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OCTOBER CURRENT AFFAIRS– 2018 ENGLISH VERSION

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OCTOBER CA – 2018

 President Ram Nath Kovind has given his assent to the Karnataka Good Samaritan and Medical Professional (Protection and Regulation during Emergency Situations) Bill, 2016. The bill provides legal protection to the good Samaritans in Karnataka, who help accident victims with emergency medical care within the golden hour.

 Indian midfielder Manpreet Singh will be captain of the 18-member Indian team at the 5th edition of Asian Men‘s Hockey Champions Trophy 2018, which is scheduled to be held in Muscat, Oman from October 18 to 28. This is India‘s first tournament after the retirement of Sardar Singh. The tournament will feature host nation Oman, reigning champions India, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Korea, and Japan.

 Renowned Hindi commentator Jasdev Singh (87), who was the voice of Indian sports on Doordarshan, has passed away in New Delhi on September 25, 2018. From 1963, he was also an official commentator on Independence Day and Republic Day parade broadcasts for 48 long years.

 Arun Kumar, a 1985 batch officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, has been appointed the new Director-General of Railway Protection Force (RPF). He will hold the charge as RPF‘s DG till his superannuation on June 30, 2021. He succeeded Dharmendra Kumar. Prior to this post, Arun Kumar was the as Special Director General of Border Security Force (BSF).

 The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently launched a new alcohol control initiative ‗SAFER‘ to prevent and reduce alcohol-related death and disability. It provides five high-impact strategies that can help governments reduce the harmful use of alcohol and related health, social and economic consequences. The WHO-led initiative and action package aim to support global target of reducing harmful use of alcohol by 10% by 2025.

 Dr. Evan Atar Adaha, surgeon and medical director at a hospital in Bunj of north- eastern South Sudan, has won the prestigious the 2018 UNHCR Nansen Refugee for his outstanding 20-year commitment in providing medical services to people forced to flee conflict.

 The Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporaton (KMC) has recently launched India‘s first Flood Forecasting and Early Warning System (FFEWS) for Kolkata City to help city officials and citizens act decisively to minimize damage before and during disasters.

 The 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded jointly to Dr. James P. Allison of the United States and Dr. Tasuku Honjo of Japan for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation.

 Four-time Olympic gold medallist athlete Sanya Richards-Ross will be the event ambassador for the Airtel Delhi half marathon to be held on October 21. She is the fastest American woman in the history of 400m with her time of 48.70s set at the 2006 IAAF World Cup.

 The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has expected India‘s economy to grow 7.0% in calendar year 2018 compared with 6.2% in 2017. As

No: 646, 2nd floor, K.K. Nagar, Madurai – 625020 | 7397150273, 8489228855 No: 81, 2nd floor, South Veli Street, Madurai – 625001 | 9751999264, 0452-4951150/4217492 www.seniasacademy.in 1 OCTOBER CA – 2018

per the report ―Trade and Development‖, the effects of demonetization are still evident in private consumption trends within the economy.

 India‘s first AICTE Training and Learning (ATAL) Academy will be established by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in Jaipur. In a bid to introduce upgraded teaching methods and modules to make technical education more effective and accountable, AICTE is building the training academies where the faculties would be trained on the eight-module course.

 The Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has recently constituted an 11-member high-level committee on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to review the existing framework and guide and formulate the roadmap for a coherent policy on CSR under the companies‘ law.

 Dr.Susane Giti has been appointed the first-ever female major general in the 47 years history of Bangladesh. She was presented with the rank badge of Major General by Bangladesh Army chief General Aziz Ahmed and Quarter Master General Lt General Md Shamsul Haque on September 30.

 Gita Gopinath, professor at Harvard University, has been appointed chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The India-born economist will succeed Maurice (Maury) Obstfeld, who is to retire at the end of 2018.With this,Gopinath will become the 2nd Indian after former RBI Governor RaghuramRajan to be appointed to the position.

 The 17th century ‗OonthKadal‘ is a Mughal period arch-shaped bridge, located at the middle of the picturesque Dal Lake in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir. Recently, the Government of Germany has granted Rs 32 lakh for the conservation of the camel hump-shaped bridge.

 Pandit Tulsidas Borkar (83), the legendary harmonium exponent, has passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra on September 29, 2018. He was conferred with the Padma Shri award in 2016 for his contributions to Indian music. He was also a recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2005.

 Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan has recently launched an innovative initiative called SATAT (Sustainable Alternative towards Affordable Transportation) in New Delhi on 1st October 2018 to promote Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) as an alternative fuel.

 The nationwide Action Research Project of Gram Panchayat development scheme has been inaugurated by the Minister of Rural Development Narendra Singh Tomar at a function organized at Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh on October 1. The project is designed for the sustainable and holistic development of rural areas of the country.

 On September 30, the Madhya Pradesh government has announced to set up a Ministry for Cows at a function in Khajuraho in Chhattarpur district to take care of cattle in a better way. It was attended by Digambar Jain monk Vidhyasagarji Maharaj.

 Teenage shooting star Manu Bhaker has been named as the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent for the 3rd Youth Olympic Games to be held at Buenos Aires in Argentina from October 6-18. Goa Olympic Association Secretary Gurudutta D Bhakta will be the Chef-de-Mission of the contingent. It is India‘s largest ever contingent at the Youth Olympics.

 On the occasion of 149th Gandhi Jayanti, the Odisha government has launched its own food security scheme to benefit 25 lakh poor people that were excluded from the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013. The scheme was launched by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the State Secretariat in Bhubaneswar.

 India has been ranked 5th, jointly with Hong Kong and Thailand, in terms of the largest pictorial warning on cigarette packs with 85% of both sides of the packets covered, according to latest Canadian Cancer Society report.

 On the 149th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal hoisted India‘s tallest National Flag from the average city elevation at the Gandhi Mandap in Guwahati. The 9,600 sqft flag stands on a 319.5 ft flag pole at Gandhi Mandap, a memorial for Mahatma Gandhi atop the Sarania Hill in the heart of Assam‘s principal city.

 Thampi Kannanthanam (64), the noted Malayalam film director, has recently passed away in Kochi, Kerala on October 2, 2018.

 The 6th edition of joint Multi – National Maritime Exercise ―IBSAMAR 2018‖ between the Indian, Brazilian and South African Navies has started at Simons Town, South Africa from 1st Oct 2018. The aim of the 13-day exercise is to undertake collective training for participating navies, building inter-operability and mutual understanding as well as sharing of best practices.

 The Government of India has recently constituted a 7-member ministerial panel headed by Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi to examine modalities for revenue mobilisation in case of natural calamities and disasters

 The Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation Convention (MGISC) has recently concluded in New Delhi on October 2. The purpose of the 4–day event was to share sanitation success stories and lessons from the participating countries. In it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres addressed the convention.

 American scientist Arthur Ashkin, French engineer Gerard Mourou and Canadian professor Donna Strickland have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work in the field of laser physics.

 Rio Paralympic gold medalist Thangvellu Mariyappan has been named as flag-bearer of the Indian contingent for the 3rd Paralympic Asian games to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia from October 6-13.

 The Ministry of Railways has been declared the best department for its contribution to ―Swachchta Pakhwada‖ under the ―Swachchta Hi Seva‖ category of awards in an inter-

ministry initiative organised by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation to promote cleanliness in government offices and health facilities

 On October 3, the Government of India (GoI) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed $240 million loan for providing safe and sustainable drinking water to about 1.65 million people in three districts of the state of West Bengal affected by arsenic, fluoride, and salinity.

 The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister, Prakash Javadekar has recently announced the ―Swachh Campus rankings 2018‖ under different categories. In it, Haryana‘s Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) has been declared the cleanest government varsity by the HRD Ministry, followed by Guru Nanak Dev University in Punjab‘s Amritsar.

 On the 149th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has launched a National Level Entrepreneurship Awareness Campaign – Udyam Abhilasha, in 115 aspirational districts identified by NITI Aayog in 28 States.

 The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018 with one half to Frances H. Arnold ―for the directed evolution of enzymes‖ and the other half jointly to George P. Smith and British scientist Sir Gregory P. Winter ―for the phage display of peptides and antibodies‖. Dr. Arnold and Dr. Smith are American scientists.

 Barham Ahmed Salih, the veteran Kurdistan politician, has been elected as the new President of Iraq on 2nd October 2018. He received 219 votes and defeated Fuad Hussein, who secured 22 votes. Salih is a former prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government and a former deputy prime minister of the Iraqi federal government.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first-ever General Assembly of International Solar Alliance (ISA) at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi from 2nd October 2018. He pitched for ―one-world, one-sun, one-grid‖, to harness the energy potential offered by the sun.

 The 31st All India Railways Chess tournament 2018 has started at Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu on October 3. The 4-day tournament has formally inaugurated by General Manager of Southern Railway, SM Kulshreshta. The event is being conducted in Swiss League Format at both team and individual levels

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

 On October 4, the first ever Indo-Vietnam Coast Guard joint exercise – Sahyog HOP TAC -2018‘ held in the Bay of Bengal off Chennai between Indian and Vietnam Coast Guards (VGC).

 According to an official press release, Coast Guard ships Shaurya, Arnvesh and inreceptor boat C-431 along with a Dornier aircraft and Chetak helicopter participated in the joint exercise.

 The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Dr. Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict. Dr. Mukwege, a gynecologist in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is the helper who has devoted his life to defending victims of war-time sexual violence.

 The IIT Kharagpur (IIT-Kgp) has decided to establish an ‗Academy of Leadership‘, which intends to develop innovative programmes combining the core curricula in science and engineering disciplines with philosophy and liberal arts. This academy will be based not only on scientific and technical training, but the teachings of ancient philosophies, reasoning, systems engineering and the past successes and failures of humanity.

 Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu has recently released the policy on the biometric-based digital processing of passengers at airports called ―DigiYatra‖ to make hassle-free air travel for passengers. DigiYatra is about Facial Recognition based passenger processing which is a common standard being adopted the world over

 The first-ever Regional Conference on ‗Women in Detention and Access to Justice‘ has recently held in Shimla on October 4-5, 2018. The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) organized the conference in collaboration with the Prison Department, Himachal Pradesh.

 The ‗Operation Samudra Maitri‘ has been launched by the Government of India (GoI) to provide massive humanitarian assistance to the earthquake and tsunami victims in Indonesia. Two Indian Air Force aircrafts – C-130J and C-17 – departed recently with medical personnel and relief material. The C-130J aircraft is carrying a medical team along with tents and equipment to set up a field hospital. The C-17 aircraft is carrying medicines, tents and water to provide immediate assistance

 On October 5, the 4th edition of the India International Science Festival (IISF – 2018) has started at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The mega science expo will be formally inauguratedby the President Shri Ram NathKovind. It is being organized by Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences in association with Vijnana Bharati.

 India has signed $150 million loan pact with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to establish its first-ever Global Skills Park (GSP) in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The aim of the GSP is to enhance the quality of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) System in the State and create a more skilled workforce.

 The scientists have recently identified regions in the wheat genome responsible for concentration of zinc in wheat grain. They have also identified candidate genes involved in zinc concentration in wheat. The findings can potentially help in developing wheat varieties with enhanced levels of the micro-nutrient.

 The cave shrine of Mata Vaishno devi in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has been declared the ―cleanest religious place‖ in the country. Over 81.78 pilgrims visited the shrine in Trikuta hills in the district in 2017. Mata Vaishno Devi shrine has won the prestigious ‗cleanest religious place‘ award at Safaigiri Summit and Awards 2018 ceremony organised by the India Today Group in Mumbai.

 The 10th Biennial International Exhibition & Conference ―India Chem 2018‖ was held in Mumbai from October 4-6. The conference was jointly organised by the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

 India has been ranked 28th among 73 countries in the Visa‘s 2018 Government e- Payment Adoption Ranking (GEAR). The 2018 GEAR is an Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) global Index and benchmarking study commissioned by Visa.

 Pravin Srivastava, the 1983-batch Indian Statistical Service officer, has been appointed as new Chief Statistician of India. This appointment comes into effect from the date of his assuming charge of the post till the date of his superannuation (Aug 31, 2020) or until further orders, whichever is earlier. He has worked in the ministries of statistics and health in various positions, and briefly in the Union Public Service Commission, in his 35-year career

 In Assam, the Namrup-based Assam Petrochemicals Limited (APL) rolled out Asia‘s first cannisters based and India‘s first ―Methanol Cooking Fuel Program‖ on 5th October 2018. The project has been promoted by NITI Aayog.

 Pankaj Sharma has been appointed India‘s Ambassador & permanent representative to United Nations Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. Sharma is currently the joint secretary (Disarmament and International Security Division) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). He will replace Amandeep Gill.

 Vikram Limaye, the MD and CEO of National Stock Exchange‘s (NSE), has been appointed the Chairman of the Working Committee (WoCo) and Director on the Board of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE).

 On October 7, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) of India Region, Zone III has started in Guwahati, Assam. The four-day conference will discuss on several issues on North East region. During the conference, Women empowerment, Skill development, connectivity is some of the topics that would be discussed. Sumitra Mahajan, the Lok Sabha Speaker will also launch the North East chapter of Speaker‘s Research Initiative during the conference.

 The Odisha and Andhra Pradesh Police have recently decided to conduct joint operations and share information to effectively combat the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in the border areas of the two states. This was decided in a meeting in Bhubaneswar, which was attended by Odisha DGP R P Sharma, his Andhra Pradesh counterpart R P Thakur and other senior police officers of both the states engaged in anti-maoist operations

 The bilateral maritime exercise ―JIMEX 18‖ has started between Japan and India at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh on October 7. The aim of the 8-day exercise is to enhance interoperability, improve understanding and imbibe the best practices of each other.

 Keerthana Pandian from India has won the girls‘ title in the IBSF World Under-16 Snooker Championships by defeating Belarussian rival Albina Leschuk 3-1 in the final. It‘s her first international crown. In the corresponding boys‘ category, Ben Martens of Belgium clinched the title in St. Petersburg, Russia, according to information received from the media cell of International Billiards & Snooker Federation (IBSF).

 The 2018 Under-19 Asia Cup cricket tournament was held in Bangladesh. In the final, India defeated Sri Lanka by 144 runs to win the tournament for the 6th time. India outplayed Sri Lanka in all departments by first scoring an imposing 304 for six.

 The Arunachal Pradesh Government has recently launched the Chief Minister‘s Sashakt Kisan Yojana (SKY) and Chief Minister‘s Krishi Samuh Yojana (KSY) in Itanagar. The Sashakt Kisan Yojana (SKY) will subsume three state flagship programmes, namely – CM‘s Employment Generation Scheme, CM‘s Agri- Mechanization Programme and CM‘s Flagship Programme on Tea and Rubber.

 Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has recently launched the Nirman Kusuma scheme for providing financial assistance to the children of construction workers for their technical education in the State. In it, an ITI student will be entitled to get financial assistance of Rs. 23,600 & a diploma student to get Rs. 26,300 per annum.

 R N Ravi, the former Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), has been redesignated as the deputy National Security Advisor (NSA). He is also the Central government interlocutor of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) and will continue to be the centre‘s interlocutor for Nagaland.

 The Government of India has reconstituted Supreme Court-empowered Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA), which is tasked with taking various measures to tackle air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR).

 India have opened their medal account in the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games with two Silvers in Buenos Aires, Argentina on October 7. The first went to Tushar Mane in shooting and later Tababi Devi Thangjam in Judo in Girl‘s 44kg category.

 US duo William D. Nordhaus and Paul M. Romer have won the 2018 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for research ―about innovation, climate and economic growth‖.

 Laureate Romer was honoured for his work on the endogenous growth theory, which has generated vast amounts of new research into the regulations and policies that encourage new ideas and long-term prosperity.

 Eminent Gandhian Natwar Thakkar (86), popularly known as ‗Nagaland‘s Gandhi‘, has passed away in Guwahati on October 7, 2018. He was honoured with numerous

awards including India‘s fourth higher Civilian Award Padma Shri in 1999 by the then President of India, K.R. Narayan.

 Recently, Infosys Foundation announced Rs 1.5 crores Aarohan Social Innovation Awards (ASIA) to push innovation in social work following increase in funds under the government rules.

 The 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 recently. The award recognizes the measures taken by ESIC for extension of coverage-SPREE (Scheme for Promoting Registration of Employers and Employees).

 The Union government has constituted the high-level Strategic Policy Group (SPG) to assist the National Security Council (NSC), which advises the prime minister on matters of national security and strategic interests. The SPG will be chaired by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and its members include the NITI Aayog vice chairman, the cabinet secretary, the chiefs of the three defence services, the RBI governor, the foreign secretary, the home secretary, the finance secretary and the defence secretary.

 Jharkhand will be the partner state at Goa International Film Festival (GIFF-2018), which is scheduled to be held from 20th to 28th of November. The decision was taken recently in meeting between Secretary of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Mr. AmitKhare and Chief Secretary of Jharkhand, Sudhir Tripathy at Ranchi.

 On October 9 , External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj launched the ―India for Humanity‖ in New Delhi under which the Jaipur Foot artificial limb will be distributed free of cost to the needy across the world. The initiative is launched in collaboration with the charitable organization ―Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti‖ (BMVSS) to honour Mahatma Gandhi‘s service to humanity.

 On October 9, Weightlifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga from Mizoram has scripted history by clinching India‘s first-ever gold at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In Men‘s 62kg Group A weightlifting, Jeremy posted successful attempts of 124kg in snatch and 150kg in clean & jerk for a combined 274kg, he won the gold medal.

 National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC) will be set up on the banks of the Ganga River in Patna University campus in Patna, capital of Bihar. It will India‘s and Asia‘s first Dolphin research centre. The announcement for the centre was made on the occasion of Dolphin day (October 5), observed in Bihar for protection and conservation of Gangetic river dolphin to create awareness to save endangered species.

 Well-known Malayalam poet Paloor Madhavan Namboothiri (86), popularly known as M N Paloor, has passed away at Kovoor, Kerala on October 9, 2018. He was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Award for his autobiography ‗Kathayillathavante Katha‘ in 2013.

 The book ―The Paradoxical Prime Minister: Narendra Modi And His India‖ has been authored by Congress parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor. It is divided in five sections comprising 50 chapters & will release on 26th October 2018. The first section takes a close look at Modi‘s life and times.

 On October 7, Badminton coach Pullela Gopi chand has been honoured with the Ramineni Foundation‘s Outstanding Person award. The award was presented by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu. He also presented special awards to Telugu literary wizard Garikapati Narasimha Rao, film director Nag Ashwin Reddy and writer C Venkata Ramana.

 The section 151A of the Representation of the People Act of 1951 mandates the Election Commission of India (ECI) to fill the casual vacancies in the Houses of Parliament and State Legislatures through bye elections within six months from the date of occurrence of the vacancy. But, this is only if the remainder of the term of a member who is newly elected is one year or more.

 NITI Aayog has organised Workshop on ‗Best Practices in International Arbitration‘ in collaboration with ICC International Court of Arbitration in New Delhi on 10 October 2018. It purpose is to strengthen dispute resolution mechanisms and to not only encourage ‗Make in India‘ but also to ‗Resolve in India‘.

 The Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) with the support of World Health Organization (WHO) is organizing the ‗2nd World Conference on Access to Medical Products – Achieving the SDGs 2030‘ at New Delhi from 9 -11 October 2018.

 Shooter Manu Bhaker has become the first shooter from India to claim a gold at the 3rd edition of Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina on October 9, 2018. She finished on top of the podium in women‘s 10m air pistol event with a score of 236.5. With this, she also became the first Indian woman to win Gold in the ongoing event.

 Researchers at the Washington University in the US have developed the world‘s first bio-electronic medicine — an implantable, biodegradable wireless device that speeds nerve regeneration and improves the healing of a damaged nerve. According to the study published in the journal Nature Medicine, the device is the size of a dime and the thickness of a sheet of paper.

 Senior Advocate Tushar Mehta has been appointed as Solicitor General of India (SGI). He will remain in office till 30th of June, 2020 or till further orders. Mr. Mehta is currently serving as the Additional Solicitor General. The post of Solicitor General was vacant since October last year after the resignation of Ranjit Kumar.

 India has been ranked 147th among 157 countries at the UK-based charity Oxfam International‘s ‗Commitment to Reducing Inequality (CRI) Index‘ 2018. The 2nd edition of the annual index finds that countries such as South Korea, Namibia and Uruguay are taking strong steps to reduce inequality. However, countries such as India and Nigeria ―do very badly‖ overall.

 India‘s first second generation (2G) Ethanol Bio-Refinery will set up in Bargarh district of Odisha by 2020, where ethanol will be produced from rice straw. The proposed plant will be set up by the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) at an estimated cost of Rs 100 crore.

 The 17th edition of Old World Theatre festival 2018 is being organised by India Habitat Centre starting from October 20 in New Delhi. The theatre festival has been recognised by UNESCO as a ―Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity‖. It will open with ―Kutiyattam‖, which is one of the most stylised and earliest forms of Sanskrit theatre.

 On October 10, Pistol shooter Saurabh Chaudary clinched Gold in the 10-metre air pistol event at the 3rd edition of Summer Youth Olympic Games 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Earlier, Shooter Manu Bhaker became the first shooter from India to claim a gold at the ongoing event in women‘s 10m air pistol event. While, Weightlifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga won India‘s first ever youth Olympics Gold.

 On October 10, Archer Harvinder Singh clinched men‘s individual recurve gold by defeating China‘s Zhao Lixue 6-0 in the W2/ST category final. The W2 category of impairment covers athletes with paraplegia, diplegia or double leg amputation below the knee, requiring wheelchair.

 The Maharashtra Prison department has rolled out a smart video- calling facility for female prisoners and inmates lodged at open jails across the state, after gaining success in its pilot project at Pune‘s Yerawada Central Prison (YCP). A prisoner can talk to his/her family members for five minutes and will be charged Rs 5. The department has obtained the smartphones for video calling through the Prisoners Welfare Fund.

 The Haryana government has decided to set up an Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) ‗Kavach‘ to strengthen the present-day security arrangements in the state. The selected Haryana police recruits will be trained by the National Security Guard (NSG).

 Veena Sendre from Chhattisgarh has been chosen as India‘s first ‗Miss Trans Queen‘. She defeated Namita Ammu of Tamil Nadu to claim the title at the national-level beauty contest organised in Mumbai on Oct 7. Sendre, a former Miss Chhattisgarh, belongs to Mandir Hasaud village in Raipur.

 On 10th October 2018, Ghatam maestro Vikku Vinayakram has recently won the special lifetime achievement award from the Music Academy in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Vinayakram is one of the best-known faces of percussion from South India. He plays Carnatic music with the ghatam (an earthen pot), and is credited with popularising the ghatam.

 At the 2018 Asian Para Games, Indian javelin thrower Sundar Singh Gurjar won a silver in the men‘s F46 category with an effort of 61.33m in which two-time Paralympic gold medalist Devendra Jhajharia finished fourth. In the same event, Rinku picked up a bronze to make it an India-dominated podium.

 IIT-Madras has collaborated with Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency (TNeGA) to enhance data-driven governance. Through this engagement, the Robert Bosch Centre for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (RBC DSAI) at IIT-Madras has agreed to support the State government on various data science and ICT-related challenges.

 Senegal will host the 4th summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in 2022, the first to take place on the African continent. The 2022 decision was taken at a two-day International Olympic Committee meeting on the sidelines of the 2018 Buenos Aires Youth Olympics. Senegal will host the youth games in three places: Dakar; a new city of Diamniadio; and the coastal resort of Saly. The games will be held in May or June, at the end of the dry season to greatly reduce the prevalence of tropical diseases.

 External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has participated in the 17th Council of Heads of Government (CHG-2018) meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which was held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan from October 11th to 12th .The SCO CHG meeting is a forum that enables India to engage with SCO member countries and Observer states of Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia.

 The Meghalaya government will launch a new scheme ‗Blue Revolution: Integrated Development and Management of Fisheries‘ on 26th October 2018. The Blue Revolution is being implemented to achieve economic prosperity of fishermen and fish farmers and contribute towards food and nutritional security through optimum utilization of water resources in a sustainable manner keeping in view the bio-security and environmental concerns.

 Tata Group veteran Sunil Bhaskaran has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of low cost carrier Air Asia India with effect from November 15, 2018. He will oversee the next phase of expansion and growth of the company.

 In Jammu, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has recently signed pact with the Central University of Jammu (CUJ) to set up the ‗Satish Dhawan Center for Space Science‘ to expand its presence to the northernmost state of India. The space centre at CUJ is proposed to be spread on an area of about 1,150 square metres. It will have facilities for Geospatial Data analysis that will help in sustainable use of natural resources and planning land-use pattern

 On Oct 11, the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) launched a Roll on-Roll off (Ro-Ro) service in Assam from Neamati to Majuli Island. This service will reduce the road route distance of 423 km that trucks take from Neamati to Majuli Island via Tezpur Road Bridge to only 12.7 km with the use of river route. The IWAI has procured a new vessel MV Bhupen Hazarika at a cost of Rs 9.46 crore for the new service.

 India has been elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) with the highest number of votes among all 18 countries in the five regional categories. It secured 188 votes in the Asia -Pacific category for a period of three years beginning Jan 1, 2019.

 On October 13, the Coffee Day Malnad Ultra Marathon 2018 has flagged off successfully from Lalbaug Estate in Chikmagalur, Karnataka. The event is split into

three categories – 50km, 80km and 110km. Here, 811 runners from 13 countries and 22 states from across India gathered at the start line for the flag off of the ultra marathon.

 NITI Aayog has signed pact with Microsoft India to deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to address challenges various sectors such as agriculture and healthcare. As per the pact, Microsoft will support NITI Aayog by combining the cloud, AI, research and its vertical expertise for new initiatives and solutions across several core area.

 India‘s first-ever India-Israel Innovation Centre (IIIC), an entrepreneurial technology hub, was launched at the 3rd edition of IoT India Congress in Bengaluru, Karnataka on October 10, 2018. The IIIC is a significant step towards facilitating penetration of Israeli companies in India and aims to forge local partnerships and joint ventures between companies from the two countries

 The biography of late Anumolu Ramakrishna titled ‗Building a Legacy‘ is authored by city-based Chartered Accountant V Pattabhi Ram. It was recently released by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu. Ramakrishna, former President and MD at Larsen and Toubro (L&T), was posthumously awarded Padma Bhushan in 2014.

 The IIT Kharagpur and Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have signed an MoU to facilitate cooperation in research and education between the two institutes in New Delhi on October 11. NTNU is an expert in Hydro Power, Ocean Modelling, Deep Sea Resources and Marine Technology.

 The World Bank (WB) has recently released its first-ever Human Capital Index (HCI), which ranked 157 economies on parameters like child mortality, health and education. India is ranked at 115th position in the index with its score of 0.44 on a scale of 0 to 1 coming even below the average score for South Asia. Though, Government of India (GoI) has rejected the findings of the index.

 The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has recently signed pact with the Uttarakhand government to provide access to capital to MSMEs, which will fuel growth of such entities in the state.

 Great Britain lifted the 8th edition of Sultan Johar Cup Junior Hockey tournament in Johor Bahru, Malaysia on October 13, 2018. In the final, Great Britain defeated India 3-2. The other teams in the tournament were Japan, Australia, Malaysia and New Zealand

 India has been ranked 103rd among 119 countries in the 2018 Global Hunger Index (GHI). The 2018 GHI report was prepared jointly by global NGOs namely – Concern Worldwide (Ireland) and Welthungerhilfe (Germany). The index indicates that the level of hunger and under nutrition worldwide falls into the serious category, at a value of 20.9, down from 29.2 in 2000.

 Dr. Teejan Bai, the folk artist from Chhattisgarh, has won the 2018 Fukuoka Arts and Culture Prize, one of the top honours of Japan. Dr. Teejan is a leading performing

artist and a contemporary exponent of Pandavani, a narrative singing of the ancient Indian epic ―Mahabharata‖.  India and China have launched their first joint programme for Afghanistan to train its diplomats from October 15-26 under the aegis of the Trilateral Cooperation between India, China and Afghanistan.

 Novak Djokovic, a Serbian professional tennis player has recently won the 2018 Shanghai Masters Tennis tournament in Shanghai, China. In the final, he beat Croatia‘s Borna Coric by 6-3, 6-4 to claim his fourth Shanghai title and second Masters title of the year. Djokovic now has 18 consecutive wins. With this win, he overtook Roger Federer and returned to the #2 ranking for the first time since the 2017 French Open.

 Dr. Shekhar C Mande, a biologist, has been appointed Director-General of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Secretary of the Department of Scientific and Research. The position of CSIR DG fell vacant recently with its previous chief Girish Sahni superannuating on August 31.

 The book ―Maharana Pratap: The Invincible Warrior‖ is authored by noted historian Rima Hooja, who describes in detail how Maharana Pratap managed to elude capture by the mighty Mughal army for so long and never bowed down to Akbar.

 The India International Silk Fair (IISF-2018) has inaugurated by Union Minister Smriti Irani at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on October 16. The fair will give a platform to exporters to display their products and to overseas buyers an opportunity to place orders and source their merchandise. In it, over 108 exhibitors of silk and blended silk will display their produce. Over 218 buyers from various countries will participate in the 3-day fair.

 Prema Gopalan, founder of Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP), has been honored as the India Social Entrepreneur of the Year (SEOY) 2018 for her work in promoting women‘s entrepreneurship at the grassroots and ensuring rural livelihood.

 Priyank Kanoongo has been appointed the new Chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) for a period of 3 years. The post of chairperson fell vacant after Stuti Kacker‘s tenure ended on September 16, 2018. The NCPCR is a statutory body, which was set up by an Act of Parliament in 2007 under the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005

 The 4th edition of International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Relays 2019 will be hosted by Japan Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF) at Nissan Stadium in Yokohama (near Tokyo), which is scheduled to begin from May 11- 12, 2019

 The 6th RCEP Inter-sessional Ministerial Meeting (IMM) was held in Singapore on 12- 13 October, 2018. The Ministers from 16 RCEP countries discussed modern, comprehensive and mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement among ASEAN and ASEAN‘s FTA partners. The Indian delegation was led by CR Chaudhary, the Minister of State for Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

 The SRiX Agri-Business Academy, which is an Indo-UK collaborative initiative, has been launched at SR Innovation Exchange (SRiX) Campus in Warangal. It is India‘s first agri and food business online learning platform and was launched by Andrew Fleming, the British Deputy High Commissioner at Hyderabad

 The 14th edition of the Men‘s Hockey World Cup will be held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar from 28 November to 16 December, 2018. Turtle Olly has been declared as the official mascot of 2018 tournament at the Puri sea beach in Odisha.

 Paul Allen (65), who co-founded Microsoft with his childhood friend Bill Gates, has passed away in Seattle on October 15, 2018. At the time of his death, he ranked 44th on Forbes‘ 2018 list of billionaires with an estimated net worth of more than $20 billion.

 The ICICI Bank was originally established by ICICI Limited as a wholly owned subsidiary in 1994. Though, Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) was formed in 1955 as a joint-venture of the World Bank, the Government of India (GoI) and representatives of Indian industry. The principal objective was to create a development financial institution for providing medium-term and long-term project financing to Indian businesses

 The book titled ―Half the Night is Gone‖, which is shortlisted for The Hindu Prize 2018 in the fiction segment, is authored by Amitabha Bagchi.

 Nimesh Shah, the MD & CEO of ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, has been elected as new Chairman of Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). He succeeded A Balasubramanian, CEO of Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund.

 Suraj Panwar has won the India‘s first medal in athletics at the Youth Olympic Games 2018 after claiming the silver in the men‘s 5000m race walk event at the Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was India‘s third overall medal in athletics in the history of the Youth Olympic Games.

 Recently, the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet has officially adopted a proposal to rename the historic city of Allahabad as Prayagraj. The city was known as Prayag before 16th- century Mughal emperor Akbar built a fort near the confluence of the Ganga and the Yamuna and named it ―Ilahabad‖. Hisgrandson Shah Jahan renamed the entire city ―Allahabad‖.

 The 12th Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit 2018 will be held in Brussels, Belgium from October 18 with theme ―Global Partners for Global Challenges‖. Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu will lead the Indian delegation at the two-day summit.

 The festival of Fulpati has recently celebrated with traditional gaiety and religious fervour in various parts of Nepal. Fulpati is observed on the 7th day of Dashain festival. In Nepali, ―Phool‖ means flower and ―Pati‖ means leaves and plants.

 On October 18, the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit has started in Brussels, Belgium with theme ―Global Partners for Global Challenges‖. The summit will

priorities issues related to connectivity, trade and investment, sustainable development, climate change, terrorism, migration, maritime security and cyberspace.

 Irish Author Anna Burns has won the prestigious 2018 Man Booker Prize for Fiction for her novel ‗Milkman‘. With this, she became the first Northern Irish author and the first woman since 2013 to win the prize. Milkman is an exploration of Northern Ireland‘s three decades of sectarian violence told through the voice of a young woman.

 Akash Malik from Haryana has become the India‘s first silver-medallist in archery at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games. He lost a one-sided final to Trenton Cowles of the USA by 0-6 in the men‘s recurve final. With this, India concluded the youth Olympics with 13 medals, namely, 3 gold, 9 silver, and one bronze

 India has been ranked as the 58th most competitive economy on the World Economic Forum (WEF)‘s Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) for 2018. The WEF stated that India‘s rank rose by five places from 2017, the largest gain among G20 economies. On the list of 140 economies, the US topped the list followed by Singapore and Germany. It further added that India has invested more heavily on transport infrastructure and services

 Canada has officially become the 2nd Country in the world to legalize the recreational use of marijuana nationwide after Uruguay. The Cannabis Act (or Bill C-45) came into force on 17th October 2018. The new regulations aim to protect public health and safety by allowing adults access to legal cannabis and is a social experiment that the rest of the world will be carefully watching

 On 16th October 2018, China has successfully tested the world‘s largest unmanned transport drone ―Feihong-98 (FH-98)‖, which can carry a payload of 1.5 tonnes, at Baotou test site in North China‘s Inner Mongolia autonomous region. The Feihong-98 has a maximum takeoff weight of 5.25 tonnes, a flight height of 4,500m, a cruising speed of 180 km/hr and a maximum range of 1,200 kms.

 As per clause (2) of Article 75 of the Constitution, President Ram Nath Kovind has recently accepted the resignation of M J Akbar from the Union council of ministers on the advice of Prime Minister NarendraModi. He resgined from the post of Minister of State for External Affairs due to allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by several women journalists

 The first-ever Indo-Japan joint military exercise ―Dharma Guardian- 2018‖ will be conducted at Counter Insurgency Warfare School, Vairengte from 01 November to 14 November. During the 14 day long exercise, due emphasis will be laid on increasing interoperability between forces from both countries

 The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched an Artificial Intelligence powered chat bot– Ask Disha (Digital Interaction to Seek Help Anytime) to answer customer queries pertaining to various services offered by IRCTC. It is a first-of-its-kind initiative, which is jointly developed and initiated by IRCTC and CoRover Pvt. Ltd.

 Social Entrepreneur Suheil Tandon has been conferred with the IOC Sports and Active Society Development Grant award for 2018 for his contribution to sports for development. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) award ceremony was held during the Olympism in Action forum at Buenos Aires.

 The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nokia Solutions and Networks India Pvt Ltd to leverage Industry 4.0 for manufacturing excellence at Nokia‘s Chennai factory.

 The famous Shahi litchi of North Bihar has got the Geographical Indication (GI) tag. It is the 4th product from the state after Jardalu mango, Katarni rice and Magahi paan to have got the GI tag.

 The 5th edition of the Women of India Organic Festival will be held from October 26 to November 4 at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi. It is being organised by the Women and Child Development Ministry to promote women organic farmers and entrepreneurs.

 The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIRIITR), Lucknow has developed an innovative technology for ―Drinking Water Disinfection System‖ with Trade name ―OneerTM‖.

 Kerala is now set to become the India‘s first smoke-free State with public sector oil companies eyeing 100% LPG penetration here. It is estimated that one croretonnes of emissions, from poisonous gases like firewood cooking, have been contained and 25 lakh trees have been saved with the introduction of LPG in villages. The target has almost been achieved in most villages, mofussil towns and cities in the State under the PradhanMantriUjjwalaYojana (PMUY).

 Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi, the National Award winning music director, has been named for the 2018 Hridaynath Award for Lifetime Achievement. He is famous as ‗Khayyam‘. The award, which is instituted by the Hridayesh Arts, carries a cash prize of Rs 100,000 and a memento.

 Piyush Goyal, the Union Minister of Railways & Coal, will be honoured with the 2018 Carnot Prize of Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Design. The 2018 Carnot Prize is a recognition of India‘s efforts towards eliminating energy poverty with sustainable energy solutions. It is the most prestigious award in the energy sector.

 The first-ever joint maritime exercise will be conducted between ASEAN and China in the South China Sea near the city of Zhanjiang in an effort to reduce tensions in the disputed region. This exercise will provide very good opportunities from the navies of ASEAN and China to work together using the CUES (Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea).

 The Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) will form new government in Bhutan after the party winning 30 seats in 47 member National Assembly, the lower house of the parliament. The DrukPhuensumTshogpa (DPT) has got remaining 17 seats. This is the

first time in Bhutan‘s decade old parliamentary democracy that a new party has been chosen to form the government.

 The European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have successfully launched an unmanned Bepi Colombo spacecraft into orbit from an Ariane 5 rocket for a joint mission to Mercury, the planet closest to the sun. The spacecraft has been named after Italian scientist Giuseppe ―Bepi‖ Colombo. The unmanned spacecraft will have to follow an elliptical path that involves a fly-by of Earth, two of Venus and six of Mercury itself so it can slow down before arriving at its destination in December 2025.

 On Oct. 27, Turkey will host the four nation summit on Syria crisis in Istanbul to discuss the conflict in Syria and efforts for a lasting solution to the war in the Arab country. The summit will be held between the leaders of Turkey, France, Germany and Russia. Russia is a main backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad‘s government while Turkey has been helping insurgents trying to remove him from power.

 The 3rd edition of Bihu festival, which is also known as Kati Bihu or Kongali Bihu, was celebrated to bring peace and prosperity in Assam. On the occasion of Kati Bihu, women, both in urban and rural areas, try to ward off evil and pray for a rich harvest by lighting earthen lamps.

 By using Hubble Space Telescope, the scientists of NASA have found that violent flares from the Young Red Dwarf Stars may make planets orbiting it uninhabitable by affecting their atmospheres. Hubble is observing such stars through a large programme called HAZMAT — Habitable Zones and M dwarf Activity across Time. The purpose of the HAZMAT program is to help understand the habitability of planets around low-mass stars.

 Arshdeep Singh (10) from Jalandhar has made India proud by winning the 2018 Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year (Asia) Award (10 years and under age category) for his photograph ‗Pipe Owls. The award ceremony was held at the Natural History Museum, London on 15th October 2018.

 An Indian-American woman, Minal Patel Davis has been honoured with a Presidential award by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for her extraordinary contribution towards combating human trafficking in Houston. She is the special advisor on Human Trafficking to Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.

 The Government of India will host the 4th Edition of Global Partners‘ Forum in New Delhi on December 12-13, 2018. This unique forum aims to unite PMNCH‘s 1,000+ partners around common strategies so that every woman, child and adolescent – no matter where they live – can survive, thrive and transform our world. The forum will be co-hosted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and PMNCH (The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health).

 The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has formed a panel to examine the feasibility of payment of general and health insurance claims in installments. It will be headed by Suresh Mathur, ED (Health) in IRDAI.

 On 21st October 1943, the Azad Hind Government was formed by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, who was the leader of Azad Hind Government and also the Head of State of this Provisional Indian Government-in-exile. It was a part of the freedom movement, originating in 1940s outside India with a purpose of allying with Axis powers to free India from British rule.

 President Ram Nath Kovind has inaugurated a 3-day ‗Vishwa Shanti Ahimsa Sammelan (VSAS-2018)‘ at Mangi Tungi in Nashik district of Maharashtra on October 22. The VSAS, which is also known as World peace and ahimsa conference, has been organised by Bhagwan Rishabh dev Murti Nirmaan Samiti.

 US-based writer Sujatha Gidla has won the prestigious 2018 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize for her book ―Ants Among Elephant: An Untouchable Family And The Making Of Modern India‖. It is an account of growing up in an ‗untouchable‘ family in modern India. The winner receives a cash award of Rs 2 lakh and a trophy. The prize is funded by the Shakti Bhatt Foundation & was set up in 2008 in memory of young writer Shakti.

 The 27th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference (FEC 2018) has started in Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat on October 22. The 3-day event is organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and hosted by the Department of Atomic Energy and Gandhinagar-based Institute of Plasma Research.

 The parliamentary standing committee on labour, which is headed by BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, will examine the functioning of retirement fund body Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), its coverage and recovery of arrears. It will review the implementation of labour laws, social security and welfare scheme for workers.

 The State Bank of India (SBI) has become the India‘s first PSU bank to introduce comprehensive wealth business services for its clients. The wealth hub was inaugurated by SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar at the Lalbagh branch in Mangalore. The bank has re-branded its wealth business as ―SBI Wealth‖ offering best-in-class personalised banking and investment services to its elite High Net worth Individual (HNI) clients through a dedicated team of relationship managers.

 Indian researchers have developed a new skin gel ―poly-Oxime‖ that inhibits the absorption of the most commonly used pesticides such as Organophosphorous compounds, that can cause serious ill effects on health and, in worst cases, result in the death of pesticide handlers such as farmers. The ‗poly-Oxime‘ acts like a catalyst to deactivate organophosphate.

 The book ―Nehru and Bose: Parallel Lives‖ has been authored by Rudrangshu Mukherjee. It brings to light the riveting story of two contrasting personalities – Subhas Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru – who would go on to define modern India.

 India‘s first domestic cruise ‗Angriya‘ has recently been flagged off from Mumbai to Goa on October 20 to boost the country‘s lagging cruise service sector. The cruise has six decks and 104 cabins. It can ferry 399 passengers at a time. It has eight types of rooms – from dormitories to luxury rooms.

 India has been ranked as the 9th most valuable nation brand in the world, according to UK-based consultancy Brand Finance‘s Nation Brands 2018 report. Despite, India lost one spot to rank, its brand value increased by 5% to $2,159 billion.

 On October 22, renowned jurist Fali S. Nariman has been honoured with the 19th Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration for year 2018 by the Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu. The award was instituted by the Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management in 1995 in the field of Public Administration, Academics and Management.

 On October 21, the UN-backed Green Climate Fund (GCF) approved $43.4 million for enhancing climate resilience for millions of people living in India‘s coastal communities in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha as part of its efforts to combat extreme impacts of climate change.

 The Mumbai cricket team clinched the 2018 Vijay Hazare Trophy after a gap of 11 years with a 4- wicket victory over Delhi at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. It‘s their 3rd title. Mumbai last won the trophy way back in 2006-07 when they defeated Rajasthan.

 Japanese-born Marine biologist Osamu Shimomura (90), who won the 2008 Nobel Prize in chemistry, has passed away in Nagasaki, Japan on 19th October 2018. China has officially opened the world‘s longest sea-crossing bridge, which connects the Chinese city of Zhuhai to the semi-autonomous regions of Hong Kong and Macau. It includes an undersea tunnel allowing ships to pass through the Pearl River delta, the heart of China‘s manufacturing sector.

 In Cameroon, Paul Biya, who has ruled the country with an iron fist since 1982, won the 7th Presidential term with a landslide victory in a controversial presidential election on October 23, 2018. According to the Constitutional Council of the country, Biya had won 71.3% of the ballot in the October 7 presidential election, marred by allegations of widespread fraud, a low turnout and violence in the poll run-up.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been chosen for the 2018 Seoul Peace Prize in recognition of his dedication to improving international co-operation, raising global economic growth, and accelerating the Human Development of people in India.

 The 2018 WETEX (Water, Energy, Technology, and Environment Exhibition) has started at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre in Dubai from October 23. It is considered as one of the leading sustainability exhibitions in the Middle East and North Africa region.

 Nishtha Dudeja from Haryana has recently won the Miss Deaf Asia 2018 title at an international pageant held in Prague, Czech Republic. She is the first Indian to have won any title at the Miss Deaf World Pageant.

 The International Conference on Status and Protection of Coral Reefs (STAPCOR 2018) was held at Bangaram Island, Lakshadweep with theme ―Reef for Life‖ from October

22-24. It was organized by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) in co-ordination with the local administration.

 Agricultural scientist Prof. M.S. Swaminathan will be honoured with the ICFA‘s first- ever World Agriculture Prize for his basic and applied research in genetics, cytogenetic, radiation and chemical mutagenesis, food and biodiversity conservation.

 India‘s investment promotion body, Invest India has won the 2018 UN Award for excellence in promoting investments in sustainable development at the World Investment Forum, Geneva. The awards were organised by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

 The joint military training exercise ‗Druzhba (Friendship)-III‘ has started between the armies of Russia and Pakistan in the mountains of northwestern Pakistan, which will continue till November 4. The servicemen from the two countries‘ armed forces will perform tasks at the altitude of 1,400 meters above the sea level.

 The 15th edition of International Dance Festival ―Udbhav Utsav 2018‖ was held in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh from October 20-25. It was inaugurated by Uzbekistan Ambassador to India Farhod Arziev. The main purpose of the competition-festival is to give opportunity to performers for creative communications, to present new talents and to facilitate acquaintance with pieces of national culture and arts in different countries. The dance troupes from Bulgaria, Turkey and Sri Lanka, apart from 25 teams from India, participated in the event.

 India‘s first engine-less train ―Train 18‖ is set to hit the tracks for trials on October 29, which is designed and manufactured by the Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF) at a cost of Rs 100 crore. It is being regarded as a successor to the 30-year-old Shatabdi Express. The swanky 16-coach prototype without a locomotive (engine) will cut travel time by 15% compared to the Shatabdi.

 In New Delhi, Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar launched the web portal of the Scheme ―Impactful Policy Research in Social Sciences (IMPRESS)‖ on October 25 to strengthen the research ecosystem in the country. The objective of IMPRESS is to identify and fund research proposals in social sciences with maximum impact on the governance and society.

 The 11th edition of Global Agriculture Leadership Summit 2018 in New Delhi from October 24 with theme ―Connecting Farmers to Market‖. The purpose of the 2-day summit is to discuss the national and global marketing scenario and success models to provide the best marketing models and linkages to Indian farmers through policy reforms and collaborative efforts.

 India, Afghanistan and Iran has recently hold their first trilateral meeting on Chabahar port project in Tehran during which they reviewed its implementation. The Indian delegation was led by TS Tirumurti, Secretary (Economic Relations).

 Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Minister for Women and Child Development will inaugurate the 5th edition of the Women of India Organic Festival on October 26 at the Indira

Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi to boost organic culture and promote Women Organic Farmers and Entrepreneurs.

 The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind has inaugurated the International Arya Maha sammelan – 2018 in New Delhi on October 25. The Arya Maha sammelan is touted as being a platform for the Arya Samaj to project its views on major caste-related issues and problems concerning backward sections of society.

 On October 25, Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar launched the web portal of of the Scheme ―Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC)‖ in New Delhi. The aim of the SPARC is to improve the research ecosystem of India‘s higher educational institutions by facilitating academic and research collaborations between Indian and foreign institutions. It is a scheme for promotion of academic and research collaboration.

 On 24 October 2018, Virat Kohli became the fastest cricketer to score 10,000 one-day international (ODI) runs in 205 innings. He surpassed the record of Sachin Tendulkar, who achieved this mark in 259 innings. He reached this feat during the 2nd ODI against West Indies in Visakhapatnam. Sachin Tendulkar was the first in history to reach 10,000 runs in ODIs in 2001.

 Renowned sculptor Ram Vanji Sutar, who has designed the Statue of Unity in Narmada district in Gujarat, will be conferred with the prestigious 2016 Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony. Beside Sutar, the Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony for the years 2014 and 2015 is being conferred on the doyen of Manipuri dance Sh. Rajkumar Singhajit Singh and Chhayanaut (a cultural organization of Bangladesh), respectively.

 The international ed-tech conference – Transforming Education Conference for Humanity (TECH 2018) will be organized by UNESCO MGIEP (Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development) in association with Government of Andhra Pradesh at Novotel, Vizag City from November 15 – 17, 2018.

 India and Bangladesh have recently 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. A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has also been signed for movement of passenger and cruise services.

 The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between India and Singapore in June 2018 on the constitution of a Joint Working Group (JWG) on FinTech.

 In New Delhi, Malayalam author Benyamin has bagged the first JCB Prize for literature for his book ‗Jasmine Days‘, which explores the lives of South Asians in the Middle East. The novel was originally written in Malayalam and translated by Shahnaz Habib. It tells the story of a young woman in a city where the promise of revolution turns into destruction and division.

 The Hindu‘s Mumbai-based correspondent Jyoti Shelar has won the first place in the English category of Schizophrenia Research Foundation‘s (SCARF) media for mental health reporting award 2018 in Anna Nagar, Chennai. Her report on suicides by farmers and the resultant impact on the mental health of their families won her the award.

 An ancient Greek merchant ship dating back more than 2,400 years has been found virtually intact at the bottom of the Black Sea by an Anglo-Bulgarian team. An international team of maritime archaeologists believed that the 23m (75ft) wreck is the world‘s oldest intact shipwreck where it appears to have lain undisturbed for more than 2,400 years.

 Sri Lanka has been chosen as the best travel destination among the list of countries to visit in 2019, according to Lonely planet‘s Best in Travel 2019 book. Germany acquired 2nd position, followed by Zimbabwe, Panama, Kyrgyzstan and Jordon.

 The Central Vigilance Commission observes the Vigilance Awareness Week every year during the week in which the birthday of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (31st October) falls. This year, the Vigilance Awareness Week is being observed from 29th October to 3rd November, 2018 on the theme ―Eradicate Corruption-Build a New India‖.

 The Punjab Government has decided to ban the sale of glyphosate, a herbicide which is extensively used in the State to control a wide variety of weeds in almost all the crops. This chemical has been observed to be a Group 2A cancer-causing material.

 The Government of India (GoI) has recently notified that the State Bank of India (SBI) has been authorised to issue and encash Electoral Bonds through its 29 Authorised Branches from November 1 to 10, 2018. The bonds will be issued in multiples of Rs. 1,000, Rs. 10,000, Rs. 1 lakh, Rs. 10 lakh and Rs. 1 crore.

 Madan Lal Khurana (83), the former Delhi Chief Minister, has passed awayin New Delhi on October 27, 2018. He was a member of Rashtriya Swayansevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Mr. Khurana also served as Governor of Rajasthan in 2004. He was the Union Minister of Parliamentary affairs and Tourism in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

 The researchers at the University of Michigan in the US have developed a web-based tool to help monitor the prevalence of fake news on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The tool uses a Platform Health Metric called the Iffy Quotient, which draws data from two external entities: News Whip and Media Bias/Fact Checker.

 India‘s Sourav Kothari defeated Peter Gilchrist of Singapore 1134-944 to clinch the 2018 World Billiards Championship title at Leeds in UK. The former national and Asian Billiards champion Kothari was pipped at the post for the coveted World Billiards crown on two occasions in the last two years, including a loss to Gilchrist in the 2016 final in Bengaluru.

 Sanjay Kumar Mishra, a 1984-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of the Income Tax cadre, has been appointed as the principal special director in the central probe

agency and entrusted with the ―additional‖ charge of Enforcement Directorate (ED) director for three months. Mishra succeeded Karnal Singh.

 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. She lost 1-3 to Korea‘s Youjin Kim in the final. Her compatriots Anthony Amalraj and Sanil Shetty too fought their way into the medals‘ bracket, bagging a bronze in the men‘s doubles.

 The researchers at IIT-Madras have designed and booted up India‘s first indigenously developed microprocessor that can be used in mobile computing devices, embedded low power wireless systems and networking systems besides reducing reliance on imported microprocessors in communications and defence sectors.

 IIT Kharagpur has recently organised a science and technology competition ‗Young Innovators Programme YIP 2018‘ for students of class 8 to 10 to make the younger generation more oriented towards scientific and technological innovations.

 The Government of India (GoI) has recently donated $300,000 for a peacekeeping initiative at the United Nations (UN) that will focus on issues of conduct along with sexual exploitation and abuse and help develop the capacity of future commanders and managers to lead by example.

 On October 30, the Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will lay the foundation of India‘s largest Dry Dock at Cochin Shipyard in Kerala. The new Dry Dock is being constructed at a cost of Rs 1799 Crore.

 The Government of India (GoI) has recently signed $75 billion bilateral currency swap agreement with Japan to bring greater stability in foreign exchange and capital markets in the country. The currency swap pact would enable the two major Asian economies to swap their local currencies – either Indian rupee or the Japanese yen against the US$ up to 75 billion. It will be used only when required, and will help meet short-term liquidity mismatches.

 The Arunachal Pradesh Government has recently signed pact with British Council to strengthen Educational & cultural cooperation between the state and the UK.

 The 5th National Summit on Good and Replicable Practices and Innovations in Public Health Care System in India has started at Kaziranga in Assam on October 30, 2018. The purpose of the 3-days summit is to share and learn the good practices and innovations being implemented by several states and organizations for the betterment of the health sector.

 The Manipur government will celebrate the ―2018 Sangai Festival‖ from 21st to 30th November. It is an annual cultural festival organised by Manipur Tourism Department to promote state as a world class tourism destination.

 Professor Qazi Abdussattar (85), a noted Urdu writer and former head of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU)‘s Urdu department, has recently passed away in New Delhi on October 29, 2018. Abdussattar was awarded Padma Shri in 1974. He was also the first recipient of Ghalib Academy Award in 1978.

 In Brazil, far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro has won a sweeping victory in the 2018 Presidential elections. He is scheduled to take office on 1st January 2019 and will succeed Michel Temer. Mr. Bolsonaro was elected with 55% of the popular vote against 45% for Fernando Haddad from the left-wing Workers Party.

 In Men‘s Hockey, India and Pakistan were declared joint winners of the 5th edition of Asian Champions Trophy 2018 at Muscat in Oman on October 28, after the final was abandoned due to bad weather conditions. Meanwhile, Malaysia finished at the 3rd place after defeating Japan 3-2 in the penalty shootouts in the bronze medal match.

 On October 29, Justice A.S. Bopanna has recently taken oath as the new Chief Justice of the Guwahati High Court. He took charge from the acting Chief Justice AK Goswami. The Guwahati High Court was established on 1 March 1948 after the Government of India Act 1935 was passed.

 Michael D Higgins has been re-elected as the President of Ireland after receiving 56% of the country‘s votes in the elections. He is serving the post of President since November 2011. His 2nd presidential inauguration will take place on 11th November 2018.

 Nobel Prize Winner Malala Yousafzai will be honoured by Harvard University for her work promoting girls‘ education. The award will be conferred with the 2018 Gleitsman Award at a ceremony on 6th December. Currently, Yousafzai is a student at Oxford University in England. The Gleitsman Award provides $125,000 for activism that has improved quality of life around the world.

 Yeshwant Deo (91), the veteran Marathi musician, has passed away recently in Dadar, Maharashtra on October 31, 2018. He worked in All India Radio (AIR) as a sitar player.

 Justice Naresh Harish Chandra Patil has been sworn-in as the new Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court. Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao administered the oath of office to Justice Patil at a brief ceremony held at Raj Bhavan. The Bombay High Court is one of the oldest High Courts of India and its principle seat is at Mumbai. Its jurisdiction covers the states of Maharashtra and Goa, and the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

 The world‘s largest airport terminal ―under one roof‖ has officially been opened in Istanbul on October 29, which marks the Republic Day of Turkey. It is dubbed as phase-1A of the project – Istanbul New Airport – will have a capacity to handle 90 million passenger per year. The first phase has costed 7.5 billion Euro.

 The Andhra Pradesh government is building a world-class and India‘s first ‗Justice City‘ within its new capital Amaravati with the vision to provide a state-of-the-art ecosystem built on latest technology for supporting the judicial system in the state.

 Louis Cha Jing-yong (94), a Hong Kong journalist and best-selling Chinese martial arts novelist, has passed away in Happy Valley, Hong Kong on October 30, 2018.

 The scientists at CSIR have developed Less Polluting ‗Green‘ Firecrackers which are not only environment friendly but 15-20 % cheaper than the conventional ones. These

crackers have been named as Safe Water Releaser (SWAS), Safe Minimal Aluminium (SAFAL) and Safe Thermite Cracker (STAR).

 The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation organized a seminar on Gandhian Thought and Swachhata in Wardha district of Maharashtra on October 29, 2018. It was part of 150th birth year celebrations of Father of the Nation. The seminar was centered on the Gandhian ideology on sanitation and the implementation of the same through the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM).

 The Kingdom of Netherlands will be the Partner Country at the 25th DST – CII Technology Summit 2019. It was recently announced by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences, Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The Minister highlighted the successful bilateral research cooperation between India and Netherlands in sectors such as affordable medical devices, urban water systems, big data and Internet of Things (IoT).

 Recently, the 19th meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) held under the Chairmanship of the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reviewed the current global and domestic economic situation and financial sector performance.

IMPORTANT DAYS

 International Day of Older Persons - October 1 2018 theme: ‗Celebrating Older Human Rights champions‘

 World Habitat Day - First Monday in October

 World Teachers‘ Day - October 5 2018 theme: The Right To Education Means Right T A Qualified Teacher

 World Post Day - October 9

 World Mental Health Day - October 10 2018 theme: ―Young people and mental health in a changing world‖

 International Day of the Girl Child - October 11 2018 theme - ―With Her: A Skilled Girl Force‖

 World Egg Day - Second Friday in October

 International Day for Disaster Reduction - October 13 2018 theme - ‗Reducing Disaster Economic Losses‘

 Rashtriya Mahila Kisan Diwas – October 15

 International Day of Rural Women - October 15

2018 theme - ―Sustainable infrastructure, services and social protection for gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls‖

 World Food Day - October 16 2018 theme - ―Our actions are our future. A #ZeroHunger world by 2030 is possible‖ The Government of India has launched a nationwide campaign ‗Swasth Bharat Yatra‘ from October 16 on the occasion of 2018 World Food Day (WFD to create consumer awareness about eating safe and nutritious food for becoming healthy.

 International Day for the Eradication of Poverty - October 17 2018 theme - ―Coming together with those furthest behind to build an inclusive world of universal respect for human rights and dignity‖.

 World Trauma Day - October 17

 World Students‘ Day - October 15 The World Students‘ Day is observed every year on 15th of October to mark the birth Anniversary of former President of India and great scientist Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.

 National Police Commemoration Day - October 21

 United Nations Day - October 24

 World Development Information Day - October 24

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