Current Affairs – October 2018
By Gtctution
A. Inaugurations
and Agreements
1. Statue of Unity – world’s largest statue of Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel located near Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat inaugurated on 31
October (182 metre tall at Sadhu bet island )
2. India’s first methanol cooking fuel debuts in Assam by Assam
Petrochemicals Limited
(APL) .The project has been promoted by NITI Aayog.
3. Hyderabad gets
Panchatantra Park & country’s first-ever Dog Park
4. The famous Shahi litchi of North Bihar has got the
Geographical Indication (GI) tag. It is
the fourth product from the state after Jardalu mango,
Katarni rice and Magahi paan to
have got the GI tag.
5. India and China have launched their first joint programme
for Afghanistan to train its diplomats.
6. Government sets up key panel under NSA (National Security
Advisor) headed by Ajit Doval to assist
National Security Council
7. India’s first domestic cruise, ‘Angriya’ has been flagged
off from Mumbai to Goa. The domestic cruise sector will provide employment
opportunities to 2.5 Lakhs youth in next 5 years.
8. India's first engine-less semi-high-speed train
"Train 18" was rolled out by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) and
will eventually replace the Shatabdi Express for inter-city travel
9. Museum on Prime
Ministers of India is to be set up in Delhi. It will depict Modern India through
collections relating to each of the Prime Ministers of India
10. The World's first full-sized Hyperloop passenger capsule
has been unveiled in Spain which can reach speeds of 1,220 kilometres per hour.
11. India signs deal
with Russia to buy an S-400 air defence system i.e. Long-Range Surface to Air
Missile System from Moscow despite looming threat of US sanctions.
12. The first India-Israel Innovation Centre (IIIC) was
launched in Bengaluru.
13. Israel signs USD 777 million missile defence deal with
India for the supply of Barak 8 long-range
surface-to-air defence missiles & missile defence systems
for seven ships of the Indian Navy
14. India and Sri Lanka sign two MoU for construction of 1200
houses.
15. India’s First Global Skills Park in State of Madhya
Pradesh to enhance the quality of technical and vocational education.
B. Appointments
1. Paytm Payments Bank appoints new CEO
Paytm Payments Bank has appointed Satish Kumar Gupta as the
Managing Director and
Chief Executive Officer of the digital bank.
2. Gita Gopinath appointed as IMF Chief Economist. She will
be IMF’s first woman chief economist.
3. Justice Ranjan Gogoi has been sworn-in as the 46th Chief
Justice of India. He has succeeded Justice Dipak Misra & has a tenure of a
13 months.
4. Barham Salih elected as new president of Iraq
5. Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn in as the new Prime Minister
of Sri Lanka
6. Bangladesh appointed a female officer- “Dr. Susane Giti”
as a major general for the first
time .
7. Tushar Mehta appointed as Solicitor General (SG) of India
C. Ranks
1. India ranked 5th in pictorial warning on tobacco products.
East Timor is ranked first, Nepal follows it
2. India ranks 115 in World Bank's Human Capital Index among
157 countries
Singapore topped in the index followed by Japan, Hong Kong,
and Finland.
3. India ranked 58th most competitive economy in World
Economic Forum's index, which was topped by the US.
4. According to the International Food Policy Research
Institute (IFPRI) report, India ranks 100th out of 119 countries on the global
hunger index behind Bangladesh & Iraq.
5. India 9th most valuable nation brand in the world
6. According to the 2018 Henley Passport Index, Japan has the
most powerful passport in the world overtaking Singapore in terms of travel
freedom. Japanese citizens can enter without a visa on arrival in 190
countries.
D. Important
days
1. 1st of October
is observed as International Day of Older Persons. This year
theme is, 'Celebrating Older Human Rights champions'
2. World Habitat Day
observed worldwide on October 1st . 2018 Theme- Municipal Solid Waste
Management
3. International Coffee Day was celebrated all over the world
on 1st of October . 2018 Theme- Women in coffee.
4. Indian Air Force celebrates 8th October as Air Force Day
every year to mark the day the IAF was officially established in 1932.
5. World Mental Health Day is observed on 10 October
Theme : Young people and mental health in a changing world
6. October 11 is marked as the International Day of the Girl
child
2018 theme - With Her:
A Skilled Girl Force.
7. Rashtriya Mahila Kisan Diwas - October 15
It is celebrated to
increase the active participation of women in agriculture.
8. World Food Day observed globally on 16th of October
2018 Theme- "Our actions are our future. A #ZeroHunger
world by 2030 is possible"
9. Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, the birthday of Sardar Vallabhbhai
Patel, celebrated on 31st of October .
10 .World Teachers’ Day (WTD) 2018 celebrated across the
world on October 5th. 2018 theme-The
Right to Education Means the Right to Qualified Teacher.
11.World Post Day celebrated on 9th October,
2018 Theme-"Imagine you are a letter travelling through
time. What message do you wish to convey to your readers?"
12. World Day for Audio-visual Heritage – October 27.
E. Sports
1. India's Keerthana Pandian won the girls' title in the
International Billiards & Snooker Federation (IBSF) World Under-16 Snooker
Championships
2. India loss to Great Britain and win the silver medal at the
eighth Sultan of Johor Cup U-18 hockey tournament in Malaysia.
3. India won three medals at the Archery World Cup in Samsun,
Turkey
4. India recorded its best-ever showing in the Asian Para
Games by bagging 72 medals, including 15 gold. China finished on top with 172
gold, 88 silver, and 59 bronze.
5. Jeremy Lalrinnunga scripted history by winning India’s first
ever gold medal at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.
6. Pooja Dhanda became the first Indian woman wrestler to win
a bronze medal for India at the Wrestling World Championships after 6 years.
7. Sourav Kothari wins 2018 World Billiards Championship
title
8. Archer Harvinder Singh clinches gold for India in Asian
Para-Games
9. Virat Kohli becomes fastest batsman to reach 10,000 ODI
runs
F. Awards
1. Scientist Arthur Ashkin, French engineer Gerard rou, and
Canadian professor Donna
Strickland have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their
work in the field of laser physics.
2. Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018 to
Frances H. Arnold “for the directed evolution of enzymes” and
George P. Smith and Sir
Gregory P. Winter” for the phage display of peptides and
antibodies.”
3. Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad win Nobel Peace Prize
for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a
weapon of war & armed conflict.
4. James P. Allison & Tasuku Honjo jointly awarded Nobel
Prize in Medicine
The 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded to James P. Allison
and Tasuku Honjo for their
discovery of ‘Immune checkpoint therapy,’ a cancer treatment
5. Anna Burns wins Man Booker prize for ‘incredibly original’
Milkman
6. Narendra Modi awarded the Seoul Peace Prize
7. Union Minister for Railways, Coal and Corporate Affairs
Piyush Goyal receive the
prestigious Carnot prize for his contribution towards
sustainable energy solutions
8. Swaminathan gets 1st World Agriculture Prize for his
contributions to Indian agriculture.
10. US William Nordhaus and Paul Romer win Nobel
Economics Prize
11. Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony to
Rajkumar Singhajit Singh(Manipuri Dance) – 2014,
Chhayanaut (a cultural organization of Bangladesh) -2015,
Ram Vanji Sutar (India’s greatest sculptor)-2016.
12. Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) wins ‘ISSA GOOD Practice Award, Asia
& the Pacific 2018’
13. Swachh Survekshan Grameen Awards 2018
Haryana was ranked as the best State while Satara District of
Maharashtra was ranked as the best district.
14. PM Modi announces the national award for disaster relief
workers in the name of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose will be given every year to police
personnel who do excellent work in rescue and relief operations during any kind
of disaster. The award will be announced on Netaji’s birthday January 23.
15. Veena Sendre
crowned India's first Miss Trans Queen
16. Prema Gopalan wins social entrepreneurship award founder
of Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP),for her work in promoting women’s
entrepreneurship
G. Schemes
1. Naveen Patnaik Launches Scheme To Help Kids Of
Construction Workers
2. Odisha govt launched 'Nirman Kusuma' programme for
providing financial assistance to
the children of the construction workers for their technical
education in the state.
3. Food Security Scheme - Khadya Sathi by West Bengal ensured
food security to more than 8.5 crore people of the state.Digital ration card
has been a special feature of the scheme.
4. PM-AAASHA scheme: Government to procure 44 lakh tonnes of
oilseeds and pulses under the
5. Civil aviation Ministry releases the policy of Digi Yatra.
It is a Facial recognition-based passenger processing system which will reduce
paperwork.
6. Govt launches 'Swastha Bharat Yatra' campaign to create
awareness about safe Food
H. Summit & Conference
1. PM inaugurated first Assembly of the International Solar
Alliance in New Delhi.
He announced plans to launch a National Energy Storage
Mission that will look at
manufacturing, deployment, technology development, and policy
framework.
2. Vice-President V. Naidu inaugurated the world’s largest
dome at the Maharashtra Institute
of Technology (MIT)’s World Peace University (MIT-WPU) in
Pune.
3.India International Science Festival-2018 inaugurated in
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The theme of the Festival was “Science for
Transformation”.
4. "Indian Ocean: Defining our Future" Conference
held in Colombo
5. National Khadi Festival 2018 inaugurated by Khadi &
Village Industries Commission (KVIC) at Gramodaya, Mumbai
6. IBSAMAR-VI held at Simons Town, South Africa, a joint
Multi-National Maritime Exercise between the
Indian, Brazilian and South African Navies
7. India, Japan begin bilateral maritime exercise JIMEX-18 took
off in Visakhapatnam.
8. India, Japan, U.S. plan joint air exercise ‘Cope India’ . The three countries already conduct naval war
games under the expanded Malabar naval exercise.
9. Microsoft India signs pact with NITI for Artificial
Intelligence tools in agrihealthcare
10. Punjab signs MoUs with Israel for agri research, water
management
11. Coast Guards of India and Vietnam hold joint naval
exercise at Chennai namely 'Sahyog HOP TAC-2018".
I. Apps
& Portals
1. Indian Railways launched Project ‘Utkrisht’ aimed at
upgrading Mail/Express train rakes.
2. ‘Ask Disha’ chatbot launched on IRCTC e-ticketing website include
24*7 customer query support,
3. PM Modi launches 'Main Nahi Hum' portal & App which
works on the theme ‘Self
for Society’ will enable IT professionals and organizations
to bring together their efforts
towards social causes, and service to society, on one
platform.
4. Union HRD Minister launched the web portal of the Scheme
“Scheme for Promotion of
Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC)”. The scheme aims
at improving the
research ecosystem of India’s higher educational institutions
.
5. Mobile Health app launched by Indian Air Force named
‘MedWatch’.
J. Others
1. UP cabinet decides to rename Allahabad as Prayagraj. The
name of the city was Prayagraj 500 years ago
2. Cabinet hikes Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rabi crops.
MSP of wheat increased by Rs.105 per quintal.
3. Nepal has decided to invite Prime Minister of India on the
occasion of ‘Bibaha Panchami’-
the wedding procession of Lord Rama from Ayodhya to Janakpur
in Nepal. Janakpur is
known as the birthplace of Sita.
4. President has given his assent to the Karnataka’s Good
Samaritan bill, 2016. Law protects
Good Samaritans & ensure immediate medical assistance for
road accident victims .
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