1) Malala
won 2014 World’s Children prize: Champion for girls’ rights Malala
Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate in history, won the World’s
Children’s Prize 2014 on 29 October 2014, after a global vote involving
millions of children. “Millions of children have voted to award Malala this
year’s World’s Children’s Prize for the rights of the child,” the organisation
said in a statement. “Nobody has ever received the Nobel Peace Prize and the
World’s Children’s Prize, often dubbed the ‘Children’s Nobel Prize’ by the
media, in the same year,” it added. This year’s honorary awards went to former
Microsoft executive John Wood, founder of the Room to Read literacy group, and
Indira Ranamagar from Nepal, for her work for the children of prisoners. Nelson
Mandela, Graca Machel, Anne Frank and Kofi Annan have previously been honoured.
2) India
ranks 142 in latest "Ease of Doing Business" report: World Bank-
India ranked 142 among the 189 countries surveyed for the latest World Bank’s
“Ease of Doing Business” report released on Wednesday, a drop by two places
from the last year’s ranking, as Singapore topped the list. The fall in ranking
from last year’s 140 is mainly because other nations performed much better,
Bank officials said. India’s ranking originally stood at 134 last year, but was
adjusted to 140 to account for fresh data. In the 2014 report, India had 52.78
points and this year it scored 53.97 points. The latest ranking, however, does
not take into account a slew of measures taken by the Modi government to make
India a business friendly destination.
3) World
Stroke Day observed: World Stroke Day is observed on October 29 to
underscore the serious nature and high rates of stroke, raise awareness of the
prevention and treatment of the condition, and ensure better care and support
for survivors. On this day, organizations around the world have facilitated
events emphasizing education, testing, and initiatives to improve the damaging
effects of stroke worldwide.
4) Harsh
Vardhan announces TB-Mission 2020: Underlining the plans of the Indian
government to eliminate Tuberculosis from the country, Union Health Minister
Harsh Vardhan today announced 'TB-Mission 2020'. Vardhan was speaking at WHO's
Global TB Symposium titled 'Moving out of the box to end global TB epidemic:
with post-2015 strategy. Tuberculosis control was also declared as the dominant
agenda for the upcoming meeting of BRICS Health Ministers in December.
5) Government
relaxed FDI norms for construction, real estate sector: The government
eased overseas investment rules in construction to attract money into the
funds-starved sector and serve its twin objectives of faster job creation and
housing for all. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a comprehensive
proposal by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP),
dropping the minimum 10-hectare rule for serviced housing plots and slashing
the minimum floor area for construction development projects to 20,000 sq m
from 50,000 sq m to be eligible for overseas investment.
6) Sachin
Tendulkar inducted into Don Bradman Hall of Fame: Sachin Tendulkar added
another feather to his cap on Wednesday when the Indian batting legend was
inducted as one of the latest honourees in the Bradman Foundation. At a gala
dinner held at the historic Sydney Cricket Ground, former Australian captain
Steve Waugh was the other cricketer to enter the Bradman Hall of Fame alongside
Tendulkar.
7) Bangladesh
Jamaat chief gets death for war crimes: A Bangladesh war crimes tribunal on
Wednesday handed death penalty to Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami
for crimes, which include the killings of nation’s leading intellectuals during
the country’s War of Liberation in 1971.
