Current Affairs - October 18, 2020 Current Affairs

Life expectancy in India has increased from 59.6 years in 1990 to 70.8 years in 2019. In Kerala, life expectancy increased to 77.3 years while on the in Uttar Pradesh it was reported as 66.9 years.

Gujarat government will be developing the biggest zinc smelter of the world in Dosawada, Tapi district, Gujarat. The state government and Vedanta group's Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard.

The headquarters of SCO is located in Beijing, China. The SCO is a China led eight member economic and security bloc, in which India and Pakistan were admitted as full members in 2017.

Israel's parliament voted in favour of formally ratifying the country's historic agreement normalising diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates.

The Global hunger index was launched on October 16 2020. It has been jointly prepared by Welhunger life and Concern Worldwide. This year, India has been ranked 94th Out of 107 countries. In 2018 was India ranked 103 while in 2019 India was ranked 102.

The World Bank aided- Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States (STARS) project would be implemented as a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme under the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education (MoE). These are aligned with the objectives of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 of Quality Based Learning Outcomes.

Renowned Author and Politician, Shashi Tharoor is set to release his new book titled "The Battle of Belonging" .

The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.

Ministry of Culture (Performing Arts Bureau) implemented various schemes under its Kala Sanskriti Vikas Yojana (KSVY).

Leather Sector Skill Council launches SCALE India Android App for Enhanced Quality Assurance under Skill India Mission.

National Informatics Centre (NIC), IEEE Computer Society and Oracle will organise Gov Tech- Thon 2020 commencing from October 30, 2020 to November 1, 2020. This would be launched under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

BepiColombo was launched on the Ariane 5 rocket and will arrive Mercury in 2025. This spacecraft mission has been launched to explore and study the mercury. The spacecraft would be studying the characterisation of magnetosphere and the external and surface magnetic field of the mercury.

Uttar Pradesh government launched a 6-month long women empowerment programme 'Mission Shakti' on October 17, 2020. The initiative was launched in order to raise awareness and tackle crime against women in the state.

To improve public health in India and combat negative nutritional trends to fight lifestyle diseases, FSSAI launched 'The Eat Right Movement'

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. It was founded in October 1945.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recently released the Global Tuberculosis Report, 2020. The report Highlights the impact of COVID-19 on Tuberculosis (TB) related deaths. It says that COVID-19 might increase the TB deaths by 0.2 to 0.4 million worldwide.

The Raksha Mantri Trophy for the year 2019 has been awarded to the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS)' Command Hospitals.

Chabahar Port is a seaport in Chabahar located in south eastern Iran, on the Gulf of Oman.

The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is observed on October 17 every year by the united nations.