12th October 2018 Current Affairs Quiz

The country’s first India-Israel Innovation Centre (IIIC), an entrepreneurial technology hub, was launched in Bengaluru. The IIIC is a significant step towards facilitating penetration of Israeli companies in India and aims to forge local partnerships and joint ventures between companies from the two countries. It will provide an ecosystem to support entrepreneurship, partnership with vendors, mentoring and non-formal community development that will assist the growth of the companies in different verticals and covers business, technology, investors and customers.

Former Pakistan left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman, who along with teammate Saeed Ajmal famously stunned England during a 3-0 defeat in 2012, announced his retirement from international cricket.

State Bank of India has signed an MoU with Kathmandu-based National Banking Institute (NBI) for the development of human resources of the latter. Under the MoU, the strategic training unit of SBI will impart education, training and development to facilitate transformation of NBI's HR department.

Leading stock exchange NSE has signed a pact with the Uttarakhand government to provide access to capital to MSMEs, which will fuel the growth of such entities in the state. The bourse will play an active role in nurturing the SMEs and start-ups by increasing awareness along with the government on the opportunities to raise capital, SME exchange guidelines, listing processes, compliances with listing agreement among others.

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated the 13th Annual Convention of the Central Information Commission (CIC) here today. The Convention deliberated on three specific subjects – Data privacy and Right to Information, Amendment in the RTI Act and Implementation of the RTI Act. All the present and former Chief Information Commissioners, Information Commissioners of the Central Information Commission, State Information Commission, RTI activists and NGOs associated with the implementation of the RTI Act attended the Convention.

The World Bank released its first report on Human Capital Index (HCI), which placed India at the 115th position, lower than Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Singapore topped the poll after it was highly rated for its universal healthcare system, education exams results and life expectancy figures, as per the HCI released by the World Bank. It is followed by South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Finland. The report ranked 157 economies on parameters like child mortality, health and education. Broader theme of the World Development Report (WDR) this year is “The Changing Nature of Work”.

The Silver Jubilee Celebrations of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) began on October 12, 2018. The Commission will organize a ‘Human Rights Mela’ and ‘Human Rights Street Theatre Festival’. NHRC will organize a Human Rights Walk to generate awareness about various aspects of human rights. The NHRC was set up on the 12th October, 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Act, passed by Parliament.

The government hiked the import duty on certain communication items, including base stations, to up to 20 per cent as part of efforts to check a widening current account deficit by curbing imports. The increased duties would be effective from October 12. This is the second round of import duty hike announced by the government in a little over a fortnight.

World Arthritis Day is celebrated every year on October 12. The subject of World Arthritis Day 2018 is "It's In Your Hand, Take Action".

Arun Kumar Rath, CEO of SAIL's Durgapur Steel Plant took charge as the new CEO of Bhilai Steel plant, two days after a major fire accident at the SAIL unit which has so far claimed 13 lives.

WEF launches Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution in India (Miscellaneous) The World Economic Forum launched its new center for the fourth industrial revolution in India. This center will be located in Maharashtra. It has selected drones, artificial intelligence and blockchain as the first three project areas. W.E.F. has entered into partnership with Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh Governments for the new initiative.