ONE LINER OF THE DAY 31st OCTOBER 2018.

1.Minister of DoNER, Dr Jitendra Singh laid the foundation stone of new Science Centre, the ‘Technology Facility Centre’ on 29 October 2018 in Jorhat, AssamThe facility will be established in the premises of the CSIR-North East Institute of Science & Technology (NEIST).The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) will bear the cost of setting up of this new Science Centre.

2.Japan announced joining the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and submitted the instrument of ratification on 29th October 2018.As of now, there are 70 countries that have signed the ISA Framework Agreement (ISA FA) and 47 countries that have ratified it.Japan will be the 71st country to sign and 48th country to ratify the ISA FA.

3.WhatsApp has partnered with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to train small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs on using the messaging platform to connect with customers.WhatsApp and CII will work to enhance business communication for Indian SMEs through CII’s SME Technology Facilitation Centre.The centre was set up in November 2016.

4.Little India Gate’ was inaugurated in northern Indonesia on 27 October 2018.It recognises the contribution of the Indian community in the development of Medan city, Indonesia.The new structure was inaugurated jointly by India’s ambassador to Indonesia and Timor Leste Pradeep Kumar Rawat and Mayor of Medan H T Dzulmi.Medan city is the fourth largest city in Indonesia.

5.Mangaluru Lit Fest 2018’, will be organised in Mangaluru from 3 November 2018 to 6 November 2018.The theme of the event is ‘The Idea of Bharat’.The Lit Fest aims to highlight the literary and cultural diversity of Mangaluru.The festival intends to provide a platform for intellectual deliberations for monologues, panel discussions, conversations and book reviews.

6.The Kingdom of Netherlands will be the Partner Country for the 25th DST – CII Technology Summit.The Summit will be organised in 2019.The first CII Technology Summit was organised in 1995 with an aim to facilitate global technology collaborations.CII became a partner with the Department of Science & Technology in organising these Summits since 2004.

7.The Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) held a meeting in New Delhi on 30 October 2018.The meeting was presided over by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.It reviewed the progress in setting up a Computer Emergency Response Team in the financial sector under a statutory framework.The FSDC Sub-Committee is Chaired by the Governor of Reserve Bank of India.

8.The Statue of Unity has been inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gujarat on 31 October 2018.It is dedicated to India’s first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.It is 182 meters tall and is located near the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river.It was designed by the sculptor Ram V. Sutar.It was built by the by Larsen & Toubro Ltd.

9.Malala Yousafzai will be honoured by Harvard University for her work promoting girls’ education.She will be conferred with the ‘2018 Gleitsman Award’ at a ceremony on 6th December 2018.The Gleitsman Award provides US$125,000 for activism that has improved quality of life around the world.Malala Yousafzai is the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.

10.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will inject Rs 12,000 crore into the system through the purchase of Government securities (g-secs) on 1 November 2018.RBI has decided to conduct the purchase of the following g-secs under Open Market Operations (OMO).The RBI sells g-secs to take out liquidity from the system and buys back g-secs to infuse liquidity into the system.

ONE LINER OF THE DAY 30th OCTOBER 2018.

1.The 5th ‘National Summit on Good and Replicable Practices and Innovations in Public Health Care Systems in India’ began at Kaziranga in Assam on 30 October 2018.The summit was organised by the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.The objective of the summit is to share and learn the good practices being implemented by states and organisations for the betterment of the health sector.

2.World Wide Fund (WWF) has released a report titled ‘The Living Planet’.Australia’s east coast has been compared to the Amazon as a “deforestation front” in the new global report.The report said that global vertebrate populations are declining at a rate of 13.6% a decade.The global populations of vertebrate species have declined 60% since 1970.

3.Professor Qazi Abdussattar passed away on 29 October 2018.He was a noted Urdu writer and former head of Aligarh Muslim University’s Urdu departmentHe was awarded Padma Shri in 1974.

4.China has launched an ‘Oceanography Satellite’ on 29th October 2018.The ‘China-France Oceanography Satellite’ (CFOSAT) is the first satellite jointly built by China and France.The satellite will help scientists to predict dangerous cyclones and climate change by monitoring ocean surface winds and waves.

5.Standard Chartered has released a new study titled ‘The Emerging Affluent Study 2018– Climbing the Prosperity Ladder’.India has emerged as the most investment-savvy economy in Asia.More than two-thirds of India’s affluent class prefer to use various investment products to achieve their financial goals and greater social mobility.

6.Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the Early Warning Dissemination System (EWDS) and the mass message system.EWDS was launched on the occasion of Odisha Disaster Preparedness Day, which is observed on 29th October 2018.The EWDS will warn the people residing along the coast in the state through the alert siren system from towers installed at 122 locations.

7.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the re-appointment of Aditya Puri as Managing Director of the HDFC bank for another two years.Aditya Puri has been with the bank since 1994, making him the longest-serving head of any private bank in the country.

8.Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated the first Mega Food Park in Gujarat on 29th October 2018.It is promoted by Gujarat Agro Infrastructure Mega Food Park Pvt. LtdThe Park is located at Village Shah and Vasravi, District Surat, Gujarat.A 2nd Mega Food Park has been sanctioned in Mehsana District of Gujarat.

9.India and Qatar decided to establish a Joint Commission (JC).The JC will be co-chaired by the ministers of external affairs and foreign affairs of the two countries.The JC will be tasked to strengthen the relations between the two countries particularly in the economic, commercial, cultural, scientific, technological, information technology and educational fields.

10.Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) organised a conference on  Innovation in Cyberspace, Cyber Security – Challenges and Innovations on 29th October 2018.The conference focused on the current trends, need and future requirements of innovation in the field of cyber security.The conference brought the stakeholders working in the area to showcase their innovations.

ONE LINER OF THE DAY 29th OCTOBER 2018.

1.A committee of governors set up by President Ram Nath Kovind, submitted its report on doubling farm income on 26 October 2018.It recommended developing climate-resilient and input-efficient crop varieties.It has made 21 major recommendations for doubling the income of farmers.Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik is the head of the panel.

2.Train 18, the country’s first engine-less train, was unveiled on 29th October 2018.Train 18 will undergo short runs near Chennai’s Integral Coach Factory (ICF) for five days for testing its braking system, the on board air conditioning and other systems.The train can travel up to the speed at 160 kilometres per hour (kmph) as against 130 kmph of Shatabdi Express.

3.The sixth phase of sale of electoral bonds will take place from 1 November to 10 November 2018.State Bank of India (SBI) has been authorised to issue and encash electoral bonds through its 29 authorised branches.These bonds have a life of 15 days from the date of issue.Eligible political parties are allowed to encash electoral bonds only through their bank accounts.

4.State Bank of India (SBI) formed a Joint Venture (JV) with Hitachi Payment Services Pvt Ltd to create a digital payment networkHitachi Payments will invest 26% in SBI Payment Services Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SBI.The JV agreement is subject to requisite regulatory approvals.The JV will provide various payment options to customers and merchants.

5.The Indian government donated about US$ 300,000 for the ‘Pipeline to Peacekeeping Command Programme’.The programme will, over a period of three years, help develop the capacity of future commanders and managers to lead by example and raise awareness of UN standards.India is one of the largest troop-contributing countries to UN peacekeeping missions.

6.India’s first gallery on robotic dinosaurs was inaugurated on 27th October 2018 at the Pushpa Gujral Science City in Kapurthala, Punjab.The new gallery will display the story of birth and evolution of dinosaurs.A total of 7 moving dinosaurs, made from steel and silica gel with durable motors, have been added to the exhibition.

7.Former army captain Jair Bolsonaro was elected President of Brazil on 28 October 2018.He defeated leftist opponent Fernando Haddad.Bolsonaro was declared the winner by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal after 94% of the votes were counted.Bolsonaro will take office on 1st January 2019.

8.Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the Thirteenth India-Japan Bilateral Summit in Tokyo on 29 October 2018.The two sides will also be exploring ways of boosting defence and strategic partnership further.In the summit, the leaders of both nations will review the progress made since 2017 in various agreed areas and projects under implementation with Japanese assistance.

9.Michael D Higgins has been re-elected as Irish President after receiving 56% of the country’s electoral vote.Businessman Peter Casey came second with 23.1% votes.The President is Ireland’s ‘first citizen’, but has limited power – the role is mainly symbolic and he or she cannot get involved in daily politics.

10.The government of India appointed Indian Revenue Service officer Sanjay Kumar Mishra as Director of Enforcement Directorate (ED).He has been given additional charge of the post of Director for a period of three months.The ED enforces two major laws in the country to check black money: The criminal Prevention of Money Laundering Act and the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

ONE LINER OF THE DAY 28th OCTOBER 2018.

1.The ‘Experiencing North East’ festival depicting the uniqueness of North Eastern culture is being organised at India International Centre, Delhi from 27th-31st October 2018.The festival is a part of Destination North East series.It is being organised by the North Eastern Council (NEC), Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) in collaboration with India International Centre.

2.Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), a Mini Ratna Public Sector Undertaking, under the Ministry of Defence, received the prestigious ‘Top Challengers Award 2018’.It won the prize for the excellent performance during the financial year 2017-18 and Best Seller in Crawler Equipment-Dozers and Rigid Dump Truck segment for mining sectors.The award is instituted by ASAAP Information Global Group.

3.The 5th edition of the ‘Women of India National Organic Festival’ was inaugurated at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi.The Festival celebrates and promotes women entrepreneurs/producers and farmers in the organic field from across India.Festival will have producers and manufacturers of Organic Products from 26 Indian States.

4.India will host the 24th edition of Technology Summit with Italy as the partner country.The two-day summit will be inaugurated on 29th October 2018.This is the first time that Italy has been selected as a partner country for this prestigious event.The Summit is envisaged to serve as a wide-ranging knowledge-business partnership platform.

5.The Supreme Court banned the sale and registration of motor vehicles conforming to the emission standard Bharat Stage-IV in the entire country from April 1, 2020.

6.State Bank of India (SBI) launched its wealth business services by opening ‘SBI Wealth Hub’ in Mangaluru, Karnataka.

7.The 11 Base Repair Depot (BRD) of the Indian Air Force in Maharashtra’s Nashik district handed over its first indigenously overhauled Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jet to the IAF.The ceremony was held at the Air Force Station Ojhar.

8.Maruti Suzuki India announced Bollywood Superstar Varun Dhawan as the brand ambassador for Maruti Suzuki ARENA channel.The youth icon will be the face of Maruti Suzuki’s new marketing campaign ‘A destination called you. A feeling called Maruti Suzuki ARENA.’

9.The Punjab government has signed four MoUs with Israeli institutions to address issues of farmers and depleting groundwater level in the state.The MoUs were signed in the presence of Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.The MoUs will help boost cooperation between Punjab and Israel in areas such as water conservation as well as agricultural research and education.RBI to inject Rs 40,000 crore in November.

10.The World Bank has approved $425 million to improve road connections in Bangladesh.It will be done through the building, maintaining and improving rural bridges in a programme that will benefit two-thirds of the country’s people.The ‘Operation For Supporting Rural Bridges Programme’ will maintain 85,000 m of bridges and build another 20,000 m of new bridges.

ONE LINER OF THE DAY 27th OCTOBER 2018.

1.Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar launched the web portal of two schemes on 25 October 2018.‘Impactful Policy Research in Social Sciences’ (IMPRESS) and ‘Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration’ (SPARC) were the two schemes of whose portal were launched.The objective of IMPRESS is to identify and fund research proposals in social sciences.

2.Unnayan Banka’ has won the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management’s (CAPAM) international innovation award for 2018.It is an online and offline education project started in Banka, Bihar.CAPAM is an organisation that promotes good governance and knowledge exchange amongst governments from Commonwealth countries.

3.Wrestler Pooja Dhanda won a bronze medal at World Wrestling Championship 2018 in Budapest, Hungary.She won a silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.Pooja is only the fourth Indian woman to win a World Championship medal.

4.Fertiliser major IFFCO announced that it has been ranked as the biggest cooperative in the world by ‘Word Cooperative Monitor’ report 2018.The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and the European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises (Euricse) publish the world cooperative monitor report.The report was based on the ratio of turnover over GDP per capita.

5.Roopam Sharma, a 23-year old Indian scientist, won the World Health Summit Startup award, 2018.He won for his invention, Manovue – the world’s first intelligent personal assisting system for the visually impaired.He is the youngest person to be recognized as one of the top innovators under 35 by the MIT Tech Review in 2016.

6.The 2018 World Day for Audiovisual Heritage is celebrated on October 27.Its theme is “Your Story is Moving”.The General Conference of UNESCO approved the commemoration of a World Day for Audiovisual Heritage in 2005 as a mechanism to raise general awareness of the need to preserve and safeguard important audiovisual material for future generations.

7.Pakistan’s human rights activist and lawyer Asma Jahangir has been posthumously awarded the UN Prize along with three other winners.Rebeca Gyumi of Tanzania, Brazil’s first indigenous lawyer Joenia Wapichana and Ireland’s human rights organisation Front Line Defenders are the other winners of the prize.The Prize is an honorary award given for outstanding achievement in human rights.

8.The Reserve Bank said it will inject Rs 40,000 crore into the system in November through the purchase of government securities.The central bank had already injected Rs 36,000 crore into the system in October.An open market operation (OMO) is an activity by a central bank to give (or take) liquidity in its currency to (or from) a bank or a group of banks.

9.JP Nadda, Minister for Health and Family Welfare addressed the ‘Second Plenary Session of ‘2nd International Conference on Primary Health Care towards UHC & SDGs’, at Astana, Kazakhstan.The conference aims to renew the commitment to primary health care to achieve universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals.Mr Nadda spoke on the theme “The Future of Primary Health Care”.

10.IDFC Bank proposed to change its name to ‘IDFC First Bank Ltd’ in the wake of its amalgamation with the non-banking financial company Capital First.The decision was taken during the meeting of the Board of Directors of IDFC Bank.The proposal now needs the approval of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

ONE LINER OF THE DAY 26th OCTOBER 2018.

1.According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), India will be the third largest aviation market globally, a year sooner than was earlier predicted.It is now expected to be among the top three countries by 2024 from its current seventh position.IATA said that air passenger numbers worldwide could double to 8.2 billion in 2037.

2.Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two-day visit to Japan from 28 October 2018.The Prime Minister will attend the 13th India-Japan annual summit.He will also hold bilateral talks with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.He will visit Yamanashi prefecture at the foothills of Mount Fuji and also address community function in Tokyo.

3.Vigilance Awareness Week 2018 will be observed by the Central Vigilance Commission from 29 October to 3 November 2018.The theme for Vigilance Awareness Week 2018 is ‘Eradicate Corruption-Build a New India’.‘Awareness Gram Sabhas’ are also organised for the dissemination of awareness in Gram Panchayats (in rural and semi-urban areas) to sensitise the rural citizens.

4.The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the International Arya Mahasammelan on 25 October 2018 in Delhi.This is the 11th such international Arya Mahasammelan since 2006.Issues such as prevention of superstition, modernisation, women empowerment, tribal welfare, and management of natural calamities will be discussed at the convention.

5.The Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) will list masala bonds in the London and Singapore Stock Exchanges.The bonds are being floated to mobilise resources for infrastructure projects in Kerala.KIIFB had obtained clearance from the Reserve Bank of India.The KIIFB expects an interest of 9+ or 9- for the rupee-denominated borrowings.

6.Paytm Payments Bank appointed Satish Kumar Gupta as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the digital bank.He was the Chief Product Officer at National Payments Corporation of India and State Bank of India.Paytm Payments Bank offers zero balance accounts and charges on digital transactions.

7.The ‘Kaiga Generating Station’ has created a world record for the longest uninterrupted operation of units having Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs).Unit-1 of Kaiga Generating Station (KGS-1) completed 895 days of continuous operation.The earlier record for PHWRs was held by Unit-7 of Pickering Nuclear Generating Station at Ontario, Canada which operated continuously for 894 days.

8.Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated ‘Krishi Kumbha 2018-a mega farmers’ conclave in Lucknow on 26 October 2018.The aim of the conclave is to promote modern technique and diversification in agriculture that could help farmers to double their income.Israel and Japan are official partners of Krishi Kumbh 2018.Haryana and Jharkhand are the partner states for Krishi Kumbha 2018.

9.The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s (NATO) biggest military exercise, ‘Trident Juncture 2018’, since the Cold War has started in Norway on 25 October 2018.The exercise brought together around 50,000 personnel from all 29 NATO allies, plus partners Finland and Sweden.The exercise will run till 7 November 2018 in central and eastern Norway, the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea.

10.Ethiopia’s parliament has appointed the country’s first female President, Sahle-Work Zewde.Sahle-Work has been Ethiopia’s ambassador to France, Djibouti, Senegal, and the regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development.Just prior to her appointment as President, she was the UN’s top official at the African Union.As President she is expected to serve two six-year terms.

ONE LINER OF THE DAY 25th OCTOBER 2018.

1.United Nations Day is observed every year on 24 October.United Nations day has been in observance since 1948.The day commemorates the anniversary of the UN Charter that came into force in 1945.

2.The railways ‘UTS mobile’ app for buying unreserved tickets online will be available nationwide from 1 November 2018.It was first launched in Mumbai because a large number of people travel in locals.After Mumbai, it was started in Delhi-Palwal and Chennai city.

3.The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the US on 21 October 2018 kicked off a two-week military exercise named ‘Iron Magic 19’.The exercise seeks to reinforce cooperation, joint actions and exchange of expertise in military areas.The last ‘Iron Magic’ military exercise was held in 2017.

4.Malayalam author Benyamin has bagged the inaugural ‘JCB Prize for literature’ for his book ‘Jasmine Days’.The book explores the lives of South Asians in the Middle East.JCB Prize for Literature is an Indian literary award established in 2018 and the award is funded by the construction manufacturing group JCB.

5.Fertiliser major ‘IFFCO’ has been ranked as the biggest cooperative in the world by ‘Word Cooperative Monitor’ report 2018.The report has been published by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and the European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises (Euricse).IFFCO has nearly 36,000 member co-operatives and a turnover of nearly USD 3 billion (FY 2017-18).

6.India cricket captain Virat Kohli became the fastest batsman to reach 10,000 one-day international runs.Kohli made 10,000 ODI runs in 205 innings while Sachin Tendulkar took 259 innings.Kohli became the fifth Indian batsman and 13th ever to reach 10000 ODI runs.Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni have scored over 10,000 runs in ODIs.

7.Gogha- Dahej Ro-Pax Ferry service will be inaugurated in Gujarat on 27 October 2018.The ferry service is a part of Sagarmala programme of the Ministry of Shipping.The ferry service has a carrying capacity of 100 vehicles and 500 passengers.The ferry will travel through the sea route by crossing the Gulf in Cambay.

8.Senior diplomat Saurabh Kumar has been appointed India’s ambassador to Myanmar.Saurabh Kumar, a 1989 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently serving as the Indian envoy in Iran.

9.Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has signed a US$ 777 million defence contract with India.Under the contract, IAI will supply ‘Barak 8’ long-range surface-to-air defence missiles and missile defence systems for the Indian Navy.Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) will be the main manufacturer for the project.The IAI is Israel’s largest aerospace and defence company.

10.The Union Cabinet has approved the constitution of a High-Level Steering Committee for periodically reviewing and refining the National Indicator Framework (NIF) for monitoring of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).The committee will be chaired by Pravin Shrivastava, Chief Statistician of India.The committee would recommend measures to “mainstream” SDGs into ongoing national policies.

ONE LINER OF THE DAY 24th OCTOBER 2018.

1.Fino Payments Bank has been allowed to open new accounts by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).Fino Payments Bank had been unable to enrol new customers since the end of May 2018 after RBI found the bank to be non-compliant with the operational guidelines laid down by it.According to RBI’s guidelines for payments banks, a customer can make deposits of up to ₹1 lakh per account in a year.

2.Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan inaugurated the International Conference on Status and Protection of Coral Reefs (STAPCOR – 2018) at Bangaram coral Island in Lakshadweep on 22 October 2018.The theme of the conference is “Reef for Life”.The conference was organised Lakshadweep Administration with the technical support of the Zoological Survey of India.

3.M Nageshwar Rao was appointed as the interim director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on 24 October 2018.M Nageshwar Rao, a 1986 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Odisha cadre, was working as the Joint Director in the investigating agency.The decision came after the CBI Director, Alok Verma and Special Director, Rakesh Asthana went on leave.

4.National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) has got approval from Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to launch copper large futures contract with a trading unit of 25 tonne.The 25 tonne copper futures contract is one of the highest traded contracts.NSE aims to provide an onshore hedging platform to big Indian corporates, refiners and various users in the value chain.

5.Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been awarded the Seoul Peace Prize 2018.He has been awarded for his contribution to high economic growth in India and world through ‘Modinomics’.The Seoul Peace Prize was established in 1990 to commemorate the success of the 24th Olympic Games held in Seoul, Republic of Korea.

6.Forty-five Indian companies are participating in the SIAL Paris exhibition – the largest international market place for food service professionals.SIAL Paris is the leading exhibition of food service products.SIAL Paris is held every two years, and is famous for culinary demonstrations by famous chefs every day.

7.Agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan will receive the first ‘World Agriculture Prize’ on 26 October 2018.The award has been instituted by the Indian Council of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) with an aim to recognise individuals who have served humanity through agriculture.Prof. Swaminathan has been hailed by the United Nations Environment Programme as ‘The Father of Economic Ecology’.

8.Agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan will receive the first ‘World Agriculture Prize’ on 26 October 2018.The award has been instituted by the Indian Council of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) with an aim to recognise individuals who have served humanity through agriculture.Prof. Swaminathan has been hailed by the United Nations Environment Programme as ‘The Father of Economic Ecology’.

9.The United Nations’ (UN) World Development Information Day is observed every year on October 24.The aim is to draw the attention of the world to development problems and the need to strengthen international cooperation to solve them.

10.Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ‘Main Nahin Hum’ portal on 24 October 2018.The portal, which works on the theme ‘Self4Society’, will enable IT professionals and organisations to bring together their efforts towards social causes on one platform.The portal is expected to help catalyse greater collaboration towards the service of the weaker sections of society.

ONE LINER OF THE DAY 23rd OCTOBER 2018.

1.Fali S. Nariman was conferred with Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration on 22 October 2018.He is a distinguished Indian Constitutional jurist and senior advocate to the Supreme Court of India.

2.Life insurer PNB Metlife has unveiled an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered customer service app ‘Khushi’.The aim is to provide assistance to policyholders for their insurance-related queries.A policyholder can use the app to upload documents; download receipts and statements; get policy features; premium due details; get fund value and portfolio details; and update contact details.

3.India and Croatia signed two agreements to strengthen cultural and diplomatic cooperation between the two countries on 22 October 2018.The agreements were signed and exchanged by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Croatian counterpart Marija Pejcinovic Buric.

4.The Insolvency Law Committee (ILC) has recommended that India adopt the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law of Cross Border Insolvency.The advantages of the model law are the precedence given to domestic proceedings and protection of public interest.ILC is chaired by Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas.

5.Bajrang Punia won silver medal in the 65 kg category of the World Wrestling Championship 2018 in Budapest on 22 October 2018.He was defeated by Japanese Takuto Otoguro in the final.

6.Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the ‘Sagar’ conference at Goa on 23 October 2018.It was organised by the Forum for Integrated National Security (FINS).The aim of the conference was to highlight the technological, economic and developmental opportunities with opening up of outer space.

7.Environment Ministry has launched ‘Harit Diwali-Swasth Diwali’ campaign on 22 October 2018.This campaign was initiated in 2017-18 wherein a large number of school children participated and took the pledge to minimize bursting of crackers.In 2018, the ‘Harit Diwali-Swasth Diwali’ campaign has been merged with “Green Good Deed” movement.

8.MobiKwik will now allow customers to buy digital gold.MobiKwik users will be able to buy and sell 99.5% purity, 24-carat gold on the app starting at one rupee.It has partnered with SafeGold, a digital platform that allows customers to buy, sell and receive vaulted goldIt has created a separate category called ‘Gold’ on its app.

9.According to Lloyd’s Underinsurance Report 2018, India is the second-most underinsured country in the world with an insurance gap of $27 billion.China has the biggest insurance gap ($76.4 billion) followed by India ($27 billion) and Indonesia ($14.6 billion).Insurance gap refers to the gap between the actual sum assured required versus that taken.

10.The government of India has announced to build a new bridge over the Brahmaputra river.The 19.3 km, the four-lane bridge will be built by 2026-27.It will run between Dhubri in Assam and Phulbari in Meghalaya.India’s longest river bridge at present, which is 9.15 km long, lies between Dhola and Sadiya in Assam.

ONE LINER OF THE DAY 22nd OCTOBER 2018.

1.Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the government intends to complete 200 projects for ghats and crematoria.The government is taking various measures to ensure ecological flow or the minimum quantity of water at different stretches of the Ganga.The government had in May 2015 approved Rs 20,000 crore under its ambitious ‘Namami Gange’.

2.The Supreme Court declined urgent hearing on a PIL seeking the registration of FIRs based on allegations of sexual misconduct and assault levelled by women across various sectors,It is a part of what is being referred to as India’s #MeToo movement.#MeToo spread virally in October 2017 on social media in an attempt to demonstrate the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment.

3.Paytm has launched a payment service called ‘PayPay’ in Japan.PayPay is based on QR (quick-response) code technology.The payment service has been launched in association with SoftBank Corporation and Yahoo Japan Corporation.SoftBank Group is one of the largest investors in Paytm.PayPay Corporation was established in June 2018.

4.Paytm has launched a payment service called ‘PayPay’ in Japan.PayPay is based on QR (quick-response) code technology.The payment service has been launched in association with SoftBank Corporation and Yahoo Japan Corporation.SoftBank Group is one of the largest investors in Paytm.PayPay Corporation was established in June 2018.

5.The 27th Fusion Energy Conference (FEC) was inaugurated in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on 22 October 2018.The six-day event is organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and hosted by the Department of Atomic Energy and Gandhinagar-based Institute of Plasma Research.FEC aims to provide a forum for the discussion of key physics and technology issues.

6.Indian badminton player Saina Nehwal won the silver medal in Denmark Open 2018 on 21 October 2018.She was defeated by Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying in the final.

7.Four unnamed Himalayan peaks near Gangotri glacier have been named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.The peaks are located at 6,557, 6,566, 6,160 and 6,100 metres on the right flank of Gangotri glacier.Located near Sudarshan and Saifi peaks in Raktvan valley, the peaks have been named Atal-1, 2, 3 and 4.

8.Prime Minister Modi announced an annual award in the name of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose for police and paramilitary forces on 21 October 2018.The award will be given to police personnel who do excellent work in relief and rescue operations.The award will be announced on January 23, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s birthday.

9.State Bank of India (SBI) launched its wealth business services by opening ‘SBI Wealth Hub’ in Mangaluru, Karnataka.The wealth hub was inaugurated by SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar.SBI is the first PSU bank in the country to introduce comprehensive wealth business services for its clients.The bank has also launched Wealth Business services for NRIs.

10.Mumbai won their third Vijay Hazare Trophy title at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on 20 October 2018.Mumbai defeated Delhi by 4 wickets in the final.Mumbai last won the trophy way back in 2006-07.The Vijay Hazare Trophy is also known as the Ranji One Day Trophy and was started in 2002–03.

ONE LINER OF THE DAY 21st OCTOBER 2018.

1.India will host the fourth edition of Global Partners' Forum in December 2018 in New Delhi. The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) will unite over 100 countries' representatives to discuss issues, strategies and solutions to women's, children's and adolescents' health. 

2.World Wrestling Championship has begun in Budapest, Hungary. Asian Games gold medallist Bajrang Punia will be India’s best bet for a medal as a 30-member team seeks a strong performance in the flagship event.

3.NITI Aayog has organized the fourth edition of NITI Lecture Series at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 4th edition of NITI Lecture series in which the keynote address was delivered by Jensen Huang, President and Co-Founder, NVIDIA Corporation.The theme for this year is “AI for ALL: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Inclusive Growth”. 

4.Angriya, India’s first luxury cruise ship, has been inaugurated at Mumbai. Union minister for shipping Nitin Gadkari and Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis flagged-off the cruise which will operate between Mumbai and Goa. 

5.A parliamentary panel will examine the functioning of retirement fund body Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), its coverage and recovery of arrears. The panel will be headed by BJP MP Kirit Somaiya.

6.India, Japan and the U.S. are set to elevate the bilateral ‘Cope India’ air exercise to a trilateral format. The three countries already conduct naval war games under the expanded Malabar naval exercise. 

7.Four Himalayan peaks near Gangotri glacier of Uttarkashi district have been named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.  Located near Sudarshan and Saifi peaks in Raktvan valley, the peaks have been named Atal-1, 2, 3 and 4.

8.The Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an annual award in the name of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose for police and paramilitary forces for commendable contributions in disaster relief operations.He announced this while dedicating the National Police Memorial to the nation in New Delhi on the occasion of Police Commemoration Day (21st October). 

9.India has secured ninth rank out of top 50 valuable national brands, according to a report titled ‘Nation Brands 2018’ released by Brand Finance, a leading brand valuation and strategy consultancy.India's brand value was $2,046 billion in 2017 and has increased to $2,159 billion in 2018. The US topped the list with a brand value of $25,899 billion .

10.Mumbai has defeated Delhi by four wickets to win their third Vijay Hazare Trophy title at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.

ONE LINER OF THE DAY 20th OCTOBER 2018.

1.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has opposed a proposal to set up a separate and independent regulator for the payments industry.An inter-ministerial committee was set up by the Department of Economic Affairs to finalise amendments to the Payment & Settlement Systems (PSS) Act, 2007.The committee has proposed the establishment of an independent Payments Regulatory Board (PRB).

2.The Geological Survey of India (GSI) will organise a two-day exhibition ‘Bhusampada 2018’ of rocks, minerals and fossils from 22 October 2018.Various scientific instruments being used in surveys, mineral exploration, remote sensing, earthquake geology will be displayed at the exhibition.

3.Dutch photographer Marsel van Oosten has won the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2018 title.The award was won for clicking a portrait of two endangered blue face monkeys in a remote Chinese forest.The international competition is organised by London’s Natural History Museum.

4.President Ram Nath Kovind will inaugurate a three-day ‘Vishwa Shanti Ahimsa Sammelan’ (peace conference) in Nashik district of Maharashtra on October 22, 2018.‘Vishwa Shanti Ahimsa Sammelan’ is organised by Bhagwan Rishabhdev Murti Nirmaan Samiti.President Kovind will also present the first international ‘Bhagwan Rishabhdev Award’ to Teerthanker Mahaveer University.

5.World Osteoporosis Day 2018 is observed on October 20.The day is meant to raise awareness about osteoporosis, a condition which causes the bones to become weak and brittle.

6.International Finance Corporation (IFC) has launched a $1 billion masala bond programme to fund its investment activities in India.The first tranche of $100 million under the programme was issued on London Stock Exchange.Masala bonds are rupee-denominated borrowings issued overseas.IFC is a member of the World Bank Group.

7.Minal Patel Davis has been honoured with a Presidential award by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.She has been awarded for her extraordinary contribution towards combatting human trafficking in Houston.She is the Special Advisor on Human Trafficking to Houston Mayor.She is a past speaker at the United Nations World Humanitarian Summit.

8.The world’s longest sea bridge ‘Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge’ will be opened on 24 October 2018.The 55-kilometre-long bridge is situated in the Lingdingyang waters of the Pearl River Estuary.

9.China and Southeast Asian Nations will hold their first joint maritime exercises from 22 October 2018.The navies of China and ASEAN countries will hold ‘ASEAN-China Maritime Exercise’ in the South China Sea.

10.Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania awarded 4th annual Carnot Prize to Union Minister Piyush Goyal.Carnot Prize is the Kleinman Center’s annual recognition of distinguished contributions to energy policy through scholarship or practice.Carnot Prize is named after French physicist Nicolas Sadi Carnot.

ONE LINER OF THE DAY 19th OCTOBER 2018.

1.The Women and Child Development Ministry will organise the fifth edition of the ‘Women of India Organic Festival’ in Delhi.It will be held from 26 October 2018 to 4 November 2018.The move aims to empower women to boost organic culture and promote women organic farmers and entrepreneurs.Women entrepreneurs would be coming together from across the country with their organic products.

2.Arshdeep Singh is among the winners of the 2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year award in the 10-years-and-under category.He won the award for his ‘Pipe Owls’ photograph.The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is organised by the Britain’s Natural History Museum.

3.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permitted banks to use government securities equal to the incremental credit disbursed to NBFCs for meeting liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) requirements.The move will provide liquidity to Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) and Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs).The RBI eased the single borrower exposure limits for NBFCs not in the infrastructure segment.

4.Valuation of assets under insolvency will only be done by valuers registered with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) from 1 February 2019.As on date, India has eight Registered Valuer Organisation and 162 registered valuers.The IBBI conducts valuation examinations for all three asset classes – land and building, plant and machinery, and securities or financial assets.

5.Assam’s third Bihu festival, known as Kati Bihu or Kongali Bihu, was celebrated across the state on 18 October 2018.The other two Bihu festivals are the Rongali and Bohagi Bihu.The festival is held at this time of the year since the granaries of the farmers usually remain empty and therefore it is known as Kongali (poor) Bihu.

6.The North Central Railways (NCR) launched two apps – ‘NCR RASTA’ (Railway assets Summarised Tracking Application) and ‘Yatri RASTA’ (Railway Approach to Station Tracking Application).The ‘NCR RASTA’ app is for the use of railway officers and staff and has the exact mapping of all railway assets.The ‘Yatri RASTA’ app will allow the general public to locate the railway stations easily.

7.India and Japan will hold the first-ever joint military exercise ‘DHARMA GUARDIAN-2018’.The exercise will be held at Counter Insurgency Warfare School, Vairengte, Mizoram from 1 November to 14 November 2018.The Indian contingent will be represented by 6/1 Gorkha Rifles.Japanese contingent will be represented by 32 Infantry Regiment of the Japanese Ground Self Defence Force.

8.Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Narayan Dutt Tiwari, passed away in New Delhi on 18 October 2018.He served thrice as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and once Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.

9.Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will attend 12th ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM) and the 5th ADMM-Plus in Singapore on 19 and 20 October 2018.The ADMM and ADMM-Plus serve as key Ministerial-level platforms in the regional security architecture, promoting strategic dialogue and practical cooperation between ASEAN and its partners.India is a full dialogue partner of the ASEAN.

10.The European Space Agency (ESA) will be launching a scientific mission to Mercury on 20 October 2018.The mission is known as BepiColombo.The mission is being led by ESA with cooperation from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).The BepiColombo spacecraft will measure the composition and magnetic field of Mercury.It will take approximately seven years to arrive at Mercury.

ONE LINER OF THE DAY 18th OCTOBER 2018.

1.For the first time in India, a railway station will be built inside a tunnel at a height of 3,000 metres, on the strategic Bilaspur-Manali-Leh line in Himachal Pradesh.The Keylong station in Himachal Pradesh will be the first on the railway network to be inside a tunnel.Keylong is the administrative centre of Lahaul and Spiti district.

2.Virtual currency exchange ‘Unocoin’ has installed a currency deposit and dispensing ATM in Bengaluru.It allows its customers to deposit and withdraw a minimum amount of Rs 1000 from the platform.A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography to secure and verify transactions.

3.The Government of India will organise the ‘First National Summit on Invest in AYUSH’ on 4 November 2018.The aim is to encourage various public sector undertakings and private firms to invest in AYUSH.The event is jointly organised by NITI Aayog and Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.

4.The Government of India will organise the ‘First National Summit on Invest in AYUSH’ on 4 November 2018.The aim is to encourage various public sector undertakings and private firms to invest in AYUSH.The event is jointly organised by NITI Aayog and Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.

5.The ‘Statue of Unity’ dedicated to the ‘Iron Man of India’ Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is all set to be unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 31st October 2018.‘Statue of Unity’ is the world’s tallest statue.It is situated at Sadhu Bet island on Narmada River in Gujarat.The foundation stone of this project was laid on 31st October 2013.

6.India and China will resume the annual joint Army exercise ‘Hand-in-Hand’ in December 2018 in China’s Chengdu region.The scope of the exercise is to understand transnational terrorism and evolve joint drills for the conduct of counter-terrorism operations.

7.The Shahi litchi of North Bihar has got the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.It is the fourth product from the state after Jardalu mango, Katarni rice and Magahi paan to have got the GI tag.Shahi Litchi is mainly cultivated in Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Vaishali, East Champaran and Begusarai and some parts of adjoining areas in agro-climatic areas of the Bihar.

8.China has successfully tested the world’s largest unmanned transport drone which can carry a payload of 1.5 tonnes.A large commercial drone ‘Feihong-98 (FH-98)’ was developed and modified by China Academy of Aerospace Electronics Technology.It was adapted from the prototype of the Shifei Y5B, a China-developed transport plane.

9.According to the Rural Development Ministry survey, Kuligod in Karnataka’s Belagavi district is the country’s best-developed village.Telangana and Madhya Pradesh have five and four panchayats in the top 10 ranks respectively.The Ministry has done a gap analysis of more than 3.5 lakh villages.

10.Kerala is set to become the first smoke-free State in the country with public sector oil companies eyeing 100% LPG penetration.The target has almost been achieved in most villages, mofussil towns and cities in the State.

ONE LINER OF THE DAY 17th OCTOBER 2018.

1.Canada has become the second country to legalise possession and use of recreational marijuana.Medical marijuana has been legal in Canada since 2001.Uruguay was the first country to legalise marijuana, in 2013.

2.NITI Aayog launched the model guidelines for Public – Private partnership in Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) on 17 October 2018.As per the guidelines, the private partner will invest in upgrading, building and deploying human resources.They will be responsible for operational management and service delivery.All service in NCD care facility will be offered by a single entity.

3.Suheil Tandon has won the International Olympic Committee’s Sport and Active Society Commission’s Grant Award.The award has been given for his contribution to the development of sports.The award ceremony was held at Buenos Aires, Argentina.

4.The government launched a national campaign ‘Swasth Bharat Yatra’ on the occasion of World Food Day on 16 October 2018.The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is leading this campaign to create consumer awareness about eating safe and nutritious food for becoming healthy.Under the campaign, cycle rally is being organised to sensitise people about eating safe food.

5.Author Anna Burns won the Man Booker Prize for her novel “Milkman”.She has become the first Northern Irish writer and the first woman since 2013 to win the Man Booker Prize.Milkman, set in an unnamed city in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, is a coming-of-age story about a young girl’s affair with a married man.

6.Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu left for Brussels in Belgium on 17 October 2018.He will lead the Indian delegation at the 12th Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit.The theme of 2018 ASEM Summit is “Global Partners for Global Challenges”.The event is the highest platform for dialogue and cooperation between Asia and Europe in the areas of trade, investment, security and tourism.

7.The festival of ‘Fulpati’ was celebrated in various parts of Nepal on 17 October 2018.Fulpati is observed on the seventh day of Dashain festival.Dashain is the biggest festival of Nepal and it began on first day of Navratri.The tradition started during the period of King Prithvi Narayan Shah.

8.India has been ranked as the 58th most competitive economy on the World Economic Forum’s global competitiveness index for 2018.US is at the top spot and is followed by Singapore and Germany.As per the report, India leads the region in all other areas of competitiveness except for health, education and skills.

9.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the guidelines for interoperability between Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs).This will allow users of payment wallets to transfer money from one wallet to another.Interoperability across PPIs shall be enabled through Unified Payments Interface (UPI).RBI also allowed PPIs to issue cards using authorised card networks such as Mastercard, Visa.

10.Professionals keen on doing volunteer work will be provided a platform by the government through an app.The app named ‘#Self4Society’ has been developed by MyGov.The app will have incentives, gamification and intra and inter-company competitions, and social networking.Initially this will be aimed at IT companies.