Notes:
The 3rd India International Science Festival (IISF-2017) will be held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu from October 13-16. The festival is being organised by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST).Top scientists from the government are expected to participate in the four-day festival at IIT-Chennai.The event will be jointly inaugurated by science and technology ministers of Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Portugal.

Notes:
Padma Shri awardee Tom Alter (67), who was veteran actor and theatre personality, has passed away in Mumbai on September 29, 2017. The Indian actor of American descent, Tom Alter made his big screen debut in 1976 with a small role in Dharmendra-starrer Charas and later went on to work in films like Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Gandhi, Kranti, Bose: The Forgotten Hero and Veer Zara. But it was his sitcom Zabaan Sambhalke (1993-1997) that made him a household name. Born in Mussoorie in 1950, Alter was a third-generation American in India who studied at Woodstock School in the Himalayas and then briefly at Yale University in the USA, before returning to India in the early 70s.

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NITI Aayog will host the 8th annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES 2017) in partnership with the USA, which is scheduled to be held in Hyderabad from November 28 to 30. The 2017 theme “Women First, Prosperity for All” will celebrate entrepreneurship in all its strength, diversity and entirety. The four primary focus areas of GES 2017 are Health Care and Life Sciences, Digital Economy and Financial Technology, Energy and Infrastructure, and Media and Entertainment. The 2017 summit will empower Indian entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas, build partnerships, secure funding, and create innovative products and services that will transform societies for a better future. It will not only bring global best practices to India, but will also create an irreplaceable place for India in the global entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Notes:
The 14th India-EU Summit will be held in New Delhi from October 5-7, 2017. During the summit, both sides are expected to discuss a host of key issues including ways to remove hurdles for the long-pending free trade agreement. The president of the European Council (EC) Donald Franciszek Tusk, and the president of the European Commission (EC) Jean-Claude Juncker, will attend the summit. The European Union (EU) is India’s largest regional trading partner with bilateral trade in goods at USD 88 billion in 2016. The EU is also the largest destination for Indian exports and a key source of investment and technologies.

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The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Vihaan Networks Limited (VNL) have signed MoU to launch “Relief 123” service to provide disaster management in India. The “Relief 123” service is an integrated disaster response solution for first responders and public safety agencies. The solution is designed and manufactured by VNL and the backhaul connectivity will be provided by BSNL. The “Relief 123” is based on “ResQMobil”, an integrated portable communication solution which packs in the required hardware into a portable transportable trailer-on-wheels. The service will restore connectivity at disaster sites, help locate the affected people and integrate information across platforms for quick relief. The model can also be scaled for SAARC countries, wherein BSNL would have roaming agreements with local mobile service operators.

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IDBI Bank has launched ‘Project Nishchay’ in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to accelerate its turnaround program and improve financial performance. The project will be led by senior management at IDBI Bank along with BCG. As part of the initiative, IDBI bank will focus on four key areas – revenue enhancement, cost control & reduction, asset productivity and overall program management in consultation with BCG.

Notes:
The Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary (DWS) is located in Baragarh district, Odisha and covers an area of 346.91 square kilometers. This sanctuary is not only famous for the sylvan beauty with magnificent waterfalls but is also very rich in wildlife. The dry deciduous forests with varied flora and fauna attract the tourists of Odisha and neighbouring states. It is home to Indian leopard, Indian elephant, sambar, chital, gaur, etc.

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Royana Singh, an assistant professor at the Institute of Medical Science (Anatomy Department), has been appointed as the first woman chief proctor of Banaras Hindu University (BHU). She succeeded O P Singh, who recently resigned from the post after taking moral responsibility for the lathi charge on students who were protesting against the victim-blaming of a colleague who was molested on the campus.

Notes:
Makhan Lal Fotedar (85), a veteran Congress leader, has passed away in Gurugram, Haryana on September 28, 2017. Hailing from Kashmir, Fotedar was ushered into politics by Jawaharlal Nehru in early 1950s and he gradually strengthened his position in the Congress to become one of the most powerful persons in the party. He enjoyed immense trust of Indira Gandhi who had made him her political secretary in 1980. After her death, Rajiv Gandhi also made him his political secretary for three years, before inducting him in his Cabinet as a minister. Fotedar also was a member of the powerful Congress Working Committee (CW), the highest decision-making body of the party, for a long time. Even now, he was a permanent invitee to the CWC. He was also a leader of the Kashmiri Pandits.

Notes:
Gujarat will be the second state after Goa to use the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) system for the Assembly elections. Here, Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be equipped with VVPAT. State Chief Electoral Officer and Principal Secretary Mr. B. B. Sawain announced this at a press conference in Gandhinagar on Septmebr 28, 2017. Approx 70,182 VVPAT machines will be used in the state for the Assembly elections. During the poll, the voters will experience the transparency and would enjoy a new right. According to the latest electoral list, it has as many as 4.33 crore registered voters in the state.