Rajasthan’s luxury train ‘Palace on Wheels’ began its commercial operations from  Oct 12 after two-years of Covid pandemic-induced break.

Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC), chairman Dharmendra Rathore flagged off the train for its commercial operation from Safdardjung railway station in the national Capital.

Rathore said the Palace on Wheels was running continuously since 1982, but due to the pandemic in 2020 its operation was stopped, and the biggest challenge was to run it again.

He said there are 10 such luxury trains in the entire world, the remaining 9 trains are still non-operational.

The win over Thailand took India to their eighth straight Asia Cup final -- four each in ODI and T20 formats. Before 2012, the tournament was a 50-over-a-side affair.

The semifinal contest against Thailand was always expected to be a cakewalk for India and it turned out to be so.

India posted 148 for six after being sent in to bat and then restricted Thailand to 74 for 9 in the lop-sided contest.

Q1. Who is the Finance Secretary of India ?

1. Rajiv Gauba
2. Ajay Kumar Bhalla
3. Vinay Mohan Kwatra
4. T. V. Somanathan
5. None of These

Q2.  Which among the following is not authored by the winner of 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature  and French author Annie Ernaux ?

1. Getting Lost
2. The Years
3. Midnight's Children
4. Happening
5. None of These

Q3.  Which of the following is the currency of South Korea ?

1. Ringgit
2. Won
3. Kyat
4. Dong
5. None of These

Q4. On 14 December 1990, the United Nations General Assembly designated October 1 as the

1. International Day of Older Persons
2. World Teacher's Day
3. World Animal Welfare Day
4. International Coffee Day
5. None of These

Q5. Name the sport with which Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is associated ?

1. Badminton
2. Hockey
3. Chess
4. Cricket
5. None of These

Answers

1------------------4    T. V. Somanathan

2-------------------3   Midnight's Children

3-------------------- 2      Won

4---------- 1  International Day of Older Persons

5--------------------------  2   Hockey

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on  Oct 11 inaugurated the 900 metre-long Mahakal Lok corridor built at the Mahakaleshwar temple.

The Mahakal Lok project cost is Rs 856 crore, with the first phase being developed for Rs 351 crore.

Modi, accompanied by Madhya Pradesh Governor Mangu Bhai Patel and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, greeted sadhus present at the venue.

He pressed a remote button to unveil a Shivling replica to dedicate Mahakal Lok to the nation.

The Mahakaleshwar Temple Corridor Development Project will provide better amenities for those visiting the temple which is dedicated to Lord Shiva and houses one of the 12 Jyotirlingas (representation of Lord Shiva) in India.

The corridor has around 108 aesthetically ornate pillars made of intricately carved sandstones that depict the Anand Tandav Swaroop (Lord Shiva's dance form), 200 statues and murals of Lord Shiva and goddess Shakti.

Modi offered prayers at the temple before he inaugurated the corridor project.

The Supreme Court  on Oct 12 directed no citizen can be prosecuted under section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which it had scrapped way back in 2015.

Under the annulled section, a person posting offensive content could be imprisoned for up to three years and also fined.

Underlining that liberty of thought and expression is of "cardinal" significance, the top court had on March 24, 2015, done away with the provision, saying "the public's right to know is directly affected by Section 66A of the Information Technology Act".

A bench headed by Chief Justice U U Lalit said in all cases where citizens are facing prosecution for alleged violation of section 66-A of the Act, the reference and reliance upon the said provision shall stand deleted.

The top court clarified that this direction shall apply only with respect to offences punishable under section 66A, and if in the crime in question, other offences are also alleged, then the reference and reliance upon section 66A alone shall be deleted.

Madrassas in Uttarakhand have been ordered to get themselves registered with the state education department within a month or face closure.

There are around 400 unregistered madrassas in the state.

Australia is an important partner for India in terms of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific and working together ensures that this region remains free, open, stable and prosperous, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Oct 12.

Jaishankar, who is on a two-day visit to Australia, in his address to the Indian community said during the visit he spent time with the Australian military.

The US, India and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China's rising military manoeuvring in the region.

China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it.

Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea.

He also spoke about the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement.

He said he was really excited about the enormous possibilities in the bilateral ties, especially in the education sector.

Germany and Italy will slip into recession next year, becoming the first advanced economies to contract in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, an IMF forecast showed on Oct 11 . While the eurozone will avoid a recession, the output of the 19-nation single currency area will slow sharply, eking out 0.5 per cent growth -- worse than previously forecast by the IMF.

The war on Europe's eastern flank has sent inflation soaring higher as energy prices have jumped, forcing the European Central Bank to hike interest rates to cool the economy, at the risk of precipitating a contraction.

Germany -- Europe's biggest economy -- has paid dearly for its heavy reliance on gas from Russia, which cut supplies to Europe in suspected retaliation for Western sanctions over the conflict.

The German economy is now expected to shrink by 0.3 per cent in 2023, the IMF said in an update to its World Economic Outlook from July, which had forecast 0.8 per cent growth for the country.

Italy, whose industries are also dependent on gas imports, will see its gross domestic product contracted by 0.2 per cent -- also a sharp downgrade from 0.9 per cent growth July.

Germany and Italy are the only advanced economies seen going into recession next year in the revised outlook of the International Monetary Fund.

The world economy is now expected to grow by 2.7 per cent next year, 0.2-percentage-points lower than in the IMF's July forecast.

Russia's outlook, however, has improved, with the IMF seeing its sanctions-hit economy shrink by 2.3 per cent next year, compared to 3.5 per cent previously.

Across Europe, Russia's gas cuts and soaring utility prices have prompted countries to launch energy-saving measures -- from advising people to lower their thermostats during winter to Paris turning off the lights of monuments earlier -- while governments scramble to find new sources of supplies.