Current Affairs 18 October, 2019

1. CJI Ranjan Gogoi names Justice Bobde as successor

• Justice Bobde, who is second in seniority in Supreme Court as of now, would become the 47th Chief Justice of the country and shall take oath of office on 18 November. He will demit office on his retirement on 23 April, 2021
• Chief Justice Gogoi, who is scheduled to retire on November 17, has sent his recommendation in writing to the government.
• The Memorandum of Procedure for appointment of judges to the Supreme Court prescribes that the “appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of India should be of the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office".

2. Odisha’s first Robot Restaurant opens in Bhubaneswar

• Odisha’s smart city Bhubaneswar gets it 1st Robo Chef Restaurant in Odisha.The Robot Restaurant opened at the Infocity DLF tower of Bhubaneswar claims to be the first restaurant in Eastern India where two indigenously developed robots, ‘Champa’ and ‘Chameli’ are engaged.
• The robots are developed at a Jaipur-based startup using SLAM technology, and It automatically navigates like humans, follows the routes and instructions.Not only this, after serving the food, the robots will also ask you for feedback in Odia that ‘Are you happy’.
• Earlier Chennai and Bengaluru had introduced smart restaurants with robots machines imported from China.

About Odisha
1. Capital: Bhubaneswar
2. Governor: Ganeshi Lal
3. Chief minister: Naveen Patnaik
4. Utkal Divas or Odisha Day: 01st April

3. Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Council abolished; reduced to Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh

• Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Council got abolished on October 18, 2019 under Section 57 of the J&K Reorganisation Bill, 2019. With this, the J&K state has now been reduced to two Union Territories - Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
• J&K and Ladakh will now be UTs from November 1, 2019. The J&K Reorganisation Bill, 2019 was passed by the Parliament in August 2019.
• The staff members of the J&K Council need to report to the General Administration Department (GAD) by October 22, 2019. On the other hand, the Council Secretary has been asked to transfer all records regarding the Council Secretariat to the Department of Law under the Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.

4. India Innovation Index 2019: Karnataka tops the list followed by Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra

• NITI Aayog with Institute for Competitiveness as the knowledge partner released the India Innovation Index (III) 2019. Karnataka is the most innovative major state in India.Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana, Haryana, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh form the remaining top ten major states respectively.
• Sikkim and Delhi take the top spots among the northeastern & hill states, and union territories/city-states/small states respectively.Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh are the most efficient states in translating inputs into output.
• The study examines the innovation ecosystem of Indian states and union territories. The aim is to create a holistic tool which can be used by policymakers across the country to identify the challenges to be addressed and strengths to build on when designing the economic growth policies for their regions.

Foot Notes:
About NITI Aayog
1. Vice-Chairman: Rajiv Kumar
2. CEO, NITI Aayog: Amitabh Kant

5. Friends star Jennifer Aniston claims record for fastest to reach one million Instagram followers

• Friends star Jennifer Aniston has taken Instagram by storm, joining the platform and rapidly setting a new record for the fastest time to reach one million followers in just 5 hours and 16 minutes.
• Aniston, whose first photo post was a selfie with her fellow Friends cast members, kept her introduction to the photo and video sharing social media network simple with a bio that read 'Friends call me Jen'.

6. State Bank of India launches contactless mobile payment facility for credit card holders

• SBI Card launched SBI Card Pay a payment feature based on Host Card Emulation (HCE) technology for faster, convenient, and more secure card payments using mobile phones.
• Seamless, swift payments at a speed that matches the dynamic lifestyle of today's consumers. We believe that contactless payments are playing a pivotal role in the country's digital payments drive.
• Contactless payment in which you have to tap your credit card or debit card has been on the rise due to the convenience it provides as payment is made just with a tap of your credit or debit card, and you do not have to enter your PIN to make payment.

About SBI
1. Chairperson: Rajnish Kumar
2. Headquarters: Mumbai

7. Qatar Pledges to End 'Kafala' Employment Laws That Tie Foreign Workers to Employers

• The energy-rich nation of Qatar is pledging to fully eliminate a labour system that ties foreign workers to their employer and requires them to have their company's permission to leave the country. According to the United Nations' International Labor Organization, said yesterday that Qatar planned to end the so-called 'kafala' system there.
• The ILO says workers would be able to freely change employers under draft laws described as being 'expected to come into force by January 2020. The ILO says Doha is also considering a minimum wage.

Foot Notes:
About Qatar
1. Capital: Doha
2. Currency: Qatari riyal

8. Italy to introduce 3% web tax on digital giants from 2020

• Italian scheme to yield about 600 million euros ($662 million) a year alternative revenues will allow it to avoid a scheduled increase in sales tax.
• Italy and European Union members have long complained about the way web giants collect considerable profits in their countries to pay only a few million euros in taxes each year. The EU failed to agree to tax the firms.
• France and the United States reached a deal in August to end a standoff over a French tax on big internet companies, with France repaying companies the difference between the French tax and a planned mechanism being drawn up by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

About Italy
1. President: Sergio Mattarella
2. Capital: Rome
3. Currency: Euro

9. Veteran actor Deepti Naval was honoured with the Excellence in Cinema Award at Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival

• Veteran actor Deepti Naval was honoured with the Excellence in Cinema Award at the opening ceremony of the 21st Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star on Thursday night.
• Naval made her acting debut with "Junoon" in 1978. In her career spanning over 40 years, she has acted in more than 60 films. Some of her iconic films include "Kamla", "Chashme Baddoor", "Mirch Masala", "Rang Birangi", "Firaaq", "Leela" and "Memories in March".

10. Hailakandi becomes first Assam district to introduce leave applications online.

• Hailakandi has become the first district in Assam to introduce a digital system and the state government employees will need to file their leave applications online.
• The government employees working under the district administration can proceed on leave only after getting a digital approval.
• Each employee has been allotted a login ID and password to apply for leave in the 'Manav Sampada' website.

Foot Notes:
About Assam
1. Capital: Dispur
2. Chief minister: Sarbananda Sonowal

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