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OCTOBER 2018 Current Affair

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Important Days

Date Day Extra Info

01 October International Day of Older Persons

2018 Theme: Celebrating Older Human Rights Champions

01 October International Coffee Day 2018 Theme: Women in Coffee

01 October 2018 World Habitat Day First Monday of October. 2018 Theme: Municipal Solid Waste Management

01 October 2018 World Architecture Day First Monday of every October. 2018 Theme: Architecture… for a Better World

02 October 2018 Gandhi Jayanti, International Day of Non-Violence

4th to 10th October World Space Week 2018 Theme: Space Unites The World

05 October World Teachers Day 2018 Theme: The right to education means the right to a qualified teacher

08 October 86th Indian Air Force Day

09 October World Post Day 2018 Theme: Imagine you are a letter travelling through time. What message do you wish to convey to your readers?

9th to 15th October National Postal Week Department of posts celebrated the week in Maharashtra

10 October World Mental Health Day 2018 Theme: Young people and mental health in a changing world

11 October International Day of the Girl Child

2018 Theme: With Her: A Skilled Girl Force

12 October 2018 World Sight Day Observed on second Thursday of October. 2018 Theme: Eye Care Everywhere

12 October World Arthritis Day 2018 Theme: It’s in your hands, take action

13 October 2018 World Migratory Bird Day Second Saturday of October. 2018 Theme: Unifying our Voices for Bird Conservation

13 October International Day for Disaster Reduction

2018 Theme: Reducing the economic loss of Disasters

14 October International Standards Day

15 October International Day of Rural Women

2018 Theme: Sustainable infrastructure, services and social protection for gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls

15 October World Students’ Day

16 October World Food Day 2018 Theme: Our Actions Are Our Future. A Zero Hunger World By 2030 Is Possible

17 October International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

2018 Theme: Accelerating global actions for a world without poverty

20 October World Osteoporosis Day 20 October World Statistics Day 24 October United Nations Day

24 October World Development Information Day

24 October World Polio Day 2018 Theme: End Polio Now

27 October World Day for Audiovisual Heritage

2018 Theme: Your Story is Moving

28 October National Ayurveda Day 28 October International Animation Day 29 October World Stroke Day 29 October International Internet Day 29th Oct to 3rd Nov Vigilance Awareness Week 2018 Theme: Eradicate Corruption – Build A New India

31 October World Cities Day 2018 Theme: Building Sustainable and Resilient Cities

31 October World Savings Day

31 October Rashtriya Ekta Diwas (National Unity Day)

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MOU/Agreement Countries India and Russia signed a document for cooperation on a new nuclear power project in India with the latest

VVER- 1200 type reactors powered by advanced fuel.

Indian and Russia signed the USD 5.4 billion S-400 air defence system deal in New Delhi while Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit.

To promote innovative cooperation between students of India and Russia, a Memorandum of Understanding was exchanged between India’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and the Russian Federation’s SIRIUS Educational Foundation in the presence of the PM Narendra Modi and the President of Russia Vladimir Putin, in New Delhi.

India and Myanmar signed an important MoU for the appointment of a private Port Operator for the Operation and Maintenance of Sittwe Port, Paletwa Inland Water Terminal and associated facilities included in the Kaladan Multi Model Transit Transport Project in implementation of India’s Act East Policy.

The Union Cabinet approved an agreement signed among BRICS nations for cooperation in the social and labour sphere. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval for the Memorandum of Understanding among India, Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa, regarding cooperation in the social and labour sphere.

India and the United Kingdom will collaborate on research on different aspects of the Ganga delta region and the Bay of Bengal. The two countries are also collaborating in several areas of earth sciences and weather, like the monsoon.

India and Japan decided to cooperate for the first time in the areas of Indian traditional medicinal systems such as Yoga and Ayurveda to provide holistic healthcare and wellness in both the countries.

MOU Industry/States/Others UNICEF and NASSCOM Foundation signed an agreement to strengthen child rights through meaningful business

interventions. With this Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the two organisations will work collaboratively on two key areas including national sensitisation on ‘child online protection’ and ‘encouraging innovations for child rights’ in the country.

The Indian Space Research Organisation will set up a centre at the Central University Jammu (CUJ) to expand its presence to the northernmost state of India.

India and Sri Lanka signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) for construction of 1200 houses through 50 model villages, using Indian grant assistance of 60 crore Srilankan rupees.

The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dubai Internet City (DIC) to facilitate expansion of Indian businesses in the Middle East.

Nasscom, the IT industry body, has signed a partnership with the government of Hiroshima under which the two sides will co-invest in creating a Japan-India IT Corridor.

Country’s largest lender State Bank of India(SBI) and payments solution provider Hitachi Payment Services India entered into an agreement to form a joint venture for establishing a card acceptance and digital payment platform.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) announced that it would work with WhatsApp to educate and train Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on how WhatsApp Business app can help them grow their businesses.

Appointments and Resignations

Name Post Institution Justice Ranjan Gogoi 46th Chief Justice of India Succeeds Dipak Misra Ravi Venkatesan UNICEF’s special representative of young

People

Gita Gopinath Chief Economist of International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Jayant Mammen Mathew President of Indian Newspaper Society Rangachari Sridharan First chief of National Financial Reporting

Authority (NFRA)

Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad Hockey India president Succeeds Rajinder Singh Vikram Limaye Chairman of the working group committee

of World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) He is NSE’s Managing Director and CEO

Arkady Dvorkovich FIDE (World Chess Federation) President 89th FIDE Congress held at Batumi in Georgia

Sandeep Bakhshi MD & CEO of ICICI Bank After Chanda Kochhar quit the position. Rakesh Sharma MD of IDBI Bank

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Bank of Baroda’s MD and CEO P S Jayakumar gets one-year extension RBI clears re-appointment of Aditya Puri as HDFC Bank MD Satish Kumar Gupta MD & CEO of Paytm Payments Bank Tushar Mehta Solicitor General of India Succeeds Ranjit Kumar Pravin Srivastava Chief Statistician of India(CSI) Nimesh Shah Chairperson of Association of Mutual Funds of

India (AMFI)

Arundhati Bhattacharya Advisor of Chrys Capital Advisors LLP She is former SBI chairperson Suresh Nambath Editor of The Hindu Nageshwar Rao Interim Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

Director

Sanjay Kumar Mishra Interim Director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED)

Sajjan Jindal Treasurer Of World Steel Association Srinivasan Swamy Chairman and world president of International

Advertising Association

Pankaj Sharma Ambassador and India’s permanent representative to the United Nations Conference on Disarmament

He will replace Amandeep Gill.

Brett Kavanaugh 114th US Supreme Court justice Succeeds Justice Anthony Kennedy Ramon Laguarta CEO of PepsiCo Succeeds Indra Nooyi Adam Mosseri Instagram Head Sahle-Work Zewde President of Ethiopia 1st Woman president Barham Salih President of Iraq sPaul Biya President of Cameroon Michael D Higgins President of Ireland Jair Bolsonaro President of Brazil

Maeen Abdulmalik Prime Minister of Yemen

Mahinda Rajpaksa Prime Minister of Sri Lanka

HMD Global, which designs and sells phones under the Nokia brand has appointed Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt as the ‘face of Nokia phones’ in India.

RESIGNATION:

Veteran actor Anupam Kher has resigned from his position as chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII)

MJ Akbar, who faces multiple charges of sexual harassment, resigned as Union minister of state for external affairs.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley resigned.

The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) received the resignation of its Chinese president Meng Hongwei.

Angela Merkel has announced she will quit as German chancellor when her mandate ends in 2021, as she sought to draw a line under a series of political crises that have rocked her fragile coalition.

Awards and Recognitions Award Name Person/Institution Extra Knowledge Prime Minister Narendra Modi said a national award in the name of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose will be given every year to police personnel who do “exemplary work” in rescue and relief operations during any kind of disasters. US lawmakers, including four Indian Americans, have moved a resolution in the US House of Representatives to posthumously award the prestigious Congressional Gold Medal to Mahatma Gandhi in recognition of his promotion of peace and non-violence. Indian origin Minal Patel Davis won the US’ Presidential Medal for her work against sex slavery and labour Exploitation 2018 Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM) Award

India

India’s first Miss Trans Queen Veena Sendre from Chhattisgarh

18th Miss Deaf Asia 2018 title Nishtha Dudeja from Haryana

She is the first Indian to have won any title at the Miss Deaf World Pageant

Miss Grand International 2018 Clara Sosa from Paraguay

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Seoul Peace Prize for 2018 PM Narendra Modi For his contribution to international cooperation and fostering global economic Growth

4th annual Carnot Prize 2018 Union Minister for Railways, Coal and Corporate Affairs Piyush Goyal

Ekalabya Puraskar, 2018 Hockey player Lilima Minz (from Odisha)

The Ekalabya Puraskar has been instituted by IMPaCT, the social wing of IMFA (Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys), which has been promoting literature, sports, the arts, culture and other socially meaningful activities in the state for decades.

Mid-day Young Achiever Icons Award 2018

Ruhaan Rajput (Actor)

Dhanvantari Award Sultan A. Pradhan He is eminent surgical oncologist of Mumbai Deming Prize for 2018 Indus Towers It is world’s largest telecom tower company

(outside China). Won the prize, being the first Indian company in the service sector and the fifth in the world to achieve this.

UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) Future Policy Gold Award

Sikkim Becoming the world’s first totally organic agriculture state.

“Oscar for best policies” Sikkim Hridaynath Award for Lifetime Achievement

Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi, famous as ‘Khayyam’

He is National Award winning music director

Social Entrepreneur of the Year award 2018

Prema Gopalan

International Olympic Committee’s Sport and Active Society Commission’s Grant Award

Suheil F. Tandon

Vishwa Konkani book award HM Pernal For ‘Beeg Ani Beegath’, a collection of short stories in Konkani

Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 2018

Marsel van Oosten (Dutch) For his photo “The Golden Couple”

Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year (Asia) Award

Arshdeep Singh (Jalandhar, Punjab)

For his photograph ‘Pipe Owls’

Ustad Chand Khan Lifetime Achievement Award

Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt

Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize US-based Dalit Writer Sujatha Gidla

Ants Among Elephant: An Untouchable Family And The Making Of Modern India

19th Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration

Jurist Fali S. Nariman

UN Investment Promotion Award Invest India in recognition of its efforts to boost investments in the renewable energy sector in India

Sri Maharshi Valmiki award Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda

Karnataka government conferred the award

World Agriculture Prize Agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan

Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Teachers Award (2018)

Ashis Mukherjee

JCB Prize for Literature, India’s richest literary prize

Benyamin (Malyalam author)

For book ‘Jasmine Days’.

Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony for 2014

Manipuri dancer Sh. Rajkumar Singhajit Singh

Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony for 2015

Chhayanaut (a cultural organization of Bangladesh)

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Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony for 2016

One of India's greatest sculptors, Sh. Ram Vanji Sutar

World Health Summit Startup award, 2018

Roopam Sharma

2018 Gleitsman Award Malala Yousafzai For her work promoting girls’ education. Sakharov prize Oleh Sentsov, a Ukrainian

film director imprisoned in Russia

50th Man Booker Prize Anna Burns She won prize for her novel ‘Milkman’, becoming the first author from Northern Ireland to win the most prestigious English- Language literary award.

New Academy prize in literature Guadeloupean novelist Maryse Conde

2018 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award

Evan Atar Adaha He is a surgeon who runs a remote hospital in South Sudan.

Haryana’s Maharshi Dayanand University has been declared the cleanest government varsity by the HRD Ministry, followed by Guru Nanak Dev University in Punjab’s Amritsar.

Reliance Industries’ Chairman Mukesh Ambani has emerged as the richest Indian for the 11th consecutive year with a net worth of $47.3 billion, according to Forbes magazine.

The Indian postal services honoured the Narayan Seva Sansthan, the Udaipur-based non-profit organisation, by launching their postal stamps of Rs 5.

The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation has won the ‘ISSA Good Practice Award’ for Administrative Solution for Coverage Extension at the ”Regional Social Security Forum for Asia and the Pacific” held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Swachh Survekshan Grameen Awards 2018

Top 3 States- 1) Haryana, 2) Gujarat 3) Maharashtra

Top 3 Districts 1) Satara, Maharashtra 2) Rewari, Haryana 3) Pedapalli, Telangana

States with maximum citizen participation 1) Uttar Pradesh 2) Gujarat 3) Maharashtra

Districts with maximum citizens’ participation 1) Nashik, Maharashtra 2) Solapur, Maharashtra 3) Chittorgarh, Rajasthan

Conference and Summits Summit Place Extra Knowledge 4th Edition Of Global Partners’ Forum India (New Delhi) in December 2018 UNICEF’s Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health stakeholders meeting

India in December 2018

17th edition of Old World Theatre festival New Delhi 2nd World Conference on Access to Medical Products: Achieving the SDGs 2030

New Delhi

14th Hospitality India and Explore the World Annual International Travel Awards

New Delhi Nepal won tourism award

India International Silk Fair New Delhi Global Agriculture Leadership Summit 2018 New Delhi Theme - ‘Connecting Farmers to

Market’ 5th edition of Women of India National Organic Fest 2018

New Delhi

10th Edition of BIOFACH INDIA New Delhi Theme - Enhancing export of organic products trade from India – strategies and synergies

India Mobile Congress 2018 New Delhi Theme - New Digital Horizons – Connect. Create. Innovate

Technology summit between India and Italy New Delhi India International Science Festival (IISF) Lucknow, UP Theme - Science for Transformation Krishi Kumbh 2018 Lucknow, Uttar

Pradesh Krishi Kumbh is having Haryana and Jharkhand as partner states and

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Japan and Israel as partner Countries

36th Indian Carpets Expo Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh Sustainable mountain development summit VII Shimla, Himachal

Pradesh

23rd meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council Kolkata, West Bengal National Khadi Festival 2018 Mumbai India Chem 2018, the 10th Biennial International Exhibition & Conference

Mumbai

Vishwa Shanti Ahimsa Sammelan Nashik, Maharashtra 14th International GCA Conference on Media and Communication

Jaipur, Rajasthan

2nd edition of the Sagar conference Bambolim, Goa “Udbhav Utsav” (International Dance Festival) Gwalior, Madhya

Pradesh

27th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference Gandhinagar, Gujarat International Conference on Status and Protection of Coral Reefs (STAPCOR – 2018)

Bangaram coral Island of Union Territory of Lakshadweep

Theme - “Reef for Life”

5th National Summit on Good and Replicable Practices and Innovations in Public Health Care Systems

Kaziranga, Assam

1st Trilateral Meeting Among India, Afghanistan And Iran

Tehran, Iran

7th meeting of education ministers of member states of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

Astana, Kazakhstan

2nd International Conference On Primary Health Care

Astana, Kazakhstan

12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit Brussels, Belgium

17th Council of Heads of Government, CHG, meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Dushanbe, Tajikistan

2018 sUN Day Concert New York, USA

International News Hurricane Willa hit Mexican coast.

World’s first full-sized Hyperloop capsule ‘Watch’ unveiled in Spain.

Typhoon Yutu makes landfall in Philippines.

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report said the planet will reach the crucial threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2030, precipitating the risk of extreme drought, wildfires, floods and food shortages for hundreds of millions of people.

Global average sea-level could rise by nearly eight feet by 2100 and 50 feet by 2300 if greenhouse gas emissions remain high, said researchers at the Rutgers University in the US.

Hurricane Michael hits the western tip of Cuba with strong winds and heavy rains as it whipped through the Yucatan Channel on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.

The Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Auditorium built with Indian grant assistance of Rs. 300 million at the University of Ruhuna, Matara in the Southern Province, was dedicated to the people of Sri Lanka.

In Malaysia, the cabinet has decided to abolish the death penalty.

The World Bank launched a new $150 million fund intended to help insure vulnerable countries against natural disasters and the increasing risk of climate change-linked crises.

Canada Becomes 2nd Country To Legalize Recreational Cannabis

Sri Lanka sets up ‘Break Into India Strategy Committee’ to formulate a strategy to help Sri Lankan businesses invest more the Indian market

The world’s longest sea bridge Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge opened for traffic on October 24. The 55- kilometer-long bridge, situated in the Lingdingyang waters of the Pearl River Estuary, will be the world’s longest sea bridge.

The world’s largest airport terminal “under one roof” with a capacity to serve 90 million passengers officially

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opened on October 29 in Istanbul, Turkey.

The global populations of vertebrates – mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles – have declined by 60 per cent since 1970, according to a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report “Living Planet Report of the Global Fund for Nature”.

The Republic of Seychelles has launched the world’s first sovereign blue bond a financial instrument designed to support sustainable marine and fisheries projects.

Nearly 7,000 people gathered in northern Indonesia to witness the inauguration of ‘Little India Gate’, the first-of- its-kind structure in the country which recognises the contribution of Indian community in the development of Medan city.

In a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi-initiated International Solar Alliance (ISA), Japan announced joining the group submitting the instrument of ratification.

Japan will be the 71st country to sign and 48th country to ratify the ISA Framework.

National News The Statue of Unity, a 182-metre giant structure built in honour of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, has been inaugrated

by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The imposing monument, touted as the world’s tallest statue, is twice the height of Statue of Liberty and is built on an islet, Sadhu Bet, near the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Narmada district.

PM Modi also inaugurated the ‘Wall of Unity’ (a monument defining India’s unity) near the statue.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe arrived in New Delhi on a three-day visit to India.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte arrived in New Delhi.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres arrived in New Delhi on his maiden visit to India as the head of the world body that coincides with the commencement of events marking the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

In commemoration of the International Day of Non-violence, marked on Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary, the UN postal agency issued a new collection of stamps featuring artistic interpretation of ‘The Knotted Gun’, an iconic global sculpture giving the message of peace and non-violence.

India and Uzbekistan set an annual bilateral trade target of $1 billion to be achieved within two years and agreed to boost connectivity as the two sides signed 17 agreements across a range of sectors following delegation-level talks led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in New Delhi.

India and Japan concluded a USD 75 billion bilateral currency swap agreement, a move that will help in bringing greater stability in foreign exchange and capital markets in the country.

The Indian embassy in the Netherlands released commemorative stamps in honour of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary.

India has launched a massive operation ‘Operation Samudra Maitri’ to provide assistance to the earthquake and tsunami victims in Indonesia, dispatching two aircraft and three naval ships carrying relief material to the country.

Despite the government and Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) crackdown on cryptocurrency in India, virtual currency exchange Unocoin has installed a currency deposit and dispensing ATM at Kemp Fort Mall in Bengaluru.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reiterated government’s aim to ensure that all the homeless get shelter by 2022, when India celebrates 75 years of Independence.

The country’s biggest skill competition, ‘India Skills 2018′ has concluded in New Delhi. Stressing that India would generate 40 per cent of power from non-fossil fuels by 2030, Prime Minister Narendra

Modi called for connecting solar energy supply across borders giving the mantra of ‘One World One Sun One Grid’.

Union Health Minister JP Nadda has said that 1.5 lakh Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and sub-centres will be converted into wellness centers by 2022.

Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship launched SATAT, a innovative initiative in New Delhi with PSU Oil Marketing Companies. Titled SATAT, the initiative is aimed at providing a Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) as a developmental effort that would benefit both vehicle-users as well as farmers and entrepreneurs.

SIDBI has launched a national level entrepreneurship awareness campaign ‘Udyam Abhilasha’, in 115 aspirational districts identified by NITI Aayog in 28 States reaching to around 15,000 youth.

IIT-Kharagpur has been named the national coordinating institute of the Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC) of the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

The Union Cabinet approved a hike in the minimum support prices (MSPs) for rabi crops for 2018-19.

Indian Railways have plans to develop 640 Utkrisht rakes under its project of upgrading the mail/express trains in the next two years at a cost of Rs 400 crore.

Facebook-owned WhatsApp and Reliance Jio started a campaign to train people about using the mobile

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messaging platform responsibly on their JioPhones.

The 46th edition of Cervantino International Festival, to be held in Mexico, will see India participating as a guest of honour, with an elaborate programme of performing arts.

Travellers will soon be able to enter airports in the country with facial recognition biometric under the government’s Digi Yatra initiative.

The government has approved a Rs 469.41 crore package for the revival of closed NEPA mill in Madhya Pradesh

Salaries in India are projected to rise 10% in 2019, same as the actual increase in 2018, according to the latest Q3 2018 Salary Budget Planning Report released by Willis Towers Watson, the global advisory, broking and solutions company.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has launched a mobile health app ‘Med’ to provide health information to the users, including first-aid and other health and nutritional topics.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj launched India for Humanity initiative in New Delhi as part of 150th Birth Anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi being held over the next one year.

The Union Cabinet approved the closure of the loss incurring Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), National Jute Manufactures Corporation Limited (NJMC) and its subsidiary Birds Jute and Exports Limited (BJEL).

The Union Cabinet approved the merger of two regulatory institutions (National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) and the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA)) into the National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET) in order to improve skilling standards and the market relevance of skill development programmes.

The Union Cabinet has approved the payment of Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) equivalent to 78 days‘ wages for the financial year 2017-18 for all eligible non-gazetted Railway employees.

India suffered a whopping USD 79.5 billion economic loss due to climate-related disasters in the last 20 years, according to a UN report which highlights the impact of extreme weather events on the global economy.

India has a target of 100 gigawatt (GW) installed capacity of solar energy by 2022, of which 40 GW is projected to come from rooftop solar systems.

The Central Government has approved a special package for employment generation in leather and footwear sector. Centre has approved four projects worth over 105 crore rupees to promote leather industry in Tamil Nadu.

India was elected to the United Nations’ top human rights body for a period of three years beginning 1 January 2019, getting 188 votes in the Asia-Pacific category.

India and Australia held the second ‘2+2’ secretary-level dialogue in Canberra.

India and China have launched their first joint programme for Afghanistan to train its diplomats.

The Election Commission of India is introducing the unique internet based mobile app C-vigil in the upcoming assembly polls. The ‘CVIGIL’, which stands for ‘citizens’ vigil’, will be operationalised for the first time as a pilot project.

IRCTC has launched a new AI-based assistant, Disha for their website. This new assistant will be prompt in answering generic queries about most frequently asked questions on the ticket booking platform. One can spot the new assistant at the bottom right of the screen on the new IRCTC website.

The government is continuously working on achieving the goal of zero hunger by 2030 in a systematic manner, Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

Government has announced 100 crore rupee award for states that would complete the household electrification early under the Saubhagaya scheme. Apart from discoms, employees would also collectively get 50 lakh rupees award for completing the task of electrifying households under the scheme which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September last year.

The government launched a national campaign ‘Swasth Bharat Yatra’ on the World Food Day under which a pan- India cycle rally is being organised to sensitise people about eating safe food and be healthy.

The North Central Railways (NCR) launched two mobile apps, ‘NCR RASTA’ and ‘Yatri RASTA’, for its employees and passengers, respectively, for locating assets and stations.

Actor-turned-politician Kamal Hassan inaugurated a mobile app called Roudram created by a student named Sudha to empower women. Roudram app aims at giving women assistance in times of emergency.

Kuligod in Karnataka’s Belagavi district is the country’s best developed village, but more than a third of the gram panchayats ranked in the top 10 are in Andhra Pradesh, according to the findings of an ongoing Rural Development Ministry survey.

PM Narendra Modi dedicated the National Police Memorial (NPM) to the nation. Oct 21 is observed as the ‘Police Commemoration Day’ every year in memory of the policemen killed at Hot Springs in Ladakh by the Chinese troops on this date in 1959.

The National Commission for Women has come out with a dedicated e-mail address ‘ncw.metoo@gmail.com’ to report instances of sexual harassment at workplace after several such complaints were made to the body by women who have narrated their ordeal under the ‘MeToo’ movement on social media.

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Union minister for shipping Nitin Gadkari and Mahrashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis flagged-off India’s first luxury cruise ship, “Angriya” which will operate between Mumbai and Goa.

Environment Ministry has launched Harit Diwali, Swasth Diwali campaign. This campaign was initiated in 2017-18 wherein large number of school children participated and took pledge to minimize bursting of crackers. The Harit Diwali-Swasth Diwali campaign is now merged with “Green Good Deed” movement that has been initiated as a social mobilization for conservation and protection of environment.

PM Modi launched ‘Main Nahi Hum’ Portal In New Delhi.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) launched scheme ‘Impactful Policy Research in Social Science’ (IMPRESS) in New Delhi in which it will be spending Rs 200 crore for promoting research in social sciences.

India will become the world’s third largest aviation market around 2024 surpassing the United Kingdom, global airlines’ body International Air Transport Association (IATA) said as it projected total air passenger numbers to touch 8.2 billion in 2037.

India has donated $300,000 to a programme to train commanders for UN peacekeeping.

As part of its efforts to train 3,00,000 people in India on digital literacy by end of 2018, Facebook has announced the launch of the Digital Literacy Library, a collection of lessons in six local languages – Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

The country’s first engine-less train, widely regarded as the success to the Shatabdi Express will hit the tracks on October 29. Known as Train 18, this train is run by a self-propulsion module without a separate engine. The train is capable of running at a speed of 160 kmph and comes with technical features for enhanced quick acceleration. Train 18 was developed by Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory in 18 months.

Concerned over the “disappearance” of many intangible legacy of India over time, the United Nations (UN) will soon launch a project on creating an “inventory” of art forms, craftsmanship and other intangible cultural heritage of the country.

The Kingdom of Netherlands will be the Partner Country 25th DST – CII Technology Summit to be organized in 2019.

State News Andhra Pradesh

More than 150 tribals from the states affected by Maoist insurgency began a Shanti Padyatra or peace march from a village in Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari district to appeal to all sides to give peace a chance.

Cyclone Titli has intensified into a “very severe cyclonic storm” and will make a landfall in areas bordering Odisha and Andhra Pradesh along the eastern coast.

UNESCO MGIEP in association with Government of Andhra Pradesh announces TECH 2018, an international conference which aims to showcase the role of games and digital learning to create peaceful and sustainable societies. Will be held Novotel, Vizag City, Andhra Pradesh.

Arunachal Pradesh

Arunachal Pradesh Government launched the Chief Minister’s Sashakt Kisan Yojana and Chief Minister’s Krishi Samuh Yojana in Itanagar.

The Arunachal Pradesh government signed a MoU with The British Council in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh to strengthen educational and cultural cooperation.

Assam

Assam became the first state to offer financial assistance under a special scheme for pregnant tea garden workers.They will also not be engaged in work from the third trimester of pregnancy to three months after delivery. Women form the bulk of the workforce in the state’s 800-odd tea gardens.

Northeast and Assam Petro-chemicals, a state-owned company launched Asia’s first cannister-based and India’s first “Methanol Cooking Fuel Program”.

The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is set to launch a Roll on-Roll off (Ro-Ro) service in Assam from Neamati to Manjuli island.

Assam’s third Bihu festival, known as Kati Bihu, was being celebrated across the state. On the occasion of Kati Bihu, women in urban and rural areas, try to ward off evil and pray for a rich harvest by lighting earthen lamps.

Bihar

India’s first dolphin research centre was launched in Patna. National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC, set up on the banks of the Ganga river, is India’s and Asia’s first.

After Katrani rice, Jardalu mango and Magahi paan (betel vine), Bihar’s Shahi litchi has got the Geographical Indication (GI) tag and has become an exclusive brand in the national and international market.

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Chandigarh The Central government has sent an advisory to the Chandigarh Administration to follow the notification issued

by the Delhi Government giving exemption to Sikh women from wearing protective headgear (helmet) while riding two-wheelers in the city.

Delhi

Delhi government signed a twin city agreement with the Moscow administration for cooperation in the fields of education, healthcare, sports, tourism, transport and environment for a period of three years.

A Korean War memorial will be built in New Delhi to commemorate India’s role in the war that ended in an armistice in 1953.

Goa

Goa International Film Festival from 20th to 28th of November will have Jharkhand as a partner state

Gujarat Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani inaugurated the state’s first ‘Food Agro Infrastructure Mega Food Park’,

jointly built by Central and Gujarat Governments at a cost of Rs.120-crore on 70-acre plot, at Shah Village in Mangrol taluka in Surat district.

CM launched the Ghogha-Dahej Ro-Pax ferry service. The ferry, which connects Saurashtra to South Gujarat, carries passengers and vehicles across the Gulf of Khambhat between Ghogha, Bhavnagar district and Dahej, Bharuch district.

Haryana

In collaboration with the Haryana government, Indian IT industry’s apex body Nasscom launched in Haryana its Centre of Excellence for Internet of Things (CoE – IoT).

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said an anti-terrorist force ‘Kavach‘ — will be set up to further strengthen the security arrangements in the state.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a 64-foot-tall statue of peasant leader Sir Chhotu Ram at his native village Sampla in Haryana’s Rohtak district.

First of its kind in Haryana, National Autism Intervention Research Centre was launched in Gurugram at Fortis Memorial Research Institute.

Haryana Government has decided to introduce “Pashu Sanjeevni Sewa” in the state under which free of cost quality veterinary services and health care facilities for the livestock would be made available at the doorstep of livestock farmers through mobile veterinary clinics.

Himachal Pradesh

For the first time in India, a railway station will be built inside a tunnel at a height of 3,000 metres, on the strategic Bilaspur-Manali-Leh line close to the Sino-India border. Once completed, the Keylong station in Himachal Pradesh will be the first on the railway network to be inside a tunnel.

Karnataka

The Karnataka Department of Social Welfare has launched Unnati, a scheme to foster entrepreneurs working on rural and social impact technologies. As part of the scheme, the department will invest up to Rs 20 crore to create end-to-end support infrastructure for start-ups and entrepreneurs from a marginalised background.

Over a dozen women achievers from different walks of life participated in a day-long festival at a UN forum in Bengaluru. Created and curated by veteran journalist Barkha Dutta for ‘We The Women’ forum, the fest themed on opening doors and #breaking barriers was marked by dialogues on issues such as the fight for women against the religious orthodoxy whether in ending Triple Talaq or demanding the right to enter Sabarimala.

The country’s first India-Israel Innovation Centre (IIIC), an entrepreneurial technology hub, was launched in Bengaluru.

Kerala

Kerala is now set to become the first smoke-free State in the country with public sector oil companies eyeing 100% LPG penetration.

Kerala will need about Rs 31,000 crore for recovery and reconstruction following the century’s worst floods, according to a UN report presented to the Chief Minister by UN Resident Coordinator in India Yuri Afanasiev.

Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation stone for the country’s largest Dry Dock at Cochin Shipyard in Kerala.

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Madhya Pradesh

The Union Cabinet approved two Metro rail projects in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh in Indore and Bhopal.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the establishment of National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation (NIMHR) in Sehore district of MP instead of earlier approved Bhopal location.

Maharashtra

Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the world’s largest dome at the Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT)’s World Peace University (MIT-WPU) campus at Loni Kalbhor on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Alphonso Mango from Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and other adjoining areas in Maharashtra, finally gets a Geographical Indication (GI) Tag.

The Maharashtra government launched a website Maha Madat and a mobile application which will use modern technology to analyse the drought situation in the state by collecting data on rainfall, crop situation and underground water.

The World Economic Forum announced its new Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in India, which would aim to bring together the government and business leaders to pilot emerging technology policies. It will be based in Maharashtra.

A big Indian tricolour measuring 20×30 feet and 350 feet above the ground was unfurled at the majestic Haj House in Mumbai by Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

Mumbai’s iconic heritage cinema METRO INOX is India’s First Rooftop Solar Powered Cinema and South Mumbai’s Largest Multiplex. It has launched two INSIGNIA screens which are 100% solar powered. It has become the first multiplex in India to join the solar revolution.

Manipur

Manipur declared as 23rd open defecation free state. It is the 5th state in the North East to get the ODF tag.

Meghalaya

Centre would set up a sports stadium of international standard for persons with disability in Meghalaya.

Meghalaya government is all set to launch a new scheme Blue Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries on October 26 next to meet the requirements of the state.

Odisha

Inaugurating the three-day conclave Kalahandi Dialogue, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced that the Regional Research & Technology Transfer Station (RRTTS), Bhawanipatna, will henceforth be the Centre of Excellence for cotton, tropical fruit, crops and aromatic rice.

CM launched his government’s own food security scheme on Gandhi Jayanti that would cover 25 lakh people in the first phase, who were left out under the National Food Security Act (NFSA)-2013.

CM launched a common city payment card system “Odyssey City Card” for Bhubaneswar. Joint initiative of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, Bhubaneswar Smart City Ltd and the ICICI Bank

CM launched the “Nirman Kusuma Yojana” to provide financial assistance to children of construction workers for pursuing technical education.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) is going to set up country’s first biofuel plant at Baulsingha village in Bargarh district in Odisha by 2020.

Cyclone Titli has intensified into a “very severe cyclonic storm” and will make a landfall in areas bordering Odisha and Andhra Pradesh along the eastern coast.

CM launched a new web portal of ‘Odia Virtual Academy’ (www.ova.gov.in) to promote the Odia language and literature at the Secretariat in Bhubaneshwar.

CM launched India’s first automatic Early Warning Dissemination System (EDWS). The inauguration coincided with Odisha Government observing Disaster Preparedness Day. On this day, 19 years ago, the state was left devastated by “Super Cyclone” in 1999.

CM launched a scheme to increase the use of solar energy in the agriculture sector. Under the “Soura Jalanidhi” scheme, 5,000 solar pumps will be given to farmers with up to 90 per cent subsidy. It will create irrigation potential for 2,500 acres in the state.

Punjab

The country’s first gallery on robotic dinosaurs was opened to the public at the Pushpa Gujral Science City, Kapurthala.

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Rajasthan

Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje inaugurated the city’s ‘Dravyavati River Rejuvenation Project’ executed by Tata Projects Ltd. spread over 47.5 km rain-fed riverfront.

Telangana

British Deputy High Commissioner Hyderabad Andrew Fleming launched the SRiX Agri-Business Academy, India’s first agri and food business online learning platform, at SR Innovation Exchange (SRiX) Campus, Warangal, Telangana.

Hyberabad Police inaugurated the Bharosa Centre at the Kondapur Area Hospital in Telangana. The Bharosa Centre would help women in distress along with dealing with cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act too.

Uttarakhand

The Uttarakhand Assembly unanimously passed a resolution to declare cow the ‘Rashtra Mata’ or the mother of the nation.

Uttar Pradesh

In a first, the Uttar Pradesh government has approved the setting up of a political training institute in Ghaziabad.

The Uttar Pradesh government approved the proposal to rename Allahabad as ‘Prayagraj’.

The Uttar Pradesh government has made the man-animal conflict a ‘State Declared Disaster’ bringing such incidents under the ambit of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to ensure better coordination and relief during such mishaps in the state.

South Korean first lady Kim Jung-sook will be the Chief Guest at the Deepotsav event being organised by the Uttar Pradesh government on November 6.

Finance and Banking News The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization collectively sought

liberalisation of the global service sector, asserting that the barriers to these services trade currently is roughly as high as those to trade in goods about a half century ago. The report “Reinvigorating Trade and Inclusive Growth” brought out collectively by the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO.

RBI approved the proposal of Kerala government for the formation of Kerala Bank. RBI approved formation of ‘Kerala Bank’ having Rs 650 bn in deposits. The decision was taken by special task force headed by Chairman M S Sriram. The bank will be formed by consolidating State Cooperative Bank and the 14 district cooperatives.

The Reserve Bank issued guidelines for operating Electronic Trading Platforms (ETPs) to transact in eligible instruments. Trading on electronic platforms is being encouraged across the world as it enhances pricing transparency, processing efficiency and risk control. An entity seeking authorisation as an ETP operator under the directions will maintain a minimum net-worth of Rs 5 crore.

The Reserve Bank of India increased lenders’ single borrower exposure limit for Non-Banking Finance Companies which do not finance infrastructure, from 10% to 15% of capital funds, until December 31, 2018.

In a move aimed at promoting digital transactions, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released operational guidelines to facilitate payments among prepaid instruments (PPI) such as mobile wallets. The guidelines elaborate on requirements for achieving inter-operability for mobile wallets and cards, and norms for customer protection and grievance redressal.

Interoperability is the technical compatibility that enables a payment system to be used in conjunction with other payment systems.

Interoperability allows PPI issuers, system providers and system participants in different systems to undertake, clear and settle payment transactions across systems without participating in multiple systems.

Life insurer PNB Metlife has unveiled an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered customer service app ‘Khushi’.

Syndicate Bank got Rs 728-cr capital infusion from government.

RBI lifted the ban on Fino Payments Bank to open new accounts.

The nation’s largest bank, State Bank of India launched its wealth business services by opening “SBI Wealth Hub” at the Lalbagh branch in Mangaluru. SBI is the first PSU bank in the country to introduce comprehensive wealth business services for its clients.

The Reserve Bank of India announced that it will inject Rs 36,000 crore liquidity into the system through purchase of government bonds in October to meet the festival season demand for funds. Rs 12,000 crore was injected on October 11

The Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has announced the closure of 51 branches across the country as part of cost- cutting measures being implemented in the banking industry.

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The National Housing Bank (NHB) increased its refinance limit to Rs 30,000 crore to make more funds available to eligible housing finance companies.

State Bank of India has signed an MoU with Kathmandu-based National Banking Institute (NBI) for the development of human resources of the latter.

IDFC Bank has proposed to change its name to ‘IDFC First Bank Ltd’ as it is in the process of amalgamating non- banking financial company Capital First with itself.

Business News Reliance Health Insurance has got the R3 approval from Insurance Regulatory Authority of India (IRDAI)

Alibaba and SoftBank-backed Paytm said it registered over 137 million UPI transactions in September, becoming the leading contributor to Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments with over 33 per cent of the overall market share. The company also announced the launch of its Spam-proof “SMS Inbox” as part of its “Paytm Inbox”.

Tata Communications, a leading global digital infrastructure provider, is acquiring Teleena, a Netherlands-based Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity specialist and mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE).

Bharti Airtel has acquired technology of artificial intelligence (AI) service provider AuthMe ID Services.

Microsoft-owned LinkedIn has acquired Glint, a California-based employee engagement company that helps organisations get feedback from employees.

Microsoft completes $7.5 billion acquisition of GitHub

IBM to acquire Red Hat for $34 bn

Domestic mobile wallet player, MobiKwik announced its foray into India’s wealth management market with the acquisition of Clearfunds, an online mutual fund investment platform based out of Mumbai, for an undisclosed amount.

MobiKwik announced the launch of its breakthrough product called ‘Boost’, that offers instant loan approval and disbursal to MobiKwik users. MobiKwik is the first wallet player to disburse loan amount in the user’s mobile wallet. Users can apply for loans ranging from Rs. 5,000 upto Rs 60,000 through MobiKwik app.

E-commerce major Flipkart has partnered Bajaj Allianz General Insurance to offer customised insurance solutions to power its mobile phone protection programme for all leading mobile phone brands that are sold on its platform.

Paytm has launched a QR-based smartphone payment settlement service in Japan in collaboration with SoftBank and Yahoo Japan Corporation.

Google’s social network, Google +, was announced by the tech giant to be shutting down over a reported failure to reveal a security issue that affected hundreds of thousands of accounts.

Tech major IBM India and NITI Aayog announced an internship programme for the top performing under-18 students selected by the ATAL Innovation Mission, a flagship programme of the government to promote entrepreneurship and innovation.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Ltd’s quarterly earnings from the financial sector have edged past that of Accenture Plc, which is nearly double its size, making the Mumbai-based company the world’s largest pure-play information technology (IT) and consulting firm servicing mega banks and insurers.

Economy News India’s external debt declined 2.8 per cent to USD 514.4 billion at June-end over the previous quarter on account

of a decrease in commercial borrowings, short-term debt and non-resident Indian (NRI) deposits.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) to raise external commercial borrowings (ECBs) from lenders under the automatic route. The RBI decision comes on the back of a fast depreciating rupee and rising oil prices.

Gross direct tax collection in the first six months of the financial year grew 16.7 percent to Rs 5.47 lakh crore.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proposed new norms for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to attract long-term and stable FPI investments into debt markets while allowing them operational flexibility.

The Reserve Bank of India’s September round of the Consumer Confidence Survey — reflecting households’ perceptions and expectations on the general economic situation, the employment scenario, the overall price situation and their own income and spending showed the consumers are pessimistic about the current situation. Consumer Confidence Index slipped to 94.8 points, down from 98.3 in the previous June 2018 round of the survey.

The Centre has notified a higher interest rate of 8% for the non-government provident, superannuation, and gratuity funds, effective from October 1.

The government has increased the rate of interest for General Provident Fund (GPF) and other related schemes by 0.4 percentage points to 8 per cent for the October-December quarter.

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The share of private investments in the infrastructure sector has fallen to a decadal low of around 25 per cent in FY18 steeply down from a high of 37 per cent in FY08, says a report.

Driven by increased Cloud adoption, worldwide IT spending is projected to total $3.8 trillion in 2019, an increase of 3.2 per cent from expected spending of $3.7 trillion in 2018, according to the latest forecast by market research firm Gartner.

World Bank: East Asia-Pacific to grow 6.3% in 2018

World Bank: India projected to accelerate to 7.3 per cent in the 2018-19 fiscal and 7.5 per cent in the next two years.

In its World Economic Outlook, the IMF said India will grow 7.3% in FY19 and 7.4% in FY20

UNCTAD expects India’s GDP to rise 7% in 2018.

Science & Technology US space agency NASA has completed 60 years of human space exploration, discovering the world beyond Earth

and developing new technologies.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully conducted crucial tests to ensure smooth and precise landing of Vikram, the lander aboard Chandrayaan 2.

NASA has created a world record with its “supersonic parachute” for the Mars 2020 mission that survived 37,000 kg load and was deployed in just four-tenths of a second – twice the speed of sound. It was the fastest inflation in history of a parachute this size and created a peak load of almost 70,000 pounds (37,000 kg) of force.

NASA Retires Its Planet Hunter, the Kepler Space Telescope.

Defence News Indian and Japanese armies are going to hold their first-ever joint military exercise between November 1 and 14,

which will include conducting tactical drills against likely urban threats. The military exercise named ‘DHARMA GUARDIAN-2018’ will be held at Counter Insurgency Warfare School, Vairengte, in the state of Mizoram.

The sixth edition of IBSAMAR, a joint Multi-National Maritime Exercise between the Indian, Brazilian and South African Navies, is being held at Simons Town, South Africa.

The Indian and Vietnamese Coast Guards took part in joint exercises off Chennai to promote interoperability between the two maritime forces.

JIMEX-18, a bilateral maritime exercise between India and Japan, held in Visakhapatnam.

Pakistan successfully test-fired Ghauri ballistic missile which is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads up to a distance of 1,300 kilometers.

Ukraine has opened a series of large-scale air-force exercises with the United States and seven other NATO countries. The 12-day-long Clear Sky 2018 war games are being held in western Ukraine.

China‘s home-grown amphibious aircraft AG600, claimed by Beijing as the world’s largest, carried out its first take- off and landing on waters.

India, Japan and the U.S. are set to elevate the bilateral ‘Cope India’ air exercise to a trilateral format. The three countries already conduct naval war games under the expanded Malabar naval exercise.

Anil Ambani-led shipbuilder Reliance Naval and Engineering (RNEL) launched a 3,000-tonne training ship ‘ICGS Varuna’ for the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), which will be delivered in May next year.

Sports News

Tournament Winner Runner Up Under-19 Asia Cup India Sri Lanka Asian Champions Trophy (men’s hockey) India and Pakistan 24th Senior Women’s National Football Championships

Manipur Odisha

Puttaiah Memorial Cup Bengaluru FC Madras Engineering Group (MEG) 2018 WBL World Billiards Championship title Sourav Kothari Liuzhou International Challenger in Guangyuan city, China

Prajnesh Gunneswaran

2018 Denmark Open (Badminton) Saina Nehwal Victor Denmark Championship (men’s singles) Wheelchair badminton

player Sanjeev Kumar

Victor Denmark Championship (men’s doubles) Wheelchair badminton player Sanjeev Kumar

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Panasonic Open India Khalin Joshi Asian Snooker Tour Pankaj Advani Chris Evert Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) World No.1 Trophy

Simona Halep

Shanghai Masters 2018 Novak Djokovic Santo Domingo Open trophy Leander Paes and Miguel

Angel Reyyes-Varela

China Open (Tennis) in Beijing Caroline Wozniacki (Danish)

United States Grand Prix Kimi Raikkonen Japanese Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton 2018 MotoGP World Champion At Japanese GP Marc Marquez 2018 Australian MotoGP Maverick Vinales Egypt Junior and Cadet Open table tennis Tournament

Vishal Rajveer Shah

Sports

The Indian blind cricket team has won the triangular series after beating Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in the final in Goa.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is covered under the RTI Act and answerable to the people of the country under its mechanism.

Rohini Bopanna appointed as Hockey’s International Technical Official.

Five-time world champion Mary Kom has been named as the brand ambassador of the upcoming 10th edition of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) Women World Championship.

Former India captain Anil Kumble’s technology start-up Spektacom Technologies launched the “Power Bat” – a unique tool powered by Microsoft’s Azure Cloud platform and its Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) services.

West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has announced his retirement from the international cricket.

Australian football captain Mile Jedinak has announced his retirement from international football after a stellar career that saw him reach three World Cups.

Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev is retiring from international soccer after leading the national side as captain to this year’s World Cup quarter-finals on home soil.

Former England batsman Nick Compton announced his retirement from cricket.

Pakistan spinner Abdur Rehman has announced his retirement from international cricket.

Pacer Praveen Kumar announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.

Former Chelsea and England captain John Terry has decided to call time on his playing career after 23 years in the game.

Teenager Prithvi Shaw became the youngest Indian to make a century on his Test debut on day one of the first Test against West Indies in Rajkot.

PV Sindhu regained World No. 2 spot in BWF rankings. She is behind Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying

India’s FIFA ranking – 97. Belgium first.

India captain Virat Kohli became the quickest batsman to reach 24 Test centuries after the great Donald Bradman early on day two against the West Indies.

Virat Kohli is now the fastest man in the history of ODI cricket to reach 10,000 runs. The Indian skipper reached the landmark on his way to his 37th ODI ton in the Vizag ODI against the West Indies.

CWG and Asian Games gold medallist Bajrang Punia is the only Indian wrestler from a strong 30-member squad to get a seeding at the upcoming World Championships as he has been seeded third in the 65kg category in men’s freestyle competition.

The 56th annual convention of the World Boxing Council (WBC) kicked off in Kiev, Ukraine.

Asian Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy held in Muscat, Oman.

World Wrestling Championship held in Budapest, Hungary. Bajrang Punia settles for silver against Japan’s Takuto Otoguro.

First edition of North East Olympic Games 2018 at Main Stadium Khuman Lampak Sports Complex, Imphal .

The much-delayed 36th National Games in Goa will be held from March 30 to April 14 next year. Opening and Closing ceremonies will be held at PJN Stadium, Fatorda.

Blind cricket triangular series between India, England and Srilanka, slated held at the Goa Cricket Association Alto Porvorim in Goa.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had announced that the fourth edition of the Youth Olympic Games will be held in Dakar, Senegal.

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Japan is all set to host the 2019 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Relays in Yokohama city.

Turtle ‘Olly’ has been declared as the official mascot for the Odisha Men’s Hockey World Cup, scheduled to be held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar from November 28 to December 16, 2018.

International Cricket Council (ICC) launches women’s T20I ranking, India ranked 5th. 1st – Australia.

India’s highest ranked archer Atanu Das won the men’s recurve title while Asian Games silver medallist Rajat Chauhan emerged on top in the men’s compound section in the first invitational Indian Open Indoor Archery tournament that concluded at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata.

Deborah Herold won the gold medal in the elite women’s 40 kilometre competition at Saksham Pedal Delhi, India’s Premier Cyclothon.

The Indian pair of Meghana Reddy and Tasnim Mir has won the Under-15 girls doubles title in the Badminton Asia Junior Under-17 and Under-15 championships.

Teenage shooting star Manu Bhaker was named as the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent for the 3rd Youth Olympic Games to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina from October 6-18.

Rio Paralympic gold medallist Thangvellu Mariyappan was named as flag-bearer of the Indian contingent for the 3rd Para Asian Games to be held in Jakarta from October 6-13.

Para shooters Harshit Tiwari, Rajveer Singh Sekhon and Balendu Singh scripted history as they clinched India’s first medal, a silver, in 2018 World Shooting Para Sports Trap Championships being held in Lonato, Italy.

India along with six other South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) members, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Pakistan pulled out of the newly formed South West Asian Football Federation (SWAFF) with immediate effect.

2018 Para Asian Games held in Indonesia

Javelin thrower Sandeep Chaudhary won Gold.

Middle distance runner Raju Rakshitha won Gold in women's T11 1500m.

Swimmer Jadhav Suyash Narayan won Gold in men's S7 50m butterfly.

Ekta Bhyan clinched gold in women’s club throw event.

Narayan Thakur won Gold in men’s dash.

Para-shooter Manish Narwal bagged Gold in the men’s SH1 10m air pistol event.

Archer Harvinder Singh won Gold in Men’s Individual Recurve Open – W2/ST event.

Sharad Kumar won Gold in men’s high jump T42/63 category.

Pramod Bhagat won Gold in men’s singles SL3 class badminton.

Tarun won Gold in the men’s singles SL4 class.

2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Jeremy Lalrinnunga lifting 150kg in Men’s 62kg weightlifting won Gold.

Thangjam Tababi Devi became India’s first judo medallist at the Olympic level, claiming silver in the women’s 44kg category.

Manu Bhaker became the first shooter from India to claim a gold medal.

Pistol shooter Saurabh Chaudhary has bagged the Gold Medal in the 10-metre air pistol event.

Suraj Panwar won Gold in men’s 5000m race walk event (Athletics).

Akash Malik, became the first Indian to win a silver medal in archery.

Committee Head of Committee Purpose Sushil Modi The Government constituted a seven-member ministerial panel headed by Bihar Deputy

Chief Minister Sushil Modi to examine modalities for revenue mobilisation in case of natural calamities and disasters.

Bhure Lal The Centre has reconstituted Supreme Court-empowered Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority or the EPCA, which is tasked with taking various measures to tackle air pollution in the National Capital Region. The tenure of the last EPCA expired on October 3.

Sneha Rajani In the wake of the #MeToo movement, the Producers Guild of India announced the formation of a special committee to look into matters of sexual harassment at the workplace within the industry. The committee with filmmakers Kiran Rao and Ekta Kapoor among others as its members held its first meeting.

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S B Zaware Chartered accountants’ apex body The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has constituted a nine-member panel to study the systemic issues in the IL&FS crisis, amid the government intensifying efforts to address the problems at the diversified group.

Suresh Mathur The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has formed a panel to examine the feasibility of payment of general and health insurance claims in instalments.

Kirit Somaiya A parliamentary panel will examine the functioning of retirement fund body Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), its coverage and recovery of arrears.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh

Group of Ministers to strengthen the legal and institutional frameworks to deal with and prevent sexual harassment at workplace

Rankings Index India’s Rank Other Information Henley Passport Index 81st 1st – Japan. Japan’s passport has been named

the most powerful in the world. Oxfam International’s Commitment to Reducing Inequality (CRI) Index’

147th 1st – Denmark.

Human Capital Index (HCI) 115th 1st – Singapore. Index by World Bank. Global Hunger Index (GHI) 103rd 1st – Belarus. Global index on Right to Information 6th 1st – Afghanistan. World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index for 2018

58th 1st – USA.

Ease of doing business ranking 77th 1st – New Zealand.

India has emerged as the most investment-savvy economy in Asia and over two-thirds of the country’s affluent class prefer to make use of various investment products to meet their financial goals and greater social mobility, according to a new study titled ‘The Emerging Affluent Study 2018– Climbing the Prosperity Ladder’ by Standard Chartered.

Most of the international migrants in 2017 were from India, followed by China and Bangladesh, an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report titled ‘Asian Economic Integration Report 2018’ said. The report further said as many as one third of international migrants were from Asia in 2017.

India has the second largest insurance gap in the world of $27 billion after China, where the under insurance or insurance gap is over $76 billion.

India ranks fifth, jointly with Hong Kong and Thailand, in terms of the largest pictorial warning on cigarette packs with 85 per cent of both sides of the packets covered. The Cigarette Package Health Warnings: International Status Report 2018 highlighted that 118 countries worldwide have made pictorial warnings mandatory.

According to a survey by The Economist Intelligence Unit commissioned by payments company Visa, India‘s overall ranking on the government’s adoption of e-payments has moved up to 28th in 2018, from 36th in 2011. 1st – Norway.

Stanford University takes first place on Reuters’ list of the World’s Most Innovative Universities for the third consecutive year, holding fast to its ranking by consistently producing new patents and papers that influence researchers around the globe.

According to a World Health Organization report, India is the world’s most depressed country, closely followed by China and the US. According to the 2015-16 National Mental Health Survey (NMHS), every sixth person in India needs mental health help of some sort. The United Kingdom remains the most breached country in the region.

Data breach incidences in India were the second highest globally according to a report by digital security firm Gemalto.

According to Brand Finance‘s annual Nation Brands report, India 9th most valuable nation brand in the world. 1st –USA.

Loans from Banks From To Amount Purpose Asian India USD 150 million Loan to finance road infrastructure and international trade Development Bank (ADB)

corridor in West Bengal and north-eastern states

ADB India USD 240 million Loan agreement to provide safe drinking water to about 1.65 million people in three districts of West Bengal

ADB India USD 100 million Loan agreement aimed at expanding sewerage and drainage coverage and providing sewage treatment in

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Kolkata. ADB India USD 110 million Loan agreement for the upgradation of 2,800 kilometers

all-weather rural roads in Madhya Pradesh

Deadlines/ Important Dates The Supreme Court said that no Bharat Stage IV vehicle shall be sold across the country with effect from April 1,

2020. The Bharat stage emission standards are standards instituted by the government to regulate output of air pollutants from motor vehicles.

Rankings (Persons,Cities,Organisations and Others) According to Interbrand’s “Best 100 Global Brands 2018” report, Apple displaced Google to become the top

brand in the world in 2018 while Facebook, mired in data breach controversies, fell to ninth place in the top 100 brands globally.

Satara in Maharashtra stood first in the all-India cleanliness ranking in a survey of 685 districts across the country.

Fertiliser major IFFCO has been ranked as the biggest cooperative in the world by ‘Word Cooperative Monitor’ report 2018 published by The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and the European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises (Euricse).

Kerala tops the TAG index which compares the performance of each State based on the status of their teenage girls, as a part of the survey findings of The Teen Age Girls (TAG) Report, conducted by Project Nanhi Kali.

Microsoft overtook Amazon to become the second most valuable tech company in the United States.

Books The book “Feisty At Fifty” authored by Sudha Menon, was released at the Pune International Literary Festival

recently. It has been published by Pan Macmillan India. The books speaks about different phases of a woman’s life.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor ‘unveiled’ the word to the public in a tweet that also introduced his new book, “The Paradoxical Prime Minister”. Shashi Tharoor described his new book on PM Narendra Modi as “more than just a 400-page exercise in floccinaucinihilipilification“.The word means “the action or habit of estimating something as worthless”

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu released a biography of late Anumolu Ramakrishna, a pioneer in the application of innovative systems and construction techniques in the Indian constuction sector. The biography titled ‘Building a Legacy’ is authored by city-based Chartered Accountant V Pattabhi Ram.

Stephen Hawking’s final work, which tackles issues from the existence of God to the potential for time travel, was launched by his children, who helped complete the book after the British astrophysics giant’s death. Stephen Hawking’s final book “Brief Answers to the Big Questions” was launched recently.

A new book on Maharana Pratap named “Maharana Pratap: The Invincible Warrior” authored by historian Rima Hooja has been released. The book narrates the life of Maharana Pratap, the great Rajput warrior and also talks about the famous battle of Haldighati.

The biography of UP Chief Minister ‘Yogi Adityanath: The Rise of a Saffron Socialist’ is now amongst best seller books. The book written by Pravin Kumar.

Veteran commentator and cricket statistican Vijayan Bala has come up with his new book “Indian Sports: Conversations and Reflections”, a compilation of interviews of eminent sportspersons he has conducted since 1971.

Obituaries

Name Profession Other Info The girl holding the lamp in the celebrated painting `Glow of Hope’, also known as the Woman With the Lamp, has died at 102. Gita Uplekar died in Kolhapur, Maharashtra after a brief illness. The painting, a watercolour masterpiece by S L Haldankar, is now housed in the Jaychama Rajendra Art Gallery at the Jaganmohan Palace in Mysuru, Karnataka. It is one of the most prized possessions as well as a major attraction at the gallery. Narayan Dutt Tiwari Former Uttar Pradesh and

Uttarakhand Chief Minister

Gandhian Natwar Thakkar Popularly known as ‘Nagaland’s Gandhi’ Girish Patel Human Rights Activist Santosh Singh Jain Indian film trade expert Nitin Bali Singer Annapurna Devi Hindustani classical musician

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Balabhaskar Kerala musician and violinist Thampi Kannanthanam Malayalam film personality He was a producer, director and have

also acted in a few films. M N Paloor Malayalam poet Autobiography -

Kathayillathavante Katha Qazi Abdus Sattar Novelist, short story writer Yeshwant Deo Marathi composer Pradip Chowdhury Veteran journalist and former News

Editor of Press Trust of India (PTI)

G.D. Agarwal Environmentalist Bhola Singh Politician Madan Lal Khurana Politician Former Delhi Chief Minister Pankaj Bandyopadhyay Poltician Founding member of the

Trinamool Congress (TMC) Sri Shilpi Siddanthi Siddalinga Swami

Karnataka’s popular Lingayat seer

Vizag Prasad Telugu senior actor Na. Muthuswamy Veteran theatre personality

Ntozake Shange African American playwright

Paul G. Allen Microsoft co-founder

Will Vinton Oscar-winning American animator

Montserrat Caballe Spanish soprano