VINTAGE

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF OCTOBER 16^th, 2018

                         IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF OCTOBER 16^th, 2018

1.      (16th October) is World Food Day.

a.      This day is celebrated every year around the world on 16th October in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945.

b.     World Food Day 2018 Theme : “Our Actions Are Our Future. A #Zero Hunger World By 2030 Is Possible”.

2.     World Spine Day.

a.      Theme of World Spine Day 2018 : “Love Your Spine!”

3.     The 6th RCEP Inter-sessional Ministerial Meeting (IMM) was recently held at Singapore.

a.      The Ministers from 16 RCEP countries met in Singapore to discuss a modern, comprehensive and mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement among ASEAN and ASEAN's FTA partners.

b.     India was represented by : C. R. Chaudhary (Minister of State for Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution)

4.     Uttar Pradesh Cabinet led by CM Yogi Adityanath has approved the proposal to rename Allahabad.

a.      From today, Allahabad will be called Prayagraj. 

b.     The new name 'Prayagraj' derives from a place in the city called Prayag, where three rivers (Ganga, Yamuna and Sarasvati) flowing across the state meet.

5.     The Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has launched Youth Road Safety Learners Licence programme in New Delhi today. 

a.      It is first-of-its-kind training programme in India. 

b.     This programme will help Government to achieve its target of reducing road accidents by 50% by 2020.

c.      It is Public–private partnership (PPP) initiative in collaboration with Diageo India and Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE).

6.     The Madras Institute Of Technology (MIT) has announced plans to create a $1-billion college for Artificial Intelligence (AI) focusing on "responsible and ethical" uses of the technology. 

a.      This move comes amid growing concerns about the impacts of AI on global institutions.

7.     The Indian Railways has decided to install the Loco Cab Voice Recording (LCVR) devices (also known as Black Boxes) in the train engines to facilitate investigators trying to identify the cause of accidents and assess crew performance. 

a.      Note : The black box is currently used in Aircrafts. 

8.     Election strategist Prashant Kishor was today appointed the Vice-President of JD(U)by party chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. 

a.      Kishor has earlier worked in PM Narendra Modi's successful campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and Nitish Kumar's campaign for 2015 Bihar Assembly polls. 

9.     India's trade deficit for the month of September hit its lowest level in five months at $13.98 billion.

a.      This comes despite rising oil imports by India, the world's third-biggest crude oil importer. 

b.     Note : The trade deficit refers to the amount by which the cost of a country's imports exceeds the value of its exports.

10. The Income Tax Department is working on a policy that would reward honest and consistent taxpayers by giving them priority while availing public services at airports, railway stations and highways. 

a.      Civic receptions could also be held by the government to honour these taxpayers. 

b.     They will also get a unique identification number or their PAN would be flagged as special.

11.                       National Award winning music director Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi, famously known as ‘Khayyam’, has been named for this year’s Hridaynath Award for Lifetime Achievement 2018.

12.                       The do-founder of American multinational technology company Microsoft along with Bill Gates, Paul Allen (65), passed away after battling cancer. 

a.      Allen came up with the name Microsoft and had left the company in 1983.

13.                       Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu today released the Biography of late Industrialist, Dr. Anumolu Ramakrishna titled ‘Building a Legacy’.

a.      This book has been authored by V. Pattabhi Ram and R. Mohan.

14.                       The Indian Under-18 Men’s and Womens Hockey teams won Silver Medals at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games held at Buenos Aires, Argentina.

15. 18 years and 339 days old Prithvi Shaw became the youngest Indian to win the Man of the Series award in Test cricket history. 

a.      Shaw also became the 10th cricketer and fourth Indian after Sourav Ganguly, Ravichandran Ashwin and Rohit Sharma to win the award in his maiden Test series. 

b.     Shaw scored 237 runs in the 2-match series against Windies