October 2018 Current Affairs

October 2018 Current Affairs - Latest Current Affairs

Latest Current Affairs 2018 for competitive exams UPSC, AFCAT, TNPSC, IAS, RRB and Latest Affairs 2018 for banking exams IBPS PO Clerk, SBI, RBI and more. Read daily affairs, this beneficial Affairs 2018 resource yields the facts about the events of International affairs, National, Sports, Business, Banking Current Affairs of 2018 and more which are betterment for the Government & Private Job aspirants.

October 2018 Current Affairs:

National Current Affairs

*    Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev met PM Modi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi. 17 agreements and MoUs were signed in the field of law, tourism, military education, agriculture, science and technology, commerce and industry, pharmaceutical, national security and illicit trafficking besides others. Uzbek President supported India's bid for permanent membership of UN Security Council.

*    India and Russia signed the $5 billion S-400 air defence system deal during the annual bilateral summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin at Hyderabad House.

*    PM Modi inaugurated the National Human Rights Commission's (NHRC) 25th anniversary and said that it has an important role to play in government’s efforts to achieve sustainable development goals. NHRC was set up on the 12th October 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Act, passed by Parliament. NHRC Chairman:  Justice HL Dattu.

*    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.

*    PM Modi inaugurated Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's memorial on the leader's 143rd birth anniversary in Gujarat's Narmada district. Called the Statue of Unity, the bronze sculpture is the world's tallest statue measuring 600 feet (182m) and overshadows China's Spring Temple Buddha (153m).

*    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.

*    Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) launched a Flood Forecasting and Early Warning System (FFEWS) for Kolkata City. It is also India’s first comprehensive city-level FFEWS.

*    In a historic day for India, Northeast and Assam Petro-chemicals launched Asia's first cannisters based and India's first "Methanol Cooking Fuel Program".

*    Election Commission announced the poll schedule for Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. Chief Election Commissioner, OP Rawat stated the counting of votes in all states will take place on 11th of December.

*    Centre has assured Karnataka government that nearly 450 crore rupees will be reimbursed to it in connection with the expenditure incurred for procuring cereals and coarse cereals.

*    Union Minister Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation stone for Rs 1,224 crore highway projects in Uttar Pradesh. Besides, the highway projects, Gadkari also laid the foundation stone for the development of National Waterway 40 (river Ghaghra).

*    Severe Cyclonic Storm ‘TITLI’ over the west-central Bay of Bengal moved northwards with a speed of about 14 kmph over Westcentral Bay of Bengal near latitude 16.5°N and longitude 85.8°E, about 320 km south-southeast of Gopalpur (Odisha) and 270 km southeast of Kalingapatnam (Andhra Pradesh).

*    Delhi government signed a twin-city agreement with the government of Moscow for cooperation in various fields like environment, culture and education, for the next 3 years.

*    Leading stock exchange NSE has signed a pact with the Uttarakhand government to provide access to capital to MSMEs, which will fuel the growth of such entities in the state.

*    Minister of State for Textiles, Ajay Tamta stated that the Ministry will release 7.8 crore rupees for the construction of a textile tourism complex in Nongpoh, Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya.

*    Uttar Pradesh Cabinet led by CM Yogi Adityanath has approved the proposal to rename Allahabad, which will be called Prayagraj with immediate effect. The new name derives from a place in the city called Prayag, where three rivers flowing across the state meet.

*    Minister of state for culture, Mahesh Sharma and Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri jointly laid the foundation stone for proposed Museum on Prime Ministers of India at Teen Murti Estate, New Delhi.

*    Angriya, India’s first luxury cruise ship, inaugurated at Mumbai. It will operate between Mumbai and Goa. Named after the first Maratha Navy Admiral Kanhoji Angre and the Angria bank coral reef near Vijaydurg, the luxury ship has 104 rooms, divided into eight different categories.

*    PM Modi inaugurated a farmers’ conclave ‘Krishi Kumbh 2018’ in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh via video conferencing. It is being organized to promote modern technique and diversification in agriculture that could help in doubling farmers income. It witnessed two of the world’s top economies, Israel and Japan, as official partners while Haryana and Jharkhand as partner states.

*    Punjab government has signed four MoUs with Israeli institutions to address issues of farmers and depleting groundwater level in the state.

*    Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Smt Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated the first Mega Food Park in Gujarat. It is located at Village Shah and Vasravi, Taluka Mangrol, District Surat.

*    State government of Arunachal Pradesh signed an MoU with the British Council to strengthen educational and cultural cooperation, in order to support the knowledge ambitions and economic growth of the state.

*    Nitin Gadkari and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan laid the foundation for India’s largest Dry Dock at Cochin Shipyard in Kerala. The Dry Dock will give an impetus to “Make in India” initiative under Sagarmala and raise India’s share in global shipbuilding to 2%.

International Current Affairs

*    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).

*    Ministry of AYUSH has set up an AYUSH Information Cell at the premises of the Indian Embassy in Romania to disseminate authentic information about AYUSH system of medicine and encourage Ayurveda practice in Romania.

*    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.

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

*    India has been elected to the United Nations' Human Rights Council with the highest vote among all candidates. It secured 188 votes in the Asia-Pacific category for a period of three years beginning January 1, 2019. India's win with the highest number of votes reflects the country's standing in the international comity.

*    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.

*    Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu is in Brussels, Belgium to attend the 12th Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit. The theme of this year’s ASEM Summit is “Global Partners for Global Challenges”.

*    Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) will form new government in Bhutan. The party has won 30 seats in 47 member National Assembly.

*    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.

*    IFC, International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s lending arm, launched its $1 billion masala bond programme in the US and Europe. These bonds are aimed at funding the rapidly expanding investment activities of IFC in India.

*    China opened the longest sea-crossing bridge ever built, nine years after construction began. The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge connects Hong Kong and Macau to the mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai.  The $20-billion bridge spans 55 kilometers.

*    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.

*    A Chinese company has tested the 'world's largest' cargo drone Feihong-98 (FH-98) which can carry a payload of 1.5 tonnes (1,500kg). The FH-98 has a maximum takeoff weight of 5.25 tonnes (5,250 kg) and maximum range of 1,200 km.

*    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.

*    India has donated three lakh Dollars for a peacekeeping initiative at the UN.

*    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.

*    Germany’s Angela Merkel has announced that she will step down as Chancellor in 2021, following recent election setbacks.

*    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.

Defence Current Affairs

*    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.

*    Indian Air Force celebrated its 86th Anniversary on 08 Oct 2018. To mark the occasion and in keeping up with the tradition, IAF has planned a grand Parade cum Investiture Ceremony at Air Force Station Hindan (Ghaziabad). Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, Chief of the Air Staff reviewed the parade.

*    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.

*    On the occasion of 86th anniversary, the Indian Air Force has launched an innovative mobile health App named ‘MedWatch’. ‘MedWatch’ is the first mobile health app in the three Armed Services and was launched by Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa.

*    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.

*    To promote Military cooperation, India and Japan are all set to hold the first-ever joint military exercise 'DHARMA GUARDIAN-2018' involving the Indian Army and Japan Ground Self Defence Force in Mizoram, India.

*    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.

*    A contingent of the Russian Army arrived in Pakistan to participate in joint training exercise ‘Druzhba-III’.

*    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.

Science & Technology Current Affairs

*    ISRO signed an MoU with the Central University of Jammu (CUJ) in Jammu for setting up of the Satish Dhawan Center for Space Science in the University. MoU was also signed between CUJ and the Central Scientific Instruments Organization (CSIR-CSIO) to create awareness about space research.

*    European and Japanese space agencies stated that an Ariane 5 rocket successfully lifted a spacecraft carrying two probes into orbit for a joint mission to Mercury, the closest planet to the sun. The unmanned BepiColombo spacecraft successfully separated and was sent into orbit from French Guiana to begin a seven-year journey to Mercury.

*    Russia launched a Soyuz-2.1B rocket for the first time since the failure of a similar rocket aborted a manned take-off to the International Space Station (ISS).

Miscellaneous Current Affairs

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

*    As many as 21 countries in the Indian Ocean Rim Association, IORA, adopted the Delhi Declaration on Renewable Energy in the Indian Ocean Region. These nations adopted the Delhi Declaration post the second IORA Renewable Energy Ministerial Meeting held in Greater Noida. The Delhi Declaration calls for collaboration among IORA member states in meeting the growing demand for renewable energy in the Indian Ocean littorals.

*    Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) will complete commissioning of its second generation (2G) ethanol bio-refinery at Baulsingha village in Bargarh district of Odisha by 2020.

*    Union Cabinet approved the merger of the existing regulatory institutions in the skills space - National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) and the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) into the National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET). NCVET will regulate the functioning of entities engaged in vocational education and training, both long-term and short-term and establish minimum standards for the functioning of such entities.

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

*    Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare released 12th edition of Analytical Report of the National Health Profile 2018. It was prepared by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI).

*    An emergency action plan has been implemented in the national capital to combat air pollution that has begun to show a trend towards poor category. Under the emergency plan called Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), stringent actions will be implemented based on the air quality of the city.

*    After huge efforts for a year, now Shahi Litchi of Muzaffarpur, Bihar has got official recognition as it receives the geographical indication (GI) tag. The sweet, pulpy and juicy Litchi of Bihar is mostly grown in Muzaffarpur.

*    Four Himalayan peaks near Gangotri glacier of Uttarkashi district have been named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.  Located near Sudarshan and Saifi peaks in Raktvan valley, the peaks have been named Atal-1, 2, 3 and 4.

*    Supreme Court ruled that no Bharat Stage-IV vehicle shall be sold across the country with effect from April 1, 2020. The Bharat Stage VI (BS-VI) emission norm would come into force from April 1, 2020 across the country.