Current Affairs Update 17 October 2018
Current Affairs is an important part for many exams. Be prepared for this section with ByScoop which brings all the important Current Affairs in one place. 17 October 2018
India Ranks 58th in WEF’s Global Competitiveness Index 2018
- India has been ranked as the 58th most competitive economy on the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index for 2018 with a score of 62.0. India’s rank rose by five places from 2017.
- The index featuring 140 economies has been topped by the United States. It is followed by Singapore and Germany at the second and the third positions respectively.
India’s Highest Tricolour National Flag Unfurled in Mumbai
- The Union Minister of Minorities Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi unfurled India’s highest tricolour on the rooftop of Haj House in Mumbai.
- This national flag is believed to be the highest flag to be installed on any Indian building.
- The size of the flag is 20 feet by 30 feet which is erected at a height of 20 meter.
Telangana Sets up Bharosa Centre for Women & Children in Distress
- The Telangana government has unveiled a 24 hour state-of-the-art centre named ‘Bharosa’ to support women and children who are victims of violence and in distress.
- The centre was inaugurated by Cyberabad Police Commissioner V C Sajjanar in Hyderabad. It would help these women along with dealing in POCSO cases.
- Bharosa is a one stop centre working round the clock to resolve problems of women and children and has been set up on the instructions of the DGP, Telangana, to ensure speedy justice to women in distress.
West Bengal Launches Food Security Scheme ‘Khadya Sathi’
- On the occasion of the World Food Day on October 16, the state government of West Bengal unveiled a food security scheme named ‘Khadya Sathi’.
- The scheme will ensure food security to more than 8.5 crore people of the state.
- Special assistance is also being given to the people of Jangalmahal and Hill areas besides Aila-affected areas and farmers of Singur, tea garden workers as well as the Toto
tribe.
Canada Becomes 2nd Country After Uruguay To Legalize Recreational Cannabis
- Recreational marijuana is now legal to buy from licensed retailers across Canada. Canada is just the second country in the world to legalize recreational marijuana nationwide. The first was Uruguay in 2013.
- The Canadian Senate passed the Cannabis Act, allowing adults to possess up to 30 grams of pot in dried or “equivalent non-dried” form.
- Canadians can also share up to 30 grams with other adults. Dried or fresh cannabis or cannabis oil can also be purchased from licensed retailers or online from federally licensed producers.
Former RBI Deputy Governor S S Mundra Takes in as BankBazaar Advisor
- Online financial services marketplace BankBazaar has appointed former RBI Deputy Governor S S Mundra as an advisor to the company.
- Mundra was a deputy governor at the RBI for three years till July 2017.
Union Minister MJ Akbar Resigns Over #MeToo Allegations
- Minister of state for external affairs MJ Akbar has resigned from his post after allegations of sexual misconduct dating back to the years he was a journalist and newspaper editor in the 1980s and the 1990s.
- He has been accused by over 20 women journalists.
Anna Burns’s ‘Milkman’ Wins Man Booker Prize 2018
- Anna Burns has won the 2018 Man Booker Prize for her novel “Milkman”.
- She is the first Northern Irish writer to win Britain’s most prestigious literary prize.
- Burns, 56, who was born in Belfast, is the 17th woman to bag the award in its 49-year history and the first woman since 2013.
- Established in 1969, the annual literary prize recognises the judges choice of “the best original novel written in English and published in the UK”.
H M Pernal Honored With Vishwa Konkani Book Award
- ‘Beeg Ani Beegath’, a collection of short stories in Konkani by well-known writer, journalist and critic H M Pernal has bagged the prestigious ‘Vimala V Pai Vishwa’ Konkani best book award for the year 2018.
- Besides, Konkani poet Sharathchandra Shenoy from Kochi won the Vishwa Konkani best poetry award for his book ‘Idam Na Mama,’ while Vishwanath M Shet from Uttara Kannada bagged the Vishwa Konkani lifetime achievement award.
- H M Pernal is the pen name of Henry M Mendonca, and ‘Beeg Ani Beegath’ is his second short story collection after ‘Devak Sodullo Pado’ published in 2002.
International Day For The Eradication of Poverty: 17 October
- The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is an international observance celebrated every year on October 17 throughout the world.
- The 2018 theme for the day is “Coming together with those furthest behind to build an inclusive world of universal respect for human rights and dignity”.