Current Affairs 21st or 22nd Oct 2018

National News

1. PM Narendra Modi Dedicated National Police Memorial To The Nation in New Delhi

i. Prime Minister Narendra 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.

ii. The memorial has been erected on 6.12 acres of land in Chanakyapuri, at the northern end of Shanti Path. The central sculpture of the NPM is a 30 feet monolith made of a single piece of granite, weighing 238 tonnes. 

2. 4th  Edition of NITI Lecture Series Held In New Delhi 

i. NITI Aayog has organized the fourth edition of NITI Lecture Series at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 4th edition of NITI Lecture series in which the keynote address was delivered by Jensen Huang, President and Co-Founder, NVIDIA Corporation. 

ii. The theme for this year is “AI for ALL: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Inclusive Growth”. 

Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS PO/Clerk Mains Exam 2018- 

·         NITI- National Institution for Transforming India.

·         NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman- Rajiv Kumar, CEO- Amitabh Kant.

  3. India’s First Domestic Cruise ‘Angriya’ Flagged Off From Mumbai

i. Angriya, India’s first luxury cruise ship, has been inaugurated at Mumbai. Union minister for shipping Nitin Gadkari and Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis flagged-off the cruise which will operate between Mumbai and Goa. 

ii. 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.
4. Parliamentary  Panel To Examine Functioning Of EPFO

i. A parliamentary panel will examine the functioning of retirement fund body Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), its coverage and recovery of arrears. The panel will be headed by BJP MP Kirit Somaiya.

ii. The panel has selected a wide range of subjects related to labourers, including the International Labour Organisation conventions binding on India and the measures taken by the government to implement them.

5. Cope India 2018: India, Japan, US Plan Joint Air Exercise 

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

ii. The U.S. had proposed a trilateral air exercise between India, Japan and the U.S. The next edition is scheduled to be held in December 2018 for which the Final Planning Conference to finalise the modalities of the exercise is scheduled in Kalaikunda, West Bengal. 

6. 4 Himalayan Peaks Named After Late PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

i. 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.

ii. The peaks are located at 6,557m, 6,566m, 6,160m and 6,100m on the right flank of Gangotri glacier. The team, which returned after the climb, had hoisted the national tricolor on each of the peaks.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for Indian Bank PO Exam 2018- 

·         Sabarmati Ghat, Gujrat has been renamed as ‘Atal Ghat’.

·         The new capital of Chhattisgarh, Naya Raipur, has been renamed as 'Atal Nagar'.

International News

7. Climate Fund Approves $1billion For Projects In Poor Countries 

i. A UN-backed fund has approved more than 1 billion dollars for 19 new projects to help developing countries tackle climate change.
ii. Officials overseeing the South Korea-based Green Climate Fund stated the funding approved at the meeting in Manama includes projects linked to geothermal energy in Indonesia, greener cities in Europe and West Asia, and protection for coastal communities in India. 

iii. About the Green Climate Fund: 

·         The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a new global fund created to support the efforts of developing countries to respond to the challenge of climate change. 

·         It was set up by the 194 countries who are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2010. 

·         The Green Climate Fund is headquartered in the Seoul Capital Area of the Republic of Korea. 

8. Vice President’s 5-Day Visit To Belgium: Complete Highlights 

i. The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu commenced his visit to Belgium to attend the two-day 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Brussels, Belgium. This was the first multi-lateral summit the Vice President attended after taking office in August 2017. 

ii. The 2-day long 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit was held in Brussels, Belgium. Indian delegation was led by Mr Venkaiah Naidu. The theme of this years’ ASEM Summit was “Global Partners for Global Challenges”.

FInd The Complete Highlights Here

Awards

9. PM Announces Award in Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s Name 

i. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an annual award in the name of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose for police and paramilitary forces for commendable contributions in disaster relief operations.
ii. He announced this while dedicating the National Police Memorial to the nation in New Delhi on the occasion of Police Commemoration Day (21st October). 

Economy News

10. CBDT Releases Direct Tax Statistics: Key Highlights 
i. Continuing the practice of placing key statistics relating to direct tax collections and administration in public domain, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has further released time-series data as updated up to FY 2017-18 and income-distribution data for AY 2016-17 and AY 2017-18. 

ii. The key highlights of these statistics are as under:

·         There is a constant growth in direct tax-GDP ratio over last three years and the ratio of 5.98% in FY 2017-18 is the best DT-GDP ratio in last 10 years.

·         There is a growth of more than 80% in the number of returns filed in the last four financial years from 3.79 crore in FY 2013-14 (base year) to 6.85 crore in FY 2017-18.

·         The number of persons filing return of income has also increased by about 65% during this period from 3.31 crore in FY 2013-14 to 5.44 crore in FY 2017-18.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS PO Mains Exam 2018: 

·         Sushil Chandra is the Present Chairman of CBDT. 

11. IFC Launches $1 Billion Masala Bond Programme In The US and Europe 

i. IFC, International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s lending arm, has 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.

ii. Masala bonds are rupee-denominated borrowings issued overseas. IFC uses them to raise rupee funds overseas and brings the proceeds to India for investments. 

Ranks and Reports

12. India Ranked 9th Most Valuable Nation Brand

i. India has secured ninth rank out of top 50 valuable national brands, according to a report titled ‘Nation Brands 2018’ released by Brand Finance, a leading brand valuation and strategy consultancy.  

ii. India's brand value was $2,046 billion in 2017 and has increased to $2,159 billion in 2018. The US topped the list with a brand value of $25,899 billion which rose by 23% from last year. China is at the second spot with a brand value of $12,779 billion.

13. L&T Ranks 22 In Forbes' Best Global Employer List, Alphabet Tops

i. Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro is the only domestic firm to be featured among the top 25 companies in the Forbes' global 2000 best employers list that is led by Google parent Alphabet. 

ii. While L&T is ranked 22, there are only four domestic firms in the top 100 list which include Mahindra & Mahindra at 55, Grasim Industries at 59 and HDFC at 91, and only 24 domestic companies in the overall list, as per the US magazine. 

iii. The Top 3 companies in the List are: 

1. Alphabet 

2. Microsoft

3. Apple. 

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS PO/Clerk Mains Exam 2018: 

·         Larsen & Toubro was founded by Henning Holck-Larsen and Soren Kristian Toubro in 1938 and is headquartered in Mumbai, India. 

Sports News

14. Mumbai Beat Delhi to Lift Vijay Hazare Trophy Title For 3rd Time 

i. Mumbai has defeated Delhi by four wickets to win their third Vijay Hazare Trophy title at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
ii. Mumbai last won the trophy way back in 2006-07 when they defeated Rajasthan. Aditya Tare struck a fluent half-century. He was rewarded with Player of the match award.

Obituaries

15. Japanese Nobel Chemistry Laureate Shimomura Passes Away 

i. Japanese-born Marine biologist Osamu Shimomura, who won the Nobel Prize in chemistry, has died. He was 90. Shimomura and two American scientists shared the 2008 Nobel prize for the discovery and development of a jellyfish protein that contributed to cancer studies.

ii. Shimomura was born in Kyoto in 1928 and studied in Nagasaki, where he survived Aug. 9, 1945, U.S. atomic bombing.