History beckons: On the trail of the lost Saraswati

• Bags of sand, gravel, silt and samples of water, possibly from the “long lost” Saraswati river, lie in a room at the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG).
• According to available information, the river may have originated at Adi Badri (on the Haryana-Himachal Pradesh border).
• We have to identify patches of the lost river and then connect them through continuous dredging and excavation to give it a proper shape. We will also look into the tectonic implications that could have led to the river drying up.
• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has delineated the river course through remote sensing.

Modi pays tribute to Kalam on 85th birth anniversary

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15-10- 2016 paid tributes to former President and the “Missile Man” A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on his 85th birth anniversary.
• Kalam, a recipient of several awards including Padma Bhushan in 1981, Padma Vibhushan in 1990 and the highest civilian award Bharat Ratna in 1997, became the 11th President of India on July 25, 2002 and served the post till July 25, 2007.
• Author of several best selling books such as Wings of Fire, Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India and India 2020.
• Kalam was born on October 15, 1931 in Rameswaram town of Tamil Nadu and died due to a cardiac arrest on July 27, 2015 while delivering a speech at IIM Shillong.

Countries agree to phase out 85 p.c. of potent greenhouse gas by 2045

• One hundred and seven countries came to an agreement in Kigali, Rwanda, on Saturday, to substantially phase out a potent greenhouse gas by 2045 and move to prevent a potential 0.5C rise in global temperature by 2050.
• Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are a family of gases that are largely used in refrigerants in home and car air conditioners.
• India, China, the United States and Europe agreed on a timeline to reduce the use of HFC by 85% by 2045.
• The developed countries, led by the US and Europe, according to a CSE statement, will reduce the HFC use by 85 per cent by 2036 over a 2011-13 baseline.
• The developed countries, led by the US and Europe, according to a CSE statement, will reduce the HFC use by 85 per cent by 2036 over a 2011-13 baseline.
• China, which is the largest producer of HFC in the world, will reduce its use by 80 per cent by 2045 over the 2020-22 baseline and India will reduce the use of HFC by 85 per cent over the 2024-26 baseline.

Trump denounces 'lies and smears' as more women come forward

• Two more women came forward to accuse Donald Trump of unwanted sexual touching, including a former contestant from a reality show that starred the Republican presidential nominee.
• At a campaign rally in North Carolina Trump sought to discredit his accusers. He said because there were no witnesses to the interactions, the allegations were not credible.

Chinese state media slams West’s ‘bad mouthing’ of BRICS

• China and India have lived with territorial disputes, but the geopolitical contention between them is mostly hyped by some ill-intentioned people,” state-run Global Times said on the BRICS summit in Goa beginning on 15-10- 2016.
• “BRICS countries boast rich natural and human resources, huge markets and policy potential.
• The Goa summit shows continued progress of cooperation between the five countries.
• Since the establishment of BRICS, speculations of disunity among the countries and decline in their power have emerged one after another.
• “The West suspects that BRICS is an organisation against the Group of Seven, but this view comes from narrow—minded zero—sum mentality. BRICS countries all have their own objectives and problems to address, and cooperation, not confrontation, is the aim of their grouping together.

China, Bangladesh ink 26 agreements after Xi-Hasina talks

• Bangladesh and China have agreed to elevate their cooperation to “strategic partnership” during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the South Asian country.
• The two countries have also agreed to jointly advance China’s ‘belt and road initiative’ and establish “institutional cooperation” in areas of maritime issues and counter-terrorism.
• Mr. Xi’s milestone visit to Dhaka, first in 30 years by a Chinese president, also witnessed the signing of 26 agreements on different sectors.
• We agreed to elevate China-Bangladesh relations from a closer comprehensive partnership of cooperation to a strategic partnership and to increase high level exchanges and strategic communication so that our bilateral relations continue to move ahead at higher level.

Can’t ban all imports from China: Centre

• India can’t impose a blanket ban on all imports from China, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
• But it is possible to introduce anti-dumping duties and safeguard mechanisms on certain products to protect consumers and producers based on factual evidence,.
• Though trade between the two Asian economies declined from more than $72 billion in 2014-15 to $70.7 billion in 2015-16, India’s trade deficit with China rose to $52.68 billion from $48.48 billion in 2014-15.

RCom, Brookfield ink Rs.11,000 cr. deal

• Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications Ltd. (RCom) has signed a non-binding term sheet with Canadian Brookfield Infrastructure Group (Brookfield) to sell a majority 51 percent stake of its nationwide tower assets and related  infrastructure for cash consideration of Rs. 11,000 crores, making it one of the largest FDI in infrastructure sector.
• RCom and Brookfield also see several opportunities for consolidation in the towers industry in India that will further enhance growth and value creation in the future.
• RCom will utilize entire Rs. 11,000 crore to reduce debt and the combination of RCom’s wireless business with Aircel will reduce RCom debt by another Rs. 14,000 crore.
• RCom will retain 100 per cent of its highly profitable Indian Enterprise business, Data Centres, Optic Fibre, global submarine cables, GCX, amongst other.
• RCom shares were trading up 2 per cent at Rs 48.75 in an almost flat Mumbai market .

Azhar’s journey from substitute to triple centurion

• Azhar Ali notched his own with an unbeaten 302 against West Indies in the second ever day-night Test in Dubai to join a select league of batsmen.
• But what distinguishes the 31-year- old from the rest of the triple centurions is that he became the first batsman in day-night Test cricket to achieve the landmark.
• His was the fourth triple hundred by a Pakistani batsman.
• He has already replaced Misbah as captain of the one-day team.
• Ali believed the pink ball -- used in the day-night Test instead of the traditional red -- did not cause any difficulties.