October Highlighted

Compendium-October, 2018
National
International
Economics & Financial Awareness
Defence & Security - National/International
Appointments-National/International
Person Resigned/Retired
Sports
Honours / Awards
Obituaries
Important Days
Foreign Visits / Foreign Visitors
National
World's tallest statue, the Statue of Unity dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel unveiled
on 31st October
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the ‘Statue of Unity’ in Kevadiya town in Narmada
district of Gujarat on the birth
anniversary of Sardar Vallabhabhai
Patel.
 This project was first announced on
10 October 2010 by the then Gujarat
government by a special purpose
vehicle-Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel
Rashtriya Ekta Trust (SVPRET).
 The iron needed for the statue and
other structures was collected from
farmers of villages all around India in
a form of donation of their used
farming instruments.
Features of ‘Statue of Unity’:
 Height– 182 metres, this makes the statue almost twice the height of the iconic Statue of
Liberty in New York.
 Location– around 3.5 km downstream from Sardar Sarovar dam, on an islet Sadhu Bet on
the bed of River Narmada.
 Cost– Rs. 2989 crore.
 Sculptor– Padmama Bhushan Ram V. Suthar, a 93 year-old acclaimed sculptor.
 Construction period– 34 months (approx.) work began on December 19, 2015.
 Materials consumed- 70,000 tons of cement, 18,500 tons of reinforcement steel, 6,000
tons of structural steel and 1700 tons of bronze which was used as outer cladding of the
structure.
 It is constructed by L&T and has 5 zones of the statue.
 The viewing gallery can accommodate up to 200 people at a time.
Prominent tallest statues of the world:
 Statue of Unity (182m) Narmada, Gujarat, India
 Spring Temple Buddha (153m) Lushan, Henan province, China
 Ushiku Daibutsu (120m) Japan
 Statue of Liberty (93m) Liberty Island, New York
 The Motherland Calls(85m),Russia
 Christ The Redeemer (38 m) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel (Ironman of India):
 Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel, Bismarck of Modern India born on 31st October 1875 was the
first Deputy Prime Minister of India.
 He was an Indian barrister and statesman, a senior leader of the Indian National Congress
and founding father of the republic of India.
 He is renowned as the architect of independent India, as he united all diverse 562 princely
states to build one great Republic of Independent India.
MP announces 52nd district, decision to come into effect from Oct 1

 The Madhya Pradesh government announced the creation of a new district 'Niwari'.
 The new district would include three tehsils of the present Tikamgarh district - Niwari,
Orchha and Prithvipur.
 The government's decision will come into effect from October 1.
2|
© Clat Possible. All rights reserved. Unauthorized copying, sale, distribution or circulation
of any of the contents of this work is a punishable offence under the laws of India.
 With Niwari, the total number of districts in the state now
stands at 52.
 The district has been carved out of the Tikamgarh district.
 It will include three tehsils of present Tikamgarh district
viz. Niwari, Orchha and and Prithvipur.
 The decision comes ahead of the Madhya Pradesh
assembly elections, which is scheduled to be held by the
end of this year.
Odisha state government launches own food security scheme

 Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the state's own food security scheme to
benefit 25 lakh people who have been left out from the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
 Patnaik launched the food security scheme after interacting with people of four districts
through video conferencing from the state Secretariat.
 The scheme will benefit the vulnerable populace who have been excluded from the NFSA.
 the beneficiaries will get five kg of rice per person per month at a rate of Rs 1 per kg.
 The state government will spend Rs 443.5 crore per annum to support the scheme and Rs
221.75 crore in the current financial year.
 The UPA had started the food security scheme and ensured subsidised rice to different
states at Rs 3-4 only.
 The state government is making tall claims about its own food security scheme.
 All these moves are part of vote-bank politics.
 The state government did not follow transparency in selecting the beneficiaries in the
scheme.
 The increase of 34 lakh poor people in 19 years shows the failure of the Naveen Patnaik
government in the state.
India Building World’s Highest Railway Line

 India railways announced its plan to link New Delhi and Ladakh by means of a railway line
that will run along the India-China Border. The
proposed Bilaspur-Manali-Leh Line would be the world’s
highest railway line once launched.
 Key Facts of the Project
 The projected cost to construct the 465 km line will be Rs
83,360 crore.
 The railway line will be the world’s highest at 5,360 metres
above mean sea level which is comparable to China’s
Quinghai-Tibet Railway Line at 2,000 metres.
 The project comprise of 74 tunnels, 124 major bridges, 396
minor bridges and 30 stations on the line.
 Keylong station on the route will be constructed inside a tunnel at the height of 3000
metres which is a first in India.
 Notably, more than half the train route would be covered through tunnels, the longest of
which is 27 km. Whole length of the tunnels would be 244 km.
 The route will link crucial locations between Bilaspur and Leh such as Sundernagar, Mandi,
Manali, Keylong, Koksar, Darcha, Upshi and Karu as well as several other towns of Himachal
Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.
 After the completion, the railway line will halve the time taken to cover the distance
between Delhi and Leh from the current 40 hrs to 20 hrs.
3|
 In addition to providing quick all-weather access to the armed forces, the railway line will
also enhance tourism in the Ladakh region that is presently connected by road and air. The
Ladakh-Himachal areas receives heavy snowfall and the road and air connectivity.
VP Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated world largest dome in MIT Pune

 The world’s largest dome was inaugurated at Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT)’s
World Peace University (MIT-WPU) campus at Loni Kalbhor, Pune .
 Vice President Venkaiah Naidu has inaugurated world largest dome.
 It has organized a four-day world parliament of
science, religion and philosophy at its Rajbaug campus
in Loni Kalbhor.
 The 4 day conclave starts from today, on the 150th
anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2 and will
end on October 5.
 All the statues in the dome are made by 93 year old
famous sculpture Ram V Sutir.
 The dome can house over a thousand people together
and has spititual symbols of all religions in the world.
 Vice President Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated 160ft world’s largest dome on 2nd October.
 With 160ft diameter and 263 feet height, this would be one of the largest dome in the
world.
 Earlier the largest dome was at Vatican city with 136 ft diameter and 448 ft height.
 The conclave has been jointly organized by MIT World Peace University in association with
World Peace Centre, Alandi, MAEER’s MIT Pune and MIT ADT University.
 World Parliament with 110 speakers and thousands of delegates from around the world are
expected to participate and speak on a wide spectrum spanning the spiritual and scientific
realms over different sessions.
 The MIT four day world parliament of science, religion and philosophy conclave will cover a
spectrum of themes that span across the scientific and spiritual landscape.
 The conclave is for bridging the seeming gaps between the three pillars; science, religion
and philosophy to show how all of them together lead the path to a sustainable and
peaceful future.
QS Asia Rankings 2019: Eight Universities from India among top 100
 QS Asia University Ranking is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli
Symonds (QS). Universities are assessed based on the academic
reputation, employer reputation, student-faculty ratio,
international faculty and students, staff with PhD, papers per
faculty and citations per paper, among other parameters.
 India and QS Asia rankings
 The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-Bombay) has
topped the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Asia University Rankings
from India followed by IIT Delhi and IIT Madras.
 Eight Indian universities have figured among the top 100 in the
list of Asia’s top 50 universities. IIT-Bombay, IIT-Delhi, IIT-Madras, IISC Bangalore, IIT-
Kharagpur, IIT-Kanpur, Delhi University and IIT-Roorkee are the Indian institutions in the
top 100.
 There are 75 universities from India in the top 500 Asia list No Indian University managed
to come under the top 10 slot or even Top 20 slot.
 India is making good progresses with forty new universities ranked and fourteen moving
up the table.
4|
 The National University of Singapore is ranked as Asia’s best university, followed by
University of Hong Kong, Nanyang Technological University, Tsinghua University and
Peking University.
India’s first dolphin research centre to come up soon in Patna

 National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC), India's and Asia's first, would be come up soon
in Patna.
 The NDRC is likely to be set up next month on the banks of the Ganga river in the Patna
University premises.
 It will play an important role in strengthening conservation efforts and research to save the
endangered mammal.
 The process to set up the NDRC started after the Patna
University agreed nearly two months ago to provide
the land.
 The university’s Syndicate had earlier stalled the
proposal for over three years.
 The water level has been decreasing and the flow has
slowed down. Besides, siltation is increasing in the
river.
 The Gangetic river dolphin is India’s national aquatic animal but frequently falls prey to
poachers and is sometimes killed inadvertently after being trapped in plastic fishing nets
and hit by mechanised boats.
 The mammals are being killed at an alarming rate with wildlife officials saying poachers
covet them for their flesh, fat and oil.
 Gangetic dolphins prefer deep water with adjoining shallow water.
 They live in a zone where there is little or no current that helps them save energy.
 The then Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, had approved the proposal during
his visits in mid-2011 and early 2012 after he was impressed by sight of dolphins along the
22 km stretch of the Ganga river.
 The Commission had sanctioned Rs 28.06 crore for it in 2013 followed by the state
government releasing Rs 18.16 crore in 2014 to the Infrastructure Development Authority.
It’s remained stuck there since then.
 The Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary, India’s only dolphin sanctuary, spread over
50 km along the Ganges, is located in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district.
 Bihar is home to around half of the country’s estimated 3,000 dolphin population.
 The state government has decided to conduct a study-cum-survey of the Gangetic dolphin
in 2018 in the 525-km stretch of the Ganga river between Chausa (Buxar) in the west and
Manihari (Katihar) in the east.
 The Wildlife Institute of India will help the government in this.
 The last survey was conducted in 2012 and nearly 1,500 dolphins were counted.
 Gangetic river dolphins fall under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act and
have been declared an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of
Nature (IUCN). The Gangetic river dolphin is one of the four freshwater dolphin species in
the world.
 The other three are found in the Yangtze river, the Indus river in Pakistan and the Amazon
river.
 The Gangetic river species - found in India, Bangladesh and Nepal - is almost completely
blind.
5|
Bihar’s Shahi litchi gets Geographical Indication tag
 Shahi Litchi from Bihar has received Geographical Indication (GI) tag from Chennai based
Geographical Indication Registry and Intellectual Property India. The
GI registration was done in name of Muzaffarpur-based Litchi Growers
Association of Bihar, which had applied for the tag.
 Shahi Litchi which famous for its sweet, juicy, unique flavour and
aroma is mostly grown in Muzaffarpur and adjoining areas of East
Champaran, Vaishali, Samastipur and Begusarai districts of state. Bihar
produces 40% of the litchis grown in India on 38% of the area.
 Significance
 The GI tag for Shahi Litchi will improve demand for fruit and reduce fear of fake and poor
quality litchis. It will also help and benefit thousands of litchi growers who will gain access
to more markets and get better price for their produce in the country and abroad.
 Shahi Litchi is fourth agricultural product from Bihar after Katrani rice, Jardalu mango and
Magahi paan (betel vine), to get GI tag. In addition to four GI tags in agricultural field, some
art form from Bihar such as Madhubani painting, applique – Khatwa patch work, Sikki grass
work, Sujini embroidery work and Bhagalpur silk have also been accorded GI tag under
handicraft category.
National Human Rights Commission celebrates Silver Jubilee

 National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) celebrated Silver Jubilee (25 years) on October
12, 2018. NHRC was set up on October 12, 1993. The silver Jubilee celebrations were held
in New Delhi.
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the function
and appreciated role of NHRC. NHRC also released
special silver jubilee logo and commissioned
documentary titled ‘NHRC: 25 years, Billion Hopes’
capturing the 25 years of its journey. It also organized
‘Human Rights Mela’ and ‘Human Rights Street
Theatre Festival’ in New Delhi.
 National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)
 NHRC is apex statutory watchdog of human rights in the country, i.e. the rights related to
life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by Constitution or embodied
in the international convents. It was established on October 12, 1993 as per t statutory
provisions of Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.
 It is multimember body consisting of Chairman and four members. President appoints
Chairman and members of NHRC on recommendation of high-powered committee headed
by Prime Minister.
 Its headquarters is located in New Delhi. NHRC can either take suo motu cognisance of
cases through media reports or complaint filed by victim or any other person on his or her
behalf or on basis of reports received from the police department.
 Functions of NHRC
 Investigate violations of human rights committed by the government.
 Intervene in legal proceedings related to human rights.
 Recommend to provide relief to the victims and their families.
 Review protection provided by Constitution.
 Study international treaties related to human rights, etc. and recommend for effective
implementation on its basis.·
 Promote research in the field of human rights.
 Spread human rights education in different sections of the society.
6|
External Affairs Minister launches 'India for Humanity'
 'India for Humanity' was formally launched by Smt. Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs
Minister, in a ceremony in New Delhi on 9 October 2018.
 As part of 150th Birth Anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi being held over the
next one year.
 The Ministry of External Affairs has launched the 'India for Humanity' initiative in honour
of his service to humanity.
 ‘India for Humanity’ features a year long series of artificial limb fitment camps in a number
of countries spanning the globe.
 The Ministry is collaborating with the renowned charitable organization "Bhagwan
Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti" (BMVSS).
 Founded in 1975 and better known by its trademark limb "Jaipur Foot”, BMVSS is among
the world’s largest organisations for the fitment of artificial limbs and till date has served
over 1.73 million amputees.
 The limb fitment camps, which aim to provide for the physical, economic and social
rehabilitation of the differently-abled around the world by helping them regain their
mobility and dignity to become self-respecting and productive members of the society.
India lost $80 bn due to disasters in last 20 years: UNO

 According to UNISDR ,India has been ranked as the fourth worst hit country in the world.
 India lost $80 billion to natural disasters over the past 20 years.
 The report ranks India among the top five countries that have suffered losses due to
disasters. Others are: US, China, Japan and Puerto
Rico.
 The report was released by the United Nations Office
for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) ahead of the
International Day for Disaster Reduction on October
13.
 The report says that in the past 20 years, the overall
direct economic loss from climate-related disasters
across the world has witnessed a 151 per cent increase.
 The report has been jointly prepared by UNISDR and the Centre for Research on the
Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED).
 It is titled 'Report on Economic Losses, Poverty and Disasters for 1998-2017', and ranks
India among the top five countries that have suffered losses due to disasters.
 At $944.8 billion, the United States has suffered the greatest losses due to disasters in the
past 20 years.
 This is followed by China ($492.2 billion), Japan ($376.3 billion), India ($ 79.5 billion) and
Puerto Rico ($ 71.7 billion).
 In terms of occurrences, climate-related disasters also dominate the picture, accounting for
91 per cent of all 7,255 major recorded events between 1998 and 2017.
 Floods (43.4 %) and storms (28.2 %) are the two most frequently occurring disasters.
 The UN report says that between 1998 and 2017, disaster-hit countries reported direct
economic losses of $2.9 trillion, of which climate-related disasters accounted for $2.2
trillion (77 %).
 Besides this, 1.3 million people lost their lives and 4.4 billion people were injured, rendered
homeless, displaced or were in need of emergency assistance.
 A total of 563 earthquakes, including those related to tsunamis, accounted for 56 % of the
total deaths (7,47,234 people).
7|
PM unveils 64-foot-tall statue of peasant leader Chhotu Ram in Rohtak, Haryana
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unveiled a 64-foot-tall statue of
peasant leader Sir Chhotu Ram at his native village Sampla in
Rohtak district of Haryana.
 The statue has been sculpted by renowned sculptor and Padma
Bhushan-recipient Ram Vanji Sutar. Around 5,500 farmers from
Haryana had donated iron metal, ranging from from half-a-kg to
two kgs for construction of the statue.
 Sir Chhotu Ram
 Born on November 24, 1881 as Ram Richpal in Garhi-Sampla,
Rohtak in then Punjab, British India (now in Haryana) and died on 9 January 1945 (aged
63) in Lahore, then Punjab, British India (now in Pakistan).
 He is regarded as messiah of peasants and was instrumental in empowering farmers in pre-
Independence era and getting pro-farmers law enacted. He had fought for farmers’ rights
during the British rule.
 He was ideologue of peasants of pre-Independent India and championed interest and cause
of oppressed peasants of Indian Sub-continent. For this feat, he was knighted (given title of
Sir) in 1937.
 On political front, he was co-founder of National Unionist Party ((Zamindara League))
which ruled United Panjab Province in pre Independent India and kept Congress and
Muslim League away from power. He was popularly known as Deen Bandhu (in Urdu as
Rahbare Azam, which translates as messiah of poor).
India’s first ever National Environment Survey to kick off in 24 states, 3 UTs in Jan, 2019
 India’s first ever National Environment Survey (NES) will be kicked off from 55 districts
across 24 states and three Union Territories in January, 2019.
 The earliest the first set of complete green data from
the survey will be available is 2020, providing an
important tool in the hands of policy-makers for
decision making at all levels - district, state and
national.
 The survey will be done through a grid-based
approach, using grids measuring 9x9 km, to collect
comprehensive data on various environmental
parameters such as air, water, soil quality; emission
inventory; solid, hazardous and e-waste; forest &
wildlife; flora & fauna; wetlands, lakes, rivers and other water bodies.
 It will also assess carbon sequestration potential of all the districts across the country.
 The NES will rank all the districts on their environmental performance and document their
best green practices.
 Unless policy-makers have exact data on all environmental parameters, they cannot take
appropriate decisions.
 The country’s first ever environment survey will fill the gaps in existing data.
 The Environmental Information System (ENVIS) will conduct the survey through its hubs
and resource partners across the country.
 At present, the country has secondary data on most of these parameters.
 The NES will, however, for the first time provide primary data on all the green heads in the
same way that the National Sample Survey (NSS) periodically collects various socio-
economic data.
 The first set of data on all parameters, the survey will be done at regular intervals like the
one being done by the NSSO.
8|
 The first set of data will be compiled in one year because we need to cover seasonal cycles
in terms of air pollution and flora & fauna.
 All 716 districts in the country are expected to be surveyed in a period of three to four
years. Currently, all necessary preparatory works and training are being done in all the 55
districts where the NES will be conducted next year.
“Titli”: The severe cyclonic storm causing damage to power and communication Odisha
and Andhra Pradesh
 The severe cyclone “Titli” that made landfall
between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in the early
hours of 11 October 2018 and devastated the two
states resulting in death of many persons.
 It devastated Srikakulam district in Andhra
Pradesh and Ganjam district in Odisha with surface
wind reaching speeds of 126 kmph.
 At least 8 persons were killed in Srikakulam district
of Andhra Pradesh.
 More than 16 died in Odisha after landfall in a mountain due to severe rain.
 The cyclone triggered heavy to very heavy rainfall in Ganjam, Gajapati and Puri districts of
Odisha, causing minor damage to power and communication.
 On the other hand numerous trees were uprooted and huge damage to property reported
in Andhra Pradesh. More than 2,000 electric poles were uprooted by strong winds in the
state.
Gaganyaan: ISRO, ROSCOSMOS to work together for first Indian manned mission
 Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Russia’s federal space agency Roscosmos
State Corporation for Space Activities (ROSCOSMOS) have
agreed to worked together for first manned space mission
Gaganyaan.
 In this regard, both space agencies have signed MoU at end of
delegation level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi
and Russian President Vladmir Putin in New Delhi.
 Key Facts
 Under MoU on Joint Activities in the field of Human Spaceflight Programme, ROSCOSMOS
has offered ride to Indian astronaut short visit to International Space Station (ISS) on board
Soyuz spacecraft for short training mission in 2022.
 ISS is habitable artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. Russia had first made the offer to train
an Indian astronaut for the mission when External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had
visited Russia in September 2018.
 Historically, India-Russia space cooperation was very strong, with Soviet Union being one
of the three partners who helped India get off the ground with its space programme. This
has continued for several decades included for sending an Indian cosmonaut in a Soviet
Soyuz mission in 1982.
 Former Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Rakesh Sharma was first Indian to travel to space. He
was part of Soviet Union’s Soyuz T-11 expedition, launched on April 2, 1984 of Intercosmos
programme.
Alphonso mango from 5 districts of Maharashtra gets Geographical Indication tag

 Chennai based Geographical Indication Registry and Intellectual Property India has granted
Alphonso mango from 5 districts of Maharashtra gets Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
9|
 These five districts Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Palghar, Thane and
Raigad are from western Konkan coastal region of State. With this
recognition, Alphonso has joined list of 325 products from India
with GI tag.
 Alphonso mango
 Alphonso, better known as ‘Hapus’ in Maharashtra is considered
as king of mangoes. It is best known for its taste and also for
pleasant fragrance and vibrant colour. It is in demand in domestic and international
markets.
 It has long been one of world’s most popular fruits and is exported to various countries
including Japan, Korea, Europe, US and Australia.
CUJ signs MoU with ISRO to set up Space Applications Center

 The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
signed a MoU with the Central University of Jammu
(CUJ) in Jammu for setting up of the Satish Dhawan
Center for Space Science in the University.
 Another MoU was signed between the Central
University of Jammu (CUJ) and the Central Scientific
Instruments Organization (CSIR-CSIO).
 This is to create awareness about space research.
 This is the first of its kind institute coming up in Jammu and Kashmir and the building is
proposed in an area of about 1,150 sq. m.
 The Space Science Centre at CUJ will have facilities for Geospatial Data analysis that will
help in the sustainable use of natural resources and planning land-use pattern.
India’s longest river bridge will be built across Brahmaputra River

 India’s longest river bridge will be built across the Brahmaputra River and it will connect
Dhubri in Assam to Phulbari in Meghalaya.
 The 19.3 km, four-lane bridge will be built by 2026-27
and will cut road travel by 203 km as also travel time.
 At present, vehicles take an over-200 km-long detour
using the Naranarayan Bridge, which is 60 km
upstream.
 The new bridge will complete the missing link of
NH127B from Assam to Meghalaya.
 Currently, the longest river bridge in India, at 9.15
km, is the Dhola-Sadiya Bridge which was opened last
year.
 The Japanese funding agency Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has approved
a loan for this project.
Center launches 'Swastha Bharat Yatra' campaign to create awareness about safe food
 The government has 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 Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is leading this campaign.
 About 7,500 cyclists are expected to participate in over 18,000 km relay cycle rally
travelling across six tracks through almost every state and UT over 100 days to propagate a
powerful message 'Eat Right India'.
 The cyclathon will culminate in the national capital on January 27.
10 |
 the campaign has been launched by the central government, in association with states, from
October 16 on occasion of the World Food Day.
 The FSSAI is leading this campaign to create
consumer awareness about eating safe and nutritious
food for becoming healthy.
 The 'Swasth Bharat Yatra' was launched
simultaneously at Leh (in Jammu & Kashmir), Panaji
(Goa), Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), Puducherry,
Ranchi ( Jharkhand) and Agarthala (Tripura).
 From October 16 to January 27, 2019, on every single
day, 150 volunteer cyclists and a convoy including
the 'Eat Right Mobile Unit' and 'Mobile Food Testing Unit' would travel across the country
to build awareness around food safety, combating food adulteration and healthy diets.
 The government is also making available foods at a cheaper rates to people through a
public distribution system and other welfare schemes with an annual subsidy of about Rs 2
lakh crore.
 Presently, India is 103rd rank in 'Global Hunger Index' out of 119 countries.
PM to unveil National Police Memorial in New Delhi

 The National Police Memorial would be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
 The memorial is in recognition of the sacrifice made by nearly 35,000 police personnel
killed in action since Independence.
 A 30-foot granite pillar, weighing around 238 tonnes, has been installed at Chanakyapuri in
the heart of Lutyens’ Delhi to honour the policemen.
 The sculpture has been conceptualised by Advaita Gadanayak of the National Gallery of
Modern Art. The stones to construct the pillar were
sourced Khammam in Telengana.
 Since 1947, as many as 34,864 police personnel have
been martyred.
 Many of these brave lives were lost in the fight against
terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Assam,
Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Maoist-affected
regions of the country.
 The memorial will also have a ‘Wall of Valour’, engraved with the names of police
personnel, including those killed in the 1965 India-Pak war, the 26/11 Mumbai terror
attacks of 2008 and the 2001 Parliament attack.
 The Prime Minister will also unveil the country’s first national police museum.
4th India International Science Festival-2018 held in Lucknow

 The fourth India International Science Festival 2018 (IISF 2018) will be held in Lucknow,
Uttar Pradesh from October 5 to 8, 2018.
 It is being organized by Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences in
association with Vijnana Bharati at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan, Lucknow. This is for first
time ISSF being organized in Uttar Pradesh.
 It was inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind. The theme of this edition of the Science
Festival is “Science for Transformation“.
 Key Facts
 More than 8,000 delegates from across the country will take part in the fourth edition this
mega science expo. About 800 women scientists and entrepreneurs are expected to take
part in it.
11 |
 At this event, attempt will be made by about 500 students to isolate DNA. As part of the
event, “science village” will be set up at National Botanical Garden in Lucknow where
people will get to know about the progress of science.
 India International Science Festival (IISF)
 IISF is conceivably biggest platform in India that
brings together students, researchers, artists and
general public to celebrate nation’s achievements in
science and technology.
 It serves as a medium to encourage young minds
towards field of science and to promote networking of
stakeholders working towards the propagation of
science. The 1st IISF was held at Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT) New Delhi in December, 2015.
 The 2nd IISF was held at CSIR-National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi in December, 2016
and 3rd was held in October 2017, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
CBI names its No.2 Rakesh Asthana in bribery case

 India’s one of the top most autonomous body, the Central Bureau of Investigation has
named its second-in-command Rakesh Asthana as an accused
in a bribery case along with another agency official and two
private persons.
 Those named as accused in the FIR are Mr. Asthana, CBI
Deputy Superintendent of Police Devender Kumar, Dubai-
based investment banker Manoj Prasad and his brother
Somesh Prashad.
 More than Rs.3 crore in bribes were paid by the complainant
for getting relief in a case against meat exporter Moin
Qureshi and others.
 Rakesh Asthana is accused of accepting a bribe of Rs. 2 crore
in a case that also involves businessman Moin Qureshi.
 The agency alleges that bribes were taken in five instalments in December 2017 and
October 2018 to give a clean chit to the Hyderabad businessman.
 As alleged,Rs.1 crore was paid on December 10 and Rs.1.95 crore on December 13 last;
Rs.25 lakh on October 10; and 55, 000 dirhams on October 14.
 Accused Somesh handled Mr. Asthana’s investments in Dubai and London.
 The amended provision of the Prevention of Corruption Act, which mandates prior
approval for initiating a probe against senior government functionaries, would not apply in
the case of Mr. Asthana.
 According to the FIR, the businessman was summoned in the Moin Qureshi case several
times for questioning on a Rs.50 lakh transaction in 2011.
 During a trip to Dubai, he met Manoj who allegedly got him in touch with his brother for
getting relief from CBI summonses.
 The FIR alleges that Somesh, after talking to a CBI official on the phone, demanded Rs.3
crore as the initial amount and Rs.2 crore after the filing of the charge sheet in the case.
 Subsequently, the businessman allegedly paid about Rs.3 crore through middlemen.
 However, on September 25 this year, he was stopped at the airport as a look-out circular
had been issued against him when he along with his family was to board a flight from
Hyderabad to Paris.
 The CBI is investigating its two former chiefs A.P. Singh and Ranjit Sinha in other cases.
12 |
 India and Azerbaijan agreed to take measures to enhance bilateral trade relations. Both
countries signed a protocol on trade and economic, science and technology cooperation at
the 5th meeting of India- Azerbaijan Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade and
Economic, Science and Technology Cooperation which concluded in New Delhi.
 India and Sri Lanka signed two MoU for construction of 1200 houses through 50 model
villages, using Indian grant assistance of 60 crore Srilankan rupees.
 India and Tanzania signed two MoUs in presence of External Affairs Minister Sushma
Swaraj and Tanzanian Foreign Minister Dr. Augustine Mahiga. The MoUs are between
Foreign Service Institute of India and Centre for Foreign Relation, Tanzania and National
Research Development Corporation and Tanzania Industrial Research and Development
Corporation.
 Government launched a national campaign 'Swasth Bharat Yatra' on the World Food Day
(16th October) under which a pan-India cycle rally is being organized to sensitise people
about eating safe food and be healthy. It was announced by the FSSAI chief executive
Pawan Kumar Agarwal.
 Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi unfurled India‟s highest
tricolour on the terrace of the majestic Haj House in Mumbai.
 India will host the fourth edition of Global Partners' Forum in December 2018 in New
Delhi.
 PM Modi dedicated the National Police Memorial (NPM) to the nation in New Delhi. It has
been built in recognition of the supreme sacrifice made by police personnel since
independence. It has been erected on 6.12 acres of land in Chanakyapuri, at the northern
end of Shanti Path.
 India & Croatia signed 2 agreements to strengthen cultural & diplomatic cooperation
between the two countries.
 The first India-China high-level meeting on bilateral security cooperation held in New
Delhi. The two sides discussed issues of mutual interest including bilateral cooperation on
counter-terrorism and welcomed increased cooperation between India and China in the
area of security. Agreement on security cooperation was also signed.
 India and Bangladesh signed several agreements for enhancing inland and coastal
waterways connectivity between the two countries for trade and cruise movements. The
two countries have signed an agreement to use Chattogram and Mongla Ports in
Bangladesh for movement of goods to and from India.
 India's first engine-less train, "Train 18", developed by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF)
and seen as a successor to the prestigious Shatabdi Express, was unveiled by Railway
Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani. The Rs. 100- crore train is the first long-distance train,
without a separate locomotive (engine). As per the ICF, the train is capable of running at a
speed of up to 160 kmph and comes with technical features for enhanced quick
acceleration.
 The Kingdom of Netherlands will be the Partner Country 25th DST – CII Technology
Summit to be organized in 2019, announced Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for
Science & Technology, Earth Sciences, Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
13 |
International
Global Hunger Index 2018: Key Findings

 The 2018 global hunger index is prepared by Welthungerhilfe together with Concern
Worldwide. The International Food Policy Research
Institute (IFPRI) has stepped aside from its involvement in the
report.
 Calculation of the Index:
 The Index ranks countries on a 100-point scale, with 0 being the
best score (no hunger) and 100 being the worst.
 Values from 0 to 9.9 reflects low hunger, values from 10.0 to 19.9
reflects moderate hunger, values from 20.0 to 34.9 reflects
serious hunger, values from 35.0 to 49.9 reflects alarming hunger,
and values of 50.0 or more reflects extremely alarming hunger
levels.
The index is based on the following four parameters
 The proportion of the undernourished as a percentage of the
population
 The proportion of children under the age of five suffering from wasting;
 The proportion of children under the age of five suffering from stunting;
 The mortality rate of children under the age of five.
 Findings of the 2018 report
 India has been ranked at the 103rd position among 119 countries. India is among the 45
countries that have “serious levels o f hunger.
 India is ranked below many neighbouring countries,
including China (25th spot), Nepal (72), Myanmar
(68), Sri Lanka (67) and Bangladesh (86). GHI scores
for South Asia and Africa south of the Sahara reflect
serious levels of hunger.
 The world has made gradual, long-term progress in
reducing overall hunger, but this progress has been
“uneven”. Areas of severe hunger and undernutrition
stubbornly persist reflecting human misery for
millions.
 Around 124 million people suffer acute hunger in the
world which is a striking increase from 80 million two
years ago.
 The reality of hunger and undernutrition continues to have a massive impact on the next
generation.
 About 151 million children are stunted and 51 million children are wasted across the globe.
China opens world’s longest sea bridge linking Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai
 China inaugurated Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, world’s longest sea bridge with total
length of 55 km. The new sea bridge will connect the east and west sides of Pearl River
Delta of the South China Sea, connecting two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong
and Macau with Zhuhai i.e. mainland China.
 Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge
 It includes dual three-lane, oversea stretch (22.9 km) and undersea tunnel (6.7 km) which
reaches depth of 44 m. The rest 25.4 km of the bridge runs over land.
14 |
 The two ends of tunnel of bridge are connected to two artificial islands, each million sq ft,
constructed in shallow areas of Pearl River Estuary to allow transit between bridge and
tunnel sections.
 The 6.7 km undersea tunnel is made of chain of 33 submerged hollow blocks, each 38 m
wide, 11.4 m high and weighing 80,000 tonnes. The bridge contains 400,000 tonnes of steel.
It is designed to withstand magnitude-8 earthquake and strikes by super-sized cargo ships.
 The project was initially conceived in 2003,
and construction began on December 2009.
Its total cost was 120 billion yuan ($17.3
billion).
 This has been shared in different proportions
by Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai
governments. It is estimated that 29,000
vehicles would cross the bridge every day.
 Significance
 China considers this mega structure as key component of its plans to develop Greater Bay
Area. This area will be business hub comprising Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities of
Guangdong province (mainland China).
 This bay area is being developed with aim to rival New York (US) and Tokyo (Japan) in
terms of technological innovation and economic success. This bridge will play vital role in
facilitating creation of a single market by connecting.
 The bridge will put three cities within hour’s commute of each other and is expected to
boost economic development. It will cut travel time from Hong Kong International Airport
to Zhuhai from 4 hours to 45 minutes.
 It will also bring down trip between Kwai Chung Container Port (Hong Kong) and Zhuhai to
1 hour and 15 minutes from existing 3½ hours.
First session of International Solar Alliance (ISA) starts in New Delhi

 The first assembly session of ISA on October 2 in the presence of United Nations General
Secretary António Guterres in New Delhi.
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated that
International Solar Alliance (ISA) has the potential
to play the role of OPEC (The Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries) in near future to
meet energy requirements of the world.
 Indian government is looking to achieve a target of
40% of power generation from non-fossil fuel-
based resources by 2030, as part of its efforts to cut its dependency on coal to meet its
energy requirements.
 At present, domestic firms are in the process to implement the government’s plan of
commissioning at least 10,000 renewable energy-based micro- and mini-grid projects with
a total capacity of 500 MW by 2022.
 PM Modi invited all members of the United Nations to cooperate for solar energy
conservation.
 A total of 40 nations’ representatives were present in the assembly.
 Further, Modi added that the government has an aim to add 50 gigawatt (GW) of renewable
energy to the existing capacity.
 Also, non-hydro renewables will contribute about 20% of the country’s total energy needs.
 The event on also marked the inauguration of the second Indian Ocean Rim Association
(IORA) Renewable Energy Ministerial meeting, and the Second Global RE-Invest,
Renewable Energy Investors’ Meet and Expo.
15 |
 It aimed at speeding up efforts to increase renewable energy and connect the global
investment community with Indian energy stakeholders.
 The three-day 2nd Global RE-INVEST 2018 is set to be held from 3-5 October, 2018 and
more than 600 global industry leaders, and 10,000 delegates will participate in the event.
 It may be noted that the ISA, an alliance of 121 countries and most of them are sunshine
countries, was launched jointly by PM Modi and Francois Hollande, then president of
France, on November 30, 2015 in Paris.
 Foundation stone for the ISA headquarters in Gurugram district was laid by Modi and
Hollande in January 2016.
India Elected To UN Human Rights Council With Most Number Of Votes

 India was elected to the United Nations' top human rights body for a period of three years
beginning January 1, 2019.
 It has got 188 votes in the Asia-Pacific category, the
highest number of votes among all candidates.
 The 193-member UN General Assembly held elections
for new members to the UN Human Rights Council.
 The 18 new members were elected by absolute
majority through a secret ballot. Countries needed a
minimum of 97 votes to get elected to the Council.
 India was vying for a seat in the Asia Pacific category.
 Along with India, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Fiji and Philippines had also staked a claim in the
same regional group.
 There were five nations vying for five seats in the Asia Pacific category, India's election to
the Council was all but certain.
 The new members will serve a term of three years beginning January 1, 2019.
 India had previously been elected to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council for the 2011-
2014 and 2014-2017 term.
 Its last tenure had ended on December 31, 2017 and in accordance with the rules, it was
not eligible for immediate re-election since it had already served two consecutive terms.
 It was created by the Assembly in March 2006 as the principal United Nations body dealing
with human rights.
 The Human Rights Council comprises 47 elected Member States.
 On the basis of equitable geographical distribution, Council seats are allocated to the five
regional groups as follows: African States, 13 seats; Asia-Pacific States, 13 seats; Eastern
European States, 6 seats; Latin American and Caribbean States, 8 seats; and Western
European and other States, 7 seats.
 All five of the General Assembly's regional groups had submitted competition-free slates,
meaning that all candidates, regardless of their rights records, were virtually assured seats
on the council.
 Former President of Chile Michelle Bachelet assumed the role of UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights in September this year.
 He will be succeeding Jordanian diplomat Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, who had in June this year
released a first ever report on Kashmir that was rejected by India.
Researchers developed a web-based tool to monitor fake news on Facebook, Twitter

 A web-based tool to monitor the spread of fake news on social media platforms has been
developed by the Researchers from the University of Michigan in the US. The tool uses a
Platform Health Metric called the Iffy Quotient and will supposedly draw data from two
external entities namely NewsWhip and Media Bias/Fact Checker.
 Working of the tool
16 |
 The News Whip will collect URLs from hundreds of thousands of sites each day and then it
will gather information about the engagements of these sites on Facebook and Twitter.
 The Iffy Quotient will fetch information by querying NewsWhip for
the top 5000 most popular URLs Facebook and twitter.
 Then the tool will check using the information at Media Bias/Fact
checker whether the URL has been classified as iffy, ok, or
unknown.
 Newswhip
 It is a social media engagement tracking firm to collect URLs of
thousands of sites everyday and collect information whether
these sites have involvement in Facebook and Twitter.
 Media Bias/Fact Checker
 It divides the URL into three categories, ‘Iffy’ if the website is on a questionable source or a
conspiracy list and ‘OK’ if the websites on the lists such as Left Bias, Right Bias or Satire, and
‘Unknown’ if the website is not on any of the lists.
Lotay Tshering elected the new Prime Minister of Bhutan

 Lotay Tshering was elected the new Prime Minister of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan in
country’s third democratic election.
 The results of which were announced on 19 October 2018.
 Lotay Tshering is the President of Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa
party.
 His party won 30 of 47 national assembly seats in the third
general election in Bhutan.
 Bhutan has now chosen a different party to rule at each
election since the end of absolute monarchy in 2008.
 Tshering is a 50-year-old urology surgeon. He will replace Tshering Tobgay.
Three-fourths of H-1B visa holders in 2018 are Indians: U.S. report

 Indians account for 73.9% of the total H-1B visa holders in the U.S.
 Nearly three out of every four H-1B visa holders as of October 5 are Indian citizens, an
official U.S. report has said.
 According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS), there were as many as 419,637
foreign nationals working in the U.S. on H-1B visas as
on October 5.
 Of these, 309,986 are Indians, the USCIS said in its
report ‘H-1B petitions by gender and country of birth
fiscal year 2018’
 The report reveals a massive gender disparity - only one out of every four H-1B visa holders
is female. Of the 419,637 H-1B visa holders, 106,096 (or 25.3%) are females as against
311,997 (or 74.3% males).
 Gender disparity is wider among Indians.
 Of the 309,986 Indians on H-1B visas in the U.S. this October, only 63,220 or 20.4% are
females while nearly 245,517 Indians on H-1B visas or 80% (79.2% to be precise) are
males.
 As many as 1,249 Indians on H-1B visas have been characterised in the category of
missing/others.
 Indians, who account for 73.9% of the total H-1B visa holders in the U.S., are followed by a
distant Chinese with 47,172 on H-1B visas, accounting for 11.2% of the total foreign
nationals on this work visas.
17 |
 But there is not much gender disparity among the Chinese on H-1B visas. According to the
report, 21,342 or 45.2% are females and 25,718 or 54.5% are males.
 After India and China, Canada and South Korea are the only two countries which account
for a little over one% (1.1% to be precise) each on H-1B visas.
 After that all other countries constitute less than 1% of the H-1B visas as of October 5.
Stanford University named World’s Most Innovative University: Reuters

 Stanford University was named as World’s Most Innovative University by Reuters news
agency rankings. No Indian was able to make it to the list.
 The Reuters’ top 100 World’s Most Innovative University
ranking recognises universities from across the world for their
work in inventing new technologies, advance science and power
new markets and industries.
 It was first published in 2015, since then there has been no
mention of any Indian university in the list.
 Key Facts
 In this top 100 list, 48 universities are from North America find
mention on the list, 23 Asian universities, 27 from Europe and 2 from the Middle East. The
list has no mention of universities from South America, Africa and Oceania countries that
include Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.
 US dominated the list with 46 universities among the top 100. This year Chinese varsities
have increased their presence in this with total five universities. The key factor was this
year’s ranking was Geopolitical trends.
 Stanford University from US has topped this list for four consecutive years. The second and
third spots have been held by US’s Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and
Harvard University respectively.
 Top 10 Innovative Universities
 Stanford University, US
 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US
 Harvard University, US
 University of Pennsylvania, US
 University of Washington, US
 University of Texas System, US
 KU Leuven, Belgium
 Imperial College London, United Kingdom
 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, US
 Vanderbilt University, US
China-built world’s largest amphibious plane completes maiden flight test

 China's domestically developed AG600, the world's
largest amphibious aircraft, is seen during its maiden
flight in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China
December 24, 2017.
 Designed to be the world’s largest amphibious
aircraft, AG600 is powered by four domestically-
built turboprop engines and has a range of 12 hours.
 China’s indigenously designed and built amphibious
aircraft AG600, touted as the world’s largest,
successfully carried out its first take-off and landing tests on Saturday.
 The aircraft, developed and built by the state-owned aircraft firm Aviation Industry
Corporation of China, took off and later landed on the water in Hubei province’s Jingmen.
18 |
 The seaplane took off from the Zhanghe Reservoir at 8:51 am (local time) and stayed
airborne for about 15 minutes.
 The aircraft code-named Kunlong was piloted by four crew members.
 Early this month, it completed its first water taxiing trials at a high speed of 145 kilometres.
 Designed to be the world’s largest amphibious aircraft, AG600 is powered by four
domestically-built turboprop engines and has a range of 12 hours.
 It will be mainly used for maritime rescue, fighting forest fires and marine monitoring,
according to an earlier report by the state-run Xinhua news agency.
 The aircraft has passed a series of tests since its maiden flight last December. It successfully
finished eight taxiing tests on water at a speed of 80-kilometre per hour and 120-kilometre
per hour.
Indian regional language Telugu fastest growing language in USA

 According to the by an American think tank , Telugu is the fastest growing language in the
USA.
 According to the World Economic Forum , the number of
US residents speaking Telugu rose by 86 % between 2010
and 2017.
 Presently, Telugu is fourth most spoken language in India.
 It is still outside the top 20 of the most widely-spoken
languages other than English in the USA.
 The study on languages spoken in the US used data from the American Community Survey
and compared the number of people who said they spoke a language other than English at
home in 2010 and 2017.
 Last year there were more than 400,000 Telugu speakers in the US - nearly double the
number in 2010.
 Out of the top 10 fastest-growing languages in America, seven are from South Asia.
 The rise of Telugu was connected to the links forged between Hyderabad and the US
engineering and technology industries, Prasad Kunisetty, founder of the Telugu People
Foundation, a non-profit organisation in the US, was quoted as saying.
 The rapid growth of IT in the mid-1990s led to a huge demand for software engineers, he
said.
 Many were recruited from Hyderabad, which sends students to the US in large numbers.
 Down the years, Telugu-speaking Americans have continued to hire software engineers
from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the BBC said.
 Notable US-based Telugu speakers include the first Indian-American Miss America Nina
Davuluri and the current Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
 Of the more than 60 million people that speak a language other than English out of the total
population of about 320 million, the vast majority speak Spanish.
 Out of the most commonly spoken South Asian languages, Hindi is first, followed by Urdu,
Gujarati and then Telugu.
Malaysia to abolish the death penalty for all crimes

 Malaysia’s Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has agreed to abolish
death penalty for all crimes and halt pending executions.
 This decision was taken in pursuance of strong domestic opposition
to colonial practice for being barbarous and unimaginably cruel
which has put terrible stain on the country’s human rights record. It
is also in line with move away from capital punishment in the rest of
the world.
 Key Facts
19 |
 Currently capital punishment in Malaysia is mandatory for murder, kidnapping, possession
of firearms, treason and drug trafficking, among other crimes.
 The death penalty in Malaysia is exclusively carried out by hanging and has been legacy of
British colonial rule. More than 1200 people are on death row in Malaysia.
 Background
 At present, the sentence of death penalty has been abolished in 103 countries, while
penalty of capital punishment is still in 56 countries.
 There are still provisions for capital punishment in countries like China, India, America,
Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Japan and Sri Lanka. United Nations General Assembly
passed the resolution in 62nd session in 2007 to impose universal restrictions on the death
penalty.
 Canada agreed to sign a trade deal with the United States & Mexico, revamping the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The new deal named as the United States-
Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
 Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi became the first person to be stripped of the honorary
Canadian citizenship for her role in gross human rights violations against the Rohingya
people.
 India and China have launched their first joint programme for Afghanistan to train its
diplomats. Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan, Vinay Kumar hosted 10 Afghan Diplomats
who will be travelling to India for the 1st India-China joint training programme for Afghan
diplomats under the aegis of the Trilateral Cooperation between India, China and
Afghanistan.
 Canada has become the second country after Uruguay to legalize possession and use of
recreational cannabis.
 A UN-backed fund approved more than 1 billion dollars for 19 new projects to help
developing countries tackle climate change. South Korea-based Green Climate Fund stated
the funding approved is for the projects that linked to geothermal energy in Indonesia,
greener cities in Europe and West Asia, and protection for coastal communities in India.
 The first trilateral meeting among India, Afghanistan and Iran of the Coordination Council
of the Chabahar Agreement took place in Tehran, Iran. The next meeting will be held in
India in 2019.
 13th Annual Summit between India and Japan held in presence of PM Modi and his
Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Tokyo, Japan. Issues of mutual interest, including
forging ties in newer areas were discussed during the talks. The areas include health,
digital technologies, agriculture and food processing and disaster risk reduction.
 Japan announced joining the International Solar Alliance (ISA) submitting the instrument
of ratification. As of now, there are 70 countries that have signed the ISA Framework
Agreement (ISA FA) and 47 countries that have ratified it. Japan will be the 71st country to
sign and 48th country to ratify the ISA FA.
 The world's largest airport terminal "under one roof" with a capacity to serve 90 million
passengers has been officially opened on October 29 in Istanbul, which marks the Republic
Day of Turkey.
 Republic of Seychelles launched the world's first Sovereign Blue Bond, a financial
instrument designed to support sustainable marine and fisheries projects. The bond
raised USD 15 million from international investors.
20 |
Economics & Financial Awareness
Asian Economic Integration Report 2018

 The Asian Economic Integration Report 2018 was presented by Asian Development
Bank. The report is an annual publication of ADB with a focus on progress in cooperation
and migration.
 Key highlights of the report
 The report revealed that India hosts the highest number of outward
international migrants in 2017.It was followed by China and
Bangladesh.
 About one third of international migrants were from Asia in 2017.
 The number of Asian migrants headed to regional destinations
declined shortly.
 FDI in the Asian region remain stable with 517.5 billion in 2017.
 Asia’s share of global inward foreign FDI reach up to 36.2 percent in 2017.
 Labor demand is the main factor behind the international migration on such a large scale.
72.7 percent of the migrants enter the labor market in host countries.
 This year in the report there was a special chapter “Toward Optimal Provision of Regional
Public Goods in Asia and the Pacific”. The chapter stressed on that the optimal provision of
Regional public goods can be a solution for development challenges in the era of economic
interdependence.
 Regional public goods are those are produced and collectively consumed by a public
sector or by both private and public sector as appropriate and have potential to generate
shared benefits among the countries. These includes climate change, anti corruption, good
governance, human development, cross border infrastructure, cross border disease
surveillance, and all other goods that have benefits beyond a single territory.
 About ADB
 The Asian Development Bank is a regional development Bank established
in 1966 with Headquarters in Manila, Philippines. The bank is composed of 67 members
out of which 48 are from Asia Pacific region.
 Takehiko Nakao is Present President of the Asian Development Bank. The bank helps its
member countries by providing loans, grants and technical assistance to enable social and
economic development and to eradicate poverty.
Union Govt plans to create steel giant through merger

 The Centre will examine a proposal by the steel ministry to first merge the loss-making
steel firm.
 The state run Neelachal Ispat Nigam (NINL) with
Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL) and then merge it with
Steel Authority of India (SAIL) to create a single state-
owned steel manufacturer to bring in efficiency.
 Similarly, it has also suggested consolidation of
profitable iron ore mining companies NMDC and
KIOCL.
 In a presentation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April, chiefs of central PSUs had
proposed the creation of public sector behemoths by consolidating firms based on
commonalities of functions to benefit from economy of scale, global competitiveness and
access to cheaper capital.
 Modi had asked the PSUs and administrative ministries to prepare an action plan on this.
 There is scope for merger of these companies.
21 |
 Integration of CPSEs engaged in the same business line would limit the number of CPSEs in
a sector and create profitable entities which will have capacity to bear higher risks, take
higher investment decisions and create more value for stakeholders, officials reckon.
 Bigger entities would be able to raise cheaper funds and reduce their dependence on the
government.
 SAIL, the largest state-run steel maker, achieved a sales turnover of Rs 58,297 crore during
FY18, 19% higher than the previous year.
 SAIL’s losses slimmed by around 83% to Rs 482 crore in FY18 from Rs 2,833 crore in FY17.
 The massive capex in the past few years to modernise plants and recession in the steel
sector has hurt SAIL in the recent years.
 Neelachal Ispat Nigam is a joint venture company of MMTC, which holds 49.78%, while the
Industrial Promotion & Investment Corporation of Odisha (IPICOL) holds 15.29% in the
firm.
 The bulk of the remaining 34.93% stake in NINL is held by central PSUs. NINL incurred net
loss of Rs 378 crore, while RINL incurred a net loss of Rs 1,369 crore in FY18 due to
slowdown in the industry.
 In the iron ore-mining business, NMDC showed an impressive 47% increase in net profit at
Rs 3,806 crore in FY18.
 India’s largest iron ore producer also reported a 31.5% increase in revenues at Rs 11,615
crore in FY18.
 KIOCL (formerly Kudremukh Iron Ore Company) could potentially be merged with NMDC.
KIOCL showed an impressive 70% increase in net profit at Rs 81 crore in FY18.
India moves up to 28th rank in govt e-payment adoption: Visa

 According to the survey 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.
 It needs to do more on digital infrastructure access
and socio-economic factors.
 The country is taking "rapid strides" in advancing
government e-payments capabilities and is one of the top-performing countries in terms of
citizen-to-government (C2G), business-to-government (B2G) and government-to-business
(G2B) transactions.
 The country holds the top ranking on B2G and G2B, and comes third on C2G jointly with
Argentina.
 Norway leads the pack in the 73-country ranking, followed by France and Denmark.
 The 73-country survey, which was last conducted in 2011, looks at availability of
government electronic transaction services and the underlying environment of
mechanisms that support digitisation for all transactions in a market, such as policy and
infrastructure.
 India is at the 58th place for digital infrastructure and lags significantly in the development
of digital infrastructure and socio-economic conditions, according to the survey.
 The same is also the case with payment acceptance infrastructure, where the country lags
behind despite the government efforts.
 India is placed 60th among the 73 countries surveyed on socio-economic development
 The country was also found to be lacking in the policy context, at the 40th rank, the survey
said, specifically pointing out that work on protecting intellectual property rights can
improve the ranking.
 Foreign firms also face restrictions ability to access funding from domestic sources, which
could create another barrier to entry.
22 |
 The country has done well on financial inclusion, its overall performance in inclusiveness
dropped due to a lack of government integration of the informal economy.
Longest inland water transport movement delivers fly ash successfully to Assam via
Bangladesh
 India’s longest inland water transport movement delivers fly ash successfully to Assam via
Bangladesh.
 In a first, fly ash has reached successfully Pandu Port in Assam via Bangladesh, making the
longest haulage in inland water transport movement.
 The fly ash from NTPC, Bihar was transported by
Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) to Assam
through serpentine routes of rivers and sea via
Bangladesh before reaching Pandu port.
 The first load of fly ash reached Assam on September
30.
 The fly ash transported by the teams of NTPC and IWAI from Bihar to Assam will be used by
cement manufacturing company Star Cement.
 About 1,235 of Fly Ash was transported from NTPC Kahalgaon to Pandu Port via Kolkata
through National Waterways 1 and 2 via Indo Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route.
 The inland water transportation was chosen to deliver fly ash to Assam due to the lack of
railway facilities in the northeastern states.
 Completing a long voyage (2085 KMs) from Bihar to Assam via Bangladesh waterways,
1233 tonnes of fly ash from NTPC Kahalgaon plant reached Pandu, Guwahati today ,
marking one of the longest hauls in Inland Water Sector (IWT) movement in the country.
 This endeavour will also establish the water highway route from Kahalgaon to Pandu in
Assam via Bangladesh border helping transportation of other goods also.
 In May 2017, the government held a roadshow in Guwahati to promote the inland water
transportation system.
 The government aims to develop the rivers of the North East as viable and sustainable
means for cargo and passenger transportation.
 North East connected with Kolkata through the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route of
river Brahmaputra.
India in bottom 15 of Oxfam index on efforts to reduce inequality

 India fared poorly, ranking 147 out of 157 countries, in terms of its commitment to
reducing inequality, while Denmark topped the list.
 According to the Commitment to Reducing Inequality
Index developed by Oxfam and Development Finance
International, Nigeria, Singapore, India and Argentina
are among a group of governments that are fuelling
inequality.
 The index ranks 157 countries on their policies on
social spending, tax, and labour rights.
 As per the report, countries such as South Korea, Namibia and Uruguay are taking strong
steps to reduce inequality.
 However, countries like India and Nigeria did very badly.
 Among rich countries, USA showed a lack of commitment towards closing the inequality
gap.
 In terms of its ranking across specific pillars this year, India was placed 151st on the index
for public spending for healthcare, education and social protection, 141st for labour rights
and wages, and 50th on taxation policies.
23 |
 Regionally, India ranks sixth among the eight South Asian nations. On public spending and
on labour rights it ranks sixth, but India is placed on the top in terms of progressiveness of
tax policy.
 Other countries in the top ten include Germany (2nd), Finland (3rd), Austria (4th), Norway
(5th), Belgium (6th), Sweden (7th), France (8th), Iceland (9th) and Luxembourg (10th).
 Among the emerging economies, China was ranked 81st on the list, Brazil 39th and Russia
50th.
Udyam Abhilasha: SIDBI launches national level entrepreneurship awareness campaign

 Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has launched Udyam Abhilasha (उद्यम
अभिलाषा) , a national level entrepreneurship
awareness campaign. It was launched in 115
Aspirational Districts identified by NITI Aayog in 28
States.
 Udyam Abhilasha
 The campaign will run from 3 October to 8 October,
2018 across India and reach out to around 15,000
youth. It will create and strengthen cadre of more than 800 trainers to provide
entrepreneurship training to aspiring youths across these districts to enter admired
segment of entrepreneurs.
 For implementing this campaign, SIDBI has partnered with CSC e-Governance Services
India Limited, a Special Purpose Vehicle, (CSC SPV) under Ministry of Electronics & IT
through their CSCs. It will also tie-up with Banks, NABARD, NBFCs, SFBs, District Industries
Centres, State Government etc.
 CSC Village Level entrepreneurs (VLEs) will play role of catalyst under this campaign for
these aspiring entrepreneurs.
 VLEs will provide training, support aspirants to establish new units, assisting them in
availing loans and make them aware about various Government initiatives like Pradhan
Mantri Mudra Yojana, SUI etc. and educate them in business literacy.
India ranks 115 in World Bank's Human Capital Index : World Bank
 According to World Bank, India ranked 115th among 157 countries in its first-ever Human
Capital Index (HCI).
 India’s neighbours Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka were
better placed at 106th, 102nd and 74th position, respectively.
 The index took into account parameters like child mortality,
health and education.
 The World Bank gave India a score of 0.44 of the total 1.0,
lower than the average for its income-level countries.
 In simple terms, it shows that the children born in India today
will be 44 % as productive when they grow up as they could
be if they enjoyed complete education and full health.
 Girls fared slightly better at 0.45 than boys, who scored 0.43.
 Globally, 56 % of all children born today will grow up to be, at
best, half as productive as they could be, and 92 % will grow up to be 75 % as productive as
they could be.
 India ranks 115 in World Bank's Human Capital Index; govt dismisses report
 The ground that India has to recover could be gauged from the fact that the topmost
country, Singapore, scored 0.88.
 The index basically measures the amount of human capital that a child born today can
expect to attain by 18.
24 |
 It conveys the productivity of the next generation of workers compared to a benchmark of
complete education and full health.
 The index is made up of five indicators: the probability of survival to age five, a child’s
expected years of schooling, harmonised test scores as a measure of quality of learning,
adult survival rate (fraction of 15-year-olds that will survive to age 60), and the proportion
of children who are not stunted.
 India got 0.96 score on the first parameter - the probability of survival to age 5.
 On the second parameter, a child who starts school at age 4 can expect to complete 10.2
years of school by their 18th birthday.
 However, factoring in what children actually learn, the expected years of school are only 5.8
in India.
 On other parameters, the index reveals that 83 per cent of 15-year-olds will survive until
60. Also, 62 of the 100 children are not stunted and 38 of the 100 children are stunted.
 Reacting strongly to these observations, the finance ministry said the HCI score for India
did not reflect the key initiatives that were being taken for developing human capital in the
country.
Arcelor Mittal acquired debt-ridden Essar Steel

 A consortium led by ArcelorMittal, a global steel entity acquired debt-ridden Essar Steel.
 On 19 October 2018, the lenders to bankrupt Essar
Steel declared that the highest bid was from the joint
venture (JV) of Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal,
promoted by Lakshmi Mittal, and Japan’s Nippon Steel
and Sumitomo Metal Corp.
 Thus the consortium acquired the Indian steel maker
and ensured that ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, makes its entry into Indian
steel sector.
 ArcelorMittal-led consortium had tabled a resolution plan that offered Rs. 42,000 crore to
buy out Essar Steel’s assets, which had accumulated debt of over Rs. 49,000 crore.
 Essar steel has a 10 million tonne (mt) per annum mill in Hazira, Gujarat.
 The company is a fully-integrated flat steel manufacturer.
Smartphone payment service launched in Japan by paytm

 The PayPay smartphone payment service launched in Japan
by Indian payments entity Paytm in joint-venture with
SoftBank and Yahoo during October 2018.
 ‘PayPay’ is the name of the barcode-based smartphone
payment service.
 It is India’s largest payments service provider.
 This new service has been launched in a joint venture with
SoftBank Corporation and Yahoo Japan Corporation.
 PayPay allows users to store money from a bank account in
their “PayPay” wallet and aims to promote the use of cashless payment in Japan, which is
heavily dependent on cash for payments.
 Japan accounts for only 20% of overall cashless transactions in the country.
“Angriya”: India’s first domestic luxury cruise liner started its operations between
Mumbai and Goa
 India’s first domestic luxury cruise liner started its operations between Mumbai and Goa.
 Itsname is “Angriya”, started its operations during October 2018.
25 |
 The cruise, operating on the Mumbai-Goa sea route, is a luxurious 7-deck, 131-meter long
passenger ship built in Japan.
 Complete with bars, restaurants, swimming pool, spa and discotheque, the ship can
accommodate about 400 passengers.
 It completes the journey between Mumbai and Goa in 14 hours.
Diesel became costlier than petrol for the first time in Odisha
 The Indian state Odisha where diesel became costlier than petrol for the first time.
 A litre of diesel cost 12 paise more than that of petrol in Odisha’s capital Bhubaneswar on
21 October 2018 with diesel being sold at Rs 80.69 per litre while petrol cost 80.57 per
litre.
 This was the first instance of diesel becoming costlier than petrol in any Indian state.
 While other states have different VAT rates for petrol and diesel, Odisha charges a uniform
26% VAT on both.
NCLT approved the takeover of IL&FS board by government nominees

 The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved the takeover of housing finance
major IL&FS board by government nominees on 1 October 2018.
 A new six-member board led by Uday Kotak took charge of the entity.
 The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on 1 October 2018 approved the takeover of
IL&FS board by government nominees, saying mismanagement at the crisis-ridden
financier makes it a fit case of supersession of the board under Article 241 of the
Companies Act.
 A new six-member board led by veteran banker Uday Kotak took charge of the company.
 The other members are former SEBI chief GN Vajpai, ICICI Bank chairman GC Chaturvedi,
Tech Mahindra's Vineet Nayyar, and former bureaucrats Malini Shankar and Nand Kishore.
 India and Myanmar inked a crucial MoU for the appointment of a private operator of the
Sittwe Port. It will boost connectivity and help in creating local job opportunities as the two
sides discussed bilateral issues as well as topics of common interest, including
developments in the strife-torn Rakhine state.
 On the occasion of 86th anniversary, the Indian Air Force has launched an innovative
mobile health App named ‘MedWatch’ in keeping with the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Digital
India, Ayushman Bharat and Mission Indradhanush’.
 As per the RBI, India's external debt declined 2.8% 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.
 Economic Affairs Secretary SC Garg announced a reduction in gross borrowing estimate for
the current fiscal by 70,000 crore rupees and maintained that the government will contain
fiscal deficit target at 3.3%.
 Govt. increased the rate of interest for General Provident Fund (GPF) and other related
schemes by 0.4% points to 8% for the October-December quarter. The rate is in line with
that for Public Provident Fund (PPF). The interest rate on GPF was 7.6% for the July-
September quarter of 2018-19.
 Alibaba and SoftBank-backed Paytm registered over 137 million UPI transactions in
September, becoming the leading contributor to Unified Payments Interface (UPI)
payments with over 33% of the overall market share.
26 |
 Reliance Health Insurance, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Capital, has received
final approval from IRDAI for its new health insurance business.
 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, as per
the Interbrand's "Best 100 Global Brands 2018" report.
 Google will shut down Google+ for consumer use over the next 10 months after a bug
exposed the personal data of up to 5 lakh users.
 Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries made it official that it is entering a strategic
investment partnership with Den Networks Limited and Hathway Cable and Datacom
Limited, which will be a 'win-win' outcome for customers, local cable operators, content
producers, and the companies.
 Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the only Indian company among top 10 firms to get
foreign labour certification for the H-1B visas for the fiscal year 2018. Paytm launched a
QR-based smartphone payment settlement service in Japan in collaboration with SoftBank
and Yahoo Japan Corporation.
 Fertiliser major IFFCO announced that it has been ranked as the biggest cooperative in the
world by 'Word Cooperative Monitor' report 2018.
 America's IBM has acquired software company Red Hat in a $34 billion cash and debt deal,
marking its biggest ever acquisition till date. Founded 25 years ago, Red Hat was valued at
about $20.5 billion at the end of trading.
 WhatsApp partnered with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to train small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs on using the messaging platform to connect with
customers and growing their businesses.
27 |
Defence & Security - National/International
US to pull out of Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty signed with Russia
 United States (US) President Donald Trump has announced that US will unilaterally pull out
of three-decade-old Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty signed with Russia
during Cold War.
 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty
 It was crucial Cold War-era treaty banning development,
testing and possession of short and medium range ground-
launched nuclear missiles with range of 500-5,000 km.
 The treaty was signed in December 1987 between then US
President Ronald Reagan and his USSR counterpart Mikhail
Gorbachev.
 The treaty banned all nuclear and conventional missiles, as
well as their launchers, with ranges of 500–1,000 km or
(short-range) and 1,000–5,500 km (intermediate-range). This treaty was central to ending
arms race between two superpowers during cold war and protected America’s NATO allies
in Europe from Soviet missile attacks. It was designed to provide measure of some strategic
stability on continent of Europe.
 Reasons of US withdrawal
 US President Trump has alleged that Russia has violated treaty and has been violating it for
many years. This violation comes after Russia’s alleged development and deployment of
Novator 9M729 missile (also known as SSC-8), that could strike Europe at short notice.
 Accusations of Russia violating this treaty pre-dates Trump presidency and go back to 2008
during President Obama administration. Under former President Barack Obama raised
issue of Russia testing ground-launched cruise missile with Russian President Vladimir
Putin in 2014.
 But Russia had denied allegations and raised counter-allegations of the US installing missile
defence systems in Europe. While two countries failed to find resolution using dispute
resolution mechanism in treaty, US continued to remain party to treaty under pressure
from its European allies.
 Implications
 The unilateral withdrawal from this treaty will allow US new nuclear weapon options in
Pacific in its efforts to counter China’s growing influence. There are also concerns that
unilateral termination of this treaty could mark beginning of new arms race between US
and Russia.
Ajit Doval replaces cabinet secy as head of ‘strategic policy group'

 National security advisor Ajit Doval has replaced cabinet secretary as the head of the
Strategic Policy Group (SPG).
 The SPG, a mechanism first notified in April 1999 to assist the
National Security Council (NSC) in strategising on matters
dealing with external, internal and economic security of the
country.
 The 1999 notification constituting SPG and defining its role
and functions had specified the cabinet secretary as its
chairperson.
 Recently, the government, through a notification on
September 11 and published in the gazette on October 8, has
made a partial modification, listing NSA as its chairman.
28 |
 Earlier, the SPG notified in 1999 was a 16-member body, the new notification makes it an
18-member body with the cabinet secretary and vice-chairman of NITI Aayog as the new
members.
 Other members to be part of SPG are Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, Chief of Air
Staff, RBI governor, secretaries of external affairs, home, defence, finance, defence
production, revenue, atomic energy, space, and National Security Council Secretariat
besides scientific adviser to defence minister, secretary (R) in Cabinet secretariat and the
Intelligence Bureau chief.
 The reconstitution of SPG puts NSA at the top of the national security strategy set-up,
coming close on the heels of a decision to set up the defence planning committee, a new
strategic think-tank under chairmanship of NSA to formulate national military and security
strategy and oversee defence acquisitions from abroad.
 While NSA will convene SPG meetings, the cabinet secretary will coordinate
implementation of its decisions with various ministries and departments.
India and Russia signed an Inter-governmental Agreement (IGA)

 India and Russia signed an Inter-governmental Agreement (IGA) for the supply of iconic S-
400 Triumf anti-aircraft missile system to India.
 S-400 Triumf is the name of an anti-aircraft weapon
system developed by Russia which is often been
described as "one of the best air-defence systems
currently made".
 India and Russia signed on 5 October 2018 this
agreement for $5.43-billion.
 The Triumf missile deal with Russia will give India's
military a much-needed boost, which would act as a
deterrent against China's growing presence in the region and a superior edge over Pakistan.
 The S-400 Triumf missiles are extremely efficient to track and hunt down combat aircraft,
even stealth planes, at unprecedented ranges.
Druzhba-III: Russia and Pakistan holding military exercise in Pakistan

 The Druzhba 2018 (Friendship 2018) joint bilateral military exercise
between Pakistan and Russian special forces has begun in Pakistan.
 This exercise will be organized in north-western hill region in
Nowshera district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan. The two week
long joint military exercise is aimed at bolstering and building military
cooperation between the two countries
 Druzhba military exercise
 Druzhba military exercise between Russia and Pakistan was started in
2016. “Druzba” is Russian word, which means “friendship”. Its first edition was held in
October, 2016 at Army High Altitude School in Rattu, northern Pakistan.
 The second edition was held in Russia at Minralney Vody in North Caucasus at an altitude of
2,300 meters above sea level.
 Druzhba 2018
 This will be the third joint military drill between both countries under the bilateral training
cooperation agreement. In this edition of exercise, servicemen from two countries’ armed
forces will perform tasks at altitude of 1,400 meters above the sea level.
 Over 70 soldiers from Russia’s southern military district are participating. It will also
involve experience sharing and develop coordination in carrying out practice combat tasks
in a mountainous environment, including operations against illegal armed groups.
29 |
Air Force Celebrates Its 86th Anniversary on 8 October
 Air Force Celebrates its 86th Anniversary October 8.
 The Indian Air Force came into force in 1932 as the Royal Indian Air Force under then
British rule.
 The Indian Air Force (IAF) celebrates its 86th anniversary today, highlighting the "untiring
efforts and supreme sacrifices.
 The IAF will hold a grand parade-cum-investiture
ceremony at the Air Force Station at Hindon
(Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh). Air Chief Marshal BS
Dhanoa, Chief of the Air Staff, will review the parade.
 The parade will be followed by an air display and
acrobatics by the Air Force's various aircraft,
including Jaguar, Bison, MiG-29, Mirage-2000 and SU-
30 MKI fighter jets and Rudra helicopters.
 The Indian Air Force came into force in 1932 as the Royal Indian Air Force under then
British rule. The name was changed to Indian Air Force in 1950.
 The IAF has technologically evolved and grown in strength over these years to thwart any
threat to the nation.
 It is committed to safeguarding the Indian skies and has played a key role in providing
assistance to the people during natural calamities.
 IAF is the world’s fourth largest air force (after US, Russia and China) with primary
responsibility to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during conflict.
 It was officially established on October 8, 1932 as an auxiliary air force of the British
Empire and the prefix Royal was added in 1945 in recognition of its services during World
War II.
China to sell 48 armed drones to Pakistan

 India’s arch rival China will sell 48 high-end armed drones to its “all-weather ally” Pakistan,
will be the largest deal of its kind.
 The cost of the major defence deal was not revealed.
 The high-end armed drones called as Wing Loong II.
 It is a high-end reconnaissance, strike and multi-role
endurance unmanned aerial system, capable of being
fitted with air-to-surface weapons.
 It is roughly equivalent to the American MQ-9 Reaper
drone.
 The drones will also be jointly manufactured by China and Pakistan.
 Last year, China reportedly sold to countries like the UAE and Egypt the Wing Loong II at an
estimated $1 million per unit.
 Largest supplier:
 China is the largest supplier of weapon system to the Pakistan Army. Both countries also
jointly manufacture JF-Thunder a single engine multi-role combat aircraft.
 The Trump administration has agreed to sell sell 22 Sea Guardian drones to India.
 The country is reported to have received 10 advanced Heron drones from Israel as well.
 The deal for the acquisition of the drones manufactured by Chengdu Aircraft Industrial
(Group) Company.
 In the future, the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Kamra and the Aviation Industry
Corporation of China’s Chengdu Aircraft Industrial (Group) Company will jointly
manufacture the drones.
30 |
Indian Navy inducts first deep submergence rescue vehicle
 The Indian Navy has inducted its first deep submergence rescue vehicle (DSRV).
 The DSRVs are used for rescue of personnel in downed submarines.
 They are also deployed for various other missions including laying cables on the sea-bed.
 Some DSRV vessels are air transportable.
 It can be mobilized from the Indian Navy's naval base in Mumbai to the nearest port by air,
land, and sea.
 The second DSRV is expected to be inducted into the
Indian Navy at the southern port city of
Vishakhapatnam in 2019.
 Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel will be used to
search, locate and rescue to distressed submarines.
 The Indian Navy has inducted its first deep
submergence rescue vehicle for downed or disaster-
struck submarines at high sea.
 India has joined a select group of countries that have
the capability to locate and rescue distressed
submarines.
 Indian Navy joins select league of nations with capability to search, locate and provide
rescue to distressed submarines by induction of first Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel
(DSRV) and associated kit in fly away configuration
 The DSRVs are also used to lay cables on the sea bed. Some DSRV vessels are air
transportable in very large military cargo.
 The induction was part of efforts to enhance operational capabilities when China has been
ramping up its maritime presence in critical sea lanes which are of strategic importance to
India.
Iron Magic 19: UAE, US to conduct military exercise near Dubai

 The joint military exercise Iron Magic 19 between United Arab Emirates (UAE) and United
States (US) kicked off near Dubai. The two-week military exercise is
part of series of joint military exercises held throughout the year
between UAE armed forces and armed forces of other countries.
 Iron Magic 19
 The exercise seeks to reinforce cooperation, joint actions and exchange
of expertise in military areas between both countries. This will
contribute to maximizing combat capabilities and increasing
coordination between UAE and the US armed forces.
 The bulk of UAE military hardware, such as F-16 fighter jets, Mirage jets and Apache
Longbow attack helicopters are mostly manufactured by companies from US, Britain and
France.
 UAE, a major oil supplier, has established growing defence industry in recent years, mainly
in armoured vehicles and naval military equipment.
India and China to sign internal security cooperation agreement on Oct 22

 For the first time, India and China will sign an internal security cooperation agreement,
marking a new beginning in bilateral relations.
 Zhao Kezhi, China’s Minister of Public Security, who is set to visit India on October 22, will
hold meetings with Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
 The duo is slated to discuss various aspects of security cooperation between the two
countries.
31 |
 During the visit, an agreement on internal security cooperation between the two countries
will be signed.
 The proposed pact is expected to cover areas of intelligence sharing, exchange programme,
sharing of best practices, cooperation in disaster mitigation besides others.
 The move comes just a year after a two-month-long border stand-off between the India
Army and the China’s People’s Liberation Army at Doklam on the India-Bhutan-China tri-
junction.
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held an informal summit in
Wuhan, China, in April this year, which helped repair bilateral ties.
 A Chinese delegation met an Indian team on August 28 to hold discussions on the
forthcoming visit of the Chinese Minister of Public Security and the proposed pact on
security cooperation between the two countries.
 This will be the first such agreement between the authorities that look after internal
security of the two countries.
 While Mr. Singh is the head of eight central armed police forces with a combined strength of
about 10 lakh personnel, Mr. Zhao is responsible for day-to-day law enforcement in China
and commands about 19 lakh personnel.
 The scheduled meeting may lead to a future India-China agreement on exchange of
sentenced prisoners, another official said.
 Currently, India does not have an extradition treaty with China, nor a pact to exchange each
other’s sentenced prisoners.
 There are at least 10 Indians in Chinese prisons and an equal number of Chinese citizens in
Indian prisons.
Korean war memorial to be built in Delhi

 India and South Korea have agreed on building the war memorial.
 A Korean War memorial will be built in New Delhi to
commemorate India’s role in the war which ended in
an armistice in 1953.
 The proposal was initiated by the Indian Korean
War Veterans Association and the Delhi government
had already designated a place to build the
memorial.
 Technical details like design and other aspects are
yet to be worked out and the memorial is expected
to be ready by end of next year.
 There were 21 countries which participated in the Korean War from 1950-53 of which 16
countries had sent combat troops.
 India sent medical teams and a custodian force to deal with the Prisoners of War (PoW).
 India played a neutral role in the war. They contributed in a peaceful manner to end the
Korean War.
 As of now, there are Korean War memorials in about 20 countries around the world which
had played a role in the war.
Dharma Guardian: First India, Japan joint military exercise to be held in Mizoram
 The first joint military exercise named “Dharma Guardian” between India and Japan will be
held at the Army’s Counter-Insurgency Warfare School at Vairengte (Mizoram) from
November 1 to 14, 2018.
 The exercise is aimed at developing mutual understanding and respect between militaries
of both countries, as also facilitate in tracking worldwide phenomenon of terrorism.
Dharma Guardian
32 |
 In this exercise, Indian Army will be represented by 6/1 Gorkha Rifles, while Japanese
Ground Self-Defence Force will field its 32 Infantry Regiment. The
emphasis of this exercise will be on building interoperability.
 Armies of both countries will jointly train, plan and execute series
of well-developed tactical drills for neutralization of likely threats
that may be encountered in urban warfare scenario. Moreover,
experts from both sides will also hold detailed discussions to
share their expertise on varied operational aspects.
 The sixth edition of IBSAMAR, a joint Multi-National Maritime Exercise between the Indian,
Brazilian and South African Navies, held at Simons Town, South Africa.
 A Vietnam Coast Guard ship, on its maiden visit to Chennai, undertook joint exercises with
the Indian Coast Guard 'Sahyog HOP TAC-2018', off the city coast aimed at strengthening
the working level relationship between them.
 Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) Ships Kaga, an Izumo Class Helicopter
Destroyer and Inazuma – a Guided Missile Destroyer arrived at Visakhapatnam to
participate in Maritime Exercise Between Japan and India 'JIMEX 18'.
 Pakistan successfully test-fired Ghauri ballistic missile capable of carrying both
conventional and nuclear warheads up to a distance of 1,300 kilometres.
 Ukraine began a series of large-scale air force exercises with the United States and other
NATO countries. The "Clear Sky 2018" war games are being held in western Ukraine.
 India, Japan and the U.S. are set to elevate the bilateral 'Cope India' air exercise to a
trilateral format. The next edition is scheduled to be held in December 2018 in Kalaikunda,
West Bengal.
 State-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) won an additional $777 million contract to
supply LRSAM air and missile defence systems to seven ships in the Indian navy. The
contract is with the Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), which is the main contractor in the
project.
 ICGS Varuna, an indigenously-designed training vessel built by Reliance Naval and
Engineering Limited for the Indian Coast Guard, was launched in Pipavav.
 North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) biggest military manoeuvres since the Cold
War began in Norway. Russia, which shares a border with Norway, was briefed by NATO on
the Trident Juncture 2018 drill and invited to monitor it, but Moscow is still angered by the
exercise.
 The 11 Base Repair Depot (BRD) of the Indian Air Force in Maharashtra's Nashik district
handed over its first indigenously overhauled Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jet to the IAF at a
ceremony held at the Air Force Station Ojhar.
33 |
Appointments-National/International
Justice Ranjan Gogoi sworn in as 46th Chief Justice of India

 Justice Ranjan Gogoi was sworn-in as 46th Chief Justice of India. He was administered oath
of the office by President Ram Nath Kovind. With this, Justice Ranjan
Gogoi is the first Chief Justice of India from the north-east.
 He succeeded CJI Dipak Misra who retired from the office. He will
have tenure of about 13 months, from October 3, 2018 till his
retirement on November 17, 2019.
Justice Ranjan Gogoi
 Justice Gogoi was born on November 18, 1954. He is a native of
Assam and is son of former Assam Chief Minister Keshab Chandra
Gogoi. He had joined Bar in 1978 and practiced mainly in Gauhati High Court.
 He was appointed as permanent judge of High Court in February 2001. He was transferred
to Punjab and Haryana High Court in September 2010 and was appointed its Chief Justice in
February 2011. He was elevated to the Supreme Court in April 2012.
 In Supreme Court, Justice Gogoi had led important benches that have dealt largely with
issue of corruption in politics and public life. He has led apex court bench which ordered
Centre to set up special courts to exclusively try MPs and MLAs as means to de-criminalise
politics. His Bench is also monitoring progress made by government in appointment of anti-
corruption ombudsman Lokpal.
 Justice Gogoi was one of the four most senior Supreme Court judges (along with Justices J
Chelameswar, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph) who held January 12, 2018 press conference
bringing up issue of selective assignment of sensitive cases by recent CJIs to certain judges
in the Supreme Court.
Gita Gopinath appointed as Chief Economist of IMF

 Gita Gopinath has been appointed as Chief Economist of International Monetary Fund
(IMF). Gopinath was born and grew up in India.
 She is a U.S citizen and an Overseas Citizen of India.
 The development comes after IMF in a statement
confirmed that Gita Gopinath will succeed Maurice
Obstfeld as IMF Chief Economist.
 International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing
Director Christine Lagarde appoints Harvard’s Gita
Gopinath as IMF Chief Economist.
 Gopinath will succeed Maurice (Maury) Obstfeld, who announced in July that he would
retire at the end of 2018.
 Ms. Gopinath currently serves as the John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and
Economics at Harvard University.
 Gita is one of the world’s outstanding economists, with impeccable academic credentials, a
proven track record of intellectual leadership, and extensive international experience.
 Before coming to Harvard, she was an assistant professor of economics at the University of
Chicago’s Graduate School of Business.
 She studied B.A. Economics (Honors) at Delhi’s Lady Shri Ram (LSR) College (1989-92)
 During 1992-94, she studied Masters in Economics at Delhi School of Economics
 She joined the University of Chicago in 2001 as an Assistant Professor before moving to
Harvard in 2005.
 She became a tenured Professor there in 2010.
34 |
Justice Madan Lokur nominated as NALSA Executive Chairman
 Senior judge of the Supreme Court, Madan Bhimarao Lokur nominated the Executive
Chairman of the National Legal Services Authority of India
(NALSA).
 President Ramnath Kovind nominated Justice Lokur to the
post.
 He was one of the four senior judges of the Supreme Court,
who on January 12 this year, held a first-of-its-kind press
conference.
 Justice Lokur will take the charge as NALSA's Executive
Chairman on October 3.
 Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who is set to become the head of the
apex court, is the outgoing chairman of the NALSA.
 In exercise of the power conferred under Clause (b) of sub-section (2) of Section 3 of the
Legal Authorities Act, 1987, the President is pleased to nominate Hon'ble Shri Justice
Madan B. Lokur, Judge, Supreme Court of India, as Executive Chairman, National Legal
Services Authority, with effect from October 3, 2018.
 The NALSA, the chairman of which is the second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court,
ensures speedy disposal of cases.
 Its prime objectives also include reducing the burden of the judiciary and providing free
legal services to marginalised and disadvantaged.
 The legal body also organises Lok Adalats for speedy resolution of cases.
Pankaj Sharma appointed India's Ambassador to UN Conference on Disarmament

 Pankaj Sharma has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the United Nations
Conference on Disarmament, Geneva.
 Sharma, an Indian Foreign Services (IFS) officer of 1991 batch
is currently serving as a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of
External Affairs (MEA).
 He will be taking up the assignment shortly.
 Sharma will succeed senior IFS officer Amandeep Singh Gill.
 UN Conference on Disarmament UN Conference on
Disarmament (CD) is not formally United Nations (UN)
organization.
 It is linked to UN through personal representative of UN Secretary-General.
 It is multilateral forum established in 1979 by international community to negotiate
multilateral arms control and disarmament agreements.
 It is headquartered in Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.
 The conference has 65 members represent all areas of the world.
Tushar Mehta appointed Solicitor General of India

 The Centre has appointed additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta solicitor general of
India, the second most important post of law officer after the
attorney general.
 The post had remained vacant for nearly a year making
many wonder whether the NDA government needed an SG in
the Supreme Court.
 The post fell vacant on October 20, 2017, when senior
advocate Ranjit Kumar resigned from the post citing
personal reasons, a couple of months after the NDA
government gave him two-year extension.
35 |
 Last year, the Centre had appointed senior advocate K K Venugopal as AG after senior
advocate Mukul Rohatgi expressed his desire to return to private practice.
 Mehta recently defended the Maharashtra police decision to arrest five rights activists from
different places in the country and the SC after ordering their house-arrest had recently
permitted police to go ahead with its investigation while declining a prayer of petitioners
for a SIT probe.
 Mehta is representing the UP government in the Ayodhya land dispute case pending before
a three-judge SC bench.
R N Ravi appointed Deputy National Security Advisor

 The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has redesignated R N Ravi, Chairman of
Joint Intelligence Committee as Deputy National Security Advisor
(Internal Affairs).
 He will be third deputy NSA to National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit
Doval after former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief,
Rajinder Khanna and serving diplomat Pankaj Saran.
 R N Ravi
 Ravi is 1976-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Kerala
cadre. He is also the government’s interlocutor for ongoing talks
with Naga insurgent group National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) and man
shaping the Naga peace accord.
 He has played vital role in ensuring that insurgency groups from North East have come to
talking table.
Lt. Gen. Asim Munir appointed as the new Director General (DG) of ISI
 Lt. Gen. Asim Munir was appointed the new chief of Pakistan’s spy agency Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI).
 Lt. Gen. Asim Munir was appointed as the new Director General (DG) of Pakistan’s spy
agency ISI.
 This was announced by Pakistan Army’s media wing on 10 October 2018.
 He replaced Lt. Gen. Naveed Mukhtar.
 Mukhtar assumed the office of the ISI chief in December 2016.
 Munir has previously served as the head of the Military Intelligence (MI).
 He has also served as the commander of the Force Command Northern Areas.
Arundhati Bhattacharya is appointed as additional director of RIL

 Arundhati Bhattacharya is appointed as additional
director of RIL
 Arundhati Bhattacharya, former chairman of State
Bank of India (SBI), is appointed as additional
director, designated as independent director, Reliance
Industries Limited (RIL).
 She is appointed for five years commencing October
17, 2018, subject to the approval of the shareholders.
 It also said wholly-owned arm Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings has bought
12.7% in SkyTran Inc., which develops technology in the field of Personal Rapid Transit
Systems.
Rajnath Singh is heading the Group of Ministers (GoM) to look into the issue of sexual
harassment
 The Union Government on 24 October 2018 constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM).
36 |
 It is headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, to strengthen the legal and institutional
frameworks to deal with and prevent sexual harassment at the workplace.
 The GoM has been set up in the wake of the recent #MeToo movement in the country.
 Former editor M.J. Akbar had to resign as Minister of State for External Affairs following
allegations of sexual harassment against him by former colleagues.
 Other members of the GoM include Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Defence
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi.
 Centre has appointed former IAS officer Rangachari Sridharan as chairperson of the
National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA), an entity which will function as an
independent regulator for the auditing profession.
 Iraq's Parliament has elected a veteran Kurdish Politician Barham Salih as the country's
new President. He has named Shiite Adel Abdul Mahdi as Prime Minister of the country.
 Chanda Kochhar has quit as CEO of ICICI Bank with immediate effect. ICICI appointed
Sandeep Bakhshi as managing director and chief executive officer for five years, subject to
regulatory approval.
 National Stock Exchange's (NSE) MD and CEO Vikram Limaye has been appointed the
chairman of the working committee and director on the board by the international industry
body–World Federation of Exchanges (WFE).
 Sanjay Verma, a 1990 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, has been appointed as
India's Ambassador to Spain.
 In USA, President Donald Trump's controversial nominee Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in as
the 114th Justice of the Supreme Court.
 The government has appointed 58-year-old Pravin Srivastava, a senior officer with the
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), as the Chief Statistician of
India (CSI).
 Priyank Kanoongo appointed to the post of Chairperson, National Commission for
Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in the rank and pay of Secretary to the Government of
India for a period of 03 years.
 Online financial services marketplace BankBazaar has appointed former RBI Deputy
Governor (DG) S S Mundra as an advisor to the company. BankBazaar Co- Founder & CEO is
Adhil Shetty.
 Paytm Payments Bank has appointed veteran banker Satish Kumar Gupta as its new
Managing Director and CEO.
 Ethiopia appointed diplomat Sahle-Work Zewde as its first-ever female President. The
position of the President is largely ceremonial in the nation.
 Michael D Higgins has been re-elected as the President of Ireland after receiving 56 percent
of the country's votes in the elections.
 Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro has won a sweeping victory in Brazil's presidential
election.
37 |
Person Resigned/Retired
Anupam Kher resigns as Chairman of FTII

 Veteran actor Anupam Kher has resigned as Chairman of the Film and Television Institute
of India (FTII). He was appointed as Chairman of FTII in October 2017
and had replaced Gajendra Chauhan.
 With this, Kher became first chairperson of FTII to resign before
completion of his full term. He had served as chairman of FTII for 11
months, which makes his tenure shortest since FTII’s formation.
 Anupam Kher
 In span of his 35 years acting career, he has appeared in over 500 films
and many plays. He is best known for his roles in Saaransh, Daddy, Lamhe, Khel, Ram
Lakhan, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara and A Wednesday
among others.
 He has also acted in international films like Bend It Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice,
Silver Linings Playbook and The Big Sick. He is recipient of Padma Shri (2004) and Padma
Bhushan (2016).
Film and Television Institute of India (FTII)
 FTII is premier institute in country that provides training for acting, film making, video
editing, direction and production. It is autonomous body under Union Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting.
 It was established in 1960 and is registered under Societies’ Registration Act of 1860. FTII
is situated in Pune (Maharashtra) on premises of erstwhile Prabhat Film Company. Since its
inception, FTII has become India’s premier film and television institute. Its alumni have
become technicians, actors and directors in the film and television industry.
 Indian-American Nikki Haley has resigned as the US Ambassador to the United Nations. US
President Donald Trump has accepted her resignation.
 Former editor MJ Akbar has resigned from his post of Minister of State for External Affairs
amid sexual harassment allegations against him by over sixteen female journalists.
 Germany's Angela Merkel has announced that she will step down as Chancellor in 2021,
following recent election setbacks.
38 |
Sports
Asian Para Games 2018 Concludes

 3rd Asian Para Games took place in Jakarta, Indonesia. Around 3000 athletes from 43
countries took part in 15 Paralympic & three non-
Paralympic sports.
 It took place in Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in central
Jakarta. Total 18 sports were played during the Games.
The official mascot wasa Bondol eagle named MOMO.
India recorded its best-ever medal haul at the Asian
Para Games with 72 medals (15 gold, 24 silver, & 33
bronze medals). China were at the top of the pecking order with 172 gold.
Medal Tally
Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
1. China 172 88 59 319
2. South Korea 53 45 46 144
3. Iran 51 42 43 136
9. India 15 24 33 72
Youth Olympic Games (YOG) 2018

 Third summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG) were held in Buenos Aires, Argentina from
6th to 18th
 Total 3,997 athletes have taken part from 206
countries in the games. A total of 241 events were
held under 32 sports.
 Mascot of the 2018 Youth Olympic Games
was #Pandi. The logo of the Games was ‘live the
future’.
 Russia finishes with first rank on medal tally with
a total of 59 medals (29 gold, 18silver,
12bronze).China and Japan bagged the consecutive second and third spot respectively.
 India finishes with 16th rank on the medal standings. A total of 13 medals were clinched
comprised of 3 gold, 9 silver and 1 bronze medal.
 Indian weightlifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga grabbed the first ever gold medal in weightlifting
battling under the men’s 62 kg weight category.
 India shooters Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary had won the gold medal under 10 m
air pistol category in their individual events.
 Akash Malik became the first Indian archer to grab medal in Youth Olympic Games.He
bagged silver medal to mark this history.
 16-year-old Manu Bhaker is leading the Indian team in the opening ceremony as the flag-
bearer of the Indian contingent for the games.
 16-Year-old Thangjam Tababi Devi became India's first judo medallist at the Olympic level,
claiming a silver at the Youth Games. She was defeated by Venezuela's Maria Giminez in the
finals of the women's 44kg category.
39 |
About Youth Olympic Games:
 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is a multi-sport event held every 4 years.For the first time it
was held in Singapore in year 2010. Next summer YOG will be held in Dakar, Senegal.
 The concept of Youth Olympic Games (YOG) was coined by Austrian industrial manager
Johann Rosenzopf in 1998 to make youth active and healthy.
 Till date total, 3 summers and 2 winter youth Olympics have been held.
Japan set to host 2019 World IAAF Relays

 Japan Association of Athletics Federations announced to be the host of the 2019 edition of
4th International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Relays, beginning May
11, 2019.
 The first three editions of the IAAF World Relays, in 2014, 2015 and 2017, were held in the
Bahamian capital of Nassau.
 The 2019 meet will take place May 11 and 12 at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, near Tokyo.
 This will serve as a qualifier for the world championships taking place in Doha in
September and October.
 Yuvraj Wadhwani has won the 25th Asian junior individual squash championship title. He
defeated Anas Ali Shah of Pakistan.
 Central Information Commission (CIC) brought the Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI) under the RTI (Right to Information) Act.
 Australian midfielder Mile Jedinak announced his retirement from international football.
 Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev has also retired from international soccer.
 Prithvi Shaw has become the youngest Indian to score a century on Test debut, achieving
the feat aged 18 years and 329 days against Windies in Rajkot, Gujarat.
 36th National Games in Goa will be held from March 30 to April 14 next year. Shooting and
Cycling events will be held in New Delhi as Goa does not have facilities for these two sports.
Rugby, Wushu, Modern Pentathlon, Lawn Bowl, and Billiards and Snooker will be added to
the Games programme.
 Former England batsman Nick Compton announced his retirement from cricket.
 Sport Australia Hall of Fame has announced cricketing great Richie Benaud, who died in
April, 2015, will become the 40th Legend of Australian Sport.
 India's Keerthana Pandian has won the girls‟ title in the IBSF World Under-16 Snooker
Championships. In the final in St Petersburg, Russia, Keerthana outclassed her Belarussian
rival Albina Leschuk 3-1.
 Indian under-19 cricket team has defeated Sri Lanka by 144 runs in the summit clash of the
2018 ACC Under-19 Asia Cup in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
 Former Pakistan left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman announced his retirement from
international cricket.
 In Hockey, Great Britain lifted the 2018 Sultan of Johor Cup. In Johor Bahru, Malaysia, Great
Britain defeated India in the final.
 Indian tennis legend Leander Paes has won his second Challenger-level title of the season,
lifting the Santo Domingo Open trophy with partner Miguel Angel Reyyes-Varela.
 Professional Boxer Canelo Alvarez has signed the largest contract in the history of sports,
agreeing a five- year, 11-fight deal worth at least $365 million with streaming service
DAZN.
40 |
 Mumbai defeated Delhi to win their third Vijay Hazare Trophy title at M Chinnaswamy
Stadium, Bengaluru.
 Denmark Open is an HSBC World Tour Super 750 tournament. Kento Momota of Japan won
in the Men's Singles category and Tai Tzu-ying of Chinese Taipei won in the women's
singles category.
 Wrestler Bajrang Punia won the silver medal after he went down against Japan's Takuto
Otoguro in the 65kg final of the Wrestling World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. It is
his second medal at the Worlds.
 Former India fast bowler Praveen Kumar has retired from all forms of international cricket.
 India captain Virat Kohli has become the fastest batsman to score 10,000 runs in the history
of ODI cricket, achieving the feat in his 205th innings, against Windies. He overtook Sachin
Tendulkar, who had reached 10,000 ODI runs in his 259th innings.
 All-rounder Dwayne Bravo announced his retirement from international cricket.
 In Wrestling World Championships, Pooja Dhanda won a bronze medal in the women's
freestyle 57kg weight class in Budapest, Hungary.
 India's Sourav Kothari defeated Peter Gilchrist of Singapore 1134-944 to clinch the 2018
WBL World Billiards Championship title.
 Swiss tennis star Roger Federer won his 99th career title after winning the Basel Open for
the ninth time in his career.
 Indian table tennis player Ayhika Mukherjee has won a silver medal in the under-21
women's singles category of the ITTF Challenge Belgium Open.
 Indian golfer Khalin Joshi clinched the Panasonic Open India title at the Delhi Golf Club.
 In Men's Hockey, India and Pakistan were declared joint winners of the Asian Champions
Trophy at Muscat in Oman.
41 |
Honours / Awards
Nobel Prize 2018
 2018 Nobel Prize were announced in 5 different field's viz. Physiology
or Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Peace, & Economic Sciences. This is for
the first time that no Literature Prize was given in 70 years because of a
#MeToo scandal.
S.No. Field Winner Description

1. Physiology or James P Allison (USA) & “for their discovery of cancer therapy by
Medicine Tasaku Honjo (Japan) inhibition of negative immune
regulation”
2. Physics Arthur Ashkin (USA), "for groundbreaking inventions in the

Gerard Mourou (France) and field of laser physics"
Donna Strickland (Canada)
3. Chemistry (a) one half to (a) "for the directed evolution of
Frances H. Arnold (USA) enzymes"
(b) Other half jointly to (b) "for the phage display of peptides &
antibodies"
George P. Smith (USA) &
Sir Gregory P. Winter (UK)
4. Peace Denis Mukwege (Congo) & “for their efforts to end the use of sexual
Nadia Murad (Iraq) violence as a weapon of war & armed
conflict”
5. Economic (a) William D. Nordhaus (USA) (a) “for integrating climate change into
Sciences (b) Paul M. Romer (USA) long-run macroeconomic analysis”
(b) “for integrating technological
innovations into long-run
macroeconomic analysis.”
PM Narendra Modi awarded 2018 Seoul Peace Prize

 Seoul Peace Prize Committee has decided to confer 2018 Seoul Peace Prize on Prime
Minister Narendra Modi. He is the fourteenth recipient of this award.
The award will be presented to him by Seoul Peace Prize Foundation
at mutually convenient time.
 Key Facts
 PM Modi was selected for this prestigious award in recognition of his
dedication for improving international cooperation, raising global
economic growth, accelerating Human Development of people in India
by fostering economic growth and furthering development of democracy through anti-
corruption and social integration efforts.
 It also recognized PM Modi’s contributions to growth of Indian and global economies,
credited ‘Modinomics’ for reducing social and economic disparity between rich and poor. It
also lauded PM’s initiatives to make government cleaner through anti-corruption measures
and demonetization.
 It also credited PM for his contribution towards regional and global peace through
proactive foreign policy with countries around world under Modi Doctrine and Act East
Policy.
 Seoul Peace Prize
42 |
 It was established in 1990 to commemorate success of the 24th Olympic Games held in
Seoul, South Korea. It was established to crystallize Korean people’s yearning for peace on
Korean Peninsula and in the rest of the world.
 It is awarded biennially to those individuals who have made their mark through
contributions to harmony of mankind, reconciliation between nations and world peace.
The awardee receives diploma, plaque and honorarium of US $200,000.
 Past laureates include distinguished global personalities like German Chancellor Angela
Merkel, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and renowned international relief
organizations like Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam.
Swachh Survekshan Grameen Awards 2018

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently conferred Swachh Survekshan Grameen Awards
2018 to top ranked states and districts. Haryana was
ranked as best State, Satara District of Maharashtra was
ranked as best district. Uttar Pradesh was rewarded for
maximum citizens’ participation.
 The awards were given at concluding session of Mahatma
Gandhi International Sanitation Convention at Rahtrapati
Bhawan Cultural Centre. The rankings were based on the
National Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2018 of the Union
Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
 Overall Ranking
 Top 3 States: Haryana (1st), Gujarat (2nd) and
Maharashtra (3rd).
 Top 3 Districts: Satara (Maharashtra), Rewari (Haryana)
and Pedapalli (Telangana).
 States with maximum citizen participation: Uttar Pradesh (1st), Gujarat (2nd) and
Maharashtra (3rd).
 Districts with maximum citizens’ participation: Nashik (Maharashtra), Solapur
(Maharashtra) and Chittorgarh (Rajasthan).
 Zonal Ranking – Top 3 States
 Northern: Haryana (1st), Rajasthan (2nd) and Himachal Pradesh (3rd).
 Southern: Andhra Pradesh (1st), Telangana (2nd) and Karnataka (3rd).
 Eastern: Chhattisgarh (1st), West Bengal (2nd) and Jharkhand (3rd).
 Western: Gujarat (1st), Maharashtra (2nd) and Madhya Pradesh (3rd).
 North-East: Sikkim (1st), Mizoram (2nd) and Meghalaya (3rd).
 Union Territories: Dadar & Nagar Haveli (1st), Daman & Diu (2nd) and Chandigarh (3rd).
 Zonal Ranking – Top 3 Districts
 Northern: Rewari (Haryana), Gurgaon (Haryana) and Karnal (Haryana).
 Southern: Peddapalli (Telangana), Thoothukudi (Tamil Nadu) and Warangal (Telangana).
 Eastern: Surajpur (Chhattisgarh), Surguja (Chhattisgarh) and Hazaribagh (Jharkhand).
 Western: Satara (Maharashtra), Patan (Gujarat) and Nashik (Maharashtra).
 North-East: Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh), Aizawl (Mizoram), East Sikkim (Sikkim).
 Union Territories: Dadar & Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu.
 Background
 The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation had commissioned Swachh Survekshan
Grameen-2018 (SSG 2018) through an independent survey agency to develop ranking of all
districts of India on the basis of quantitative and qualitative sanitation (Swachhata)
parameters.
43 |
 This ranking was done based on a comprehensive set of parameters including surveys of
public places like schools, Anganwadis, PHCs, Bazaars, Panchayat. It also took into
consideration citizen’s perception of Swachhata and their recommendations for
improvement of program and data from SBM-G.
 As part of this survey, 6786 villages in 685 districts across India were covered. 27,963
public places namely anganwadis, schools, PHCs, bazaars and religious places in these
villages were visited by an independent agency for survey.
Khayyam named for Hridaynath Award for lifetime achievement

 National Award winning music director Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi, famous as
'Khayyam', has been named for this year's Hridaynath Award for
Lifetime Achievement.
 The award is Instituted by the Hridayesh Arts.
 The award carries a cash prize of Rs 100,000 and a memento and shall
be conferred.
 The award ceremony coincides with the 81st birthday of Hridaynath
Mangeshkar after whom it is named.
 Hridaynath is the only and youngest brother of the legendary
Mangeshkar singer-sisters - Lata, Asha, Usha and Meena, all children of the great composer,
Deenanath Mangeshkar.
 The veteran composer, lyricist and writer Khayyam, 91, started his music career in
Ludhiana in 1943 at the age of 17.
 Later, the Padma Bhushan awardee teamed up as Sharma of the music-director duo
'Sharmaji-Varmaji' to compose music for films like "Heer Ranjha" (1948) and others.
 The other past recipients of the awards are Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Amitabh
Bachchan, Sulochana Latkar, A.R. Rahman, Pandit Jasraj, and Javed Akhtar, besides chess
champ Vishwanathan Anand.
United Nations Human Rights Prize – 2018

 The United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights (UN Human Rights Prize) was
announced recently by María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of
the 73rd Session of United Nations General Assembly. The winners of
2018 award are:
 Asma Jahangir – Pakistan’s late human rights activist
 Rebeca Gyumi – A Tanzanian human rights activist
 Joenia Wapichana – Brazil’s first indigenous lawyer
 Front Line Defenders – A human rights organisation of Ireland
 About the UN Human Rights Prize
 These awards were instituted by the General Assembly of United Nations in 1966 and are
intended to honour and commend people and organizations which have done outstanding
contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights embodied in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and other United Nations human rights instruments. The first
awards were given in 1968 and are given every five years since then.
Maryse Conde wins alternative literature prize in absence of Nobel

 Maryse Conde from the French Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe was awarded the New
Academy Prize in Literature.
 The award is created after the Swedish Academy postponed this year’s literary Nobel as it
sought to deal with the aftermath of a rape scandal.
 Maryse Conde, author from Guadeloupe living in Paris, appears on
screen at the announcement that she was awarded the New
44 |
Academy Literature Prize at Stockholm City Library, Stockholm, Sweden October 12, 2018.
 She will receive 87,000 pound cash prize that was raised from crowdfunding and
donations, at the award ceremony on 9 December 2018, a day before the Nobel award
ceremony.
 She is 81 years old.
 The New Academy was founded by more than 100 Swedish cultural figures earlier this year
as a response to the scandal and the postponement of the Nobel.
 In her work she describes the ravages of colonialism, and the post-colonial chaos in a
language which is both precise and overwhelming.
 For the first time in decades, this year’s Nobel prizes included no literature award after
deep disagreement and defections at the awarding body, the Swedish Academy, left it
unable to select a winner.
 The controversy centers on the husband of one of the Academy’s members who was
sentenced to two years in prison for rape earlier this month. He has denied the allegations
against him and is appealing the verdict.
 The Swedish Academy named two new members last week and is working on filling other
empty seats and rebuilding confidence.
Anna Burns won the prestigious Man Booker Prize for fiction
 Anna Burns won the Man Booker Prize for fiction on 16 October 2018.
 She became the first writer from Northern Ireland to win
the prestigious prize.
 She won the prestigious Man Booker Prize for fiction
“Milkman”.
 The novel is a violent story about men, women, conflict
and power set during Northern Ireland’s years of Catholic-
Protestant violence.
 Burns is the first writer from Northern Ireland to win the 50,000-pound ($66,000) prize,
which is open to English-language authors from around the world.
 This was the 50th edition of the prize.
Government announces winners of Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony

 Union Government (Ministry of Culture) has announced winners of Tagore Award for
Cultural Harmony for year 2014, 2015 and 2016.
 The awardees were selected by award jury headed by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and included Chief Justice of India Justice (CJI) Ranjan
Gogoi, former chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami and national
vice president of BJP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe.
 Awardees are
 2014: Rajkumar Singhajit Singh. He is doyen of Manipuri dance. He is
also teacher, performer and choreographer.
 2015: Chhayanaut. It is cultural organization of Bangladesh established in 1961. It has
played leading role in promoting Tagore’s works in Bengali culture, music and literature
not only within Bangladesh, but all across the world.
 2016: Ram Vanji Sutar. He is renowned sculptor. His first notable work was the 45-feet
Chambal monument at the Gandhi Sagar Dam in Madhya Pradesh. He is also receipient of
Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
 Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony
 It is annual award instituted by Government of India in 2011 as part of commemoration of
150th Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. The award is given for cultural
harmony and carries monetary amount of Rs. 1 crore, citation in scroll, plaque as well as
45 |
exquisite traditional handicraft or handloom item. The award is open to all persons
regardless of nationality, race, language, caste, creed or sex. It was conferred for first time
on Indian Sitar Maestro Pt. Ravi Shankar in 2012 and second time on Shri Zubin Mehta in
2013.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2018 bagged by Marsel van Oosten

 Dutch photographer Marsel van Oosten has won
Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2018.
 Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2018 bagged by
Marsel van Oosteni.
 It was awarded by London’s Natural History Museum.
 He got the award for his photo titled “The Golden
Couple,” which is the striking photo of a pair of
endangered golden snub-nosed monkeys in central
China’s Qin Ling Mountains.
 Second place in the competition was awarded to Skye Meaker, 16, who won the Young
Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2018 award.
 The two winning images will be showcased in an exhibition featuring 98 other entries at
the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, running from 19 October until 1 July 2019,
by the Natural History Museum in London.
 Other Awardees:
 National Geographic photographer, Thomas Peschak won in the birds category with the
photo of a sharp-beaked finch.
 National Geographic photographer, Jen Guyton, won the plants and fungi category with a
photo of a desert plant called a welwitschia found in Namibia and Angola.
 Contributor to National Geographic magazine and Dutch nature photographer, Frans
Lanting won the organization’s first-ever lifetime achievement award.
 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award was instituted in 1965.
 The award has been presented for Wildlife Photography by the Natural History Museum,
London.
US-based Dalit writer Sujatha Gidla wins 2018 Shakti Bhatt Prize
 US-based Dalit writer Sujatha Gidla (55) has won 2018 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize for her
debut book “Ants Among Elephants: An Untouchable Family and the Making of Modern
India”.
 Her book was shortlisted by award panel from of other six contestants. It takes readers
through four generations of her family at centre and mainly her uncle K
G Satyamurthy, a Maoist leader who founded Left-wing guerrilla
movement called People’s War Group to overthrow Indian state.
 It also showcases undramatised lives of poverty, patriarchy, and
rebellion, and encounter with subaltern Communism.
 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize
 The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize is funded by the Shakti Bhatt
Foundation. It was set up in 2008 in memory of young writer and editor Shakti Bhatti. It
honours first-time writers from Indian sub-continent for their outstanding work of fiction
or non-fiction.
 It carries cash prize of Rs. 2 lakh. Sri Lankan author Anuk Arudpragasam had won the prize
in 2017 for his debut novel “The Story of a Brief Marriage” set in the backdrop of the civil
war.
Minal Patel Davis honoured with Presidential Medal for Combating Human Trafficking
46 |
 Indian-American Minal Patel Davis was honoured with Presidential Medal for Combating
Human Trafficking’. She was presented with award by US Secretary
of State Mike Pompeo for her extraordinary contribution towards
combating human trafficking. It is US’s highest honour in the field.
 Minal Patel Davis
 She is special advisor on Human Trafficking to Houston Mayor
Sylvester Turner. She was appointed to this post in July 2015 and
since then she has made local impact on human trafficking in
America’s fourth largest city. She has achieved this from policy-level
perspective and by helped in advancing systems change.
 She is currently implementing Mayor Turner’s Anti-Human Trafficking Strategic Plan,
which is first comprehensive municipal response to human trafficking by US city. She was
also past speaker at United Nations World Humanitarian Summit. She holds MBA from the
University of Connecticut and BA from New York University.
Sikkim awarded FAO’s Future Policy Gold Award for 100% organic farming
 Sikkim was awarded UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) Future Policy Gold
Award (Gold Prize) for its achievement in becoming the world’s first
totally organic agriculture state.
 Sikkim beat out 51 other nominees from around the world for the
award. Policies from Brazil, Denmark and Quito (Ecuador) were joinlty
Silver Awards.
 Future Policy Gold Award
 The prizes honour exceptional policies adopted by political leaders
who have decided to act, no longer accepting widespread hunger, poverty or environmental
degradation. This award in nicknamed the “Oscar for best policies”.
 Previously it was honoured for policies combating desertification, violence against women
and girls, nuclear weapons and pollution of the oceans. This year’s award based on central
focus of agroecology policies and was co-organised by FAO, World Future Council (WFC) and
IFOAM – Organics International.
 Agroecology has potential to increase farmers’ earnings and make farms more resilient to
climate change as erratic rainfall and extended dry periods hamper food production.
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced launch of national award in name of Netaji
Subhash Chandra Bose to honour those involved in disaster response operations. It was
announced on the occasion of 75th anniversary of Bose’s declaration of formation of Azad
Hind Government, India’s first independent government on October 21, 1943.
 Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) 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.
 Veena Sendre from Chhattisgarh has been chosen as India's first 'Miss Trans Queen'.
 Indus Towers, world's largest telecom tower company (outside China), won the Deming
Prize for 2018, being the first Indian company in the service sector and the fifth in the
world to achieve this.
 Prema Gopalan, founder of Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP), was awarded the 8th Social
Entrepreneur of the Year award, 2018, for her work in promoting women‟s
entrepreneurship at the grassroots and ensuring rural livelihood.
 'Beeg Ani Beegath', a collection of short stories in Konkani by the well-known writer,
journalist, and critic H M Pernal bagged the prestigious 'Vimala V Pai Vishwa' Konkani best
47 |
book award for the year 2018. H M Pernal is the pen name of Henry M Mendonca. Konkani
poet Sharathchandra Shenoy from Kochi won the Vishwa Konkani best poetry award for his
book 'Idam Na Mama,'.
 Arshdeep Singh, a 10-year-old boy from Punjab, has won the Wildlife Photographer of the
Year award in 10 Years and Under category given by UK's Natural History Museum.
 Union Minister Piyush Goyal will receive the prestigious Carnot Prize from the Ivy League
University of Pennsylvania in recognition of his work for rural electrification while he held
the power and renewable energy portfolios.
 The 'Invest India' initiative of the Union Government won the top United Nations
Investment Promotion Award in recognition of its efforts to boost investments in the
renewable energy sector in India. It was presented to Deepak Bagla, the CEO of Invest India.
 India's legend cricketer and UNICEF Ambassador for South Asia, Sachin Tendulkar gave
away prizes to the winners of South Asia Regional WASH innovation in Thimphu, the capital
of Bhutan.
 India has won the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management
(CAPAM) Award, 2018. The initiative entitled "Unnayan Banka"- Reinventing Education
Using Technology of Banka District, State of Bihar awarded under the Category “Innovation
Incubation”. “Unified Agriculture Markets” of Co-operation Department of Government of
Karnataka has been awarded the overall Gold Award for CAPAM Awards, 2018.
 Prof Ashis Mukherjee, a senior faculty member of the prestigious Tezpur University
awarded the prestigious Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Teachers Award (2018).
 Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), a Mini Ratna Public Sector Undertaking, under the
Ministry of Defence, received the prestigious 'Top Challengers Award 2018' for the
excellent performance during the financial year 2017-18 and Best Seller in Crawler
Equipment- Dozers and Rigid Dump Truck segment for mining sectors.
 Roopam Sharma, a 23-year old Indian scientist, won the World Health Summit Startup
award, 2018 for his invention, Manovue – the world's first intelligent personal assisting
system for the visually impaired.
 Prof. MS Swaminathan, chief architect of India's Green Revolution was awarded the World
Agriculture Prize for 2018.
 Miss Paraguay Clara Sosa won the Miss Grand International 2018 title at the 6th edition of
the beauty pageant in Yangon, Myanmar.
 Nobel Prize Winner Malala Yousafzai will be honored by Harvard University for her work
promoting girls' education. Harvard's Kennedy School stated that Yousafzai will be
conferred with the 2018 Gleitsman Award at a ceremony on 6th December.
48 |
Obituaries
Ganga crusader GD Agarwal dies after 111-day fast

 GD Agarwal died due to a heart attack after being on a hunger strike for more than 100
days.
 GD Agarwal, a former professor at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur and a man
who devoted his life to the cause of saving river Ganga.
 He died on the 111th day of fasting.
 Agarwal began his fast on June 22 to protest the
government's alleged inaction in taking measures to
make the Ganga free of pollution and free-flowing.
 Agarwal died at the All India Institute of Medical
Sciences in Rishikesh where he was admitted by the
Uttarakhand Police.
 Earlier, in 2012, Agarwal took on the name Swami Gyan
Swarup Sanand in his later life, went on a similar fast.
 Then, his fast lasted nearly two-and-a-half months at the end of which the then Manmohan
Singh-led government at the Centre was forced to give in to Agarwal's demand that a
meeting of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) be held.
 Agarwal was born in 1932 in Shanli.
 He retired as a professor of environmental engineering from IIT Kanpur.
 He served as a member-secretary of the Central Pollution Control Board.
Former UP and Uttarakhand CM Narayan Datt Tiwari passed away

 Former Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Narayan Dutt
Tiwari passed away in New Delhi. He was 93-year-old. He is only
Politician who has served as CM of two states.
 He was known as Vikas Purush and was instrumental in developing the
industrial sector in Uttarakhand.
 Narayan Dutt Tiwari
 Born on October 18, 1925 in Baluti, United Provinces in then British
India (now in Uttarakhand, India). He was three-time CM of Uttar
Pradesh and was first elected CM of Uttarakhand as well.
 His first stint as UP CM was from January 1976 to April 1977 and then again from August
1984 to September 1985 and from June 1988 to December 1988. He was elected to Lok
Sabha in 1980 and Rajya Sabha in 1985.
 He was also Union minister and had held a variety of portfolios. He was Union Minister of
External Affairs in late Rajiv Gandhi’s cabinet and thereafter he became Minister for
Finance and Commerce and held the ministry till June 1988.
 He was Chief Minister of Uttarakhand from 2002 to 2007 (after Uttarakhand was carved
out of UP in November 2000). He also had served as Governor of Andhra Pradesh from
2007 to 2009
Natwar Thakkar, eminent Gandhian known as ‘Nagaland’s Gandhi’ passed away

 Natwar Thakkar, an eminent Gandhian passed away on 6 October 2018 at the age of 86.
 He was popularly known as ‘Nagaland’s Gandhi’, passed away after a brief illness in
Nagaland .
 He was from Maharashtra and had made Nagaland his home ever since he had arrived in
the State in 1955.
 A Padma Shri awardee, he had founded the Nagaland Gandhi Ashram at Chuchuyimlang.
49 |
 His efforts to spread Gandhian philosophy and peace had earned him the sobriquet
‘Nagaland’s Gandhi’.
 Renowned harmonium player Pandit Tulsidas Borkar passed away in Mumbai. He was 84.
 Legendary Chicago blues guitarist Otis Rush, whose passionate, a jazz-influenced sound
influenced generations of musicians, has died. He was 84.
 Well-known Malayalam poet M N Paloor passed away at the age of 86-year due to age-
related ailments.
 Legendary musician Annapurna Devi has passed away in Mumbai. She was 91. She was
suffering from age- related issues.
 Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft in 1975 passed away aged 65 after battling cancer.
Allen was the childhood friend of Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates.
 Japanese-born Marine biologist Osamu Shimomura, who won the Nobel Prize in chemistry,
has died.
 Former Delhi chief minister Madan Lal Khurana passed away after a prolonged illness. He
was 82.
 Padma Shri Professor Qazi Abdussattar, a noted Urdu writer and former head of Aligarh
Muslim University's Urdu department, passed away in Delhi following a protracted illness.
50 |
Important Days
 October 1 : World Habitat Day (First Monday of October)

 Theme of 2018 : Municipal Solid Waste Management
 October 02 : International Day of Non-Violence

 Theme of 2018 : No theme
 October 05 : World Teacher's Day

 Theme of 2018 : The Right To Education Means Right To A Qualified Teacher
 October 08 : Indian Air Force Day

 October 10 : World Mental Health Day

 Theme of 2018 : Young People And Mental Health in A Changing World
 October 11 : International Day of the Girl Child

 Theme of 2018 : With Her : A Skilled Girl Force
 October 15 : International Day of Rural Women

 Theme of 2018 : Challenges And Opportunities In Climate-Resilient Agriculture For
Gender Equality And The Empowerment Of Rural Women And Girls
 October 16 : World Food Day

 Theme of 2018 : Our Actions Are Our Future. A #ZeroHunger World By 2030 Is Possible
 October 17 : International Day for Eradication of Poverty

 Theme of 2018 : Coming Together With Those Furthest Behind To Build An Inclusive
World Of Universal Respect For Human Rights And Dignity
 October 24 : United Nations Day

 October 24 : World Polio Day

 Theme of 2018 : End Polio Now
 October 29-03, Nov. : Vigilance Awareness Week

 Theme of 2018 : Eradicate Corruption – Build A New India
 October 31 : World Cities Day

 Theme of 2018 : Building Sustainable and Resilient Cities
 October 31 : Rashtriya Ekta Diwas or National Unity Day

51 |
Foreign Visits / Foreign Visitors
 Visit of Vice President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu to Botswana, Zimbabwe and Malawi in
between October 31 - November 6, 2018.
 Visit of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to Japan in between October 27-29, 2018.
 Visit of Vice President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu to Belgium to attend 12th Asia-Europe
Meeting (ASEM) Summit in between October 18-19, 2018.
 State Visit of President Shri Ram Nath Kovind to Tajikistan in between October 7-9, 2018.
 Official Visit of Prime Minister of Italy Prof. Giuseppe Conte to India in between October 29–
30, 2018.
 Official Visit of Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe to India in between
October 18–20, 2018.
 Visit of President of the Russian Federation, Mr. Vladimir V. Putin to India in between
October 04-05, 2018.
Source of Information
 http://pib.nic.in
 http://india.gov.in
 http://www.ibef.org
 http://thehindu.com
 http://jagranjosh.com
 http://gktoday.in
52 |

October Highlighted

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

October Highlighted

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

October Highlighted

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Compendium-October, 2018

MP announces 52nd district, decision to come into effect from Oct 1

Odisha state government launches own food security scheme

India Building World’s Highest Railway Line

VP Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated world largest dome in MIT Pune

India’s first dolphin research centre to come up soon in Patna

National Human Rights Commission celebrates Silver Jubilee

India lost $80 bn due to disasters in last 20 years: UNO

Alphonso mango from 5 districts of Maharashtra gets Geographical Indication tag

CUJ signs MoU with ISRO to set up Space Applications Center

India’s longest river bridge will be built across Brahmaputra River

PM to unveil National Police Memorial in New Delhi

4th India International Science Festival-2018 held in Lucknow

CBI names its No.2 Rakesh Asthana in bribery case

Global Hunger Index 2018: Key Findings

First session of International Solar Alliance (ISA) starts in New Delhi

India Elected To UN Human Rights Council With Most Number Of Votes

Researchers developed a web-based tool to monitor fake news on Facebook, Twitter

Lotay Tshering elected the new Prime Minister of Bhutan

Three-fourths of H-1B visa holders in 2018 are Indians: U.S. report

Stanford University named World’s Most Innovative University: Reuters

China-built world’s largest amphibious plane completes maiden flight test

Indian regional language Telugu fastest growing language in USA

Malaysia to abolish the death penalty for all crimes

Asian Economic Integration Report 2018

Union Govt plans to create steel giant through merger

India moves up to 28th rank in govt e-payment adoption: Visa

India in bottom 15 of Oxfam index on efforts to reduce inequality

Udyam Abhilasha: SIDBI launches national level entrepreneurship awareness campaign

Arcelor Mittal acquired debt-ridden Essar Steel

Smartphone payment service launched in Japan by paytm

NCLT approved the takeover of IL&FS board by government nominees

Ajit Doval replaces cabinet secy as head of ‘strategic policy group'

India and Russia signed an Inter-governmental Agreement (IGA)

Druzhba-III: Russia and Pakistan holding military exercise in Pakistan

China to sell 48 armed drones to Pakistan

Iron Magic 19: UAE, US to conduct military exercise near Dubai

India and China to sign internal security cooperation agreement on Oct 22

Korean war memorial to be built in Delhi

Justice Ranjan Gogoi sworn in as 46th Chief Justice of India

Gita Gopinath appointed as Chief Economist of IMF

Pankaj Sharma appointed India's Ambassador to UN Conference on Disarmament

Tushar Mehta appointed Solicitor General of India

R N Ravi appointed Deputy National Security Advisor

Arundhati Bhattacharya is appointed as additional director of RIL

Anupam Kher resigns as Chairman of FTII

Asian Para Games 2018 Concludes

Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total

1. China 172 88 59 319

2. South Korea 53 45 46 144

Youth Olympic Games (YOG) 2018

Japan set to host 2019 World IAAF Relays

S.No. Field Winner Description

2. Physics Arthur Ashkin (USA), "for groundbreaking inventions in the

PM Narendra Modi awarded 2018 Seoul Peace Prize

Swachh Survekshan Grameen Awards 2018

Khayyam named for Hridaynath Award for lifetime achievement

United Nations Human Rights Prize – 2018

Maryse Conde wins alternative literature prize in absence of Nobel