Ukraine began a series of large-scale air force exercises with the United States and other NATO countries. The “Clear Sky 2018” war games are being held in western Ukraine.
Some 700 troops are taking part, half of them from NATO member countries including the United States, Britain, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania. The aim is to enhance regional capabilities to secure air sovereignty and promote peace and security through cooperation.
Note: Ukraine Capital: Kiev, Currency: Ukrainian hryvnia
UNICEF and NASSCOM Foundation have signed an agreement to strengthen child rights through “meaningful business interventions. With this Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the two organisations will work collaboratively on two key areas including national sensitisation on child online protection and encouraging innovations for child rights’ in the country.
Note: UNICEF stands for United Nations Children’s Fund.
UNICEF Headquarters in New York, USA.
National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) was established in 1988.
NASSCOM Chairman: RishadPremji.
Indian-American Nikki Haley has resigned as the US Ambassador to the United Nations. US President Donald Trump has accepted her resignation. She would be leaving his administration at the end of the year.
Haley was appointed to the UN post in November 2016. Before she was named by Trump to her UN post, Haley was governor of South Carolina, the first woman to hold the post. She was re-elected in 2014.
The Centre has reconstituted Supreme Court-empowered Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority or the EPCA, which is tasked with taking various measures to tackle air pollution in the National Capital Region. Former secretary BhureLal continues to be the chairman, while the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) DG SunitaNarain is one of the members.
The other members of the 20-member re-constituted authority include Ajay Mathur, who is the Director General of The Energy Research Institute (TERI), Arunabha Ghosh, the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Energy Environment and Water, Navroz K. Dubash, the Senior Fellow for the Centre for Policy Research.
Union Minister NitinGadkari laid the foundation stone for Rs 1,224 crore highway projects in Uttar Pradesh. Besides, the highway projects, Gadkari also laid the foundation stone for the development of National Waterway 40 (river Ghaghra). This project undertakes development work of 354 km stretch of Ghagrariver under the Sagarmala Programme of Ministry of Shipping.
The projects include widening and improvement of Ramjanaki Marg (NH-227A) from AyodhyaCantt to Rampur (55 km) at a cost of Rs 315 crore, and 35 km from Rampur to Sikriganj at a cost of Rs 250 crore.
Note: UP CM: Yogi Adityanath, Governor: Ram Naik.
Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, J P Nadda inaugurated ‘2nd World Conference on Access to Medical Products: Achieving the SDGs 2030’ in New Delhi.
At the function, Shri J P Nadda released the Position Paper and launched the Information Sharing Platform Gateway for South-East Asia Regulatory Network (SEARN) developed by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, which will promote regulatory and health collaboration among the countries of the South-East Asia Region.
The Severe Cyclonic Storm ‘TITLI’ over the west-central Bay of Bengal moved northwards with a speed of about 14 kmph over Westcentral Bay of Bengal near latitude 16.5°N and longitude 85.8°E, about 320 km south-southeast of Gopalpur (Odisha) and 270 km southeast of Kalingapatnam (Andhra Pradesh). It is very likely to intensify further into a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm.
The Goa International Film Festival that will be held in November 2018 will have Jharkhand as a partner state. The decision was taken in meeting between Secretary of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Mr. Amit Khare and Chief Secretary of Jharkhand, SudhirTripathy at Ranchi.
This will allow Jharkhand to showcase its culture and favourable filmmaking incentives announced by the state government. It was decided to open the community radio station at every district of Jharkhand.
Note: Jharkhand Capital: Ranchi, Chief Minister: Raghubar Das, Governor: DraupadiMurmu.
On the occasion of 86th anniversary, the Indian Air Force has launched an innovative mobile health App named ‘MedWatch’ in keeping with the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Digital India, Ayushman Bharat and Mission Indradhanush’.
The app is conceived by the doctors of IAF and developed in-house by Directorate of Information Technology (DIT) with ZERO financial outlay. ‘MedWatch’ is the first mobile health app in the three Armed Services and was launched by Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa.
Japan’s passport has been named the most powerful in the world, overtaking Singapore, according to the Henley Passport Index 2018.
Japan has recently gained visa-free access to Myanmar, Japanese citizens now have visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 190 destinations around the world. The Indian passport has secured the 81st rank with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 60 destinations.
Note: Top 3 on Henley Passport Index Power Ranking 2018:
3. Germany, France, South Korea.
Sixteen-year-old shooter Manu Bhaker has become the first-ever Indian woman to win gold at Youth Olympics.
Bhaker achieved the feat after winning the women’s 10m Air Pistol event with a score of 236.5 at 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Argentina’s Buenos Aires. Weightlifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga became the first-ever Indian to bag Youth Olympics gold.
Note: Argentina Capital: Buenos Aires, Currency: Argentine peso.
Official Mascot of Youth Olympic Games 2018 is Pandi.
Indian under-19 cricket team has defeated Sri Lanka by 144 runs in the summit clash of the 2018 ACC Under-19 Asia Cup in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The victory gave India their sixth title in the continental tournament.
Indian batsman YashasviJaiswal was named the Player of the Series. The 2018 Under-19 Asia Cup was the 7th edition of ACC Under-19 Cup. The cricket tournament was held in Bangladesh. Afghanistan were the defending champions.
World Mental Health Day is celebrated on 10 October every year. The theme for 2018 WMH day is ‘Young People and Mental Health in a Changing World‘. World Mental Health Day was observed for the first time on 10 October 1992.
The goal of World Mental Health Day is to increase awareness about mental health and the importance of mental health in the overall health of a person. It was started as an annual activity of the World Federation for Mental Health.
