• National

Nitin Gadkari lays the foundation for India’s largest Dry Dock

• The Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has laid the foundation for India’s largest Dry Dock at Cochin Shipyard in Kerala.
• The Dry Dock will give an impetus to Make in India initiative under Sagarmala and raise India’s share in global shipbuilding to two per cent.
• Currently, Cochin Shipyard has two dry docks, one predominantly used for shipbuilding of size 255m x 43 x 9m and capacity 1,10,000 DWT and the other one for ship repair of size 270 x 45 x 12m and capacity 1,25,000 DWT.
• Currently, India occupies 0.66 % share in the global shipbuilding market.

• National

SC bans 15-year-old petrol & 10-year-old diesel vehicles in NCR

• The Supreme Court (SC) has banned petrol (15-year-old) & diesel (10-year-old) vehicles in Delhi-NCR (National Capital Region) to curb pollution.
• The Supreme Court made it clear that such vehicles would be impounded if found on roads in Delhi-NCR.
• The apex court directed that a list of 15-year-old petrol and 10-year-old diesel vehicles be published on the website of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and transport departments of the NCR area.

• National

National Summit on Public Health Care begins

• The 5th ‘National Summit on Good and Replicable Practices and Innovations in Public Health Care Systems in India’ began at Kaziranga in Assam on 30 October 2018.
• The summit was organised by the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
• The objective of the summit is to share and learn the good practices being implemented by states and organisations for the betterment of the health sector.

• National

EWDS system launched by Odisha CM

• Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the Early Warning Dissemination System (EWDS) and the mass message system.
• EWDS was launched on the occasion of Odisha Disaster Preparedness Day, which is observed on 29th October 2018.
• The EWDS will warn the people residing along the coast in the state through the alert siren system from towers installed at 122 locations.

• Awards

Paraguayan Clara Sosa wins Miss Grand International 2018 in Myanmar

• Clara Sosa (Miss Paraguay) has won the Miss Grand International 2018 title (6th edition) of the beauty pageant in Yangon, Myanmar.
• Clara Sosa succeeds Miss Grand International 2017 Maria Jose Lora of Peru.
• FBB Colors Femina Miss Grand India 2018 Meenakshi Chaudhary was named 1st runner-up.

• Appointments

Justice Naresh Harishchandra Patil sworn-in as Chief Justice of Bombay High Court

• Justice Naresh Harishchandra ‘Patil’ sworn-in as the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court.
• He was administered the oath of office by Maharashtra Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao in a ceremony held at Raj Bhawan, Mumbai.

• Appointments

Justice Bist sworn in as Sikkim High Court CJ

• Justice Vijai Kumar Bist was sworn in as the Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court on 30 October 2018.
• Governor Ganga Prasad administered the oath of office to Justice Vijai Kumar Bist.
• Bist was appointed as one of the judges in Uttarakhand High Court in November 2008.

• Appointments

Re-appointment of Aditya Puri as MD approved

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the re-appointment of Aditya Puri as Managing Director of the HDFC bank for another two years.
• Aditya Puri has been with the bank since 1994, making him the longest-serving head of any private bank in the country.
• Shareholders had already approved his appointment in 2015 for five years subject to the RBI’s approval.

• Obituaries

Urdu writer Qazi Abdussattar passed away

• Professor Qazi Abdussattar passed away on 29 October 2018.
• He was a noted Urdu writer and former head of Aligarh Muslim University’s Urdu department
• He was awarded Padma Shri in 1974.
• He was also the first recipient of Ghalib Academy Award in 1978.
• His most famous short story ‘Peetal Ka Ghanta’ drew acclaim in the Urdu literary world.

• Agreements

India, Qatar decide to establish a joint commission to strengthen relations

• India and Qatar decided to establish a joint commission to strengthen their relations in various fields with a view to furthering the common interest of the people of the two countries.
• The joint declaration signed by Sushma Swaraj (External Affairs Minister of India) and Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani (Foreign Minister of Qatar) in Doha, highlights the decision to set up the joint commission.
• The objective of the joint commission is to focus on various areas including economic, commercial, cultural, scientific, technological, Information Technology and educational fields.