1) Dussehra being celebrated across the country
•The festival of Vijayadashmi or Dussehra is being celebrated throughout the country today. The day is celebrated to remember Lord Ram's victory over Ravana, to mark the triumph of good over evil. The day also marks the end of Navratri and Durga Puja.
•President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu have greeted peoples on the occasion. In a message, Mr Kovind said the festival is an expression of the shared values and culture of this great nation.
•He said, it reminds the people of the human and social values related to the life of Lord Rama. President said, the ideal character of Lord Rama teaches the lessons of dedication to duty, morality and social service to the people. He said, the festival signifies the victory of good over evil and the power of ethical and moral values.
2) President appoints governors for 5 states, Banwarilal Purohit named TN governor
•Former Union Minister Satya Pal Malik was today appointed as the new Governor of Bihar while Assam Governor Banwarilal Purohit will now be the new Governor of Tamil Nadu.
•Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar, Prof Jagdish Mukhi will replace Mr. Purohit as the Governor of Assam.
•Admiral (Retd) Devendra Kumar Joshi will be the Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar in place of Prof. Mukhi.
•President Ram Nath Kovind today appointed Governors in five states and Lieutenant Governor in one Union Territories.
•Brigadier (Retd) B D Mishra has been appointed as the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh and former member of Bihar Legislative Council Ganga Prasad Governor of Meghalaya.
3) Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to visit Siachen base camp
•Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who is on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, will today visit the Ladakh region where she will take stock of the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
•She briefed about the prevailing security situation in the State and given an overview of the Counter Infiltration and Counter Militancy Operations undertaken in the recent past.
•She met Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Governor NN Vohra in Srinagar last evening and discussed the security situation in the state.
4) Government Keeps Interest Rates Unchanged on Small Savings Schemes
•Ahead of monetary policy review, the government has kept unchanged the interest rates on small savings schemes like PPF, Kisan Vikas Patra and Sukanya Samriddhi for October-December quarter. Investments in the Public Provident Fund (PPF) scheme will fetch annual rate of 7.8 percent while Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) investments will yield 7.5 percent and mature in 115 months.
•The one for girl child savings, Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme will offer 8.3 percent annually. Similarly, the investment on 5-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme will yield 8.3 percent. The interest rate on the senior citizens scheme is paid quarterly.
5) Aeris Communications partners BSNL for IOT solutions
•Aeris Communications has entered into a partnership with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) to provide packaged Internet of Things (IoT) solutions and services to small, medium businesses and public sector undertakings (PSUs) in India.
•The company will leverage BSNL's wide network coverage, to provide a comprehensive, end-to-end IoT services platform for enterprises, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and service providers.
6) Veteran actor Tom Alter dies at 67
•Veteran film, television and theatre actor and Padma Shri Tom Alter has died at aged 67. The renowned actor and one-time sports writer and author had been battling stage four skin cancer.
•Alter acted in over 300 movies apart from numerous TV shows, most famously as the gangster Keshav Kalsi in the hit soap opera Junoon which ran for a record five years during the 1990s. In addition to acting, Alter also ventured into direction and was a sports journalist in the 80s and 90s. He was the first person to interview Sachin Tendulkar for TV when the cricketer was yet to debut for India. Alter has written three books, one non-fiction and two fiction, and in 2008 was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri by the Indian government in recognition for his services to the field of arts and cinema.
