Current Affairs 1st november 2015

• Sanjeev Mohanty has been appointed as CEO and MD of Jabong

Sanjeev Mohanty was appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) e-commerce Jabong. Mohanty is the Former India MD of Benetton India.

Mohanty has served over a decade in United Colors of Benetton Indian unit and had made the Italian giant the largest international fashion brand in India.

In November 2004, Mohanty took over as head of India business of Benetton and was also the youngest business head ever.

• Shaktikanta Das has been nominated on RBI Central Board of Directors

Shaktikanta Das was nominated as a Director to the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Currently, he is serving as a Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs. Shaktikanta Das is a 1980 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre officer.

About Central Board of Directors of RBI

It governs the Reserve Bank's affairs and is also accountable for its general direction and superintendence.

Central Board of Directors of RBI comprise of 21 members including a Governor, two government Official, 4 Deputy Governors, 10 Directors, 4 directors are from local boards of RBI.

• BRICS nations signed Moscow Declaration for - Multilateral Science Projects

BRICS nations signed Moscow Declaration for co-investment of resources for supporting multilateralResearch and Development (R&D) Projects.

The declaration was signed during the third meeting of the BRICS Ministers for Science, Technology and Innovation. Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences led the Indian delegation.

It calls for collaboration in:

Establishment of BRICS Research and Innovation Networking Platform.

Association for large research infrastructures, along with coordination of the existing large-scale national programme of member nations.

Execution and development of BRICS Framework Programme for financially assisting joint multilateral research projects, innovation and technology.

• Paul Ryan has been elected as 54th Speaker of US House of Representatives

Republican Paul Ryan was elected as the 54th speaker of the US House of Representatives after receiving the votes of 236 members by the full House of Representatives. He has replaced John Boehner of Ohio.

Ryan sworned in as the Speaker of the House on his own copy of the New American bible and kept the gavel he wielded as Chairman of the powerful tax writing committee.

After John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi, Ryan became the third Catholic in a row. Earlier in 1992, Ryan had worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative aide and won his House seat in 1998.

• October 31: Rashtriya Ekta Diwas

National Unity Day (Rashtriya Ekta Diwas) was observed across India on 31 October 2015 to commemorate the 140th birthday of Independent India’s first Deputy Prime Minister and Sardar Vallabhai Patel.

On this occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off Run for Unity at Rajpath in New Delhi. It was followed by similar marathons across different parts of Country to pay tribute to the efforts made by Sardar Patel to unite India.

Background

In October 2014, NDA Government led by PM Narendra Modi had declared 31 October as National Unity Day to mark the birth anniversary of country’s first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

About Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

• Born: 31 October, 1875 at Karamsand, Gujarat.
• He is known as the Iron Man of India or Bismarck of India.
• By profession, he was a barrister and had successfully practiced law. Later he left law practice and joined the Indian national movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.
• In the India’s independence struggle, he played a major role in organizing peasants’ movements on Gandhian principles in Bardoli and Kheda in Gujarat and during the Quit India movement.
• His biggest contribution to India was his role in the integration of the over 500 princely states with India during 1947-49.
• He is also remembered as the Patron Saint of India’s civil servants for establishing modern All-India services.

• Eminent Archaeologist VN Misra passes away

One of the eminent archaeologists of post-Independent India, Virendra Nath Misra passed away in Pune, Maharashtra. He was 81.

He was best known as the doyen of Indian prehistoric archaeology and for his extensive field studies and excavations in Central India and Rajasthan. In these two regions, he had made several significant contributions to the reconstruction of India’s prehistoric past.

About Virendra Nath Misra

• VN Misra hailed from Uttar Pradesh and joined Pune based Deccan College after completing his .G. degree in Anthropology from Lucknow University.
• He also had served as Director of Deccan College in 2000 and had retired as Professor of Prehistoric Archaeology in 1995.
• In 1977, he had founded a dedicated society for pre-historic studies and started an international research journal – Man and Environment.
• Notable achievements: Excavations at the world heritage site of Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh and the 6,000-year-old site of Balathal in Rajasthan. These excavations are considered as the turning points in history of ancient India.
• Awards: Madhya Pradesh government had awarded him prestigious VS Wakankar Award for his contribution to pre-history of India.

• New Zealand wins 2015 Rugby World Cup

New Zealand has won the 2015 Rugby World Cup for record third time by defeating Australia.

In the final match played at Twickenham, England the winning team defeated Australian team by 34-17 score.

With this victory, it also became the first nation to retain the Webb Ellis Cup and it was their first victory on the foreign soil.

About Rugby World Cup

• Rugby World Cup is contested every four years between the top international teams.
• It was first held in 1987 and was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia.
• The winning team is awarded with the William Webb Ellis Cup named afterWilliam Webb Ellis who invented sport of rugby according to a popular legend.
• Four countries have won the trophy since its inception. New Zealand has won it three times (1987, 2011 and 2015).
• 2 teams have won twice Australia (1991 and 1999) and South Africa (1995 and 2007). England has won it once in 2003.