• National

GoM set up to strengthen safety laws for women at workplaces

• The union government has constituted a group of ministers (GoM) to strengthen the legal and institutional frameworks to prevent and deal with sexual harassment of women in workplaces.
• The four-member GoM headed by Rajnath Singh (union home minister) will examine the existing provisions for dealing with sexual harassment of women in offices.
• The other members of the GoM are Nitin Gadkari (road transport and highways minister), Nirmala Sitharaman (defence Minister) and Maneka Sanjay Gandhi (women and child development minister).

• National

India Mobile Congress 2018 begins in New Delhi

• The Indian Mobile Congress 2018 (second edition) has opened in New Delhi’s Aerocity.
• The digital forum is organized by the COAI and brings together industry partners, OEMs, service providers, policymakers and experts to discuss and deliberate on emerging technology, issues, policy guidelines.
• The theme for this year is “New Digital Horizons Connect, Create, Innovate.”

• Economy and Business

PNB Metlife launches AI-powered customer service app 'Khushi'

• PNB Metlife has unveiled an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered customer service app ‘Khushi’.
• The app is designed to be a one-stop shop providing insurance-related information, anytime, anywhere, such as policy features, premium due details besides providing fund value and portfolio details.
• Khushi app has the ability to understand customer intent and provide tailored responses.
• Earlier in 2016, PNB Metlife had launched ‘conVRse’, virtual reality (VR) service platform as well as ‘eBranch’, a paperless digital platform enabling real-time transfer of information.

• Economy and Business

IFFCO biggest cooperative in the world

• Fertiliser major ‘IFFCO’ has been ranked as the biggest cooperative in the world by ‘Word Cooperative Monitor’ report 2018.
• The report has been published by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and the European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises (Euricse).
• IFFCO has nearly 36,000 member co-operatives and a turnover of nearly USD 3 billion (FY 2017-18).

• Sports

First edition of North East Olympic Games begins in Imphala

• Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh has declared open the first edition of North East Olympic Games (NEOG) 2018 at main Stadium Khuman Lampark Sports Complex, Imphal.
• Around 2000 thousand athletes will compete in 12 disciplines including Athletics, Archery, Badminton, Boxing, Football, Judo, Karate-Do, Shooting, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Weightlifting, and Wushu.
• 236 participants from Arunachal, Assam (246), Mizoram (134), Meghalaya (165), Nagaland (224), Tripura (128), Sikkim (179) and Manipur (248) will compete in the Games.
• The NEOG games is being organized by the MOA under the aegis of the North East Olympic Association.

• Sports

West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo retires from international cricket

• West Indies all-rounder ‘Dwayne Bravo’ (35-years) announced his retirement from international cricket.
• He will continue to play franchise T20 cricket around the world.
• Dwayne Bravo last represented West Indies in a T20I game vs Pakistan in 2016.
• Bravo played 40 Tests, 164 ODIs & 66 T20Is for the Windies, made 2986 runs in ODIs and took 199 wickets.

• Sports

Kohli becomes fastest to reach 10,000 runs in the history of ODI Cricket

• India captain Virat Kohli (29-year) has become the fastest batsman to score 10,000 runs in the history of ODI cricket (in just 205 innings).
• He overtook Sachin Tendulkar, who had reached 10,000 ODI runs (259th innings) in 2001.

• Awards

M.S. Swaminathan to be awarded World Agriculture Prize

• Agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan (Pioneer of India’s Green Revolution) will receive the first World Agriculture Prize instituted by the Indian Council of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) in New Delhi.
• The prize will be presented by Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu at Vigyan Bhawan at a special session.
• The prize has been instituted by the ICFA with an aim to recognize individuals who have served humanity through agriculture.

• Awards

Malayalam author won first JCB Prize 2018

• Malayalam author Benyamin has bagged the inaugural ‘JCB Prize for literature’ for his book ‘Jasmine Days’.
• The book explores the lives of South Asians in the Middle East.
• Benyamin was awarded a cash prize of ₹25 lakh and a trophy.
• JCB Prize for Literature is an Indian literary award established in 2018 and the award is funded by the construction manufacturing group JCB.

• Appointments

Satish Kumar Gupta appointed CEO of Paytm Payments Bank

• Veteran banker Satish Kumar Gupta has been appointed as managing director (MD) and CEO of Paytm Payments Bank.
• Gupta comes in after Renu Satti stepped down as CEO in July.
• Previously, Mr. Gupta had stints as the chief product officer at National Payments Corporation of India and deputy general manager at State Bank of India.

• Appointments

Saurabh Kumar appointed Ambassador to Myanmar

• Senior diplomat Saurabh Kumar has been appointed India’s ambassador to Myanmar.
• Saurabh Kumar, a 1989 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently serving as the Indian envoy in Iran.
• Kumar will succeed Vikram Misri who has been serving as Indian envoy in Myanmar since August 31, 2016.
• Misri was appointed Indian Ambassador to China in September 2018.

• States

Second Guwahati International Film Festival begins today

• Assam Chief Minister ‘Sarbananda Sonowal’ has inaugurated the second Guwahati International Film Festival in Assam.
• The festival is being organized by Jyoti Chitraban in association with Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Regional Government Film and Television Institute.
• Total of 108 movies from 50 countries will be screened during the week-long festival, with a special focus on ASEAN countries.