1. World Bank releases global poverty projections for 2015 

(i) The global poverty projections for 2015 was released by the World Bank on 4th October, 2015. 

(ii) As per the report, 9.6% of the world population live in extreme poverty. It is for the first time the numbers have fallen below 10% . 

(iii) The numbers were arrived at based on a revised benchmark of measuring poverty. Previously, extreme poverty was defined as living on or below $1.25 a day, but the World Bank’s adjustment now sets the poverty line at $1.90 a day. 

(iv) This change reflects the differences in the cost of living across countries, while preserving the real purchasing power of the previous line.

2. WTO lowers global trade growth forecast to 2.8%

(i)The World Trade Organisation (WTO) recently lowered the global trade forecast for 2015 to 2.8 percent. 

(ii) The organisation stated factors like lower global crude oil and other commodity prices, exchange rate fluctuations and feeble import demands in emerging markets for reducing the forecast from its 3.3 percent estimate in April.

3. V Shanmuganathan sworn in as the 17th Governor of Manipur 

(i) Meghalaya Governor V Shanmuganathan was sworn in as the 17th Governor of Manipur at Raj Bhavan, New Delhi on September 30. 

(ii) The Chief Justice of Manipur high court Laxmi Kanta Mohapatra administered the oath of office. 

(iii) Shanmuganathan has been given additional charge of Manipur post the demise of former Governor Dr. Syed Ahmed on September 27. 

4. Accessible India campaign launched 

(i) The Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Thawarchand Gehlot launched the Accessible India campaign (a.k.a Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan) for physically disabled people in September this year. 

(ii) The initiative aims to build accessible government buildings for persons with disabilities (PWDs) and provide them accessible transportation facilities.

(iii) The minister informed that 50-100 public buildings in 50 major cities would be made accessible for PWDs. Facilities like retrofitted ramps, disabled-friendly lifts, toilets as well as signage would be made available in these buildings.

(iv) Four cities from Maharashtra figure in the list of cities including Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Nashik.

5. DRDO sets up world’s highest research centre in Ladakh

(i) The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) recently established an Extreme Altitude Research Centre at Chang La in Ladakh  region at 17,600 feet above sea level. It is the world’s highest terrestrial research and development centre. 

(ii) This centre is established in order to provide a natural cold storage to preserve rare and endangered medicinal plants for generations. 

(iii) It will also provide R & D support to the anterior areas of food and agriculture and bio sciences for safety of soldiers deployed in high altitude cold desert. 

(iv) Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) in Leh established this centre. DIHAR is a constituent establishment of DRDO. 

6. Barapitha is Odisha’s first solar village

(i) Recently, a tribal settlement named Barapitha in Odisha has become state’s first solar village. 

(ii) With the support of energy corporations such as NALCO, ECCO and Jakson Solar, the village aims to enhance the usage of non-conventional energy sources. 

(iii) Each household in the village would possess two solar home-lighting systems with the facility to charge mobile phones and other devices. Roads and schools in Barapitha are to have perennial solar lighting.

7. Ashish Bahuguna to head FSSAI 

(i) On October 4, the chairman of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Ashish Bahuguna was given additional charge of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of FSSAI.

(ii) This was effected after ex-CEO

of FSSAI Yudhvir Singh Malik was shifted to Niti Aayog as additional secretary in September 2015.

(iii) Ashish Bahuguna was appointed as a chairman of FSSAI in July 2015. He will hold the position of CEO until new appointment is made for this post. 

8. Shashank Manohar to be the new BCCI president

(i) Shashank Manohar has been recently appointed as the new president of Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI). 

(ii) The position was vacant due to demise of earlier president Jagmohan Dalmiya.

 (iii) Shashank Manohar had served as the 29th president of the BCCI, from 2008 to 2011.

9. Tiruchirapalli bagged the Skoch Smart Governance award for effective solid waste 

(i) The Skoch Smart Governance Award for achieving operational excellence in waste transportation using information and communication technology (ICT) based solution was recently bagged by the Tiruchirapalli City Municipal Corporation (Trichy Corporation). The corporation made use of radio frequency identification system  (RFID).

(ii) It was designed to supervise garbage collection from various sources in the city. 

10. Safaigiri Awards 2015 announced by PM in New Delhi

(i) On the eve of Gandhi Jayanti, PM Narendra Modi announced the Safaigiri Awards 2015 across categories in New Delhi. 

(ii) The award winners are: 

* Garbage Guru Award: Colonel (Retired) Suresh Rege

*Toilet Titan Award: Dr. Siddeek Ahmed, Chairman, Eram Scientific Solutions

*Safaigiri Tech Icon Award: Dr. R Vasudevan, Dean, Thiagarajar Engineering College

*Safaigiri Water Warrior Award: Anoop Ratnaker Rao, CEO, Naandi Community Water

*Safaigiri Community Mobiliser Award: PB Salim

*Safaigiri Cleanest Park Award: Rock Garden, Chandigarh

*Safaigiri Cleanest Marketplace Award: Connaught Place

*Safaigiri Cleanest Hill Station: Gangtok

*Safaigiri Award for Cleanest Ghat: Assi Ghat, Varanasi

*Safaigiri Award for Cleanest Monument: Victoria Memorial, Kolkata

*Safaigiri Award for Corporate Trailblazer: Piramal Group

*Safaigiri Award for Cleanest Beach Town: Havelock Island, Andaman 

*Safaigiri Award for Cleanest Temple Town: Tirupati

11. Forbes India Leadership Awards (FILA) 2015 announced

(i) On September 30, the Forbes India Leadership Awards (FILA) 2015 was held in Mumbai.

(ii) Following are the recipients of awards across various categories:

* Outstanding Start-up for the Year: Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati OLA 

* NextGen Entrepreneur for the Year: Siddhartha Lal, Eicher Motors

* Best CEO – Public Sector: Arundhati Bhattacharya, State Bank of India 

* Best CEO – Private Sector: CP Gurnani, Tech Mahindra Ltd

* Best CEO – MNC: Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India Pvt. Ltd

* Entrepreneur with Social Impact: Samit Ghosh, Ujjivan Financial Services Pvt. Ltd 

* Conscious Capital for the Year: Godrej Consumer Products Ltd., Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (Amul)

* Lifetime Achievement Award: RC Bhargava, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., 

* Entrepreneur for the Year: Uday Kotak, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.

12.  2015 Right Livelihood Awards announced

(i) The recipients of the 2015 Right Livelihood Awards were announced in Stockholm recently.

(ii) The winners are human rights and global crisis activists from Canada, Italy, Uganda and Marshal Islands. 

(iii) The 3 million kronor award will be shared by Uganda’s Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera for her fight for gay rights and welfare of sexual minorities; Italian surgeon Gino Strada for providing medical assistance to war victims and Canadian Sheila Watt-Cloutier for her contribution in promoting Inuit livelihoods and their culture. 

(iv) Further, people of the Pacific Islands and their foreign minister Tony de Brum will receive an honorary award for their visionary and courageous legal action against nuclear powers who failed to honour disarmament obligations.

13. International Day of Non-Violence observed on October 2

(i) The International Day of Non-Violence, also known as the World Non-Violence Day is observed every year on October 2 i.e. on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

(ii) This day is marked with a view to propagate the idea of non-violence or ahimsa, which Gandhi preached throughout his life. 

(iii) The United Nations General Assembly established this day in 2007.

14. Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza win the WTA Wuhan Open women’s doubles title

(i) Ace tennis players Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis lifted the women’s doubles trophy at the WTA Wuhan Open that was recently held in China. 

(ii) In the finale the top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated Romanian duo Irina-Camelia Begu and Monica Niculescu 6-2, 6-3 to win their seventh title of the season.

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