1) India to Conduct the First ‘BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise- 2017’
•The First ‘BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise- 2017’ (BIMSTEC DMEx-2017) will be conducted by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) as the lead agency from October 10-13, 2017 in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).
•This Exercise will be a platform for sharing Best Practices on all aspects of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), strengthening regional response and coordination for Disaster Management among the BIMSTEC member countries.
2) Cabinet Approves Merger of 17 Govt Presses into 5 Units
•The Union Cabinet has given its approval for rationalization/merger and modernization of 17 Government of India Presses (GIPs)/Units into 5 Government of India Presses (GIPs) at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Minto Road and Mayapuri, New Delhi; Nashik, Maharashtra and Temple Street, Kolkata, West Bengal.
•These 5 Presses will be redeveloped and modernised by monetisation of their surplus land. Modernisation of the Presses will enable them to undertake important confidential, urgent and multi-colour printing work of the Central Government Offices all over the country.
3) India Appoints Ajay Bisaria New High Commissioner to Pakistan
•India’s ambassador to Pakistan Gautam Bambawale will now head the Indian mission in China, while envoy to Poland Ajay Bisaria will replace him in Islamabad.
•The reshuffle was necessitated by appointment of India's ambassador to China Vijay Gokhale as Secretary (Economic Relations) in MEA. Gokhale played the lead role in defusing the Doklam crisis with Beijing.
4) Akshay Kumar Appointed Uttarakhand Swachh Bharat Mission Brand Ambassador
•Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat announced the appointment of actor Akshay Kumar as the brand ambassador of the Swachh Bharat Mission in the state.
•Akshay was also appointed as the brand ambassador for the cleanliness campaign in Uttar Pradesh in August 2017 and his film "Toilet: Ek Prem Katha" was made tax-free in the state.
5) BCCI Nominates MS Dhoni for Padma Bhushan Award
•The Indian cricket board, BCCI has nominated Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the country's third highest civilian award - the Padma Bhushan, for his contribution to the game.
•A senior BCCI official confirmed that the Board has only sent one name for the Padma awards this year and it was a unanimous decision to nominate India's most successful captain.
6) Tata Steel, Thyssenkrupp Sign MoU for European Steel JV
•Tata Steel and Thyssenkrupp of Germany have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in a deal that is poised to create one of Europe's largest steel companies. The two partners have been in merger talks for more than a year.
•They will form a 50:50 joint venture to create a powerful No. 2 in the European steel market. The merger will lead to substantial cost savings for both steel players.
