India will host the 91st Interpol General Assembly in 2022 after a proposal received the overwhelming support of member countries at this year’s congregation at Santinago in Chile. The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) had hosted the general assembly, where representatives of all member countries converge, in India in 1997.

The general assembly of Interpol is an annual exercise hosted by member countries. All major decisions affecting general policy, the resources needed for international cooperation, working methods and finances are deliberated and discussed by representatives.

Senior IPS officer of Gujarat cadre Anup Kumar Singh has been appointed as Director-General of the National Security Guard (NSG). The appointment of  Mr Singh, who is a 1985-batch IPS officer, was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. His appointment will be from the date of joining the post and up to 30th of September, 2020. 

Mark Hurd, who was chief executive officer of three major technology companies including Oracle Corp., has died. He was 62.

Most recently Hurd was co-CEO at Oracle with Safra Catz where he focused on sales, marketing and press and investor relations, while she ran finances and legal matters. Oracle announced on Sept. 11 that Hurd had begun a leave of absence for unspecified health-related reasons and that Catz and Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison would assume his responsibilities during his leave. The company didn’t disclose a cause of death Friday.

“It is with a profound sense of sadness and loss that I tell everyone here at Oracle that Mark Hurd passed away early this morning,” Ellison wrote in an online post. “Mark was my close and irreplaceable friend, and trusted colleague. Oracle has lost a brilliant and beloved leader who personally touched the lives of so many of us during his decade at Oracle.”

RCTC Buddhist Circuit Tourist train: Travel in IRCTC’s swanky and luxurious train for a spiritual journey related to Lord Buddha’s life! The very first IRCTC Buddhist Circuit tour for the current season 2019-2020 has been launched by IRCTC. The special IRCTC tourist train will explore major destinations related to Lord Buddha’s life such as Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Nalanda, Varanasi, Sarnath, Lumbini, Sravasti, Kushinagar, and Agra. The IRCTC Buddhist Circuit Tourist package of eight days/seven nights will begin from October 19 and will go on till October 26. IRCTC has a new LHB rake for the special Buddhist Circuit tourist train.

IRCTC Buddhist Circuit Tourist train package: Salient features

• The new rake consist of four 1st AC coaches with as many as 96 seats, two 2nd AC coaches having 60 seats, two exclusive dining cars with a capacity of 64 guests in each and one pantry car for passengers.
• The train will be covered with thematic vinyl wrap promoting national tourism. The train will be equipped with personal digital lockers, foot massagers, shower cubicles, separate sitting area with single seated sofas, CCTV cameras, smoke detection alarm system for better safety.

Home Credit India (HCIN), a local arm of the international consumer finance provider, has tied-up with Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) for joint lending using end-to-end automated processing which will help the customer get real-time approval and disbursement. The company said that the recent RBI guidelines had led the industry to explore partnership avenues in the new framework with the aim to reach out to the large unbanked customer base.

Under the agreement, HCIN and KVB will disburse loans in a single amount to customers. Anirban Majumder, CFO, Home Credit India, said that under this arrangement, the company would facilitate the sourcing and servicing of the loans originating under this scheme, while, underwriting would be done jointly on real time basis on a fully digitised platform.

Indian Air Force is participating in a Bilateral Joint Exercise with Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO), named EX-EASTERN BRIDGE-V, from today, at Air Force Base Masirah in Oman.

The last exercise, EX-EASTERN BRIDGE-IV was held in 2017 at Jamnagar. For the first time, MiG-29 fighter aircraft will be participating in an International Exercise outside India. 

The IAF contingent comprises of MiG-29 and C-17 aircraft. MiG-29 will be exercising with Royal Air Force Oman’s Eurofighter Typhoon, F-16 and Hawk. This exercise will enhance inter-operability during mutual operations between the two Air Forces and will provide an opportunity to learn from each other’s best practices.

Kolkata: Indian and Japanese air forces will be carrying out a joint military exercise Shinyuu Maitri between October 17-23. The exercise will be held at Air Force Station Arjan Singh in Panagarh, West Bengal. 

The seven-day exercise will witness the participation of C-130J aircraft of the Indian Air Force aircraft as well as C-130H of the Tactical airlift squadron of Japanese Air Self Defence Force (JASDF). The exercise will focus on joint mobility and tactical interoperability between the two forces. 

According to news reports citing Eastern Air Command sources, the exercise will set the stage for an army exercise between the two countries. Shortly after the conclusion of Shinyuu Maitri, another exercise — Dharma Guardian 2019 will be conducted at the Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School in Mizoram's Vairengte between October 19- November 2.

It may be noted that Dharma Guardian is an annual training exercise conducted in India since 2018. According to the Indian Army's Eastern Command, the exercise with Japan is crucial in light of the global challenge of terrorism. The exercise will involve platoon-level training on counter-terrorism (CT) operations in jungle scenario.

Global body World Steel Association (worldsteel) on October 16 said it has elected JSW Steel Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Sajjan Jindal as its vice chairman.

The association has also appointed Tata Steel CEO and MD T V Narendran and ArcelorMittal Chief L N Mittal as its members.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism and Culture Prahlad Singh Patel yesterday inaugurated Shirui Lily Festival, 2019 at Shirui Vangayan Ground of Ukhrul in Manipur. Mr Patel along with State Chief Minister N. Biren Singh inaugurated the Strength of Unity Statue as a mark of opening the third edition of the four-day state festival.  

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Patel said, such cultural events reflect the beauty and treasure of our culture. He said that joint efforts of the State Government and Central Government can only promote tourism and culture of a region to the level of people’s expectation. 

Mastercard, along with cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni, on Wednesday announced the launch of a nationwide initiative to accelerate the acceptance and adoption of digital payments.

Titled ‘Team Cashless India’, the initiative brings consumers and merchants to the forefront of the digital payments dialogue. The campaign encourages all Indians to nominate one or more merchants who currently do not accept digital payments. Mastercard will work together with Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), acquirer banks and fintech companies to support nominated merchants to deploy digital payments acceptance infrastructure.