DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: OCTOBER 26&27, 2018

Daily Current Affairs ( Oct 26&27, 2018) like many other sections is inevitable and this also helps to score in the Banking awareness , Static GK and Financial Awareness sections. Remember, Banking Awareness and Static Awareness Questions are asked from the General Awareness section. This will also help you to ride your preparations for the forthcoming exams.

NATIONAL

PM Modi began his two Day Visit To Japan

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two-day visit to Japan to take part in an annual summit between the two nations and will engage with his counterpart Shinzo Abe on a range of issues including defence and regional security.
• This will be the 13th annual summit and the fifth one to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
• India is also hoping to have integration between PM Modi’s Ayushman Bharat scheme, which is the largest medicare programme of its kind globally, and the Japanese programme which is called Asia Health and Wellbeing Initiative.

PM Modi Inaugurated Krishi Kumbha In Lucknow

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Krishi Kumbha 2018- a mega farmers’ conclave- in Lucknow.
• Israel and Japan are official partners of Krishi Kumbh 2018 that will continue for three days. Haryana and Jharkhand are the partner states for Krishi Kumbha 2018
• While Japan is being represented by a deputy minister, Israel’s ambassador to India Daniel Carmon is representing his country at this extravaganza.
• The Yogi Adityanath govt of Uttar Pradesh is likely to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Japan for investment in the agricultural and allied sectors.

President Of India Inaugurates International Arya Mahasammelan-2018

• The President inaugurated the International Arya Mahasammelan-2018 in New Delhi.
• Mahasammelan discussed on the issues such as prevention of superstition, modernization, women empowerment, tribal welfare, and management of natural calamities.
• The president discussed about Swami Dayanand Saraswati. He took effective measures for educational and social reform especially for women empowerment and eradication of untouchability.
• The 200th birth anniversary of Swami Dayanand Saraswati will be celebrated in 2024.

Punjab Signs MoUs With Israel For Agri Research, Water Management

• The Punjab government has signed four MoUs with Israeli institutions to address issues of farmers and depleting groundwater level in the state.
• The memorandums of understandings (MoUs) were signed here in the presence of Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.The MoUs will help boost cooperation between Punjab and Israel in areas such as water conservation as well as agricultural research and education.
• Three MoUs related to agricultural research were signed by the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) with Israel’s ARAVA Institute, Tel Aviv University (TAU) and Galilee International Management Institute.

INTERNATIONAL

Mahinda Rajapaksa Sworn In As Sri Lanka’s New PM

• Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa becomes the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.
• The decision was taken after the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) withdrew from the government. Rajapaksa replaces Ranil Wickremesinghe.
• This development comes after Maithripala Sirisena’s broader political front United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) announced that it has decided to quit the current government with prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP).

Sri Lanka

Capital: Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte

Currency: Sri Lankan rupee

Russia Successfully Launched 1st Soyuz Rocket Since Failed Space Launch

• Russia has successfully launched a Soyuz rocket for the first time since the failure of a similar rocket aborted a manned take-off to the International Space Station(ISS) recently.
• It was the third launch of a Soyuz rocket from Russia’s northern Plesetsk launch pad this year.
• Russia’s Roscosmos space agency has set up a commission to investigate the failed launch to the ISS and is set to announce its findings on October 30.

Russia

Capital: Moscow

Currency: Russian ruble

Ethiopia Appoints Sahle-Work Zewde As 1st Female President

• Ethiopia’s parliament has approved senior diplomat Sahle-Work Zewde as the country’s first female president.
• Sahle-Work is at present U.N. under-secretary general and special representative of the secretary general to the African Union. She replaces Mulatu Teshome Wirtu, who tendered his resignation to parliament.
• Sahle-Work becomes the fourth president since the ruling EPRDF coalition came to power.

Ethiopia

Capital: Addis Ababa

Currency: Ethiopian birr

NATO’s biggest military exercise begins in Norway

• NATO has launched its biggest war games since the end of the Cold War.
• Trident Juncture involves around 50,000 soldiers from 31 countries, with the aim to send a clear message to any potential adversary.
• It also includes 65 ships, 150 aircraft and 10,000 vehicles.
• NATO troops will be working together to repel a mock invasion of Norway.The UK’s contingent will be 2,700-strong and mainly made up of Army personnel. The UK is also contributing 480 vehicles and six ships.
• Its aim is to ensure that NATO forces are trained, able to operate together, and ready to respond to any threat from any direction.
• NATO Secretary-General: Jens Stoltenberg

Norway

Capital: Oslo

Currency: Norwegian krone

BANKING AND ECONOMY

IDFC Bank To Be Renamed As IDFC First Bank

• IDFC Bank has proposed to change its name to ‘IDFC First Bank Ltd‘ as it is in the process of amalgamating non-banking financial company Capital First with itself.
• The Board of Directors of IDFC Bank at its meeting decided to seek approval of the Reserve Bank of India to rename the bank as ‘IDFC First Bank Limited’, the new private sector lender said in a regulatory filing .
• Warburg Pincus-backed Capital First and IDFC Bank, with this merger in an all-stock deal, would create a Rs 88,000-crore combined entity.

APPOINTMENTS

Paytm Payments Bank Appoints Satish K Gupta As MD & CEO

• Paytm Payments Bank appointed Satish Kumar Gupta as its new managing director and CEO. Satish Gupta who comes with 35 years of experience in the banking and payments space earlier served in the leadership roles at SBI and NPCI.
• Satish Kumar Gupta’s appointment is the third CEO appointment at the Bank in two years after Shinjini Kumar left in May 2017.
• Note: Paytm has launched PayPay, a QR based smartphone payment service in collaboration with SoftBank Corp and Yahoo Japan. Paytm had raised $1.4 billion from SoftBank last year in exchange for a 20 percent stake.

IRS officer Sanjay Kumar Mishra appointed ED chief

• IRS officer Sanjay Kumar Mishra was appointed the new chief of the Enforcement Directorate in an additional capacity.
• Mishra, a 1984-batch Indian Revenue Service officer of the Income Tax cadre, has been appointed as the Principal Special Director in the agency and has been entrusted with the additional charge of ED Director for three months.
• Mishra will take over from incumbent Karnal Singh, a 1984-batch IPS officer of Union Territories cadre, will complete an over three year tenure as the ED Director.
• The ED enforces two major laws in the country to check black money — the criminal Prevention of Money Laundering Act and the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

Roopam Sharma Wins World Health Summit Startup Award In Berlin

• 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.
• Sharma was awarded at an annual event of the health summit in Berlin recently. Manovue eliminates the need for Braille language to decipher a printed text and instead combines vision intelligence to help the visually impaired people read.
• Manovue was also awarded the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2015 and Yahoo Accenture Innovation Jockeys season 4.

Winners of United Nations Human Rights Prize 2018 Announced

• The United Nations has announced the winners of United Nations Human Rights Prize 2018.
• The honour was given to Asma Jahangir, the late Pakistani lawyer and leading human rights defender, along with Tanzanian activist Rebeca Gyumi, Brazil’s first indigenous lawyer Joenia Wapichana and Irish human rights groups Front Line Defenders.
• This year’s award ceremony will be held at the UN headquarters in New York on Human Rights Day, which is marked globally on December 10.

Gujarat bags ‘Best Agriculture Award’

• Gujarat state has received ‘Best Agriculture Award’ by the Indian Council of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) at the ’11th Global Agriculture Leadership Summit and Leadership Awards – 2018′  in New Delhi.
• M S Swaminathan was the chairman of the jury for the awards.
• Gujarat has adopted several initiatives towards better farming practices and spreading awareness for the same. Its efforts such as Krishi Mahotsav, Soil Health Card, Water conservation, micro-irrigation, horticulture, post harvest management, dairy and animal husbandry were among the noteworthy interventions .

Tagore Award For Cultural Harmony For 2014, 2015 & 2016

• The Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016 were announced.
• The award jury was headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and included Chief Justice of India Justice Ranjan Gogoi, former chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami and national vice president of the BJP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe.
• The award was instituted by the government during the commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore in 2011. It carries an award prize of Rs 1 crore.
• For 2014, the award was given to Rajkumar Singhajit Singh, a doyen of Manipuri dance who is also a teacher, performer and choreographer.
• Chhayanaut, established in 1961, which has played a leading role in promoting Tagore’s works in Bengali culture, won the award for 2015.
• For 2016, the award was given to sculptor Ram Vanji Sutar, whose first notable work was the 45-feet Chambal monument at the Gandhi Sagar Dam in Madhya Pradesh.

SPORTS

Pooja Dhanda Wins Bronze Medal In World Wrestling Championships

• Pooja Dhanda became the fourth Indian woman to win a medal at the United World Wrestling (UWW) World Championships.
• She is from Haryana and she beat Grace Jacob Bhullen of Norway 10-7 in the play-off bout to win bronze in the 57kg category at the László Papp Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Day For Audiovisual Heritage – 27 October

• The World Day for Audiovisual Heritage takes place every 27 October.
• This commemorative day was chosen by UNESCO in 2005 to raise of awareness of the significance of and preservation risks recorded sound and audiovisual documents (films, sound and video recordings, radio and television programmes).