IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF OCTOBER 20th, 2017

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF OCTOBER 20th, 2017

1.  India and Russia On 20th October began their first ten-day, tri-service military exercise,Indra.

a.  This exercise will see participation from all three services- the Army, Air Force, and Navy. 

b.  Over 400 Indian personnel are taking part in the exercise being organised in Russia. 

c.   Important Note :  It is overall 10th edition of INDRA exercise and India’s first bilateral military exercise with any country involving all three services.

2.  The China-India war began on this day (20th October) in the year 1962, when the People's Liberation Army of China invaded Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh (then known as the North East Frontier Agency). 

a.  In the war that lasted till November 21, around 3,250 Indian soldiers were killed. 

b.  India also lost about 43,000 square kilometres of land, captured by China in Aksai Chin.

3.  India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) have signed the IBSA Trust Fund Agreement today.

a.  This agreement seeks to fight poverty in developing countries. 

b.  It was signed at the 8th IBSA trilateral Ministerial Commission Meeting in Durban, South Africa.

4.  According to Central Pollution Control Board data, after the Supreme Court banned the sale of firecrackers in Delhi and NCR till November 1, the city witnessed itscleanest Diwali in three years.

5.  The Bengaluru Metro which was launched as south India's first Metro service, has completed six years of operation today. 

a.  The Metro, which is India's second largest operational network, runs 50 trains.

6.  Norwegian Defence Minister Ine Eriksen was On 20th October appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

a.  This makes her the first woman to hold the post in the Nordic country. 

b.  Eriksen replaces Børge Brende, who was appointed President of the World Economic Forum last month.

7.  The Union ministry of electronics and information technology has set up an internal committee to advise the government on a policy on artificial intelligence (AI).

a.  The expert committee will advise the IT ministry on the most apt technologies for India.

8.  Australia's near 100-year automotive industry ended On 20th October after Holden, a unit of US carmaker General Motors, closed its plant to move manufacturing to cheaper locations. 

a.  Note : The first Australian-designed mass production car was manufactured by Holden in 1948.

9.  The Jaipur and Srinagar Airports were ranked first and second respectively in ACI (Airports Council International)-ASQ (Airport Service Quality) Survey in the category of 2-5 million passengers .

10.      Indian team enter finals of World Archery Championships in Mexico today.

11.      Indian woman cricketer Veda Krishnamurthy has become only the 3rd player from India to sign up for Women's Big Bash League after Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana. 

a.  The 25-year-old, who represented India in the 2017 World Cup, has signed a one-year deal with Hobart Hurricanes and will be available for 10 matches of the tournament, starting December 9.