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• On 16th October 2018, World Food Day was celebrated all over the world.


• World Food Day is celebrated every year on October 16 by 150 countries to support Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations’ mission to create awareness and gather support to end world hunger.


• FAO and World Food Day Committee conducted 2018 World Food Day event, with the theme “Our actions are our future. A #zero hunger world by 2030 is possible”.

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• On October 10, 2018, Defence Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman started her maiden 3-day official visit to France till October 12, 2018.


• This is her maiden official visit to France.


• She participated in the 1st India-France Ministerial level annual defence dialogue in Paris.


• She held bilateral talks with her French Counterpart.


• She visited the Rafale manufacturing facility of Dassault amid controversy.


• She spoke at the Institute of Strategic Research (IRSEM) in Paris.

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• On October 13, 2018, India was elected to the United Nations’ top human rights body, UNHRC for a period of three years.


• The elections were conducted by UN General Assembly.


• This period would commence from January 1, 2019.


• India got 188 votes out of 193, the highest number of votes among all candidates.


• Along with India, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Fiji and Philippines were also selected for 5 seats in the Asia Pacific category.


• It is a part of the 18 new members elected in the UN Human Rights Council.


• Countries needed a minimum of 97 votes to get elected to the Council.


• India had previously been elected to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council for the 2011-2014 and 2014-2017 term.

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• On October 15, 2018, the Commerce ministry announced formulation of a national logistics policy for development of multimodal logistics parks to enable easy movement of goods and domestic and global trade purposes.


• Each park is supposed to have a plot of 50 acres with each costing Rs. 200-300 crore for development.


• 35 such parks have been proposed by different ministries including railways.


• These ministries include railways, shipping and the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.


• This proposal has been pioneered by Commerce ministry which is seeking cabinet’s approval for the national logistics policy.


• These benefits will in turn help in competitiveness of domestic goods in the international markets.


• In connection to this, the ministry is also working on the development of a national logistics portal as a single window marketplace to link all stakeholders.

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• On October 15, 2018, Shri Mansukh L. Mandaviya, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways and Chemical & Fertilizer today launched the Youth Road Safety Learners Licence programme in New Delhi.


• This programme will be run in collaboration with Diageo India and the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE).


• It will provide structured training program for young, first-time drivers.


• In the first year, the programme will cover 20 universities with a total of 400 programme across the country.

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• On October 15, 2018, inclusion of all 3 Special forces in the first Indo-US tri-services exercise was announced.


• The first such exercise involving all the 3 forces will be in India, and it will take place in 2019.


• An Initial Planning Conference (IPC) will be held to discuss the scale of the exercise.


• It will focus on United Nations-based scenario and the over-arching mission of humanitarian assistance, disaster relief measure.


• In the exercise, the Indian Army will have Para SF, the Navy will have Marcos while the Air Force’s Garud will be their respective Special Forces.


• It was formally announced after the first 2 plus 2 plus dialogue between the External Affairs and Defence Ministers of the 2 countries.

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• On October 14, 2018, Union Minister of State for Textiles, Ajay Tamta, inaugurated the 46th edition of world’s largest IHGF-Delhi Fair at India Expo Centre & Mart at Greater Noida.


• The fair will remain open till 18th October, 2018.


• It would be participated by over 3200 exhibitors and overseas buyers from over 110 countries.


• He announced the creation of a portal of Government and handicrafts exporters to provide more assistance to the artisans for healthcare and education of their children.


• He urged the exporters to participate and prepare for the Ambiente 2019 to be held in Frankfurt, Germany, where India will be the partner-country.

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• On October 14, 2018, the Textile ministry announced that the Union Minister of Textiles, Smriti Zubin Irani, will inaugurate the 6th edition of India International Silk Fair (IISF) in New Delhi on October 16, 2018.


• The International Silk fair will be organised by the Indian Silk Export Promotion Council (ISEPC) at Pragati Maidan.


• Over 108 exhibitors of silk and blended silk products and over 218 buyers from various countries will participate in the fair.


• The IISF-2018 is expected to generate business of over USD 20 million for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) engaged in producing silk and blended silk products.


• Also, the Central Silk Board will put up a Theme Pavilion showcasing the future vision of Indian Silk Industry.

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• On October 14, 2018, the Delhi government announced Chief Minister’s Urban Leaders Fellowship Programme.


• To attract young leaders to address serious urban challenges.


• Under this, a total of 30 young professionals, under 35 years age, have been invited with #Delhi Governance Revolution.


• Accoding to the scheme, the selected candidates will work with Ministers or Senior Officials of Education, Health, Water, Environment, Transport, etc.


• The remuneration for Fellows will be Rs. 1,25,000 per month and Associate Fellows will be Rs. 75,000 p.m.

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• On October 15, 2018, the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB), in its 63rd meeting, approved to enhance free accident insurance cover provided to pilgrims visting Vaishno Devi shrine.


• The decision was taken at the Raj Bhavan in Srinagar under the chairmanship of J&K Governor and chairman of SMVDSB, Satya Pal Malik.


• Under this, the accidental cover extended to each pilgrim free of cost has been enhanced to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 3 lakh, after 8 years.


• This will be available to pilgrims, who avail the services of the upcoming Passenger Ropeway between Bhawan and Bhairon Ghati.


• The premium on providing insurance cover to the pilgrims will be borne by the Shrine Board.


• The board also approved a medical support policy for the treatment of victims of public trauma including victims of road accidents, landslides or shooting stones.


• Under this, medical assistance of upto Rs 2 lakh would be provided to each patient.


• Also, a new, fully-equipped and staffed medical unit at Lambi Keri has been established to attend medical emergencies in the Adhkuwari-Sanjichhat sector.


• The board also approved to implement the Group Mediclaim Insurance Policy for all the 2,960 of its employees.


• It will have enhanced insurance cover of Rs 6 lakh for individual and and a total of 5 dependents at a premium of Rs 8777/-.


• Aslo, a new medical unit at Bhairon Temple at an estimated cost of Rs. 1 crore is being built.

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• On October 13, 2018, Haryana Minister for Commerce & Industries, Shri Vipul Goel donated an amount of Rs.2.58 crore for funding public service.


• He handed over the amount in 2 cheques to the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh.


• The amount would be used as follows Rs.1.58 crore towards “Clean Ganga Fund” and Rs.1 crore towards “Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund“.


• The “Clean Ganga Fund” is dedicated to cleaning the Holy River Ganga and PM Relief Fund aids to the poor, the needy, the sick and those affected by natural calamities.

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• On October 13, 2018, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) launched ‘Ask Disha’, the new artificial intelligence-enabled chat bot.


• This was launched on its e-ticketing website, and is a first-of-its-kind initiative for any Indian government website.


• It has been jointly developed by IRCTC and CoRover Private Limited, a Bangalore-based startup.


• It will be integrated in IRCTC Rail Connect Android app and will be voice-enabled soon.


• It can be used by Indian Railways passengers to get their questions answered through the chat bot.


• It also has auto suggestion options for the customer.

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• On 14th October 2018, India’s Leander Paes won the Santo Domingo Open trophy with partner Miguel Angel Reyyes-Varela of Mexico, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.


• Leander Paes and Miguel Angel Reyyes-Varela defeated Ariel Behar and Roberto Quiroz 4-6, 6-3, 10-5 in the final.


• This is Leander Paes’ second Challenger-level title of the season.

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• On 13th October 2018, Indian blind cricket team defeated Sri Lanka and won the triangular series in Goa.


• Indian team defeated Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in the final. Indian captain Ajay Reddy was named man of the match.


• Goa Governor Mridula Sinha was invited as the chief guest for the final. India played the tri-series against England and Sri Lanka.

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• On 13th October 2018, India won silver medal at the 8th Sultan of Johor Cup U-18 2018 hockey tournament in Malaysia.


• India lost 2-3 to Great Britain in the final and won the silver medal. Great Britain won their second Sultan of Johor Cup title.


• Last year, India had won bronze medal and Great Britain had finished runners-up.

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• On 13th October 2018, the two-day Coffee Day Malnad Ultra Marathon 2018 was flagged off from Lalbaug Estate in Chikmagalur, Karnataka.


• 811 runners from 13 countries and 22 states of India participated. 43 international runners took part in the marathon, with USA having the highest representation of 7 endurance runners.


• People up to 75 years of age participated in the marathon. The marathon was divided into 3 categories: 50km, 80km and 110km.

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• Prema Gopalan was presented the 8th Social Entrepreneur of the Year award (SEOY) 2018, by Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, in New Delhi.


• Prema Gopalan was awarded for her work in promoting women’s entrepreneurship and rural livelihood. She is the founder of Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP).


• SEOY awards was founded by Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and Jubilant Bhartia Foundation in 2010.


• The winner of SEOY India Award takes part in the annual and regional meetings of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

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• On October 15, 2018, India’s leading expert in DNA fingerprinting and diagnostics, 56-year-old, Shekhar C. Mande was appointed Director-General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).


• He will serve as secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and head 38 labs of CSIR.


• He replaced bio technologist Girish Sahni, who retired on 31 August.


• He is currently director at the National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune.


• He is the vice-president of Vijnana Bharati, a widely-known science outreach organisation.


• He is also a life member of the Indian Crystallographic Association, and is chairman at the National Committee for the International Union of Crystallography.


• He was also the 2005 biological sciences recipient of the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, the apex science award in India, for his work in structural biology of proteins.

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• aOn 12th October 2018, ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company MD & CEO Nimesh Shah was elected as the chairperson of Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).


• Nimesh Shah has replaced A Balasubramanian, chief executive officer of Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund. A Balasubramanian became AMFI chairman in 2016.


• Kailash Kulkarni, CEO of L&T Mutual Fund, remains the vice chairperson of AMFI.


• Nimesh Shah joined the mutual fund industry in July 2007.

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• Priyank Kanoongo has been appointed the Chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)by the appointments committee of the cabinet for a term of 3 years.


• Priyank Kanoongo will be the 5th Chairperson of NCPCR. He replaces Stuti Kacker, whose tenure ended on September 16, 2018.


• Priyank Kanoongo has been member of NCPCR since November 2015. His tenure as member is about to end.


• He hails from Madhya Pradesh. He is a graduate in science. He was assigned to work on education when he was appointed member of NCPCR.


• He had worked on re-integration of out of school children with mainstream education.

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• On October 14, 2018, Indian Navy joins select League of Nations after acquiring 1st Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel & associated kit. To search, locate & provide rescue to distressed submarines.


• The second rescue kit is planned to be inducted in 2019 in Vishakhapatnam.


• The kit can be mobilised from Naval base at Mumbai to nearest mounting port by air or land or sea.


• At present, the US, China, Russia and a few other countries have the capabilities to deploy DSRVs.

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• On 12th October 2018, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu released the Biography of late Industrialist, Dr. Anumolu Ramakrishna titled ‘Building a Legacy’ written by Chartered Accountant V. Pattabhi Ram and R. Mohan, in Chennai.


• Dr. Anumolu Ramakrishna was a pioneer in using innovative construction techniques in the Indian construction sector.


• He was former president and Managing Director at Larsen and Toubro. He was posthumously awarded Padma Bhushan in 2014.


• He was born in December 1939 and died on August 20, 2013 at Hyderabad.