The Daily Brief – 28th October 2018

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has sacked Ranil Wickremesinghe, incumbent prime minister of Sri Lanka and appointed former President Mahinda Rajapaksha as new Prime Minister. Mahinda Rajapaksa was born on November 18, 1949 in the southern province of British Sri Lanka. He was the 18th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from April 6, 2004 to November 19, 2005. After that, he was the 6th President of Sri Lanka from November 19, 2005 to January 9, 2015.

The Central Vigilance Commission observes the Vigilance Awareness Week every year during the week in which birthday of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (31st October) falls. The 2018 Vigilance Awareness Week is being observed from 29th October to 3rd November, 2018 with the theme “Eradicate Corruption-Build a New India”. One of the highlights of the week will be establishment of Integrity Clubs in the schools and colleges to cultivate ethical values in the leaders of tomorrow.

Since 2008, the Global Agriculture Leadership Summit & Awards are organised by Indian Council of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) with support of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare; Ministry of Food Processing Industries and Ministry of Commerce. The 2018 Global Agriculture Leadership Summit was 11th in this series held in New Delhi recently in October, 2018. Prof. Rudy Rabbinge, received International Leadership Award and Prof. M.S. Swaminathan won the first World Agriculture Prize. Prof. Swaminathan is known as Father of Green Revolution in India.

The United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights (UN Human Rights Prize) was announced recently by María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the 73rd Session of United Nations General Assembly. The winners of 2018 award are: Asma Jahangir – Pakistan’s late human rights activist, Rebeca Gyumi – A Tanzanian human rights activist, Joenia Wapichana – Brazil’s first indigenous lawyer, Front Line Defenders – A human rights organisation of Ireland. These awards were instituted by UNGA in 1966. The first awards were given in 1968 and are given every five years since then.

The fifteenth edition of World Wrestling Championship held from October 20 to 28 in Budapest, Hungary. In this event, Japan won the most medals with 5 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronze. India is at the 17th place with 2 medals – 1 silver and 1 bronze. Bajrang Punia bagged the silver medal. Pooja Dhanda won Bronze medal and became fourth Indian woman to win a medal at the World Wrestling Championship. World Wrestling Championships started in 1904 with the Men’s Greco-Roman wrestling tournament.

India railways announced its plan to link New Delhi and Ladakh by means of a railway line that will run along the India-China Border. The proposed Bilaspur-Manali-Leh Line once launched would be the world’s highest railway line at 5,360 metres above mean sea level. Keylong station on the route will be constructed inside a tunnel at the height of 3000 metres which is a first in India. The railway line will halve the time taken to cover the distance between Delhi and Leh from the current 40 hrs to 20 hrs.

India will be among the top three aviation market by 2024 according to International Air Transport Association (IATA) in its 20- year air passenger forecast report. India is currently at seventh position in Global Aviation market. China will displace the US as the world’s largest aviation market in the mid- 2020. India has also raised from 52nd place to 40th place in 2017 World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index.

The Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Thaawarchand Gehlot, announced on October 25, 2018 that a stadium of international standard for differently-abled persons will be set up in Meghalaya. The decision was taken after Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma came forward with the proposal and also provided 50 acres of land for the same. The stadium would also be put to use during the National Games 2022.