IMPORTANT
CURRENT AFFAIRS OF OCTOBER 21st, 2018
IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF
OCTOBER 21st, 2018
1.
US President Donald Trump announced
that the country is going to withdraw from the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range
Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia.
a. The treaty
required elimination of short-range and intermediate-range nuclear and
conventional missiles by both countries.
2.
India has lost one spot to rank as the 9th most valuable
nation brand in the world, according to UK-based consultancy Brand
Finance's Nation Brands 2018 report.
a. However,
India's brand value increased by 5% to $2,159 billion.
b. USA topped the
list with a 23 per cent increase in brand value (TO $25,899 billion from
$21,055 billion).
c. China came in
second with a 25 per cent increase in brand value (to $12,779 billion from
$10,209 billion).
3.
India and US have agreed to elevate their bilateral ‘Cope
India’ Air Exercise to trilateral format by including Japan.
a. The next
edition of this exercise is scheduled to be held in December 2018 for which
final planning conference to finalise its modalities will held in Kalaikunda,
West Bengal.
4.
The 12th ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM) and 5th
ADMM-Plus were held during 19th and 20th October 2018 at
Singapore.
a. ADMM and
ADMM-Plus serves as key Ministerial-level platforms in regional security
architecture for promoting strategic dialogue and practical cooperation between
ASEAN and its partners.
b. The
conferences were attended by defence ministers from India, Australia, China,
Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and US.
c. India was
represented by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
d. This was
second time Singapore has chaired ADMM since its establishment in 2006 and
first time to chair ADMM-Plus since its establishment in 2010.
5.
The 7th meeting of Education Ministers of Member States
of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was held in Astana (Kazakhstan).
a. The meeting
was organised with assistance of Kazakhstan Government and its Ministry of
Education and Science, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Rector’s Office of
University of SCO (USCO).
6.
Today (21st October) is Police Commemoration Day.
a. Police
Commemoration Day is bserved on October 21 every year to remember the
sacrifices of ten policemen who died in Chinese firing in 1959.
7.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today inaugurated and dedicated to
the nation a newly-refurbished National Police Memorial and a
newly-built Police Museum in Delhi.
a. A
30-foot-tall and 238-tonne heavy black granite sculpture honouring the slain
troopers and a wall of valour bearing the names of
over 34,800 martyred personnel were also unveiled during the event.
8.
Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik has approved
the renaming of Allahabad as Prayagraj with
immediate effect.
a. The name 'Prayagraj'
derives from a place in the city called Prayag, where three rivers
flowing across the state meet.
9.
Days after Uttar Pradesh government renamed Allahabad to
Prayagraj, Himachal Pradesh government has announced that it
is considering renaming its capital Shimla to 'Shyamala'.
10.
India’s longest river bridge with
total length of 19.3 kilometers will be built on Brahmaputra
river (Assam).
a. This bridge
will connect Dhubri of Assam to Fulbarani of Meghalaya.
b. It will
reduce the distance between these two places by 203 kms and
also travel time.
c. Important
Note : At present, India’s largest river bridge is Dhola-Sadia
bridge, its length is 9.15 kilometers.
11.
The Netherlands has issued its 1st
gender-neutral passport to 57-year-old Leonne Zeegers.
a. The 57 year
old received a passport with the gender designation X, instead of M for man or
V for woman.
12.
4 peaks of the Himalayan range near Gangotri
glacier have been named after three-time Prime Minister of
India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee who passed away in August.
a. A team of
mountaineers recently scaled the peaks and hoisted the Tricolour on them.
b. Note : Uttarakhand
Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj had announced the idea to name them after
Vajpayee came in view of his love for mountains.
13.
The Ministry of Finance has imposed
anti-dumping duties of up to $185.51 per tonnefor 5 years on
certain Chinese steel products.
a. The duties
have been imposed to guard domestic industry against cheap imports of straight
length bars and rods of alloy steel.
14.
The European and Japanese space
agencies have launched a 7-year mission to Mercury titled BepiColombo.
a. The mission
comprises two satellites launched together: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO)
and Mio (Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, MMO).
15.
China’s first home-grown amphibious aircraft AG600
(code-named Kunlong) successfully carried out its first take-off
and landing on water.
a. In this
maiden flight, the seaplane took off from Zhanghe Reservoir in Jingmen, Hubei’s
province and stayed airborne for about 15 minutes
b. It is claimed
to be world’s largest amphibious aircraft.
16.
Portuguese professional footballer Cristiano
Ronaldo became the 1st player to score 400 goals across
the top-five European football leagues after getting on the scoresheet
in his side's match against Genoa today.
17.
Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal reached the
final of the Denmark Open after beating Indonesia's Gregoria
Mariska Tunjung in the semifinal.
a. The
28-year-old, who won her first and only Denmark Open title on October 21, 2012,
will now face world number one Tai Tzu-Ying (Taiwan) in the
final on October 21, 2018.
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