Latest Current Affairs – October 01 & 02 2018
1. Ashkin, Mourou, Strickland win Physics Nobel for laser research
The 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded for inventions in laser physics with one half to Arthur Ashkin and the other half to Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland. Ashkin was awarded “for the optical tweezers and their application to biological systems” while Mourou and Strickland were given the honour “for their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses”.
- Canadian physicist Donna Strickland became the first woman in 55 years to win the Nobel Prize in Physics.
- American physicist Arthur Ashkin, aged 96 years, became the oldest-ever person to win the Nobel Prize.
2. India-born professor Gita Gopinath named IMF Chief Economist
India-born Harvard University professor Gita Gopinath has been appointed as the Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She received her PhD in Economics from Princeton University in 2001 after earning a BA from Lady Shri Ram College, and MA degrees from Delhi School of Economics and University of Washington. The 46-year-old is also Economic Adviser to Kerala CM.
3. James Allison, Tasuku Honjo win 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine
The 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded jointly to American scientist James Allison and Japanese researcher Tasuku Honjo “for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation”. The discovery made by the two Medicine Laureates takes advantage of the immune system’s ability to attack cancer cells by releasing the “brakes” on immune cells.
4. Canada, US confirm new trade deal to replace NAFTA
The US and Canada confirmed they had reached a deal, alongside Mexico, on a “new, modernised trade agreement”, which is designed to replace the 1994 NAFTA pact. The two nations said the new deal would be called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The US administration had set Sunday as a deadline for Canada to strike a deal.
5. Renowned violinist Balabhaskar passes away
Noted violinist Balabhaskar, who was critically injured in a car accident, passes away. Balabhaskar’s two year-old daughter, Thejaswani, had died in the accident on September 25. The family was returning here from Thrissur after a temple visit when their car rammed a tree near Pallipuram.
6. Thangvellu Mariyappan named India’s flag-bearer for Asian Para Games
Rio Paralympic gold medallist Thangvellu Mariyappan has been named as flag-bearer of the Indian contingent for the 3rd Paralympic Asian games to be held in Jakarta from October 6-13.
India will field its biggest ever contingent of 302 members including athletes, coaches, support staff, escorts and officials.
7. Iraq names new President and Prime Minister
Iraq’s parliament elected as president Kurdish politician Barham Salih, who immediately named Shi’ite Adel Abdul Mahdi prime minister-designate, ending months of deadlock after an inconclusive national election in May.
8. Modi and Putin to discuss S400, Kamov at the summit in New Delhi
Before the bilateral summit that is to be held in the first week of October between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the discussions are still underway between the two sides to conclude a final deal for 200 Kamov-226T utility helicopters.
India and Russia have already concluded an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) for 200 helicopters estimated to cost over $1 billion. Under the deal, 60 helicopters will be imported from Russia and at least another 140 will be built in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) with technology transfer. As part of this, a joint venture was set up in India which will build the helicopters.
9. Raegan and Ishita won junior titles in East Zone National ranking table tennis tournament
The top seed, Albuquerque Raegan claimed the junior boys crown and Ishita Gupta won the junior girls’ title in the East Zone National-ranking table tennis tournament at the R.G. Baruah Sports Complex’s Indoor Stadium.
Raegan outplayed Manush Shah of Gujarat, seeded two, and secured 11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 3-11, 11-9, 11-8. Ishita, seeded eighth, put it across the top seed Prapti Sen of West Bengal 11-3, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6.
10. Chinas multi-role combat aircraft, FTC 2000G, made its debut flight
FTC-2000G, China’s indigenously built new multi-role combat aircraft, for exports has made its debut flight. The aircraft was developed for export by the State-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC).
The aircraft flew for about 16 minutes. More than 1,000 people, including provincial leaders as well as Ambassadors and military, attaches from several nations, took part in the ceremony marking the flight. The aircraft is tasked mainly with air strikes against ground targets.
11. International Day Of Older Persons is observed on 1 October
On December 14, 1990, the United Nations General Assembly voted to establish October 1 as the International Day of Older Persons. The day was observed for the first time on October 1, 1991.
The theme for the 2018 celebration is “Celebrating Older Human Rights champions”.
12. India is to gift three MiG-21 fighter jets to Russia
India is to gift three MiG-21 fighter jets to Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin is to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi be in New Delhi on October 4 and 5 for the annual summit. The handing over of 3 MiG-21s is based on a request from Russian Defence Minister to Indian Defence Minister. The gifts comprise of one Type 75 aircraft and two Type 77 aircraft.
This is a major symbolic gesture to showcase the all-weather friendship and deep strategic partnership between India and Russia, which has been put to test in recent times due to changing geopolitical conditions.
13. Indian Railways partners with Google to launch Rail Heritage Digitisation Project
The Railway minister Shri Piyush Goyal launched the project through video conferencing in Delhi. The main aim is to showcase India’s rail heritage to the national and international audience in an online storytelling platform.
14. Reserve Bank of India bars Bandhan Bank from opening new branches
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) barred Bandhan Bank from opening new branches and also ordered freezing of the bank’s CEO salary over failure to stick to shareholding rules.
The Bank was not able to bring down the shareholding of Non-Operative Financial Holding Company (NOFHC) to 40% as required under the licensing condition, general permission to open new branches stands withdrawn.
15. Yuvraj Wadhwani Lifts Asian Junior Squash Title
Yuvraj Wadhwani defeated Anas Ali Shah of Pakistan by 13-11, 11-5, 6-11, 12-10 in the final in Chennai. He is the second Indian to win the Under-13 title after Veer Chotrani.
16. Vikram Misri appointed India’s next Ambassador to China
Senior diplomat Vikram Misri has been appointed as India’s next ambassador to China, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). He will replace Gautam Bambawale. Misri, a 1989-batch India Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is presently serving as Indian envoy in Myanmar.
Misri has served in various capacities at the headquarters of the MEA here as well as in the Prime Minister’s Office.
17. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Parakram Parv Exhibition in Jodhpur
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and commanders of all three wings of Indian armed forces are also participating in the conference.
18. India, Uzbekistan join hands for developing ICT Sector
Minister for Electronics & Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad and his counterpart Shuhrat Sadikov was held for strengthening the ICT sector.
Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad assured his counterpart that India will provide all possible technical support from the Indian side in the digital growth of Uzbekistan.
The two MoU are
Agreement between National Informatics Centre (NIC), India and e-Government System development centre of the Ministry for Development of Information Technologies and Communications of Uzbekistan for strengthening e-Governance cooperation.
19. Goa And Portugal inks MoU for Water and Sewage Management
The MoU between the Portuguese Environment Ministry and Goa Public Works Department (PWD) was signed.
It will help Goa manage its water resources better.
The projects would include:
1. Opa water supply project in north Goa,
2. The sewage water treatment plant in Valpoi and
3. Manganese-removal efforts in Selaulim Reservoir.
20. Petroleum Minister Launches SATAT Initiative
Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship launched an innovative initiative titled SATAT (Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation). This initiative would benefit both vehicle-users as well as farmers and entrepreneurs.
21. Assam, 1st state to launch Wage Compensation Scheme for Pregnant Women in tea gardens
The scheme will be launched by Assam Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal in Guwahati. The announcement was made by the state’s Health and Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Under the scheme, an amount of Rs 12,000 will be given to the pregnant women so that they can take care of themselves and the unborn baby.
22. Maharashtra tops list of States with Maximum Average AUM: AMFI
According to Association of Mutual Funds of India’s (AMFI) statistics, Maharashtra tops the chart for state with the maximum penetration and Assets Under Management (AUM). As per August, average assets under management (AUM) of mutual funds rose to an all-time high of Rs 25.2 lakh crore across the country.
