Notes:
The international ed-tech conference – Transforming Education Conference for Humanity (TECH 2018) will be organized by UNESCO MGIEP (Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development) in association with Government of Andhra Pradesh at Novotel, Vizag City from November 15 – 17, 2018. The aim of the 3-day conference is to showcase the role of games and digital learning in enabling a shift from “transmissive pedagogies” to “transformative pedagogies” to create peaceful and sustainable societies. The MGIEP is the UNESCO’s Category 1 Research Institute in the Asia-Pacific region focused on mainstreaming socio-emotional learning in education systems.

Notes:
In New Delhi, Malayalam author Benyamin has bagged the first JCB Prize for literature for his book ‘Jasmine Days’, which explores the lives of South Asians in the Middle East. The novel was originally written in Malayalam and translated by Shahnaz Habib. It tells the story of a young woman in a city where the promise of revolution turns into destruction and division. It revolves around the Jasmine Revolution that sprang up in December 2010 and was quelled by January 2011. Benyamin was awarded a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh, along with a magnificent trophy created by Delhi artist duo Thukral & Tagra, titled ‘Mirror Melting’. Habib received an additional prize of Rs 5 lakh.

Notes:
The Hindu’s Mumbai-based correspondent Jyoti Shelar has won the first place in the English category of Schizophrenia Research Foundation’s (SCARF) media for mental health reporting award 2018 in Anna Nagar, Chennai. Her report on suicides by farmers and the resultant impact on the mental health of their families won her the award. The other two winners of the award are S Ramanathan of ‘The Newsminute’ and Disha Shetty of ‘The Wire’. In the Tamil category, Usha Narayanan’s interview with a medical professional on addressing issues due to domestic problems and N. Maheswari’s review of a documentary film on autism were chosen for awards.

Notes:
The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) observes the Vigilance Awareness Week every year during the week in which the birthday of Sardar Vallabh bhai Patel (31st October) falls. This year, the Vigilance Awareness Week is being observed from 29th October to 3rd November, 2018 on the theme “Eradicate Corruption-Build a New India”. It seeks to motivate stakeholders to collectively participate in the fight against corruption and also aims at raising public awareness regarding the detrimental consequences of corruption.

Notes:
The Punjab Government has decided to ban the sale of glyphosate, a herbicide which is extensively used in the State to control a wide variety of weeds in almost all the crops. This chemical has been observed to be a Group 2A cancer-causing material. Besides cancer, this chemical is also known for causing other health problems and has the potential to damage human DNA as per the opinion of experts from PGIMER, Chandigarh. Glyphosate is sold in the country under various trade names such as Round-up, Excell, Glycel, Glider, Glydon, etc.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a farmers’ conclave ‘Krishi Kumbh 2018’ in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh on October 26 via video conferencing. The 3-day event is being organized to promote modern technique and diversification in agriculture that could help farmers to double their income. In it, Israel and Japan are official partners while Haryana and Jharkhand as partner states. More than 1 lakh farmers, experts, scientists and entrepreneurs are expected to take part in the mega event.

Notes:
India will host the 24th edition of Technology Summit 2018 in New Delhi from October 29. This is the first time that Italy has been selected as partner country for this prestigious event. Italian Prime Minister will be leading a 200-strong delegation for the Summit comprising business leaders, scientists, heads of research and scientific organisations and technocrats. The 2-day Summit is envisaged to serve as a wide-ranging knowledge-business partnership platform. The Summit will also facilitate a comprehensive convergence of key elements of knowledge economy (science, technology & innovation; research & development; and higher education) of India and Italy.

Notes:
Indian table tennis player Ayhika Mukherjee has won a silver medal in the under-21 women’s singles category of the ITTF Challenge Belgium Open. She lost 1-3 to Korea’s Youjin Kim in the final. In the semifinals, Ayhika had defeated Hong Kong’s Chengzhu Zhu 3-1 to enter the finals. Her compatriots Anthony Amalraj and Sanil Shetty too fought their way into the medals’ bracket, bagging a bronze in the men’s doubles.

Notes:
The Government of India (GoI) has recently donated $300,000 for a peacekeeping initiative at the United Nations (UN) that will focus on issues of conduct along with sexual exploitation and abuse and help develop the capacity of future commanders and managers to lead by example. The programme will, over a period of three years, help develop the capacity of future commanders and managers to lead by example and raise awareness of UN standards of conduct among their personnel. The programme will equip future commanders and managers to respond to allegations of misconduct including through collaborating with the various stakeholders in mission settings during the investigation and disciplinary process. India is also noted as the first contributor to the Trust Fund in Support of Victims of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. The country is also a signatory to the Voluntary Compact on Eliminating Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and a member of the Circle of Leadership of the Secretary-General on the prevention and response to sexual exploitation and abuse.

Notes:
In Men’s Hockey, India and Pakistan were declared joint winners of the 5th edition of Asian Champions Trophy 2018 at Muscat in Oman on October 28, after the final was abandoned due to bad weather conditions. Meanwhile, Malaysia finished at the 3rd place after defeating Japan 3-2 in the penalty shootouts in the bronze medal match. India remained the only undefeated team in the tournament. Before this edition, both India and Pakistan had won the tournament twice each. Faizal Saari from Malaysia was the top scorer of the tournament with 8 Goals. From India, Akashdeep Singh and P. R. Sreejesh were declared the Best Player and Best Goal Keeper of the tournament, respectively.