Monthly Current Affairs Capsule August 2018 [ 1 ] the G20’s commitment towards promoting “policies and actions that catalyze digital transformations. The Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting, held on 23-24 August, was attended by 33 Opening Ceremony Exercise SCO Peace Mission heads of delegation- Ministers, senior 2018 officials and representatives from invited Exercise Shanghai countries and international organizations, Cooperation like EU, UNCTAD, ITU etc. Organization (SCO) India was represented by Union Minister for Peace Mission Electronics and IT & Law and Justice,Sh. 2018, the latest in Ravi Shankar Prasad. 'Peace Mission' series formally started on 24 August 2018 at India - Kenya Joint Trade Committee meeting Chebarkul, Russia. held in Nairobi The opening ceremony was conducted with The 8th meeting of India-Kenya Joint Trade military contingents of the all eight SCO Committee was held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 22nd – member nations participating in this 25th August, 2018. exercise. The meeting was co-chaired by Union The exercise will provide an opportunity to Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil the armed forces of SCO nations to train in Aviation, Suresh Prabhuand Mr. Peter counter terrorism operations in urban Munya, Cabinet Secretary (Minister) for scenario in a multinational and joint Industry, Trade and Cooperatives, environment. Government of Kenya. The discussions during the meetings covered Vietnam to host Indian Ocean conference India’s contribution in implementation of The third edition of Indian Ocean Conference is set Kenya’s Big Four Agenda – food security, to begin on August 27 at Hanoi, the capital of affordable housing, universal healthcare and Vietnam. manufacturing. The theme of the two- day conference will focus on ‘Building Regional Architectures’. 4th BIMSTEC Summit kicks off in Kathmandu This year’s conference will see 43 countries The 4th Summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for as participants while 28 ministers and Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic officials are set to address the event. Cooperation (BIMSTEC) kicked off at Kathmandu, Nepal. G20 Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting The theme of the summit is “Towards At the G20 Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting in Peaceful, Prosperous and Sustainable Bay of Salta, in the north-west of Argentina, G20 ministers Bengal Region”. and senior officials issued a declaration that reflects Current BIMSTEC Chairperson and Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli [ 2 ] inaugurated the summit in the Nepalese Exercise KAKADU, which started in 1993, capital. is the premier multilateral regional maritime Points to Remember engagement exercise hosted by the Royal This sub-regional organisation came into Australian Navy (RAN) and supported by being on June 6, 1997, through the Bangkok the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Declaration comprising seven member The exercise is held biennially in Darwin and states. the Northern Australian Exercise Areas Five of them -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, (NAXA). Nepal and Sri Lanka -- are from South Asia Exercise KAKADU derives its name from and two -- Myanmar and Thailand -- from Kakadu National Park, which is a protected Southeast Asia. area in the northern territory of Australia, 171 km south-east of Darwin. 6TH RCEP Ministerial Meeting begins in KAKADU 2018, the 14th edition of the Singapore exercise, is scheduled from 29 Aug – 15 Sep Union Minister of 18 and would see participation from 23 Commerce& warships, one submarine, 45 aircraft, 250 Industry and Civil marines and approx 52 foreign staff from Aviation, Suresh over 25 different countries. Prabhu,is leading the Indian 24th World Congress of Philosophy held in delegation for the Beijing, China 6th RCEP Trade Ministers’ Meeting which begins in The World Congress of Philosophy is organized Singapore. every five years by the International Federation of The Minister will participate in the meeting Philosophical Societies (FISP) in collaboration with consisting of 10 ASEAN countries and six one of its member societies. ASEAN FTA partners namely, India, China, The XXIV World Congress will be held in Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Beijing, China, from August 13 to August The meeting is being held on 30th-31st 20, 2018, under the auspices of the Chinese August 2018. Organizing Committee. The complementary aims of the 2018 Indian Naval ship Sahyadri reaches Darwin, Congress include an emphasis on exploring Australia for exercise KAKADU 2018 dimensions of the human and inquiring into fter having been deployed to the South China Sea the challenges facing humanity: and Pacific Ocean for over four months, which Its theme is “Learning To Be Human” included representing Indian Navy in multinational exercises MALABAR 18 at Guam and RIMPAC 18 World Photography Day: 19 August at Hawaii, INS Sahyadri entered the Port of Darwin, World Photography Day is observed worldwide on Australia on 29 Aug 18 to participate in Exercise 19th of August every year with a lot of zeal and KAKADU 2018. enthusiasm. [ 3 ] The day is not only celebrated by the staunch Indian Air Force had earlier participated in followers of photography, but all the people the exercise as observers and this was for the across the globe irrespective of their first time that IAF participated with air assets professions and interests. in the Exercise Pitch Black (PB-18). With participation of 16 nations and more 11th World Hindi Conference begins in than 140 aircraft, the current edition was the Mauritius largest Pitch Black ever conducted by The 11th World Hindi Conference, an event aimed Australia. at expanding the reach of the Hindi language at a global level, begins in Mauritius. Sushma Swaraj inaugurates Panini Language lab Mauritius Prime Minister Praveen Kumar in Mauritius Jagannath inaugurated the conference in Port External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj Louis. inaugurated 'Panini Language Laboratory' at External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Mahatma Gandhi Institute (MGI) in Mauritius. and other ministers are also in Port Louis to The lab, gifted by the Indian government, attend the event. will help MGI in teaching Indian languages This year the theme of the conference is in Mauritius. "Hindi World and Indian Culture". Education Minister of Mauritius Leela Devi Dookun and other dignitaries were also Tower in Mauritius to be named after late PM present on the occasion. Vajpayee During the World Hindi Conference being held in First-ever IAF-RMAF joint air exercise begins in Mauritius, the Mauritian PM Pravind Jugnauth Malaysia announced that the cyber tower which Atal Ji had The first-ever contributed to set up in Mauritius will henceforth be joint air exercise named as Atal Bihari Vajpayee tower. involving the A tribute was also paid to the late PM in the Indian Air Force presence of External Affairs Minister and the the Royal Sushma Swaraj at the conference. Malaysian Air Around 68 per cent of Mauritius’s Force population of nearly 1.3 million is of Indian commenced at Subang Air Base in Malaysia. descent. India has been eyeing a foothold at the strategically important Subang Air Base. Conclusion: Exercise Pitch Black 2018 The exercise seeks to deepen defence and Ex Pitch Black a biennial multi-national large force military ties between the two countries. employment warfare exercise was hosted by Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) from 24 Jul 18 to 18 Kempegowda International Airport is world's Aug 18 in Darwin, Australia. second fastest growing airport [ 4 ] The Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), The Parker Solar Probe rocket lifted off from Bengaluru has been ranked as the second fastest Cape Canaveral, Florida. growing among top 20 major airports in the world The probe is set to become the fastest- during the first half of 2018. moving manmade object in history. Its data The airport recorded 1,58,50,352 passenger promises to crack longstanding mysteries transit from the month of January to June this about the Sun's behaviour. year. It is the first space craft to be named after a It is next to Tokyo's Haneda Airport which is living person - astrophysicist Eugene Parker, the world's fastest growing airport. 91, who first described solar wind in 1958. Joint cycling cum Trekking expedition by Indian International Youth Day: 12 August Army & Royal Bhutan Army International Youth Day (IYD) is an awareness day A joint Cycling cum Trekking Expedition of Indian designated by the United Nations and celebrated Army and Royal Bhutan Army was conducted to every year on 12 August. commemorate “Fifty years of Establishment of The purpose of the day is to draw attention Diplomatic Relations between India and Bhutan”. to a given set of cultural and legal issues The expedition began on 31 July from Haa surrounding youth. Dzong in Bhutan and was flagged-in at The first IYD was observed on 12 August, Thimpu on 07 August 2018. 2000. A total of seventeen personnel of both armies The Theme for International Youth Day participated in the expedition which covered 2018 is “Safe space for Youth”. a total of 384 kms of distance across challenging mountainous terrain in both Vienna ranked as most liveable city in the world India and Bhutan. The Austrian capital, Vienna, has beaten Australia's Melbourne to be named the world's most liveable 51st ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in city. Singapore It's the first time a European city has topped 51st ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting was held the rankings of the Economist Intelligence in Singapore. Singapore was the rotating president Unit (EIU) annual survey. of the meeting. The worldwide league table ranks 140 cities Negotiations on regional comprehensive on a range of factors, including political and economic partnership agreement was held social stability, crime, education and access between the ASEAN nations. to healthcare. Next edition will be held next year. Australia recommences its adoption programme Nasa launches mission to 'touch the Sun' with India US space agency Nasa has launched its mission to The Government of Australia has decided to send a satellite closer to the Sun than any before.