Current Affairs - October 30, 2018 Current Affairs

Madan Lal Khurana, former Delhi Chief Minister, passed away on October 27, 2018 after a prolonged illness. He was 82. He belonged to the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) party. He was the chief minister of Delhi from 1993 to 1996. He was the governor of Rajasthan in 2004.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Japan on October 28-29, 2018 to attend the India-Japan Annual Summit with the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. After the summit, the two sides exchanged 32 MoUs or agreements including USD 75 billion currency swap agreement and agreed to '2+2' dialogue. Japan and India entered into a USD 75 billion currency swap agreement that will boost Indian economy as it encounters a steep drop in the rupee's value. This swap arrangement would be 50 percent higher than the previous swap agreement. Japan had offered a USD 50 billion currency swap in 2013.

The 5th National Summit on Good and Replicable Practices and Innovations in Public Health Care Systems in India has begun at Kaziranga in Assam. State Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal and Union Health Minister J P Nadda inaugurated the three-day summit.

Belgium has secured number one spot in the latest FIFA's world rankings released on 25th October 2018. Belgium and France were tied at the top spot in September 2018. Belgium, with 1,733 points, moved forward by a single point and has secured the top spot. Brazil remains in third position, followed by Croatia and England. India remains at 97th place. Gibraltar, which only became FIFA member in 2016, has reached its best ranking of 190.

A Japanese rocket lifted off the United Arab Emirates first locally made satellite, the KhalifaSat Earth observation satellite, into orbit. The launch was done by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries from the Tanegashima Space Center. The rocket named: H-2A, also carried an Ibuki-2 greenhouse gas observation satellite for Japan. UAE aims to send its first two astronauts to the International Space Station in 2019. It also aims to send a probe on its way to Mars in 2020 and to build a science city there by 2117.

The country's first gallery on robotic dinosaurs was opened to the public at the Pushpa Gujral Science City, Kapurthala. Built at a cost of Rs 1.50 crore, the gallery with its robotic dinosaurs as well as manually operated ones will take the visitors million of years back to the period when dinosaurs roamed the earth freely, adding to the overall entertainment quotient. A total of seven moving dinosaurs, made from robust steel and silica gel with durable motors, have been added to the already existing 46 exhibits of the extinct species.

India Mobile Congress is one of the biggest marquee Mobile, Internet, and Technology event for South-East Asia organized by COAI and DoT. IMC 2018 was held in Aerocity, New Delhi. The congress was held under the theme of NEW DIGITAL HORIZONS. The congress aims at building ideas, forging lasting Industry relationships, showcasing cutting-edge mobile technology & product trends, providing sectoral insights, industrial solutions, case studies & workshops.

America's IBM has acquired software company Red Hat in a $34 billion cash and debt deal, marking its biggest ever acquisition till date. Founded 25 years ago, Red Hat was valued at about $20.5 billion at the end of trading. The open source, enterprise software maker will become a unit of IBM's Hybrid Cloud division, with Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst joining IBM's senior management team and reporting to CEO Ginni Rometty.

A panel of governors constituted by President Ram Nath Kovind submitted its report 'Approach to Agriculture : A Holistic Overview' on approach to agriculture for doubling farmer's income. The committee was headed by Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik. It made 21 major recommendations. Some of them being: Establishment of a KRISHAK SHIKAYAR NIVARAN CELLor farmer's grievances addressal system in every district, Development of climate-resilient and input-efficient varieties, Incentive grant to set up special agricultural zones and Regional hubs for region-specific crops, Slashing of premium rates of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana from 5 to 2.5 percent for big sowing area, Linking of the rural employment guarantee scheme MNREGA with productive agricultural activities, Encouraging women into agricultural activities since male counterparts are migrating.

Whatsapp partnered with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to train small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs on using the messaging platform. The main objective is to help connect and grow the SMe businesses through the social messaging platform. It consist of on-ground training around the country to explain the features and best practices on the WhatsApp Business app that was launched in January 2018.

State Bank of India (SBI) and payments solution provider Hitachi Payment Services India entered into an agreement to form a joint venture for establishing a card acceptance and digital payment platform. According to the joint venture (JV), Hitachi will pick up 26 percent stake in SBI Payment Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SBI. The JV will have various payment options to customers and merchants.

India and Qatar on October 29, 2018 established a joint commission to review all bilateral matters, as well as regional and global issues of mutual interest. A joint declaration was issued to this effect. The decision was taken following a meeting between Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, during former's visit to Qatar. The commission will be co-chaired by the Ministers of External Affairs and Foreign Affairs of the two countries or their representatives and may include representatives of the sectors concerned with bilateral cooperation in both the countries.

Spanish rider Maverick Vinales won the Australian MotoGP in Australia. This is Maverick Vinales's (Yamaha) first title of the season, who finished in 40mins 51.081 secs. Italy's Andrea Iannone (Suzuki) came second in 40:52,624. Third position was occupied by Italy's Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) in 40:52.913.

Renowned sculptor Ram Vanji Sutar, who has designed the Statue of Unity in Narmada district in Gujarat, will be conferred with the prestigious 2016 Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony. Beside Sutar, the Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony for the years 2014 and 2015 is being conferred on the doyen of Manipuri dance Sh. Rajkumar Singhajit Singh and Chhayanaut (a cultural organization of Bangladesh), respectively. The award recognizes Rajkumar's contribution in keeping the tradition of Manipuri dance alive and vibrant, promoting harmony through dance and also pays tribute to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. The award was instituted by the Government of India (GoI) during the commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore in 2011.

According to a new Standard Chartered study-'The Emerging Affluent Study 2018- Climbing the Prosperity Ladder', India is Asia's most investment savvy economy. The survey markets were: China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, the UAE.

The Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Thaawarchand Gehlot, announced that a stadium of international standard for differently-abled persons will be set up in Meghalaya. The stadium will be constructed at an estimated cost of over Rs 200 crore.

The Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport & Highways, Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation 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%. India currently occupies 0.66 % share in global shipbuilding market.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between India and Singapore in June 2018 on the constitution of a Joint Working Group (JWG) on FinTech. As per the pact, both countries will improve their regulatory connect to exchange best practices by sharing experience on policies and regulations related to fintech. The JWG will encourage collaboration of entrepreneurs and startups of both countries and develop fintech solutions for business/financial sectors. The MoU will benefit both countries to excel in the fields of development of Application Programming Interfaces (APls), Regulatory Sandbox, security in payment and digital cash flow.