Introduction
Current Affairs is a type of broadcast journalism where the emphasis is on detailed analysis and discussion of news stories that have recently occurred or ongoing at the time of broadcast. The article Current Affairs October 1st 2018 includes News summary on current events of International, National, Banking, Sports, Awards, Appointments, Science, Obituaries importance of October 1st 2018.
Days
World Habitat Day – October 1
Key Highlights:
- On 1st October 2018, World Habitat Day was observed all over the world.
- In 1985 United Nations General Assembly declared the first Monday of October as World Habitat Day. It was first celebrated in 1986.
- This day aims to highlight the state of our towns and cities, and on the fundamental right to adequate shelter.
- Theme of World Habitat Day 2018 is “Municipal Solid Waste Management”.
International Day of Older Persons – 1 October
Key Highlights:
- On 1st October 2018, International Day of Older Persons was observed throughout the world.
- In 1990, the United Nations General Assembly declared 1st October as the International Day of Older Persons. It was first observed in 1991.
- To create awareness on issues that affect the older persons like health issues and elder abuse. It is also appreciates the contributions of older people to the society.
- Theme for International Day of Older Persons 2018 is “Celebrating Older Human Rights Champions.”
World Vegetarian Day – October 1
Key Highlights:
- On 1st October 2018, World Vegetarian Day was celebrated all over the world.
- In 1977, World Vegetarian Day was founded by the North American Vegetarian Society (NAVS). In 1978, it was endorsed by the International Vegetarian Union.
- This day aims to promote vegetarianism and highlights the ethical, environmental, health, and humanitarian benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle.
International
Overview of EAM Sushma Swaraj’s Visit to New York USA
Key Highlights:
- On September 23, 2018, External Affairs Minister Smt Sushma Swaraj embarked on a 7-day official visit to United States of America.
- On September 24, 2018, External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj on behalf of India co-hosted a meeting with the United States and other selected countries over the issue of how to combat the drug menace.
- On September 26, 2018, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj attended the Nelson Madela Peace Summit in New York.
- On September 27, 2018, Smt. Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister of India attended the customary BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on UNGA margins in New York.
- On September 27, 2018, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj attended the 9th Trilateral Ministerial Commission in New York.
- On September 27, 2018, on the sidelines of G-4 Nations viz. India, Brazil, Germany and Japan reviewed lack of substantive progress in long-pending United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reforms.
- On September 28, 2018, EAM Sushma Swaraj attended the Informal Meeting of the SAARC Council of Ministers held here on the margins of the 73rd UN General Assembly.
- On September 27, 2018, UNSG’s Climate Change event was held in New York. Here India was represented by EAM Sushma Swaraj.
National
SATAT initiative to promote Compressed Bio-Gas as an alternative, green transport fuel launched by Petroleum Minister
Key Highlights:
- On October 1, 2018, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated the Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative.
- To boost availability of more affordable transport fuels with better usage of agricultural residue, cattle dung and municipal solid waste. Was launched as a part of Swachhta Hi Seva movement.
- During this launch, the PSU Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs ,i.e. IOC, BPCL and HPCL) invited xpression of Interest (EoI) from potential entrepreneurs to set up Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) production plant.
- These plants would provide available CBG for use in automotive fuels.
- This practice of using bio gas as a fuel would help provide an additional revenue source to farmers and vehicle-users.
- It would also help reduce polluted urban air due to farm stubble-burning and carbon emissions.
President gives assent to Karnataka’s 2016 Good Samaritan Bill
Key Highlights:
- On October 1, 2018, President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to Karnataka Good Samaritan and Medical Professional (Protection and Regulation during Emergency Situations) Bill, 2016.
- This bill aims to provide legal protection to the good samaritans in the state, who help accident victims with emergency medical care in the golden hour.
- In medical term the ‘golden hour’ is the first hour after a traumatic injury when emergency treatment is very crucial.
- Also, a proposed ‘Good Samaritan Fund’ has been set up for the help of the Samaritans with the expenses for attendance in courts and police stations by them.
- Karnataka has become the first state in the country to give legal protection to good samaritans.
Static GK:
- Karnataka Chief Minister: H D Kumaraswamy
- Governor: Shri Vajubhai Vala
- National parks: Anshi National Park, Bandipur National Park, Bannerghatta National Park, Kudremukh National Park, Rajiv Gandhi (Nagarhole) National Park
1st installment of Rs 122 crore to rain & snowfall-hit Himachal Pradesh for immediate rehabilitation: Centre
Key Highlights:
- On September 29, 2018, the Central government released the 1st installment amounting Rs. 122 crore to the Himachal Pradesh government.
- For Rehabilitation measures due to heavy rain and snowfall.
- Himachal Pradesh suffered a loss of around 1,500 crores during the current monsoon season.
Static GK:
- Himachal Pradesh Capital: Shimla
- Chief Minister: Jai Ram Thakur
- Governor: Acharya Devvrat
- National parks: Great Himalayan National Park, Pin Valley National Park
Banking
Punjab National Bank (PNB) raised benchmark lending rate by up to 0.2 pc
Key Highlights:
- On October 1, 2018, Punjab National Bank (PNB) increased its benchmark lending rates or MCLR for the short-term loans by up to 0.2 per cent.
- The rate hike comes ahead of monetary policy review announcement on October 5.
- The changes are effective from October 1.
Rs. 36,000 cr to be injected into system through purchase of govt bonds: RBI
Key Highlights:
- On October 1, 2018, Reserve Bank of India announced injection of Rs.36,000 crore into the system through purchase of government bonds.
- To meet the festival season demand for funds.
- The auctions to purchase Government bonds will be as part of the Open Market Operations (OMO) to help manage liquidity.
- It would take place in the second, third and fourth week of October.
IFC to invest $100 million in IRF, a Piramal-Bain joint venture
Key Highlights:
- On October 1, 2018, International Finance Corporation (IFC) the finance arm of World Bank approved investment of $ 100 million in India Resurgence Fund (IRF).
- India Resurgence Fund (IRF) is a joint venture of Parimal Enterprise Limited and Bain Capital.
- The fund originally needs a total of $300 million and each of the partner organizations have invested $100 million each.
- This fund would help in investing in restructuring of balance sheets of important organizations linked to infrastructure and consumption.
- These include buying assets in cement, steel and power. It is also looking to invest in hospitals, pharma, chemicals, paper, hotels and auto components.
SBI cut daily ATM cash withdrawal limit to Rs 20,000
Key Highlights:
- On October 1, 2018, SBI halved the withdrawal limit from Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 20,000 per day.
- This was targeted for debit cards of the ‘Classic’ and ‘ Maestro’ platfroms.
- The main objective in doing so was to reduce the number of fraudulent transactions and promote cashless transactions.
- This move would be effective form October 31, 2018 as according to Banking Codes & Standards Board of India (BCSBI) guidelines, at least 30 days’ notice has to be given to customers for any change in terms and conditions or charges.
NSE Indices launched 2 dynamic asset allocation indices
Key Highlights:
- On October 1, 2018, NSE Indices launched 2 dynamic asset allocation indices designed to combine equity and debt.
- The indices compare the current price-earnings ratio (P/E) or price-book ratio (P/B) with historical P/E or P/B ratio of Nifty 50 in the previous seven years.
- In these indices, the maximum allocation to equity is 80 per cent and minimum allocation is 65 per cent.
- This will help fill the gap due to the absence of a relevant benchmark for performance comparison of the popular dynamic asset allocation category offered by mutual funds in the country.
IRDAI allows PoS disbursal of all micro-insurance products
Key Highlights:
- On October 1, 2018, Insurance regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India(IRDAI) approved micro-insurance disbursal through point-of-sales (PoS).
- IRDAI created a special category of insurance policies called micro-insurance policies which would be disbursed via the POS terminals.
- These would help in promoting insurance coverage among economically vulnerable sections of society.
- The products would include:Life, General and Health insurance.
- A micro-insurance policy is a general or life insurance policy with a sum assured of Rs 50,000 or less.
Sports
Samsun 2018 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final in Samsun, Turkey
Key Highlights:
- On 29th and 30th September 2018, Samsun 2018 Hyundai Archery World Cup Final was held in Samsun, Turkey.
- South Korea topped the medal tally with: 3 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medals. Turkey came second with: 1 gold and 2 silver medals.
2018 ATP Shenzhen Open (Tennis) in Shenzhen, China
Key Highlights:
- From 24 to 30 September 2018, 2018 ATP Shenzhen Open (Tennis) was held in Shenzhen, China.
- The 2018 ATP Shenzhen Open was a professional men’s tennis tournament. It was the 5th edition of the tournament. It was played on hard courts.
Lewis Hamilton wins Russian Grand Prix
Key Highlights:
- On 30th September 2018, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton won the Russian Grand Prix in Russia.
- This was Lewis Hamilton’s 70th career win. Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas finished in second position. He was followed by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in third place.
Awards
List of recipients of Ekalabya Puraskar, 2018 released
Key Highlights:
- On October 1, 2018, the Ekalabya committee selected Odia hockey player Lilima Minz for the prestigious Ekalabya Puraskar, 2018.
- The annual award comprises of a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh along with a citation.
- She represented the Indian senior team for the first time in 2011 during a four-nation tournament in Argentina.
- She also participated in the 2016 Summer Olympics and also won the gold medal Womens Hockey Asia Cup after a gap of 13 years in Japan on November 5, 2017.
- Apart from her, 2 other sportswomen would felicitated with the award.
- They are: weight lifter Jhili Dalabehera and Badminton player Rutuparna Panda.
Appointments
Max Life MD Rajesh Sud resigned, CFO Prashant Tripathy appointed as next MD
Key Highlights:
- On October 1, 2018, the Managing Director of Max Life Insurance, Rajesh Sud resigned from the company.
- He will be replaced by CFO Prashant Tripathy with effect from January 1, 2019.
- He has spent 18 years in Max Life and completed his second five-year term as executive vice chairman and managing director of the company.
- He will continue to be the non-executive chairman Max Bupa and Max Skill-First till March 31, 2019.
- Also the current senior director and chief operations officer V Viswanand has been appointed the Deputy Managing Director of the company.
Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad elected as new Hockey India president
Key Highlights:
- On 1st October 2018, Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad was elected the new President of Hockey India (HI).
- Earlier, Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad was the Secretary General of HI. He replaces Rajinder Singh.
Arun Kumar appointed Director General of Railway Protection Force (RPF)
Key Highlights:
- Arun Kumar was appointed Director-General of the Railway Protection Force (RPF).
- Arun Kumar replaces Dharmendra Kumar. Arun Kumar is a 1985 batch IPS (Indian Police Service) officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre.
- He is Special Director-General of the Border Security Force (BSF). He has served as Joint Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
IDBI Bank MD, CEO B Sriram retires
Key Highlights:
- B Sriram has resigned as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of IDBI Bank.
- He became MD and CEO of IDBI bank in June 2018 replacing Mahesh Kumar Jain. B Sriram, was previously the Managing Director at State Bank of India.
Science
China launches Centispace-1-s1 satellite on Kuaizhou-1A low-cost solid-fuel rocket
Key Highlights:
- On 29th September 2018, China launched its Centispace-1-s1 satellite on a Kuaizhou-1A low-cost solid-fuel carrier rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China.
- This is the second commercial launch by the Kuaizhou-1A rocket. The Kuaizhou-1A rocket is a low-cost solid-fuel carrier rocket.
- It has high reliability and a short preparation period. It has been designed to launch low-orbit satellites upto 300 kg of weight.
- Kuaizhou-1A’s first launch was carried out in January 2017. It had sent 3 satellites into space.
- Kuaizhou-1A was developed by a rocket technology company under the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC).
- Centispace-1-s1 has been developed by Innovation Academy for Micro satellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
- It is a technology experiment satellite for the low-orbit navigation enhancement system that is developed by Beijing Future Navigation Technology Co.
Japan’s Minerva-II-1 rovers send back first video from asteroid Ryugu 280 million km away
Key Highlights:
- Japan’s two Minerva-II-1 rovers have sent first video images from the surface of asteroid Ryugu. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has released a 15-frame clip and new photographs taken by the two Minerva-II-1 rovers.
- The rovers were deployed by unmanned spacecraft Hayabusa2 about 60 metres on to Ryugu’s surface after a 3.5 year journey. Ryugu is 280 million km away from Earth.
- This is the world’s first moving, robotic observation of an asteroid surface. The rovers can jump upto 15 m across the asteroid’s surface and stay airborne for 15 minutes.
- The mission was launched in December 2014 to study the origin of solar system. It will return to Earth with samples in 2020.
Obituaries
Parliamentarian Malti Sharma passed away
Key Highlights:
- Former Uttar Pradesh minister and parliamentarian Malti Sharma passed away following a short term illness.
- She was 89 years old. She belonged to the BJP party. In 1977, she was elected to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly from Muzaffarnagar constituency.
- In 1994, she was elected to Rajya Sabha. She was a former junior minister in Uttar Pradesh.