Current Affairs 27th Oct. 2018

National News

1. Maneka Gandhi Inaugurates 5th Edition of ‘Women of India National Organic Festival’

i. The 5th edition of the ‘Women of India National Organic Festival’ was inaugurated by Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Union Minister for Women and Child Development, at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi. 

ii. The Festival celebrates and promotes women entrepreneurs/producers and farmers in the organic field from across India. The festival will be the cultural hub of India’s most varied offerings of organic products from 26 States. 

2. 22nd National Level Meeting Held Between India And Myanmar

i. The 22nd National Level Meeting between India and Myanmar was held in New Delhi. The Indian delegation was led by Shri Rajiv Gauba, Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, GoI.

ii. During the meeting, both sides agreed to take action against insurgent groups operating within their territories and providing of security cooperation along with international border and facilitating movement of people and trade across the international border.

3. 2nd Guwahati International Film Festival Begins With Focus On ASEAN 

i. The second edition of the Guwahati International Film Festival (GIFF 2018) began in Assam. The week-long festival will witness the screening of more than 100 films from 50 countries.  

ii. The theme of GIFF 2018 is: ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’. The focus region of GIFF 2018 is the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region. The opening film of GIFF 2018, was ‘Bhoga Khiriki’ (Broken Window) by filmmaker Jahnu Barua.

4. 1st Indigenously Overhauled Su-30MKI Handed Over to IAF 

i. 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.

ii. The Sukhoi Su-30MKI is a twin-jet multi-role air superiority aircraft developed by Russia’s Sukhoi and built under licence by India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). 

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

·         Air Marshal BS Dhanoa is the present Chief of Air Staff of Indian Air Force. 

International News

5. PM Modi Embarked on 3-day Visit to Japan To attend Annual Bilateral Summit 

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on a three-day visit to Japan. During his stay, Mr Modi will attend the 13th India-Japan Annual summit with his counterpart Mr Shinzo Abe. This will be the fifth Annual Summit meeting between Mr Modi and Mr Abe and their 12th meeting overall. 

ii. Under the framework of the Special Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan, the two leaders will have wide-ranging discussions on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.

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

·         Japan Capital: Tokyo, Currency: Japanese yen, PM: Shinzo Abe. 

6. 20th Edition Of WETEX 2018 Held In Dubai 

i. The 20th Water, Energy, Technology, and Environment Exhibition (WETEX) 2018 was held at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
ii. WETEX is organized by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) every year. WETEX 2018 is the largest edition in the 20 year-history of WETEX. 

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

·         The UAE Capital: Abu Dhabi, Currency: United Arab Emirates dirham. 

7. Mahinda Rajapaksa Sworn In As Sri Lanka’s New PM 

i. Former President Mahinda Rajapakse was sworn in as the new Prime minister of Sri Lanka. He has replaced Ranil Wickremesinghe. Mr. Rajapaksa was administered oath by the President Maithripala Sirisena at his office in Colombo.
ii. However, the United National Party (UNP) led by Mr. Wickremesinghe has opposed the development terming it as unconstitutional and illegal. 

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

·         Sri Lanka Capitals: Colombo, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Currency: Sri Lankan rupee, President: Maithripala Sirisena. 

Awards

8. Pak Lawyer Asma Jahangir Wins UN Human Rights Prize Posthumously 

i. Pakistan’s human rights activist and lawyer Asma Jahangir has been posthumously awarded the UN Prize along with three other winners. Rebeca Gyumi of Tanzania, Brazil’s first indigenous lawyer Joenia Wapichana and Ireland’s human rights organisation Front Line Defenders are the other winners of the prize. 

ii. The award ceremony will take place on December 10 on World Human Rights Day in New York, USA.

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

·         Before Jahangir three Pakistani women, Begum Ra’ana Liaquat Ali Khan, Benazir Bhutto and Malala Yousufzai have been accorded the honour. 

·         The United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights is an honorary award given for outstanding achievement in human rights. 

9. BEML Received Top Challengers’ and Best Mining Equipment Seller Award

i. Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), a Mini Ratna Public Sector Undertaking, under the Ministry of Defence, received the prestigious ‘Top Challengers Award 2018’ for the excellent performance during the financial year 2017-18 and Best Seller in Crawler Equipment- Dozers and Rigid Dump Truck segment for mining sectors.
ii. At a function held at Delhi, CMD BEML Shri Deepak Kumar Hota has received the award from Construction Economist Mr. Graham D Robinson. 

10. Roopam Sharma Wins World Health Summit Startup Award in Berlin 

i. Roopam Sharma, a 23-year old Indian scientist, won the World Health Summit Startup award, 2018 for his invention, Manovue – the world’s first intelligent personal assisting system for the visually impaired. 

ii. Sharma was awarded at an annual event of the health summit in Berlin recently. He is the youngest person to be recognized as one of the top innovators under 35 by the MIT Tech Review in 2016. 

11. Prof. M S Swaminathan Received 1st World Agriculture Prize

i. Prof. MS Swaminathan, chief architect of India’s Green Revolution was awarded the World Agriculture Prize for 2018. The global Jury of the 1st World Agriculture Prize had made the announcement. 

ii. The Award was presented by Vice President Naidu at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi at a special session, named “Swaminathan Global Dialogue on Climate Change and Food Security” organised by Indian Council of food and Agriculture (ICFA). 

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

·         Professor Swaminathan has been acclaimed by the TIME magazine as one of the twenty most influential Asians of the 20th century and one of the only three from India, the other two being Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore. 

Ranks And Reports

12. India Doubles Its Presence In QS Asia Ranking 2019 

i. According to a report named QS Asia University Rankings 2019 by Quacquarelli Symonds, India doubled their presence in the ranking. India has the third largest number of universities and institutes (75), after mainland China (112) and Japan (89). 

ii. The National University of Singapore has been assessed as Asia’s best university. IIT-Bombay remains the highest ranked institution. It moved one place to the 33rd position. 

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

·         QS Quacquarelli Symonds: Headquarters: London, UK.

13. IFFCO Biggest Cooperative In the World: Report

i. Fertiliser major IFFCO announced that it has been ranked as the biggest cooperative in the world by 'Word Cooperative Monitor' report 2018. 

ii. The report was based on the ratio of turnover over gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. IFFCO has nearly 36,000 member co-operatives and a turnover of nearly USD 3 billion (FY 2017-18). It has retained this position from 2016. 

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

·         IFFCO Stands for Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative. 

·         IFFCO Headquarters: New Delhi, Chairman: Mr. B. S. Nakai. 

·         The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and the European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises (Euricse) publish the world cooperative monitor report. 

Important Days

14. World Day For Audiovisual Heritage: 27 October

World Day for Audiovisual Heritage

i. World Day for Audiovisual Heritage is celebrated all over the world on 27th of October.
ii. The theme for World Day for Audiovisual Heritage 2018 is “Your Story is Moving”. 

Sports News

15. Sourav Kothari Clinches World Billiards Championship 

i. India’s Sourav Kothari defeated Peter Gilchrist of Singapore 1134-944 to clinch the 2018 WBL World Billiards Championship title.

ii. The former national and Asian Billiards champion had missed out on winning the coveted World Billiards crown on two occasions in the last two years, including a loss to Gilchrist in 2016 final in Bengaluru.