Current Affairs News Headlines: October 20, 2018

Here are the main headlines for Current Affairs of October 20, 2018.

National Current Affairs

Manipur: Indian Army hands over 15 trained horses to Myanmar Army at Moreh town

• In a move to strengthen bilateral relations between India and Myanmar, 15 trained horses were handed over by Indian Army to Myanmar Army in a grand function organised at the Moreh, the
• commercial town in Manipur bordering Myanmar’s Saigang region.
• It was aimed at enhancing “mutual trust and bonding between the armies” of the two Asian neighbor, the release issued by the paramilitary force

Senior advocate Maninder Singh resigns from his post of Additional Solicitor General

• Senior Advocate Maninder Singh has resigned from his position as the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) after serving as a law officer in the post for over four years.
• Tushar Mehta was appointed to the post of Solicitor General of India. Singh is the senior most among the ASGs.
• There are four ASGs for the Centre in the Supreme Court – Pinky Anand, Atmaram Nadkarni, Vikramjit Banerjee, and Aman Lekhi.

 Odia filmmaker Amiya Ranjan Patnaik dies in New Delhi at 63

• Eminent Odia filmmaker Amiya Ranjan Patnaik passed away in New Delhi. Patnaik produced movies such as ‘Pardesi Babu’, ‘Mamata Mage Mula’, ‘Hakim Babu’, ‘Pua Moro Kalathakura’ and ‘Tulasi Apa’.
• He was adjudged the Best director in the Lok Natak Mahostav in 1978. He shot to fame with the production of a play ‘Byabhichara’ in 1981.

Economy & Corporate Affairs

BSE Sensex closes at 34,315.63 points (–463.95), NSE Nifty at 10,303.55 (–149.50)

• Benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE’s Nifty 50 fell over 1% dragged by market heavyweights Reliance Industries, HDFC and Infosys.
• The Reserve Bank announced more steps to increase liquidity flows to the non-banking financial companies. The RBI permitted banks to use government securities equal to their incremental outstanding credit to NBFCs, over and above their outstanding credit to them, to be used to meet liquidity coverage ratio requirements.

India foreign exchange reserves plunge by USD 5.143 billion to USD 394.465 billion during the week to October 12

• The continuing fall of the rupee has had its impact on foreign exchange reserves, which plunged by USD 5.143 billion to USD 394.465 billion during the week on account of decline in foreign
• currency assets.

RBI against separate regulator for payments system; issues dissent note

• An inter-ministerial committee, set up by the Department of Economic Affairs, to finalise amendments to the Payment & Settlement Systems (PSS) Act, 2007, has proposed the establishment of an Independent Payments Regulatory Board (PRB) to foster competition and consumer protection, systemic stability and resilience in the payments sector, which is being driven by the digital payments in the country.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has opposed a proposal to set up a separate and independent regulator for the payments industry in the country.

RBI eases liquidity norms for NBFCs which do not finance infrastructure

• RBI allows banks to use government securities as level 1 high quality liquid asset equivalent to the bank’s incremental lending to NBFCs and housing finance companies. This steps take the total carve-out from statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) for computing liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) to 13.5%.

International Current Affairs

Indian Vice President attends 12th ASEM Summit with the theme “Global Partners for Global Challenges”, in Brussels

• Mr Naidu will lead the Indian delegation at the two-day summit which will begin tomorrow. AIR Correspondent, covering the Vice President’s visit reports that the biennial event with the theme “Global Partners for Global Challenges”, is the highest platform for dialogue and cooperation between Asia and Europe in the areas of trade, investment, security and tourism.
• Naidu will also address the Indian Diaspora at Jain Culture Centre and offer floral tribute at a sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi at Antwerp in Brussels.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attends 12th ADMM-Plus (ASEAN Defence Ministers’Meeting–Plus) in Singapore

• The ADMM and ADMM-Plus serves as key Ministerial-level platforms in the regional security architecture, promoting strategic dialogue and practical cooperation between ASEAN and its partners.
• The conference will also be attended by defence ministers from Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the US.
• The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional intergovernmental organisation comprising 10 Southeast Asian countries, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration.

Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) party to form new government in Bhutan after winning 30 seats in 47-member National Assembly

• According to the commission 71.46 percent polling was recorded in the third general election. DNT President Dr Lotay Tshering won from South Thimphu constituency with a huge margin and he is set to form the new government. In last two elections the Bhutanese electorates had two old parties DPT and People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

United States merges the US Embassy and US Consulate General in Jerusalem into a single diplomatic mission

• United States Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo announced the merging of the US Embassy and US Consulate General in Jerusalem into a single diplomatic mission.
• Trump administration was committed to a peace effort between Israel and the Palestinians.

Indian-American Minal Patel Davis honored with ‘Presidential Medal for Combating Human Trafficking’

• Minal Patel Davis, Special Advisor on Human Trafficking to Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, received the ‘Presidential Medal for Combating Human Trafficking’ in the White House.
• Davis has made a local impact on human trafficking in America’s fourth largest city from a policy-level perspective and by helped in advancing systems change.

Sports Current Affairs

Pakistan (282/10, 400/9 declared) beat Australia (145/10, 164/9) by 374 runs in 2nd test at Abu Dhabi; win 2-match series 1-0

• Australia has plunged to fifth on the ICC World Test Rankings after a crushing 373-run loss to Pakistan.

Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires: Russia finish on top with 29 gold, 18 silver and 12 bronze medals; Japan 2nd and China 3rd

• Russia as leader of the medal table with 59, Argentina garnered 26 medals, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which innovated with new sports, were the top winners of the third edition of the Youth Olympic Games which ended Thursday in Buenos Aires.

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