation in the equity market.
• “We have witnessed an outflow in this month mainly due to profit booking and the market is also in a consolidation mode,” CNI Research Head Kishor Ostwal said. He further said that the long-term prospects of staying invested in India are still positive.
• Overseas investors (Foreign Institutional Investors or Foreign Portfolio Investors) had pumped in a little over Rs. 5,100 crore in Indian equity markets in September, making it the lowest net investment since February when they had infused Rs. 1,404 crore.

Huge crowd return to Hong Kong streets

• Protests in Hong Kong continue to follow a roller-coaster path, with huge crowds which have once again converged on the streets, facing a ultimatum by authorities to disperse.
• After a sharp decline in mobilisation following an initial high, crowds supporting the protests surged in the Admiralty area, the political heart of Hong Kong. The build-up followed calls for a demonstration of street power by protests leaders, after the government earlier stepped back from proposed talks, which it said were possible only if the agitators stayed at home.
• But in the back-and-forth between the protesters and the authorities, it was now the government’s turn to warn students to clear the roads. In a televised address, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive, Leung Chun-ying, made it plain that the protesters would have to be dispersed by Monday morning so that normality could return. 
• He warned that officials and police would take “all necessary actions” to restore order. Student leaders, taking the ultimatum seriously are hinting at a via media-provide access lanes through which government vehicles can pass, without abandoning the protests.

IS jihadists meet dogged Kurdish resistance

• Islamic State (IS) jihadists met dogged Kurdish resistance in the high-profile Syrian battleground town of Kobane but in Iraq they put forces under strong pressure, prompting U.S.-led relief drops.
• A roadside bomb killed the police chief in Iraq’s Anbar province, between Baghdad and the Syrian border, where Pentagon officials have voiced concern about the vulnerability of government troops to a renewed jihadist offensive.
• Farther north, around the key oil refinery town of Baiji, the Iraqi army and its Sunni Arab tribal allies came under fresh attack by IS, prompting a first resupply operation by coalition aircraft. In Kobane, where IS, is battling Kurdish fighters under the gaze of the international media just across the border with Turkey, the jihadists were taking heavy losses, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
• It said IS was pouring in reinforcements from Syria, after its Friday capture of the Kurdish headquarters in Kobane failed to deliver a knockout blow.

India’s quest for Nobel Prize completes a cycle of sorts

• More than 100 years after Rabindranath Tagore was awarded the Nobel for Literature in 1913, India’s quest for the Nobel Prize has attained a certain philosophical completeness under all categories for which it is awarded, with Kailash Satyarthi of India being chosen along with Malala of Pakistan for the Nobel Peace Prize 2014.
• While C.V. Raman won the Nobel for Physics in 1930, Har Gobind Khorana bagged it under the category of Medicine in 1968. Khorana shared his prize with Robert W. Holley and Marshall W. Nirenberg.
• The Albanian-born Mother Teresa who later worked out her spiritual destiny in Calcutta was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, even as India was again crowned with the Nobel Physics in 1983 in the hands of Subrahmanyam Chandrasekhar. He shared it with William Alfred Fowler.
• If in 1998 Amartya Sen won extraordinary laurels for India by winning the prize for Economics “for his contributions to Welfare Economics,” it was then followed by Venkatraman Ramakrishnan chosen for the Nobel Chemistry in 2009. Dr. Ramakrishnan shared it with Thomas A Steitz and Ada E. Yonath.
• Five years later, an Indian has again bagged the Nobel Peace, this time sharing it with a courageous Pakistani girl, rounding off a rare sub-continental partnership to work together for suffering humanity at large.

Hudhud snapped communication and power networks

• Odisha, which escaped the fury of Cyclone Hudhud, announced that it would extend help to districts of neighbouring north Andhra Pradesh. “As Visakhapatnam was terribly devastated, Andhra Pradesh government wanted Odisha to contribute in restoration efforts by deploying skilled manpower and equipment.
• Cyclone Hudhud snapped communication and power networks and damaged hangars and radar at the Eastern Naval Command headquarters at Visakhapatnam, but warships were able to withstand its impact. Sources said INS Circars suffered the most as the cyclone uprooted trees that fell on power and telephone lines.

Centre will set inflation targets for RBI

• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has given the go-ahead for a major overhaul of the current monetary policy framework wherein the Centre will specify ‘inflation targets’ for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to achieve. Under the proposed new regime, the RBI will set inflation as its top priority in its policy statements.
• The decision departs from the recommendation of an expert committee of the RBI, appointed to examine monetary policy. Headed by Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Urjit R. Patel, the committee had recommended that the monetary policy decision-making should be vested with a monetary policy committee, chaired by the RBI Governor.
• Other recommendations were that the apex bank adopts the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) as the measure of the nominal anchor for monetary policy. And that the RBI set the target CPI inflation level at 4 per cent (+/- 2 per cent) to be achieved through its monetary policy tools.
• A senior Ministry official told that the Modi government decided that the RBI “cannot set for itself an inflation target level of 4 per cent for all times to come…the Centre will set this target.” “It is best that inflation targets are set by the governments elected by the people and not a bunch of bureaucrats and economists sitting in the Reserve Bank.”
• RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said last that many earlier reports including one by himself talked about the importance of central bank accountability and independence.

IIP will not impact GDP growth: Nirmala Sitharaman

• Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman, dismissed fears about the latest data on index of industrial production (IIP), saying they were overly worrisome and would not impact the country’s GDP growth.
• The Minister, along with Minister of State for Textile Santosh Gangwar, was here to meet the stakeholders in the jute industry.
• Responding to reporters’ queries, Ms. Sitharaman said over the last few months, the government had improved the ease of doing business. There were signs of revival, or else agencies such as Standard and Poor’s would not have assigned a stable outlook to India.
• To a question on FTAs (free trade agreements), she said a review of SEZs (special economic zones) and FTAs was now in the final stages. The new Foreign Trade Policy, due to be announced soon, would give domestic manufacturers and exporters the benefit of the revisions.
• She said her Ministry wanted better utilisation of the FTAs for boosting exports, adding that India was keen on FTAs with ASEAN countries.
• On WTO negotiations, Ms. Sitharaman said India believed in multi-lateral agreements, but not at the cost of the country’s sovereignty.

Roger Federer claims another Masters title

• Roger Federer claimed one of the few titles to have previously eluded him after he overcame a sluggish start to beat injured Frenchman Gilles Simon in the final of the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
• The Swiss 17-times Grand Slam singles champion triumphed 7-6(6), 7-6(2) to register his 23rd Masters Series title and first in China, where strong winds saw the roof on the Stadium Court closed for the hard court final.
• The 33-year-old let off a huge roar and threw both fists into the air after a battling Simon could only net a return to hand the Swiss a fourth title of the year and 81st of an unparalleled career.
• It had all begun so well for the unseeded Frenchman, who broke a sloppy, error strewn Federer in the opening game and comfortably held firm until he felt the pressure of serving for the set at 5-4 and began to creak.
• With his first serve and accurate groundstrokes deserting him, Federer had two break points but wasted the first with an alarmingly high 14th unforced error only for Simon to hand him the game on the next point after netting a backhand.

G20 urges U.S. to support IMF reform

• Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors from G20 countries had sharp words for the U.S. Congress, with the Group Treasurer describing Capitol Hill as being a “very difficult… obstacle” in their bid to pass internal reform of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
• Issuing the Group’s statement during the annual fall meetings, Australian Finance Minister Joe Hockey, whose nation currently holds the Group’s presidency said,
• “It does affect the U.S. and their reputation, when there is global agreement and in fact agreement from the White House to undertake IMF reform… For domestic reasons the U.S. Congress might not be moving on this issue but for global reasons the U.S. should move on this issue.” More broadly, the Ministers and Governors said regarding the world economy, “While some key economies are recovering, others face renewed weakness.”
• Their statement also emphasised an agreement regarding a Global Infrastructure Initiative, and a Global Infrastructure Hub to support the Initiative, to be finalised before the Group leaders’ summit in November.
• The issue of reforming the Bretton Woods institutions has been a long-standing one, particularly for emerging economic powers such as India and China, who have consistently argued that the changing global dynamics favours their economies and it is high time that the institutions’ constituent structure reflected this new reality.
• In 2011, shortly before the announcement of the candidacy of current IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, its Executive Directors from the BRICS economies had openly revolted against the prospect of the top role remaining with a European.

Cyclone Hudhud bears down on Vizag

• Ahead of Cyclone Hudhud, classified as very severe, more than 1.5 lakh people were evacuated to 370 relief camps and shelters from four districts of Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and East Godavari of Andhra Pradesh. With up to 45 cm of rainfall and wind speeds of 180 kmph expected, Hudhud is due to make landfall between Visakhapatnam and Kalingapatnam in Srikakulam district.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to be in touch with the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. Cyclone Warning Centre Director Ramachandra Rao said the movement of Hudhud was being tracked every minute.

SC to hear PIL against rise in drug price

• The Supreme Court will hear next week a public interest writ petition challenging a circular providing for increase in the prices of life-saving and other essential drugs.
• A Bench of Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and Justices S.A. Bobde and A.M. Sapre told petitioner-advocate M.L. Sharma that the PIL would be listed for hearing as expeditiously as possible.
• The petitioner said the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) had issued a circular on September 22 providing for a hike in the prices of 108 life-saving drugs, resulting in a windfall gain to pharmaceutical companies.
• “There are approximately 4.1 crore diabetes patients in India, 5.7 crore people have coronary heart disease, 22 lakh suffer from TB, 11 lakh from cancer, 25 lakh from HIV/AIDS and 6 crore blood pressure patients who are in need of life-saving drugs,” he said.
• The petitioner alleged that there was a conspiracy among government officials and pharmaceutical companies for allowing an increase in drug prices. Citing examples of the steep increase in drug prices, he said, “Glivec, an anti-cancer tablet, rose from Rs. 8,500 to Rs. 1.08 lakh; Plavix, a blood pressure/heart ailment tablet rose from Rs. 147 to Rs. 1,615; anti-rabies injection and Kamrab from Rs. 2,670 to Rs. 7,000.” “The government succumbed to pressure from industry lobbies,” he claimed.

PM launches village adoption scheme for MPs

• Taking forward his announcement during his address to the nation on August 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a blueprint for the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) on Jayaprakash Narayan’s birth anniversary.
• The scheme encourages Members of Parliament from both Houses to identify and develop one village from their constituency as a model village by 2016, and two more by 2019, covering over 2,500 villages of the 6 lakh villages country-wide.
• “This is not a rupiya-paisa yojana but a demand-driven, people’s participatory scheme. There are 800 parliamentarians and in three years, 2,500-odd villages could get covered. If States were to initiate their own similar schemes with MLAs, 6,000 to 7,000 villages could get covered. One good village can affect an entire area, and a viral effect could begin,” Mr. Modi said while unveiling SAGY for which no new funds have been allocated.
• The 65-page outline for the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the presence of Rural Development Minister Nitin Gadkari, requires MPs to identify one village with a population of 3,000-5,000 in the plains and 1,000-3,000 in the hills within a month for convergence of existing schemes for socio-economic development of the area.
• MPs can choose any village except their own or their spouse’s. There is no other criterion. MPs are expected to facilitate a village development plan, motivate villagers to take up activities and use the Rs.5-crore MPLAD fund to fill gaps for funds besides mobilising “additional resources especially from Corporate Social Responsibility” in sewage and water supply schemes.