::NATIONAL::

President addresses international conference on women health

• The President of India, Shri Ram NathKovind, graced and addressed an International Conference on Women’s Health, Wellness and Empowerment organised by the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India and the Kanpur Obstetric and Gynaecological Society in Kanpur, today.

• The President said that social and economic gaps affect women much more than others. They have a particular impact on families and communities from weaker sections of society. It is with this in mind that the entire ecosystem of healthcare is being revitalised.

• Speaking on the occasion, the President said that this Conference has a commendable theme: “Give her wings and let her soar.” When we give our daughters and young girls in our families the freedom to venture out, to explore and find their potential, they soar higher and higher.

• The President said that the Ayushmaan Bharat healthinsurance programme has been launched recently. It envisages providing health coverage to socially and economically disadvantaged sections of society.

• Speaking at the Talent Development Council’s seminar, the President appreciated the Council for its efforts to identify and encourage talented students and facilitate their free education. He noted that a number of students associated with the Council have been successful in engineering, medical and other entrance examinations.

Atal Innovation Mission & SIRIUS sign MoU for promotion of innovative cooperation

• To promote innovative cooperation between students of India and Russia, a Memorandum of Understanding was exchanged between India’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and the Russian Federation’s SIRIUS Educational Foundation in the presence of the Prime Minister of India Shri. NarendraModi and the President of Russia H.E. Vladimir Putin, in New Delhi on 5th October 2018.

• The MoU hopes to remove cultural and language barriers between students of Russia and India, share the best practices in the promotion of educational, scientific, innovative achievements, promote innovative cooperation, and search and develop talented youth of both countries fostering a knowledge driven innovation ecosystem in both the countries.

• “The Atal Innovation Mission continues to grow steadily in its effort to spread the joy of innovation throughout the country. This MoU with SIRIUS Educational Foundation is a step in the right direction. International collaboration will broaden our students’ minds, deepen curiosities, and sharpen their intellect”, said Mr.Ramanan.

• To promote a spirit of collaborative innovation, young innovators of Atal Tinkering Labs and SIRIUS Educational Foundation came together at a four-day Indo-Russian ATL innovation boot-camp from October 1st to October 4th. The boot-camp was organized by Atal Tinkering Labs, Atal Innovation Mission, with support from Department of Design, IIT Delhi. The innovations developed across space technology, healthcare, smart mobility, clean energy and agricultural technology were showcased to Prime Minister of India and President of Russia on October 5th.

::ECONOMY::

Country’s biggest skill competition, Indian skill 2018 concludes

• IndiaSkills 2018, the Country’s biggest skill competition, concluded here today, with the winners being awarded by dignitaries. Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship ShriAnantkumarHegde and ShriSubhashGhai, Chairman of Media and Entertainment Skills Council and India Film Director gave away the awards in 46 trades to participants from across the country.

• IndiaSkills 2018 was the second edition of the nationwide competition organized by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India to identify, recognize, promote and reward the best talents in various skills. 23 states actively participated in organizing the competitions at the state and regional levels in which over 50 thousand participants took part.

• Some of winners of the competition of various trades will be given more training, before they are sent to represent India at the 45th WorldSkills Competition at Kazan, Russia in 2019. A number of Divayangs also participated in the competition and the winners will take part at the World level in Abilympics in China. A large number of Corporates (over 100) supported the Government’s efforts in organizing the IndiaSkills 2018.

• Congratulating the winners, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship ShriAnantkumarHegde said that they should not rest on this achievement, as the world outside has cut-throat competition and they should be ready to face them. He said that those who could not win in this competition should strive hard for victory in the future. He called upon the participants going for the world stage competitions in Russia and Chinatoperform well and bring laurels to the nation.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India leaves out offset clause in Russian defence deal

• The Rs. 40,300-crore deal between India and Russia for five S-400 air defence missile systems does not have any offset clause. India has decided to drop it so as to advance deliveries, though it was Russia that initially did not want offsets.

• As per the schedule, Russia will start deliveries after 24 months, which is 2020-end. Contract negotiations started after an inter-governmental agreement was concluded in October 2016.

• Under the defence procurement procedure, deals worth Rs. 2,000 crore or more have a 30% offset clause. This is meant to bring technologies to the country and build domestic defence manufacturing capabilities. As a result, manufacturers add the cost of fulfilling the offset obligations to the deal.

• In an indication of the tough bargain India has to take up for a sanctions waiver under the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), a spokesperson of the U.S. State Department said on Saturday that there were “strict criteria” for a waiver, and urged all its allies and partners to “forgo transactions” with Russia.

• “The waiver authority is not country-specific. There are strict criteria for considering a waiver. The waiver is narrow, intended to wean countries off Russian equipment and allow for things such as spare parts for the previously purchased equipment,” the spokesperson said, without any reference to India.

• The spokesperson said a focus area for the implementation of the CAATSA would be “new or qualitative upgrades in capability,” including the S-400. The recent sanctions on a Chinese government entity for an S-400 delivery underscored the seriousness of the Donald Trump administration’s resolve.

US defence secretary to move forward Kim-trump meet

• U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he hoped to make progress on denuclearisation and a second U.S.-North Korean summit, as he kicked off an Asian trip on Saturday that will feature a meeting with Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang.

• Mr.Pompeo arrived in Tokyo on the first leg of a tour that will take him to Pyongyang on Sunday for a fourth time as the contours of a possibly historic U.S.-North Korea deal take shape.

• Speaking alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Mr.Pompeo said the two historic allies would have a “fully coordinated, unified view of how to proceed, which will be what is needed if we are going to be successful on denuclearising North Korea.”

• Japan, which has seen North Korean missiles fly over its territory and been threatened with annihilation, has historically taken a hard line on Pyongyang and stressed the need to maintain pressure on the regime.

• More recently, however, Mr. Abe has said that the only way to improve strained ties is a face-to-face meeting with former international pariah Kim.

• On the plane over, Mr.Pompeo said his aim was to “develop sufficient trust” between Washington and Pyongyang to inch towards peace. “Then we are also going to set up the next summit,” he said.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Eastern ghats faces loss of vegetation

• The Eastern Ghats spread across Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, has lost almost 16% of its forest area over a span of 100 years, a recently published study shows.

• Researchers from the University of Hyderabad studied historical maps and satellite images from 1920 to 2015 to understand the changes in land use and land cover. The forest cover, which was 43.4% of the total geographical area in 1920, has reduced drastically to 27.5% in 2015. Over the years, about 8% of forest area was converted into agricultural fields, while about 4% converted into scrub or grassland.

• They also found that the number of patches of land had increased indicating fragmentation. In 1920 there were about 1,379 patches which kept steadily increasing over the years reaching a whopping number of 9,457 in 2015.

• Previous studies have shown that the Eastern Ghats is home to more than 2,600 plant species and this habitat fragmentation and destruction can pose a serious threat to the endemic plants.

• While agriculture was the main reason for deforestation during the early years, post 1975, mining and other developmental activities such as the construction of dams, roads were the culprits. In 1920, the mining area was only 622 sq.km, and in 2015 it had increased to 962 sq.km.

Researchers develop DNA tool that predicts diseases more accurately

• Scientists say they have developed a new DNA tool that uses machine learning to accurately predict people’s height and assess their risk for serious illnesses such as heart disease and cancer.

• The tool, or algorithm, builds predictors for human traits such as height, bone density and even the level of education a person might achieve, purely based on one’s genome, according to the research published in the journal Genetics.

• Further applications have the potential to dramatically advance the practice of precision health, which allows physicians to intervene as early as possible, researchers said.

• The research analysed the complete genetic makeup of nearly 500,000 adults in the U.K. using machine learning.

• While bone density and educational attainment predictors were not as precise, they were accurate enough to identify outlying individuals who were at risk of having very low bone density associated with osteoporosis or were at risk of struggling in school.

::SPORTS::

Pranjala wins ITF women’s tennis tournament.

• Sixth seed Y. Pranjala defeated 144th ranked top seed Conny Perrin of Switzerland 2-6, 7-5, 6-0 in the final of the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament here on Saturday.

• It was the second singles title for the 19-year-old Pranjala, who has won two $25,000 doubles crowns with RutujaBhosale this season. She has six doubles titles overall.

• After a tough start, Pranjala turned the match around despite trailing 0-40 on her serve at 5-5 in the second set.

Hamilton wins Japanese Grand Prix

• World champion Lewis Hamilton roared to pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix as Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel slumped to eighth after a horror showing in Saturday’s qualifying.

• Hamilton, who leads Vettel by 50 points with five races left this season, led a Mercedes front-row lockout and will start as the hot favourite to tighten his stranglehold on the Formula One championship in Sunday’s race at Suzuka

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