Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 31 October 2016

:: National ::

PM Modi said Rs. 5,500 crore has been allocated for implementing the OROP scheme, an issue that had been hanging fire for the last 40 years.
He lauded the valour and sacrifice of the armed forces amid tension on the border with Pakistan.
Mr. Modi was celebrating Deepavali with Army and ITBP men in Sumdo in Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district.
Dedicating the festival to the armed forces personnel, he said he “fulfilled the promise” made to ex-servicemen on the One Rank, One Pension scheme.
Earlier, in his monthly “Mann ki Baat” programme on All India Radio, Mr. Modi asked the people and the State governments to find ways of forging unity across the country and work to defeat separatist tendencies and mentalities.
He hailed the people including celebrities for sending overwhelming messages to his “Sandesh2Soldiers” campaign.
In the wake of the ongoing unrest in Kashmir Valley, he said: “Unity in diversity is our strength.
It is the responsibility of every citizen and all governments to forge unity and curb separatist tendencies to save the country.”

Deepavali was celebrated for the first time at the United Nations, with the world body’s imposing headquarters here lit up on the occasion of the Indian festival of lights.
The facade of the U.N. headquarters was illuminated in bright hues and the words ‘Happy Diwali,’ along with the image of a traditional ‘diya,’ were projected onto the building.
“Lighting up @UN lights up for #Diwali for 1st time,” India’s Ambassador to the U.N. Syed Akbaruddin tweeted.
It is for the first time that the Indian festival of lights is being celebrated at the world body after the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution in December, 2014, that acknowledged the “significance of Diwali.”
Noting that the festival is observed in many U.N. member states, the resolution had called on U.N. bodies to avoid holding meetings on Diwali, declaring it a no-meeting day.
From 2016 onwards, Diwali was made an optional holiday for the U.N., India’s Permanent Mission to the world body said in a special video message.
Earlier in June, the U.N. building was lit up on the occasion of the International Yoga Day, with images of Yoga postures projected on the imposing headquarters.

Italy’s most powerful earthquake in 36 years struck a new blow to the country’s seismically vulnerable heart.
It measured 6.6 on the so-called moment magnitude scale.
Norcia’s 14th-century Basilica of Saint Benedict, built on the reputed birthplace of the Catholic saint, was reduced to rubble.

The landing module of the Russian spaceship Soyuz MS-01 successfully touched down on Sunday in the steppes of Kazakhstan with three crew members on board.
Astronauts Anatoli Ivanishin, TakutyaOnishi and Kathleen Rubins, of Russia, Japan and the U.S. respectively, returned to Earth after completing a nearly four-month mission on the International Space Station.
The MS-01, the first ship of the new Soyuz model, landed about 140 to 150 km southeast of Zhezkazgan city. During their tenure on the orbital platform the three astronauts performed about 40 scientific experiments.
The ISS is currently made up of 14 permanent modules and orbits at a speed of more than 27,000 km per hour at a distance of 400 km from Earth.
The orbit of the platform is raised periodically as the ISS loses between 100 and 150 metres in height due to terrestrial gravitation, solar activity and other factors.

The stock markets began the new year – Samvat 2073, as per the Hindu calendar – on a weak note even as analysts forecast a bullish journey ahead on the back of better corporate earnings and policy reforms.
The benchmark BSE Sensex fell 11.30 points to 27,930.21. The broader Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed the special session at 8,625.70, down 12.30 points.
Stock exchanges conduct a special Muhurat trading session every year to mark the advent of the new year. Typically, the volume in the Muhurat session is very thin.
Market participants, however, expected the year to be strong for equities because of the government’s reform push and an upswing in corporate earnings.