DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: OCTOBER 9, 2018

Daily Current Affairs ( Oct 9, 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

Government sets up key panel under NSA to assist National Security Council

The Central government has revised the Strategic Policy Group (SPG), that assists the National Security Council in advising Prime Minister Narendra Modi on matters of national security and strategic interests.

The group is the first of the three tier structure of the NSC. The group will now be headed by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, making him the most powerful bureaucrat in India.

Earlier, the policy group was chaired by the Cabinet Secretary, the senior most bureaucrat in the government. The reconstitution of the group now places NSA at the top of the structure.

India Signed Key Agreements With Tajikistan

The President Ramnath Kovind hold bilateral talks with his Tajikistan counterpart Ammoli Rahmon in Tajikistan.

Indian grant of 20 million US dollars was announced for Tajikistan to finance development projects.

The two leaders agreed to strengthen political relations, strategic research, agriculture, renewable energy, traditional medicine, space technology, youth affairs, culture and disaster management relations between India and Tajikistan.

Tajikistan

Capital: Dushanbe

Currency: Tajikistani somoni

Prithvi-II Missile successfully test-fired In Odisha

India’s Strategic Forces Command has successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile during night time as part of a user trial by the Army from a test range in Odisha.

The surface-to-surface missile, which has a strike range of 350 km, was launched from a mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near Balasore.

The missile is capable of carrying 500 to 1,000 kilogramme of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twin engines. The state-of-the-art missile uses advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring trajectory to hit its target.

Indian Railways Signed Agreements With Government of Russian Federation

A memorandum of cooperation (MoC) was signed between the Ministry of Railways and joint-stock company Russian Railways on the sidelines of the India-Russia Summit.

It includes the implementation of a speed-upgradation project in the Nagpur-Secunderabad section, setting up of a single traffic-control centre for managing mixed traffic at the local level, best practices in freight cargo operations, development of multi-modal terminals and exchange of the best technologies used by the two countries.

The cooperation agreement was signed by Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani and Oleg Belozerov, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Russian Railways.

Odisha Government Launched ‘Nirman Kusuma’ Scheme

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has launched ‘Nirman Kusuma’ programme for providing financial assistance to the children of the construction workers for their technical education in the state.

The children of construction workers would get financial assistance for their education in Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and polytechnics.

The state government has doubled the death benefits for the construction workers. While the construction workers’ family was getting Rs. one lakh as compensation, now they will get Rs. two lakh.

Similarly, the accidental benefit has been doubled from Rs. two lakh to Rs. four lakh.

CII inks pact with UN Environment

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the UN Environment for coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development.  

Mr Erik Solheim, Executive Director, UN Environment, and Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director-General, Confederation of Indian Industry, today signed an MoU at CII’s headquarters in Delhi.

The major activity planned under the agreement includes the #Un-plastic Initiative of the CII and UN Environment that will begin with a ‘Call to Action’, which will include commitments by the industry to take action to curb plastic pollution.

UN Environment

Headquarters: Nairobi, Kenya

Head: Erik Solheim

BANKING AND ECONOMY

Flipkart teams up with Bajaj Allianz to offer insurance

Flipkart has secured a corporate agency licence from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) and has partnered Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.

It aims to offer customised insurance solutions to power its mobile phone protection programme for all leading mobile phone brands that are sold on its platform.

Customers who buy the plan will be offered either a cash payout, or a free pickup, service and drop facility if their devices get damaged or stolen.

IMF projects India’s growth at 7.3% in 2018, 7.4% in 2019

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecasted a growth rate of 7.3 percent for India in the current year of 2018 and that of 7.4 percent in 2019.

In 2017, India had clocked a 6.7 percent growth rate.

China was the fastest growing economy in 2017 as it was ahead of India by 0.2 percentage points. For the record, the IMF has lowered the growth projections for both India and China by 0.4 per cent and 0.32 per cent, respectively.

Inflation is estimated at 3.6 per cent in fiscal year 2017/18 and projected at 4.7 per cent in fiscal year 2018/19.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

Nobel Prize 2018: Nobel Prize In Economic Sciences Goes To William D. Nordhaus

And Paul M. Romer

The 2018 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences was jointly shared by two Americans, William Nordhaus and Paul Romer of for integrating innovation and climate with economic growth.

While Nordhaus has won it for ‘investigating climate change into long-run macroeconomic analysis’, Romer won it for ‘integrating technological innovations into long-run macroeconomic analysis’.

In 1968, Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden’s central bank) established the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize.

ESIC wins ‘ISSA GOOD Practice Award, Asia & the Pacific 2018’

The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has won the ‘ISSA Good Practice Award’ for Administrative Solution for Coverage Extension at the “Regional Social Security Forum for Asia and the Pacific” held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The award recognizes the measures taken by ESIC for extension of coverage-SPREE (Scheme for Promoting Registration of Employers and Employees), reduced rate of contribution rates for 24 months in newly implemented areas and raising the wage limit for coverage under the ESI Act, etc.

Shri Raj Kumar, IAS, Director General, ESIC represented Employees’ State Insurance Corporation and received the Certificate of Merit on behalf of ESIC.

APPOINTMENTS

Interpol President Meng Hongwei resigns

The Interpol President Meng Hongwei has resigned, after being detained by Chinese authorities.

Meng, who is concurrently a Chinese deputy minister of public security, was elected to head Interpol in 2016 and slated to serve at its Lyon, France, headquarters until 2020.

Senior Vice-President Kim Jong Yang of South Korea will be the acting president of the international criminal police organization until the new president is elected.

Interpol

Headquarters: Lyon, France

SPORTS

India’s Keerthana Pandian Wins Girls’ Title In IBSF World U-16 Snooker Championships

India’s Keerthana Pandian has won the girls’ title in the IBSF World Under-16 Snooker Championships.

In the final in St Petersburg, Russia, Keerthana outclassed her Belarussian rival Albina Leschuk 3-1.

It is the Indian girl’s maiden international crown. In the corresponding boys category, Ben Martens of Belgium won the title.

Youth Olympic Games 2018: Thangjam Tababi Devi Clinches India’s 1st Judo Medal

Thangjam Tababi Devi became India’s first judo medallist at the Olympic level, claiming a silver at the ongoing Youth Games after losing to Venezuela’s Maria Giminez in the finals of the women’s 44kg category.

Her silver was India’s second medal at the ongoing Games after shooter Tushar Mane also clinched the second position in the men’s 10m air rifle competition.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Post Day – October 9

World Post Day is celebrated each year on 9 October, the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1874 in the Swiss Capital, Bern.

t was declared World Post Day by the UPU Congress held in Tokyo, Japan in 1969.

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