Current Affairs - October 21, 2018 Current Affairs

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) formed a panel to examine claims in installments. This panel is headed by Suresh Mathur, ED (Health), IRDAI. This will look into the feasibility of the proposal of general and health insurance companies for payment of claims in installments as against lump sum payments.

India will host the fourth edition of Global Partners' Forum in December 2018 in New Delhi. The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) will unite over 100 countries' representatives to discuss issues, strategies and solutions to women's, children's and adolescents' health. It will be co-hosted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and PMNCH. Dr Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile is the chair of PMNCH.

The World Diamond Council (WDC) is to hold its 14th annual general meeting (AGM) in Mumbai on October 22 -23, 2018. It will focus on reform of the Kimberley Process and WDC System of Warranties in support of a commitment to sustainable development by the diamond industry. Kimberley process is established in 2000 to prevent 'conflict diamonds' from entering the mainstream rough diamond market. The meeting will be hosted by the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council and the agenda will be to continue to focus on a push for reform.

Stephen Hawking's final work "Brief Answers to the Big Questions" was launched. It has been completed by the theoretical physicist's family and academic colleagues, with material drawn from his vast personal archive. It tackles various issues including existence of God, potential time travel and human intelligence during the next 100 years.

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. 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.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Space Apps challenge 2018 Hackathon has been organised at Dayananda Sagar University (DSU), Kudlu Gate campus, on Hosur Road. It is a two-day event. DSU has invited entries from school and college students. Coders, scientists, designers, storytellers, makers, builders, and technologists will address challenges faced on earth and in space. Top 20 teams would be invited to set up their enterprises based on the ideas presented at the competitions at the Bengaluru event.

India has secured 9th 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. India was ranked 8th in last year's report but slipped by a spot to the 9th rank, despite its brand value rose by 5%. 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. China's brand value saw an increase of 25% from last year.

QS Quacquarelli Symonds, the global higher education think tank, has released "QS India University Rankings 2019", it's first standalone ranking of India's higher education institutions. The rankings include Public Universities, Private Universities and H.E Institutions or Deemed Universities. IIT Bombay has been named India's leading institution.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal will receive the prestigious Carnot Prize from the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania in recognition of his work for rural electrification while he held the power and renewable energy portfolios. The Carnot Prize is given "for distinguished contributions to energy policy".

The book titled "Indian Sports: Conversations and Reflections" has been authored by Vijayan Bala, the veteran commentator and cricket statistican. The book is a compilation of interviews of eminent sports-persons he has conducted since 1971. Bala, who has also been a member of BCCI's Statistical Committee apart from being an English teacher, has interviewed Olympians like Balbir Singh Senior, Abhinav Bindra, Sushil Kumar, Sakshi Malik, Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore to name a few. Among the cricketers of yesteryears, he has interviewed MAK Pataudi, GR Viswanath, Eknath Solkar while Gautam Gambhir, Unmukt Chand are some of the current day players interviewed by him.

World Wrestling Championship has begun in Budapest, Hungary. Asian Games gold medallist Bajrang Punia will be India's best bet for a medal as a 30-member team seeks a strong performance in the flagship event.

Minal Patel Davis won the US' Presidential Medal for her work against sex slavery and labor exploitation at a White House ceremony attended by President Donald Trump. Davis is Special Adviser on Human Trafficking to Houston Mayor. A past speaker at the UN World Humanitarian Summit, Davis recently traveled to India and Canada to discuss municipal leadership in human trafficking. Davis did her MBA from the University of Connecticut and BA from New York University.

Second seed Adith Amarnath of Karnataka won the boy's under-14 title in the All India Tennis Association (AITA) championship series tennis tournament in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Adith defeated fourth seed Kandhavel Mahalingam of Tamil Nadu 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the final. The results (finals): Boys: Under-14: Adith Amarnath bt Kandhavel Mahalingam 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Under-12: Jason Michael David bt Kandhvel Mahalingam 5-7, 6-2, 6-0.

The 5th edition of the Women of India Organic Festival will be held from October 26 to November 4 at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi. It is being organised by the Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry to promote women organic farmers and entrepreneurs. The move aims to empower women to boost organic culture and promote women organic farmers and entrepreneurs. Over 500 women entrepreneurs from across the country would take part in the fest with their organic products such as cereals, rice, pulses, skin-care products, fabric and jewellery.

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 as planned to begin a seven-year journey to Mercury.