Current Affairs - October 12, 2018 Current Affairs

Wrestler Rahul Aware, the Commonwealth Games gold medallist, was awarded the Best Sportsperson of the Year award at the annual Sports Journalists' Association of Mumbai (SJAM) award function. The awards function was sponsored by Star Sports.

Harvinder Singh won India's maiden archery gold in the Asian Para Games 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Harvinder defeated China's Zhao Lixue by scoring 6-0 in the W2/ST category final. On the fifth day, the country clinched three silver and four bronze medals.

Indian para high jumper Sharad Kumar won gold in men's high jump T42/63 category. This is his second successive gold in the Asian Para Games 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Silver was claimed by Varun Bhati (1.82m), Rio Paralympic bronze-medallist, and bronze by Thangavelu Mariyappan (1.67m), Rio gold-medallist. The F46 category of disability covers upper limb deficiency, impaired muscle power or impaired range of movement.

Sunil Bhaskaran, Tata Group veteran, has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of low-cost carrier AirAsia India with effect from November 15, 2018. Mr.Bhaskaran was the vice-president, Corporate Services at Tata Steel. He has more than three decades' experience in the fields of manufacturing, export and commercial operations with the Tata Group. Mr.Bhaskaran is to oversee the next phase of expansion and growth of the company, AirAsia India. The airline is jointly owned by Tata Sons and Air Asia Bhd. AirAsia India has a market share of less than 5% and a fleet of 19 aircraft.

President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the 13th Annual Convention of the Central Information Commission in New Delhi. The Convention deliberated on three specific subjects - Data privacy and Right to Information, Amendment in the RTI Act and Implementation of the RTI Act. All the present and former Chief Information Commissioners, Information Commissioners of the Central Information Commission, State Information Commission, RTI activists and NGOs associated with the implementation of the RTI Act attended the Convention.

Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in as United States Supreme Court justice. Brett Kavanaugh is 53 years old. He won the election by a vote of 50-48. Current Chief Justice of United States is John Roberts.

The Pakistan Army appointed Lt. Gen. Asim Munir as the new chief of Pakistan's powerful spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). He previously served as head of the Military Intelligence. He was recently promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General by the Army Promotion Board, headed by Chief of Army Staff Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa. He replaces Lt. Gen. Naveed Mukhtar. His office will assume charge from October 25.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (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. Another MoU was signed between CUJ and the Central Scientific Instruments Organization (CSIR-CSIO) to create awareness about space research. This is the first of its kind institute coming up in Jammu and Kashmir and the building is proposed in an area of about 1,150 sq. m.

Kakinada SEZ Ltd., a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Ltd., has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Andhra Pradesh Gas Development Corporation (APGDC). The agreement is to get access to piped domestic natural gas for its upcoming 10,500-acre zone. With this development, Kakinada SEZ would be the first zone on the eastern coast of India to provide Piped Natural Gas (PNG) supply to all its industrial units. The Kakinada SEZ lies 6 km away from the Kakinada Srikakulam pipeline. APGDC has agreed to lay a spur line from the main trunk line to the zone premises for facilitating piped gas access to commercial and industrial customers.

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. The agreement was signed by Minister of the Moscow City government and head of its international relations Sergey Cheremin and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

The World Bank released the Human Capital Index (HCI) as part of the World Development Report 2019. Broader theme of the World Development Report (WDR) this year is "The Changing Nature of Work". As part of this report, the World Bank has launched a Human Capital Project (HCP). The HCI has been constructed for 157 countries. The HCI for India has been estimated at 0.44. The Index was released at the World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings in Bali, Indonesia. Singapore topped the poll after it was highly rated for its universal health care system, education exams results and life expectancy figures. It is followed by South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Finland. India was ranked at the 115th position lower than Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Bureaucrat D Prasanth Kumar Reddy has been appointed as private secretary (PS) to Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on 8thOctober 2018. He is a 2009-batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre. He has been appointed to the post for a tenure of five years or on co-terminus basis with the vice president's tenure. He is at present posted in his state cadre.

State Bank of India has signed an MoU with Kathmandu-based National Banking Institute (NBI) for the development of human resources of the latter. Under the MoU, the strategic training unit of SBI will impart education, training and development to facilitate transformation of NBI's HR department. SBI signed the three-year MoU with NBI to establish a mutually beneficial strategic alliance for development of NBI's human resources by imparting education, training and research.

The Website for Aero India 2019 is: https://aeroindia.gov.in/Aero-India The portal facilitated payment of registration fee online for business visitors. Furthermore, it has been integrated with multi-currency Payment Gateway where Indian companies would be able to pay in Indian Rupees using Credit Card/Debit Card/Net Banking/UPI/NEFT/RTGS and foreign companies would be able to pay in US dollars using credit card/debit card.

NITI Aayog and IBM announced a first-of-its-kind internship programme for students selected by Atal Innovation Mission (AIM). The internship will see 38 students receive a two-week paid internship, and 14 teachers from Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) across the length and breadth of the country including from states such as Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar and others, to come together and ideate, collaborate and innovate.

Sikkim has become the pioneer in organic farming. This achievement has made it world's first totally organic agriculture State in India. UNFAO has shortlisted Sikkim for the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's (FAO) Future Policy Award. In 2015, Sikkim was announced as the first organic state in the world with more than 66,000 farming families practising organic farming state-wide, managing 75,000 hectares organic certified. The FAO said that the award would celebrate policies that create enabling environments for sustainable agriculture.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) has made Senegal the host of the 2022 Youth Olympic Games, making it the first African host of any Olympics. Senegal will host the youth games in 3 places: Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly. Senegal President Macky Sall announced that a 50,000-seat Olympic Stadium will be built. The budget for the games is estimated to be $150 million. The construction project for the games include a rail link and an athletes village.