Monthly Current Affairs Quiz - October, 2018

Notes:
The 6th RCEP Inter-sessional Ministerial Meeting (IMM) was held in Singapore on 12-13 October, 2018. The Ministers from 16 RCEP countries discussed modern, comprehensive and mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement among ASEAN and ASEAN’s FTA partners. The Indian delegation was led by CR Chaudhary, the Minister of State for Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. The meeting also reviewed developments since the 6th RCEP Ministerial Meeting held in August 2018 in Singapore. The RCEP stands for “Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership”. It is a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the 10 member states of the ASEAN (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and the six Asia-Pacific states with which ASEAN has existing free trade agreements (Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand).

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The World Food Day (WFD) is observed every year across the world on 16th of October to commemorate the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1945. The theme for WFD 2018 is “Our Actions Are Our Future ! A #ZeroHunger World by 2030 is possible”. Zero hunger means working together to ensure everyone, everywhere, has access to the safe, healthy and nutritious food they need. To achieve it, we must adopt a more sustainable lifestyle, work with others, share our knowledge and be willing to help change the world – for the better.

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On October 18, the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit has started in Brussels, Belgium with theme “Global Partners for Global Challenges”. The summit will prioritise issues related to connectivity, trade and investment, sustainable development, climate change, terrorism, migration, maritime security and cyberspace. The meeting will bring together Heads of state of 30 European and 21 Asian countries, besides top representatives of the European Union and Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu will lead the Indian delegation at the two-day summit. This will also be the first multilateral summit that Vice President will be attending after taking office in August 2017.

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India has been ranked as the 58th most competitive economy on the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) for 2018. The WEF stated that India’s rank rose by five places from 2017, the largest gain among G20 economies. On the list of 140 economies, the US topped the list followed by Singapore and Germany. As per the report, India leads the region in all other areas of competitiveness except for health, education and skills. It further added that India has invested more heavily on transport infrastructure and services. As per the report, India’s greatest competitive advantages include its market size and innovation. Among the BRICS economies, China topped the list at 28th place. India, however, remained the “South Asia’s main driving force”. The GCI 4.0 is a composite indicator that assesses the set of factors that determine an economy’s level of productivity – widely considered as the most important determinant of long-term growth.

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The first-ever Indo-Japan joint military exercise “Dharma Guardian- 2018” will be conducted at Counter Insurgency Warfare School, Vairengte from 01 November to 14 November. During the 14 day long exercise, due emphasis will be laid on increasing interoperability between forces from both countries. Both sides will jointly train, plan and execute a series of well developed tactical drills for neutralisation of likely threats that may be encountered in urban warfare scenario. Experts from both sides will also hold detailed discussions to share their expertise on varied operational aspects. The exercise will contribute immensely in developing mutual understanding and respect for each other’s militaries and also facilitate tracking the worldwide phenomenon of terrorism.

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Social Entrepreneur Suheil Tandon has been conferred with the IOC Sports and Active Society Development Grant award for 2018 for his contribution to sports for development. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) award ceremony was held during the Olympism in Action forum at Buenos Aires. Suheil is the founder of Pro Sport Development (PSD) and Executive Director of Martha Farrell Foundation (MFF). He is committed towards using sport as a tool for the holistic development of youth rather than just for their sporting development. He also uses sport as a tool to challenge unequal and harmful gender relations, with the goal of ending violence against women and girls. The sports-based programmes of PSD are empowering marginalized communities in India, especially children and youth, by creating a level-playing field.

Notes:
On Oct. 27, Turkey will host the four nation summit on Syria crisis in Istanbul to discuss the conflict in Syria and efforts for a lasting solution to the war in the Arab country. The summit will be held between the leaders of Turkey, France, Germany and Russia. Russia is a main backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government while Turkey has been helping insurgents trying to remove him from power. Though, in September 2018, Russia and Turkey reached an agreement to set up a demilitarized zone around the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib preventing a government offensive on the last rebel stronghold in the country. Idlib and adjacent areas are the last stronghold of rebels. The area is also home to an estimated 3 million people, more than half of whom have already been displaced once during the war. Hence, all aspects of the Syrian conflict are expected to be discussed, including the situation on the ground, the Idlib agreement and efforts for a lasting solution to the conflict.

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The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has formed a panel to examine the feasibility of payment of general and health insurance claims in instalments. It will be headed by Suresh Mathur, ED (Health) in IRDAI. The panel will look into the need for allowing settlement of personal accident and benefit-based health insurance claims in instalments by general and health insurance companies.

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The National Police Commemoration Day (NPCD) is observed every year on October 21 to remember the sacrifices of ten policemen who died in Chinese firing in 1959 in Ladakh’s Hot Spring area. Indian Police personnel were responsible for manning the 2,500 mile long border of India with Tibet until the autumn of 1959. In 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the National Police Memorial (NPM) in New Delhi to the nation in recognition of the sacrifices made by soldiers from the paramilitary forces and state police since India’s independence. The Prime Minister also announced an award in the name of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, to honour the police and paramilitary personnel, involved in disaster response operations. The award would be announced every year, recognizing the bravery and courage displayed in saving lives of people, in the wake of a disaster. Since independence, 34,844 police personnel have lost their lives while protecting the country. This year, 424 lost their lives.

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The Mumbai cricket team clinched the 2018 Vijay Hazare Trophy after a gap of 11 years with a 4-wicket victory over Delhi at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. It’s their 3rd title. Mumbai last won the trophy way back in 2006-07 when they defeated Rajasthan.