Current Affairs 12th October 2015

Current Affairs 12th October 2015

Updated : 12-Oct-2015

Current Affairs 12th October 2015 - Important Points
Current Affairs 12th October 2015 - Details
Who has won women's doubles title of China Open - Sania Mirza & Martina Hingis
Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 10th October 2015, women's doubles title of the China Tennis Open was won by Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis by defeating Chinese Taipean pair of Hao-Ching Chan and Yung-Jan Chan.

This was the 8th WTA doubles titles for the Indo-Swiss pair in the year 2015.
Who has been elected as Fiji's President - Jioji Konrote
Among the important International Current Affairs, On 12th October 2015, Jioji Konrote has been elected as the country’s next President by Fiji’s Parliament for Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations.
According to the constitution of Fiji, the prime minister and leader of the opposition each submit a presidential candidate to the speaker of parliament, who then announces the nominees to MPs before parliament decides on the country's next president with a majority vote.
Konrote is a retired major general who joined the Republic of Fiji Military Forces in 1966.
Who has won women’s singles title of China Open - Spaniard Garbine Muguruza
Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 11th October 2015, the China Open women's singles title was won by Spain’s Garbine Muguruza after defeating Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky.
With this win, she has achieved the career-high singles ranking of world no. 4. She had also qualified for the final of the 2015 Wimbledon Championships.

India won four-match Men’s Hockey Test series against - New Zealand
Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 11th October 2015, he four-match Men's Hockey Test series against New Zealand was won by India.
After losing the first match of the series in Nelson against the hosts, India came back strongly to register back-to-back wins in the last two games.
2015 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix title won by - Lewis Hamilton
Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 11th October 2015, 2015 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix title was won by Britain's Mercedes racing driver Lewis Hamilton.
Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel (Germany) and Sergio Perez (Mexico) of Force India stood at second and third positions respectively.
For Hamilton, it was the ninth title in the 2015 season as he won the titles in Bahrain, Japan, Australia, China, the UK, Belgium, Italy and Canada.
When did the Fourth International Day of the Girl Child observed - 11th October
On 11th October 2015, The Fourth International Day of the Girl Child (IDGC) was observed across the world with the theme "The Power of Adolescent Girl: Vision for 2030".
On this occasion, campaigns, meetings and workshops were organized worldwide to raise awareness about importance of girl child and steps to promote gender equality.
About International Day of the Girl Child
- In 2011, United Nations created the day through a resolution.
- Its motive is to promote the rights of girls and address the unique challenges they face.
- It was observed on 11 October 2012 for the first time.
List of IDGC themes
- 2012: Ending Child Marriage
- 2013: Innovating for Girl’s Education
- 2014: Empowering Adolescent Girls: Ending the Cycle of Violence
- 2015: The Power of Adolescent Girl: Vision for 2030.
Name the mission launched in Odisha to provide affordable houses to urban poor - Mission Abaas
Among the important National Current Affairs, On 11th October 2015, The Odisha Government launched Mission Abaas, state’s urban housing mission, to provide affordable houses to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), Low Income Groups (LIG) and slum dwellers.
The purpose of the scheme is to fulfill the promise of protection and welfare of slum dwellers by providing affordable housing along with basic amenities such as community centre, electricity, concrete roads, drainage and piped water supply.
Components of the mission
- Rental housing for migrants
- Housing for urban destitute and homeless
- Slum redevelopment
- Affordable housing through interest subvention
Key points of the mission
- Pre-cast and pre-fabrication technology will be used under the mission.
- Mission Directorate will be set by the government for implementation of the policy.
- 10000 houses for EWS and Low Income Groups will be constructed in Bhubaneswar.
- Free land will be provided by the government for affordable housing projects in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode to developers.
- Land on the city outskirts will be renewed into urban land by developing and expanding infrastructure.
2015 Dutch Open Men’s Singles title won by - Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram
Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 11th October 2015, Ajay Jayaram of India won the 2015 Dutch Open Men’s Singles badminton title by defeating the World Number 26 ranker defeated Estonia’s Raul Must.
It was the fourth overall title for India.
NASA released Plan outlining Next Steps in the Journey to Mars with an aim to establish colonies by 2030s
Among the important International Current Affairs, On 9th October 2015, a report titled NASA’s Journey to Mars: Pioneering Next Steps in Space Exploration was relesed by NASA. The document comprise of strategies for establishing permanent settlements and creating deep-space habitation facilities on the red planet Mars till 2030s.
Three stages of Journey to Mars
The journey to Mars will cross three levels as identified by NASA, each level will have its own challenge. The challenges will increase as humans will move farther from the Earth and closer to Mars.
To manage these challenges, NASA is developing and demonstrating capabilities in incremental steps and they are:
- Earth Reliant exploration: It is focused on research aboard the International Space Station. From this world-class microgravity laboratory, NASA is testing technologies and advancing human health and performance research that will enable deep space, long duration missions.
- Proving Ground: In this, NASA will learn to conduct complex operations in a deep space environment that allows crews to return to Earth in a matter of days. Primarily operating in cislunar space—the volume of space around the moon featuring multiple possible stable staging orbits for future deep space missions—NASA will advance and validate capabilities required for humans to live and work at distances much farther away from our home planet, such as at Mars.
- Earth Independent activities: It will build on what NASA learn on the space station and in deep space to enable human missions to the Mars vicinity, possibly to low-Mars orbit or one of the Martian moons, and eventually the Martian surface. Future Mars missions will represent a collaborative effort between NASA and its partners to seek the potential for sustainable life beyond Earth.
Technological and Operational Challenges
NASA has identified three technological and operational challenges in the report. These are:
- Transportation, sending humans and cargo through space efficiently, safely, and reliably;
- Working in space, enabling productive operations for crew and robotic systems; and
- Staying healthy, developing habitation systems that provide safe, healthy, and sustainable human exploration.
2015 China Open Men’s Singles title won by - Novak Djokovic
Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 11th October 2015, Novak Djokovic won the China Open Men’s Singles title by defeating Rafael Nadal of Spain.
Since 2012, it was the fourth consequent win for Djokovic in Beijing.
Earlier in 2015, Djokovic joined Roger Federer and Rod Laver as the only men in the Open era to reach all four major finals.
Excluding the Grand slam titles in Australia, the UK (Wimbledon) and the USA, he won eight titles in the 2015 season that include Italian Open, Miami Open, Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, China Open and Indian Wells Masters.
Where did the 5th Meeting of the India-Maldives Joint Commission held - Maldives
On 11th October 2015, The 5th meeting of the India-Maldives Joint Commission was held in Male, the capital of Maldives.
Maldivian foreign minister Dunya Maumoon and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj co-chaired the meet.
Important outcomes of the meeting
- Both countries agreed to sign agreements at the earliest on Avoidance of Double Taxation and Tax Information Exchange.
- It was agreed to strengthen tele-medicine linkages between the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in Maldives and Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh.
- It was agreed to expand the number of speciality hospitals in India available to Maldivian nationals under the AASANDHA scheme.
- It was agreed to set up a working group to monitor the implementation of the MoU signed in 2014 to augment collaboration in the health sector.
Besides the above decisions, the meeting considered the following proposals.
- To establish a Joint Business Forum and a separate investment oriented forum in 2016 to accelerate business and trade relations.
- Maldivian side reiterated their interest in engaging with private investors in India for iHavan and Hulhulmale Youth City projects.
Who has won Beighton Cup of Hockey - Punjab National Bank
Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 11th October 2015, Punjab National Bank (PNB) won the Beighton Cup hockey tournament at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) ground in Kolkata by defeating Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
Jasbir Singh, PNB goalkeeper was awarded with the Best Player award, whereas, the Fairplay Trophy was given to Army XI.
About Beighton Cup
- It was instituted in 1895 organised by Bengal Hockey Association and is held on Astro Turf (artificial grass) at Sports Authority of India in Kolkata.
- It is named after T.D. Beighton, Legal Remembrancer of the Government of Bengal.
- Beighton Cup was initially run by the Indian Football Association.
List of Nobel Prize Winners 2015
Among the important International Current Affairs, From 5th to 12th October 2015, Nobel Prizes 2015 was announced by the Nobel Assembly. The prizes were announced in different sections, namely Economics, Chemistry, Physiology, Literature, Peace and Physics.
The List of Awardees :
- Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet won the Nobel Peace Prize "for its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of Jasmine revolution of 2011"
- Svetlana Alexievich (Belarus) Literature won the Nobel Prize in Literature " for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time"
- Arthur B McDonald (USA) and Takaaki Kajita (Japan) " won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass"
- William C Campbell (Ireland), Satoshi Omura (Japan) and Youyou Tu (China) won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "Campbell and Omura for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites and Youyou Tu for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria "
- Angus Deaton (UK) won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences " in Memory of Alfred Nobel for his analysis of consumption, poverty, and welfare "