Daily Current Affairs, 25th October 2019

1) Indian Railway launches One Touch ATVM

•Indian Railways has launched ‘one touch ATVM’ at 42 suburban stations of Central Railway over Mumbai Suburban Network. The machine has been launched to render fast ticketing to millions of commuters. This new machine will reduce the waiting time of the passengers and allow passenger to avoid standing in long queues.

•The new machine is loaded with the user friendly procedure which will greatly ease the load on ticketing system of Mumbai Suburban Network. A total of 92 ATVMs has been installed at 42 suburban stations.

2) ITBP celebrated its 58th Raising Day

•Indo-Tibetan Border Police celebrated its 58th Raising Day on 24th October 2019. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy took the salute of the Raising Day Parade ITBP’s Headquarters in Greater Noida. The Parade comprised of all Frontier Contingents of the Force including women, Commando, Skiing, mountaineering and paratroopers’ contingents besides the dog squad & mounted columns. The parade showcased valour and courage of various contingents.

•Indo-Tibetan Border Police was raised on 24 October, 1962 in the wake of Chinese aggression on Indo-China border.

3) BPRD releases “Data on Police Organizations (DoPO 2018)”

•Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy has released the Bureau of Police Research and Development’s flagship publication “Data on Police Organizations” (DoPO 2018) in New Delhi. The Data on Police Organisation in India is an important compilation of information on police infrastructure, manpower and other resources from all States, Union Territories, CAPFs and CPOs.

Major highlights of the DoPO 2018:

•There has been an increase of 19,686 Police personnel in the sanctioned strength of the State Police and 16,051 in the strength of CAPFs

•There has been 20.95% increase in the strength of Woman Police which brings the total percentage of women in the Indian Police to 8.73%.




•The overall Police Population Ratio at the state level stood at 192.95 policemen per lakh population.

•Police Stations have increased from 15579 to 16422. This includes Cyber Police Stations whose number has risen from 84 to 120.

•Electronic surveillance has improved with addition of 2,10,278 CCTV Cameras.

4) Chenani-Nashri Tunnel renamed as Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Tunnel

•J&K’s Chenani-Nashri Tunnel, a 9 km-long tunnel that reduces the distance between Jammu and Srinagar by 31 km has been renamed as Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Tunnel. The ‘Chenani-Nashri Highway Tunnel’ is not only India’s longest highway tunnel but also Asia’s longest bi-directional highway tunnel.

•The renaming of the tunnel aims to preserve Mukherjee’s heritage and memory as well as a tribute for his sacrifice for the nation.

5) India ranked 63rd in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking

•World Bank has released Ease of Doing business Rankings which includes 190 countries. As per the rankings, India has jumped 14 places and has been ranked at 63rd among 190 countries. New Zealand and Somalia retained their 1st and 190th spot respectively. The indicator measures the performance of countries across 10 different dimensions in the 12-month period ending May 1, 2019.

•From 2020, the World Bank has expanded its ease of doing business survey to 2 more cities: Bengaluru and Kolkata in addition to Delhi and Mumbai that are currently surveyed. The World Bank has decided to have four cities from every country with a population above 100 million.

Key findings of the Report:

•India has become one of the top 10 most improved countries for the third consecutive time.

•The country’s score improved from 67.3 (in 2018) to 71.0 (in 2019), as per The Doing Business 2020 study.

•India saw the biggest jump in ranking in the “resolving insolvency” category from 108th to 52nd on the back of the government implementing the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

•India’s ranking improved substantially in “dealing with construction permits” (from 52nd to 27th) and “trading across borders” (from 80th to 68th).

•India’s ranking improved in “registering property” from 166th to 154th despite a drop in score.

6) Ilham Tohti wins Sakharov Prize

•The European Parliament has awarded the Sakharov Prize to Uighur intellectual Ilham Tohti. He has been awarded the Sakharov Prize for his attempts to “foster dialogue” between Chinese people and the Uighur.

•Ilham Tohti, who is from the Uighur minority, has been a fierce critic of China’s treatment of the Uighur people. He has been sentenced to life imprisonment in China for “separatism”. The outspoken former Professor of economics at a Beijing university was sentenced in 2014.