21st October 2018 Current Affairs
Four Himalayan peaks named after former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee
- Four Himalayan peaks near Gangotri glacier have been named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
- The peaks are located at 6,557m, 6,566m, 6,160m and 6,100m 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.
- The Gangotri Group of mountains is a subdivision of the Garhwal Himalaya in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand.
Prime Minister dedicates National Police Memorial to nation
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the National Police Memorial (NPM) to the nation in New Delhi on the occasion of the Police Commemoration Day.
- The memorial has been built in recognition of the supreme sacrifice made by police personnel since independence.
4th Edition Of NITI Lecture Series Held In New Delhi
- 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”.
- Union Ministers, policy makers, experts from different walks of life along with NITI Aayog Vice Chairman, Members, CEO and Senior officials were the part of this occasion
PM Announces Award In Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s Name
- 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).
US to withdraw from Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia
- US President Donald Trump has annuounced to withdraw from Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty signed in 1987.
- The deal banned ground-launched medium-range missiles, with a range of between 500 and 5,500km.
- INF treaty was signed between then US president Ronald Reagan and Russian president Mikhail Gorbachev.
- It led to nearly 2700 short and medium range missiles being eliminated.
IFC Launches $1 Billion Masala Bond Programme In The US And Europe
- IFC, International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s lending arm, has launched its $1 billion masala bond programme in the US and Europe.
- These bonds are aimed at funding the rapidly expanding investment activities of IFC in India.
- Masala bonds are rupee-denominated borrowings issued overseas.
- IFC uses them to raise rupee funds overseas and brings the proceeds to India for investments.
India Ranked 9th Most Valuable Nation Brand
- 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 was ranked 8th in last year’s report but slipped by a spot to the 9th rank, despite its brand value rose by 5%.
- India’s brand value was $2,046 billion in 2017 and has increased to $2,159 billion in 2018
RBI steps in to ease NBFC woes
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 19 Oct incentivized bank lending to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) by easing liquidity norms and increasing the ceiling for lending to a single NBFC until 31 December.
- The central bank allowed banks to use government securities as level 1 high quality liquid asset (HQLA) equivalent to the bank’s incremental lending to NBFCs and housing finance companies (HFCs) after 19 October 2018.
- It is expected that RBI’s move will facilitate additional lending of Rs. 59000 Cr to NBFCs.
- Currently banks hold more than 29% of their NDTL in government securities as SLR while the RBI mandated them to hold at least 19.5%.
Mumbai wins Vijay Hazare Trophy of Cricket
- Mumbai defeated Delhi by four wickets to win their third Vijay Hazare Trophy title at M Chinnaswamy stadium.
- After winning the toss, Mumbai chose to field and bowled out Delhi for 177.
- Aditya Tare, Mumbai batsman struck a half century to lead the Delhi side.
- Mumbai last won the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2006 by defeating Rajasthan.
INS Vikramaditya completes Rs 705-crore refit
- India’s only aircraft carrier INS Vikarmaditya is set to sail from the Kochi port on October 23 for basin trials before returning to its home port at Karwar after undergoing a five-month refit at a cost of ₹705 crore at the Cochin Shipyard.
- Commissioned in November 2013, the ship is assigned to the Western Fleet and is based at Karwar in Karnataka.
- The total designated crew strength of INS Vikramaditya is 145 officers and 1,600 sailors.
- India is also working on developing INS Vikrant which was scheduled to be delivered in 2018.
Try out the quiz ?
1. Four Himalayan peaks located near the Gangotri glacier of the Uttarkashi district have been named after former Prime Minister___________.
• Four Himalayan peaks near Gangotri glacier have been named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. • The peaks are located at 6,557m, 6,566m, 6,160m and 6,100m 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. • The Gangotri Group of mountains is a subdivision of the Garhwal Himalaya in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand
2. Where did the 4th Edition of NITI Lecture series held?
• 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”.
3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an annual award in the name of ___________ for police and paramilitary forces.
• 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).
4. With which country US President Donald Trump has announced to withdraw from Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with which country ?
• US President Donald Trump has annuounced to withdraw from Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty signed in 1987. • The deal banned ground-launched medium-range missiles, with a range of between 500 and 5,500km. • INF treaty was signed between then US president Ronald Reagan and Russian president Mikhail Gorbachev.
5. International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s lending arm has launched its $ 1 billion masala bond programme between which two country?
• IFC, International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s lending arm, has launched its $1 billion masala bond programme in the US and Europe. • These bonds are aimed at funding the rapidly expanding investment activities of IFC in India. • Masala bonds are rupee-denominated borrowings issued overseas. • IFC uses them to raise rupee funds overseas and brings the proceeds to India for investments.
6. According to a report titled ‘Nation Brands 2018’ released by Brand Finance what is the rank of India?
• 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 was ranked 8th in last year's report but slipped by a spot to the 9th rank, despite its brand value rose by 5%. • India's brand value was $2,046 billion in 2017 and has increased to $2,159 billion in 2018
7. Which of the following wins Vijay Hazare Trophy of Cricket?
• Mumbai defeated Delhi by four wickets to win their third Vijay Hazare Trophy title at M Chinnaswamy stadium. • After winning the toss, Mumbai chose to field and bowled out Delhi for 177. • Aditya Tare, Mumbai batsman struck a half century to lead the Delhi side. • Mumbai last won the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2006 by defeating Rajasthan.
8. India’s INS Vikaramaditya completes ______________ refit.
• India’s only aircraft carrier INS Vikarmaditya is set to sail from the Kochi port on October 23 for basin trials before returning to its home port at Karwar after undergoing a five-month refit at a cost of ₹705 crore at the Cochin Shipyard. • Commissioned in November 2013, the ship is assigned to the Western Fleet and is based at Karwar in Karnataka. • The total designated crew strength of INS Vikramaditya is 145 officers and 1,600 sailors. • India is also working on developing INS Vikrant which was scheduled to be delivered in 2018.
