The Daily Brief – 18th October 2017

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• In the Times Higher Education Rankings, The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore and Indian Instituted of Technology (IIT) Bombay were ranked among world’s top 200 institutions for engineering and computer science in the respective subject category. IISc was placed at the 89th spot, while IIT Bombay was placed in the 126- 150 category, globally.
• An All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) was dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of National Ayurveda Day observed on the occasion of Dhanwantari Jayanti(17th October 2017).Prime Minister also released Ayurvedic Standard Treatment Guidelines framed by Ministry of AYUSH. He also presented Yoga Award to Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute, Pune which was announced on the occasion of International Day of Yoga.
• On World Sawfish Day (observed on October 17th), scientists announced that sawfish was sighted off Indian coast only less than 10 times in over a decade. Sawfish which were common along Indian coast appears to be more threatened than tigers and elephants.
• American author, George Saunders won the Man Booker Prize 2017 for his first full-length novel “Lincoln in the Bardo”. The Man Booker Prize is the world’s most prestigious English-language literary award. Saunders became the second consecutive American writer to win prize after Paul Beatty(for his novel The Sellout), after the rules were changed in 2014 to allow authors of any book written in English and published in UK to compete.
• Largest commodity bourse Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) launched India’s first commodity options in gold. It was launched by Union Finance Minsiter Arun Jaitley. The gold futures contract will have bi-monthly duration. The option will also have the existing gold kilo futures contract as its underlier.
• India and Japan have signed memorandum of cooperation (MoC) on Technical Intern Training Programme (TITP) to significantly expand the bilateral cooperations in the field of skill development. India is the third country with which Japan has signed the MoC. Under it, India will send youngsters to Japan as technical interns for on-the-job training for a period of three to five years.
•  The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) has launched online campaign #IamThatWoman in an attempt to end Gender bias in women against women. It was launched by WCD Minister Meneka Gandhi.
• The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP) is observed every year on October 17 to raise people’s awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and destitution worldwide, particularly in developing countries. The 2017 theme ‘Answering the Call of October 17 to end poverty: ‘A path toward peaceful and inclusive societies’.