October 2018 Current Affairs Important Highlights (One-Liners)

sponsored links

Friends, here are the Major Current Affairs Highlights of October 2018. These one-liners cover all important International, National, MOUs, Indexes, Banking, Technology, Books & Authors, Committees and Sports affairs of October month (from 1st to 31st October 2018). You will get pdf version of this list by this evening. All the Best and Happy Reading :)

October 2018 Current Affairs Highlights (One-Liners) 

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's memorial in Gujarat's Narmada district. Called the Statue of Unity, the bronze sculpture is the world's tallest statue measuring 600 feet (182m) and overshadows China's Spring Temple Buddha (153m) and USA's Statue of Liberty (93m).
• 7th October 2018 was observed as World Day for Decent Work with the theme  “Change the Rules”.
  
• 10th October 2018 was observed as World Mental Health Day with the theme "young people and mental health in a changing world".
• 11th October 2018 was observed as the International Day of the Girl Child with the theme ‘With Her: A Skilled Girl Force’.
• 11th October 2018 was observed as World Obesity Day with the theme  "End Weight Stigma".
• 12th ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM) and 5th ADMM-Plus were held during 19th and 20th October 2018 at Singapore. India was represented by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
• 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit was held in Brussels, Belgium. India was represented by M. Venkaiah Naidu (Vice President). Theme of 12th ASEM Summit 2018 : ‘Global Partners for Global Challenges’.  
• 12th October 2018 was observed as World Egg Day with the theme  “Protein for Life”.
• 13th Convention of Central Information Commission was held in New Delhi.
• 13th October 2018 (second saturday of October) was observed as World Migratory Bird Day with the theme "Unifying our Voices for Bird Conservation".
• 13th October 2018 was observed as International Day for Disaster Reduction with the theme "Reducing the economic loss of disasters".
• 14th October 2018 was observed as World Standards Day / International standards day with the theme  “Innovation Nation”.
• 15th October 2018 was observed as the Global Hand-washing Day with theme  “Clean hands - a recipe for health”.
• 15th October 2018 was observed as the International Day of Rural Women with the theme “Sustainable infrastructure, services and social protection for gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls”.
• 16 year-old Indian shooter Manu Bhaker clinched gold medal in the 10m air pistol event in Buenos Aires, Argentina. With this medal, Manu became first Indian shooter to have won gold in the Youth Games.
• 16th October 2018 was observed as World Food Day with the theme “Our Actions Are Our Future. A #Zero Hunger World By 2030 Is Possible”.
• 16th October 2018 was observed as World Food Day with the theme “Our Actions Are Our Future. A #Zero Hunger World By 2030 Is Possible”.
• 16th October 2018 was observed as World Spine Day with the theme “Love Your Spine!”.
• 16th October 2018 was observed as World Spine Day with the theme “Love Your Spine!”.
• 17th October 2018 was observed as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty with the theme “Coming together with those furthest behind to build an inclusive world of universal respect for human rights and dignity”.
• 18 years and 339 days old Prithvi Shaw became the youngest Indian to win the Man of the Series award in Test cricket history.
• 18 years and 339 days old Prithvi Shaw became the youngest Indian to win the Man of the Series award in Test cricket history.
• 1st high-level meeting on bilateral security cooperation between India and China was held in New Delhi. This meeting was co-chaired by Rajnath Singh (Union Home Minister) along with Zhao Kezhi (State Councilor and Minister of Public Security of the People's Republic of China).
• 1st joint military exercise between India and Japan titled “Dharma Guardian”  will be held at the Army’s Counter-Insurgency Warfare School at Vairengte (Mizoram) from 1st to 14th November  2018. Aim of Dharma Guardian 2018 : Developing mutual understanding and respect between militaries of both countries, as also facilitate in tracking worldwide phenomenon of terrorism.
• 1st October 2018 was observed as International Day of Older Persons with the theme “Celebrating Older Human Rights Champions.”
• 21 countries in Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) adopted Delhi Declaration on Renewable Energy in Indian Ocean Region. It was adopted at 2nd IORA Renewable Energy Ministerial Meeting held at 2nd Global Re-Invest India-ISA Partnership Renewable Energy Investor’s Meet & Expo in Greater Noida.
• 22nd National Level Meeting between India and Myanmar was held in October, 2018. During the meeting both sides agreed to take action against insurgent groups operating within their territories.
• 24th October 2018 ws observed as World Polio Day with the theme “End Polio Now”.
• 27th Fusion Energy Conference (FEC 2018) was held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Aim of FEC 2018 : To provide forum for discussion of key physics and technology issues as well as innovative concepts of direct relevance to the use of nuclear fusion (reaction that powers Sun and stars) as a source of energy.
• 27th October 2018 is observed as World Day for Audiovisual Heritage with the theme “Your Story is Moving”.
• 2nd edition of India Mobile Congress (IMC-2018) was concluded  at New Delhi. Theme of IMC 2018 : “New Digital Horizons. Connect. Create. Innovate”.
• 31st October 2018 was observed as World Cities Day with the theme "Building Sustainable and Resilient Cities".
• 32nd edition of India-Indonesia coordinated patrol (IND-INDO CORPAT) was held in Belawan, Indonesia. Under it, ships and aircraft from both countries will undertake patrolling on respective sides of 236 nautical miles long International Maritime Boundary Line.
• 36th National Games will be held in Goa in March - April 2019.
• 46th edition of world’s largest IHGF-Delhi Fair was held at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida. This fair was inaugurated by Union Minister of State (MoS) for Textiles Ajay Tamta. It was organized by Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH).
• 4th India International Science Festival 2018 (IISF 2018) was recently held at Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh). Theme of IISF 2018 : “Science for Transformation“.
• 5th October 2018 was observed as World Teachers' Day with the theme “The right to education means the right to a qualified teacher”.
• 6th edition of IBSAMAR, a joint multi–national maritime exercise between Indian, Brazilian and South African Navies was recently held at Simons Town, South Africa. IBSAMAR - India-Brazil-South Africa Maritime.
• 6th meeting of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was recently held at New Delhi. The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• 6th RCEP Inter-sessional Ministerial Meeting (IMM) was recently held at Singapore. The Ministers from 16 RCEP countries met in Singapore to discuss a modern, comprehensive and mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement among ASEAN and ASEAN's FTA partners. India was represented by : C. R. Chaudhary (Minister of State for Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution).
• 7th meeting of Education Ministers of Member States of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was held in Astana (Kazakhstan).
• 9th October 2018 was observed as World Post Day with the theme  “Imagine you are a letter travelling through time. What message do you wish to convey to your readers ?”.
• A Bangladesh court sentenced former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia to 7 years in jail on corruption charges.
• A book titled “Feisty At Fifty” authored by Sudha Menon has been recently released.
• A Chinese company tested the 'world's largest' cargo drone Feihong-98 (FH-98) which is said to carry a payload of 1.5 tonnes (1,500kg). The FH-98 has a maximum takeoff weight of 5.25 tonnes (5,250 kg) and maximum range of 1,200 km.
• A new Supreme Court bench has been formed to hear the pleas in Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute. Head of the Bench : Ranjan Gogoi (Chief Justice of India)
• A South Korean court sentenced former President Lee Myung-bak to 15 years in prison for corruption.
• A team of scientists has developed a new font titled "Sans Forgetica". It is the first font that can help boost memory. 
• Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) closed its 51 branches across country (out of its approx 1900 branches) as part of cost-cutting measures, as first such measure initiated by any PSB.
• Bharti Airtel acquired artificial intelligence (AI) service provider AuthMe ID Services.
• Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) became first Indian stock exchange to launch commodity derivative contracts, with launch of contracts in popular commodities like gold (1kg) and silver (30kg). SEBI recently allowed BSE and NSE to launch commodity derivatives trading under unified exchange regime wherein stock exchanges will be allowed to offer trading in commodities derivatives.
• IRDA approved micro-insurance policies (sum assured of 50000 or less) disbursal through point-of-sales (PoS), to promote insurance coverage among economically vulnerable sections.
• Aadhaar-issuing authority UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) has asked digital wallets and registrars of mutual funds to stop authentication using the 12-digit unique identification number. This comes after Supreme Court in September termed Aadhaar authentication by private companies as "unconstitutional".
• According to International Air Transport Association (IATA)'s 20- year air passenger forecast report, India will be among the top three aviation markets by the year 2024. Note : India is currently at 7th position in Global Aviation market.
• According to the Asian Economic Integration Report 2018 by the Asian Development Bank, most of the outbound migrants were from India in 2017, followed by China and Bangladesh. The report also reveals that the outward migration in Asia has outpaced inward migration.
• After foraying into India with its first store in Hyderabad, Swedish furniture giant IKEA is going to open its second store in Mumbai later this year. IKEA will invest nearly ₹3,000 crore in the next three years to open three warehouses in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi.
• After India signed an over $5-billion deal to buy Russia's S-400 aerial-defence system, China has announced it will sell 48 high-end military drones to its "all-weather ally" Pakistan. The two countries will also manufacture the Wing Loong II Unmanned Aerial Vehicle in the future. Note : China is the largest supplier of weapon systems to the Pakistan Army.
• After scoring 87 runs and taking 10 wickets in Asia Cup, Afghanistan's 20-year-old cricketer Rashid Khan has become the top-ranked all-rounder in ODI cricket, as per the latest ICC rankings. Rashid is the top-ranked T20I bowler as well.
• Akash Malik, the 15-year-old son of a cotton farmer, won India's maiden silver medal in Archery at the Youth Olympics.  
• All-rounder Dwayne Bravo (35), who won World T20 in 2012 and 2016 with Windies, has announced his retirement from international cricket. He made his international debut in an ODI against England in 2004.
• American astronomers have discovered a new extremely distant object, spotted 2.5 times farther beyond Pluto from the Sun in 2015. Nicknamed 'The Goblin', the dwarf planet has a 40,000-year orbit with the closest distance to Sun at 65 astronomical units (AU) and farthest at 2,300 AU.
• American multinational technology company Apple Inc topped the list of World's Most Valuable Companies 2018. Software giant Microsoft has reclaimed its spot as the world's second most valuable company by overtaking e-commerce giant Amazon.
• American multinational technology company Google has added support for 13 new languages including Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Punjabi, Arabic and Vietnamese on the camera mode of its Google Translate app.
• American multinational technology company Google has announced that it is going to shut down it's social network platform Google+ for consumer use over the next 10 months after a bug exposed the personal data of up to 5 lakh users.  
• American online social media and social networking service company Facebook is  testing 'Unsend' feature for chats on Messenger. This feature would allow users to delete sent messages.
• Amid domestic opposition to the practice, Malaysia's cabinet has agreed to abolish the death penalty. Capital punishment in Malaysia is currently mandatory for murder, kidnapping, possession of firearms and drug trafficking, among other crimes.
• An ATM for deposit and withdrawal of money for cryptocurrencies has been installed in Kemp Fort Mall (Bengaluru) by virtual currency exchange Unocoin. Users can deposit money to buy currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum using an OTP received on their registered numbers. [Note : It was closed down within a week of its installation due to legal issues].
• Arsenal's former World Cup-winning French player Thierry Henry has been named the head coach of French club AS Monaco, where Henry played from 1993 to 1999.  
• As part of the one8 collection with PUMA, Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli has designed his very first sneaker. Incorporating elements of cricket and available in 2 neutral colours - white and black, the sneakers have a simplistic and minimalistic design, which is a reflection of Kohli's personal style.
• Assam's capital Guwahati will be connected with the capital cities of 6 South Asian countries by the end of December.
• Austria has announced that it is withdrawing from the United Nations' (UN) Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration Agreement which is due to be formally approved in December in Morocco.
• Bangladesh abolished a controversial quota system for civil service jobs that had been the target of major street protests that paralysed parts of the country earlier this year.
• Bangladesh approved controversial Digital Security Bill, 2018, by enacting it as a law. This bill deals with cyber crimes, including spreading content that hurts religious sentiments or is negative propaganda against the Liberation War and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (founding father of the People's Republic of Bangladesh). Illegal activities in e-transactions and spreading defamatory data are also covered under the law.
• Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Modi released a 200-page book titled 'Lalu-Leela', which documents alleged illegal dealings by RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members.  It is a compilation of documents distributed to mediapersons by Modi in the past one year on acquisitions of properties made allegedly by Lalu and his family.
• Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan arrived in Fiji for the 1st royal visit to the South Pacific nation since a military coup in 2006.
• Canada has become the 2nd country to legalise possession and use of recreational cannabis. The 1st country in the world to allow the sale of cannabis for recreational use is Uruguay .
• Canada has stripped Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi of her honorary citizenship in response to crimes committed against the Rohingya minority.  
• Chelsea legend and ex-England captain John Terry has retired from football at the age of 37 after being without a club since leaving Championship side Aston Villa this summer.
• China and Pakistan will in November launch a Bus service through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. The bus service plans to boost the friendly relations between the two countries.
• China eased the ban on the trading of tiger bones and rhinoceros horns, allowing it for scientific, medical, educational and cultural use.
• China has launched a game show to teach young people about President Xi Jinping. The five-episode show has been titled as 'Studying Xi in the New Era'.
• China is going to build the country's 1st permanent airport in the South Pole which will provide logistical support to the scientists' research there. The airport will decrease the exposure time of researchers in the polar environment as well as medical aid time.
• China launched its Centispace-1-s1 satellite, on a Kuaizhou-1A low-cost solid-fuel carrier rocket.2nd World Conference on Access to Medical Products: Achieving the SDGs 2030 held in New Delhi.Assam Government become first Indian state to offer a Wage Compensation Scheme for pregnant women working in tea gardens of state. INR 12000 will be given to pregnant women in 4 instalments - 2000 in 1st trimester, 4000 in 2nd trimester, 3000 for institutional delivery and 3000 for registration of child's birth. Women will also get maternity leaves, ranging 3 months before delivery to 3 months after delivery.Indian postal services honoured Udaipur-based non-profit organisation Narayan Seva Sansthan, by launching their rs 5 postal stamps.Madhya Pradesh Government announced creation of Niwari as its 52nd district, carved out of Tikamgarh district. It will include tehsils of Niwari, Orchha and Prithvipur.Lewis Hamilton (UK) won the Japanese Grand Prix on 7th October 2018.
• China’s first home-grown amphibious aircraft AG600 (code-named Kunlong) successfully carried out its first take-off and landing on water. In this maiden flight, the seaplane took off from Zhanghe Reservoir in Jingmen, Hubei’s province and stayed airborne for about 15 minutes. It is claimed to be world’s largest amphibious aircraft.
• Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav has become the 1st-ever Indian spinner to take a five-wicket haul in all three formats in international cricket.
• China's Chengdu is going to launch an illumination satellite, eight times brighter than the Moon, in 2020.
• Congress MP Shashi Tharoor  announced his latest book titled 'The Paradoxical Prime Minister', describing it as more than just a 400-page exercise in "floccinaucinihilipilification" on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Meaning of 'floccinaucinihilipilification' : the action or habit of estimating something as worthless.
• Deborah Herold won gold in elite women’s 40 kilometre competition at Saksham Pedal Delhi, India’s Premier Cyclothon. Shreedhar Savanur won gold medal in men’s 50 kilometres.Sport Australia Hall of Fame announced cricketing great Richie Benaud, who died in April 2015, as 40th Legend of Australian Sport. He is third cricketer behind Sir Donald Bradman and Keith Miller to be given Legend status.
• Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was on a 3 day visit to France. During this visit, she held wide-ranging talks with her French counterpart Florence Parly on ways to deepen strategic cooperation between the two countries and also deliberate on major regional and global issues of mutual interests.
• Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was on a 3-day visit to Astana, Kazakhstan. She visited Kazakhstan at the invitation of Minister of Defence of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mr. Nurlan Yermekbayev. During the visit, she met her Kazakh counterpart and Minister of Defence and Aerospace Industry Mr. Beibut Atamkulov.  
• Delhi government has launched Chief Minister’s Urban Leaders Fellowship Programme that seeks to attract young leaders across the country to work with it on addressing some of the most pressing urban challenges.  This programme was announced by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. Aim of this programme : To provide unique opportunity to young leaders across India to work within the Delhi government to address some of the most pressing urban challenges in India.
• Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) is going to form new government in Bhutan. This is the 1st time in Bhutan’s decade old parliamentary democracy that a new party has been chosen to form the government.
• Elon Musk-led SpaceX has successfully launched and landed its Falcon 9 rocket on a ground base in West Coast, California for the first time. The launch, which marked the 62nd flight of the vehicle, carried Argentina's SAOCOM 1A commercial satellite which was deployed about 12 minutes after liftoff.
• Following an 18-year campaign by women's groups, Australia has decided to scrap a 10% tax on tampons and sanitary pads.
• For the 1st time in the world, Scientists are planning a mission to explore the deepest parts of the five oceans. The project, 'Five Deeps Expedition', will use a two-person craft designed to withstand intense pressures around 9 km below the surface.
• For the first time ever, Indian festival Diwali will be celebrated at Canada's iconic Niagara Falls this year. It is being organised by the Indo-Canadian Arts Council (ICAC) with support from the Niagara Parks Commission.
• Former England women's cricket team bowler Eileen Ash, the oldest living Test cricketer, turned 107 years old.
• German chancellor Angela Merkel has announced that she will step down from the position in 2021, following recent election setbacks. She also said she would not seek re-election as leader of the centre-right CDU party in December. She has held the post since 2000.
• Google has launched its new cloud storage subscription plan Google One in India. The new service will offer storage plans ranging from 100GB to 30TB across its products including Google Drive and Google Photos.
• Government has inked $110 million loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to upgrade all-weather rural roads in Madhya Pradesh under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).  
• Government’s premier think tank NITI Aayog has inked agreement with Microsoft India to deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to address challenges in agriculture and healthcare and promote adoption of local language computing among others.  
• Great Britain lifted the 2018 Sultan of Johor Cup (Hockey) in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Great Britain defeated India 3-2 in the final.
• Haryana Government launched an Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) ‘Kavach, to deal with security challenges. For this, Haryana police recruits will be trained by National Security Guard (NSG).
• Haryana government notified that all bureaucrats in the state will be charged ₹1000 for non-official journeys up to 1,000 km every month and the amount will be deducted from their salaries. All ministers have been exempted from the hike.
• Hungary imposed a ban on rough sleeping in public spaces as its law on homelessness came into force.
• In a bid to narrow the current account deficit, the government  raised the basic customs duty on several electronic items and communication devices. Customs duty on items like smart watches and Voice over Internet Protocol equipment, among others has been hiked to up to 20%. Note : Last month, the government raised import tax on 19 items, including ACs and refrigerators.
• In a bid to prevent cheating at examination centres, Rajasthan government is considering a ban on social messaging apps like WhatsApp around exam centres.
• In a first-of-its-kind move, Uttar Pradesh government has announced that Man-Animal conflicts will now be considered a 'State Declared Disaster'. Now onwards, ₹5 lakh will be given within 24 hours to the family if its member is killed by a wild animal.
• In a recently held referendum, Ireland voted to remove the offence of blasphemy from the constitution, with 64.85% of the voters supporting the move.
• India also signed $240 million loan agreement with ADB for West Bengal Drinking Water Sector Improvement Project to provide safe drinking water to people in three districts of West Bengal.
• India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a US $150 million loan agreement for establishing India’s first Global Skills Park park in Bhopal.
• India and Azerbaijan have signed protocol on trade and economic, science and technology cooperation.
• India and China inked their 1st-ever internal security cooperation agreement aimed at strengthening assistance in counter-terrorism, organised crimes and exchange of information.
• India and Italy agreed to expand bilateral cooperation in areas of defence, trade and infrastructure and condemned those providing safe havens to terror groups.
• India and Japan signed a $75 billion bilateral currency swap agreement in Tokyo. "The agreement should help bring greater stability to foreign exchange and capital markets in India," a statement said.
• India and Myanmar inked MoU for appointment of private port operator for Operation and Maintenance (O&M) of Sittwe Port, Paletwa Inland Water Terminal and associated facilities included in Kaladan Multi Model Transit Transport Project.
• India and Pakistan have been declared as joint winners of the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy 2018 after the final was forfeited due to heavy rain in Oman's Muscat Malaysia's Faizal Saari was the top scorer of the tournament with 8 Goals.  
• India and US have agreed to elevate their bilateral ‘Cope India’ Air Exercise to trilateral format by including Japan. The next edition of this exercise is scheduled to be held in December 2018 for which final planning conference to finalise its modalities will held in Kalaikunda, West Bengal.
• India captain Virat Kohli has become the fastest batsman to score 10,000 runs in the history of ODI cricket.
• India defeated Sri Lanka to win their 6th Under-19 Asia Cup Cricket title.International Cricket Council released updated version of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) System along with the new ICC Code of Conduct and ICC Playing Conditions. These came into effect from 30 September, with an ODI between South Africa and Zimbabwe.Manipur won 24th Senior Women’s National football championships in Cuttack (Odisha). Manipur secured their 19th title win after beating Odisha.
• India elected to the United Nations' top human rights body for a period of three years beginning January 1, 2019. The 193-member UN General Assembly held elections for new members to the UN Human Rights Council. Note : India got 188 votes in the Asia-Pacific category, the highest number of votes among all candidates.
• India has launched massive humanitarian operation Samudra Maitri to provide assistance to earthquake and tsunami victims in Indonesia. Under this operation, India has dispatched two aircrafts (C-130J, C-17) and three naval ships (INS Tir, INS Sujatha, INS Shardul) carrying relief material and personnel to the country.
• India has lost one spot to rank as the 9th most valuable nation brand in the world, according to UK-based consultancy Brand Finance's Nation Brands 2018 report. USA topped the list with a 23 per cent increase in brand value (TO $25,899 billion from $21,055 billion). China came in second with a 25 per cent increase in brand value (to $12,779 billion from $10,209 billion).
• India has signed a $777-million deal (₹5,683 crore) with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to obtain Barak 8 long-range Surface-to-air Defence Missiles and Missile Defence Systems for seven Indian Navy ships. State-owned Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) will be IAI's Indian manufacturing partner.
• India has signed a $950-million deal with Russia to buy two Admiral Grigorovich-class guided-missile frigates for service in the Navy.
• India has signed an over $5-billion deal to buy Russia's S-400 aerial-defense system.
• India is going to host the 1st India-United States tri-services exercise in 2019. This exercise will include all services of both countries and talks are on to include special forces. Important Note : US is the second country after Russia with whom India conducts tri-services exercise.
• India is going to host the 4th edition of Global Partners' Forum during 12th and 13th December 2018 in New Delhi.
• India took over the podium claiming all the medals in the Men's high jump T42/63 event at the Asian Para Games 2018 in Indonesia. Defending champion Sharad Kumar won the Gold medal while Varun Bhati and Thangavelu Mariyappan picked up Silver and Bronze respectively.
• India, Iran and Afghanistan held their 1st Trilateral meeting. In this meeting, they discussed the development of Chabahar port project.
• India, who had won the Under-19 World Cup in February this year, defeated Sri Lanka to win the Under-19 Asia Cup for a record-extending sixth time. This is the fourth time that India defeated Sri Lanka in the final to win the tournament.
• India’s and Asia’s 1st Dolphin research centre titled National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC) is going to be set up on the banks of the Ganga river in Patna University campus in Patna (Bihar).
• India’s first ever National Environment Survey (NES) will be kicked off in January, 2019 to map environment data of 55 districts across 24 states and 3 Union Territories. The NES will rank all districts on their environmental performance and document their best green practices based on various environmental parameters.
• India’s Keerthana Pandian won girls’ title in IBSF World Under-16 Snooker Championships, in St Petersburg (Russia).
• India’s longest river bridge with total length of 19.3 kilometers will be built on Brahmaputra river (Assam). At present, India’s largest river bridge is Dhola-Sadia bridge, its length is 9.15 kilometers.
• India’s Squash player Vikram Malhotra won in Texas Open Squash Championship (USA), defeating Daniel Mekbib of Czech Republic.
• Indian banking company IDFC Bank, has proposed to change its name to 'IDFC First Bank Ltd' as it is in the process of amalgamating non-banking financial company Capital First with itself.
• Indian cricketer and former India national under-19 cricket team captain Prithvi Shaw has become the youngest Indian to score a century on Test debut, achieving the feat aged 18 years and 329 days against Windies in Rajkot .
• Indian e-commerce payment system and digital wallet company, Paytm has forayed into the Japanese market for the first time with its wallet service 'PayPay'. The service, which is a joint venture with SoftBank and Yahoo Japan, enables users to transfer money from a bank account to their PayPay wallet and make payments with it.
• Indian IT industry’s apex body National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has launched its Centre of Excellence for the Internet of Things (CoE – IoT) at Gurugram, Haryana.
• Indian multinational information technology service, TCS has displaced Accenture as the world's largest pure-play IT firm servicing BFSI Sector. [BFSI - Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI)].
• Indian Navy  inducted its 1st Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel (DSRV). DSRV can be used to rescue downed or disaster-struck submarines in sea. Important Note : Currently, US, China, Russia and a few other countries have the capabilities to deploy DSRVs.
• Indian pair of Meghana Reddy and Tasnim Mir won Under-15 girls doubles title in Badminton Asia Junior Under-17 and Under-15 championships, at Mandalay (Myanmar). India won total 5 medals in championships - 1 gold and 4 bronze.
• Indian para-athlete Sandeep Chaudhary smashed the world record in the javelin throw event to clinch Gold medal at the Asian Para Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.
• Indian Railways has started the work to construct Bilaspur-Manali-Leh railway line, which will be the world's highest rail network at 5,360 metres above the sea level. The 465-km railway line will have 30 stations and is estimated to cost ₹83,360 crore.
• Indian seamer Praveen Kumar ended his 11-year-long cricket career by announcing his retirement from the sport.
• Indian shooter Saurabh Chaudhary won the Men's 10m Air Pistol event to bag India's second shooting and overall third Gold medal at 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Argentina's Buenos Aires.  
• Indian sport shooter Manu Bhaker bagged a Silver medal after her Gold medal finish in 10m air pistol event at Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires. With this, she became only the 2nd Indian after judoka Tababi Devi Thangjam to win two medals at the Youth Olympics.
• Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia won the Silver medal at the World Championships. With this, he became the 1st Indian to have two World Wrestling Championship medals.
• India's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) and payments solution provider Hitachi Payment Services India entered into an agreement to form a Joint Venture for establishing a card acceptance and digital payment platform.
• India's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has asked users to register mobile numbers with the bank by 1st December 2018. Failing which their access to Internet banking accounts may be blocked.
• India's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has reduced the cash withdrawal limits on its Classic and Maestro debit cards from ₹40,000 to ₹20,000 per day with effect from October 31.
• India's Pooja Dhanda won a Bronze medal in the women’s freestyle 57kg weight class in Wrestling World Championships held at Budapest, Hungary. She defeated Norway's Grace Bullen.
• India's Rio Paralympics medallist Deepa Malik bagged her second medal as she clinched a bronze medal in the women's F51/52/53 discus throw event at the Asian Para Games .  
• India's Sourav Kothari defeated Peter Gilchrist of Singapore to clinch the 2018 WBL World Billiards Championship title in England .
• India's trade deficit for the month of September hit its lowest level in five months at $13.98 billion. This comes despite rising oil imports by India, the world's third-biggest crude oil importer.
• India's trade deficit for the month of September hit its lowest level in five months at $13.98 billion. The trade deficit refers to the amount by which the cost of a country's imports exceeds the value of its exports.
• International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced that, India will become the world’s 3rd largest aviation market around 2024 surpassing the United Kingdom. India is at present, the world’s 7th largest aviation market.
• Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte was on a day-long maiden visit to India. The highlight of the visit is his participation at the 24th edition of the India-Italy Technology Summit which is being organised by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
• Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries   launched the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) 1st locally made satellite KhalifaSat into orbit. The Japanese rocket also carried an IBUKI-2 greenhouse gas observation satellite for Japan.
• Japan joined joint exercise ‘Kamandag’(venom) with the United States and Filipino troops in Philippines for first time since World War II. Its first time Japanese armoured military vehicles were used on foreign soil since 1945.
• Japan's passport has been named the most powerful in the world, overtaking Singapore, according to the recently released Henley Passport Index 2018. Singapore is now at the 2nd place in the Index.  Germany, South Korea and France jointly stood at the 3rd spot. Denmark, Finland, Italy, Sweden and Spain all came in joint-4th. United States and the United Kingdom are at the 5th position of the index. The Indian passport has secured the 81st rank in the Index.
• Kerala government owned financial institution, Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) has announced that it is going to issue Masala bonds worth Rs. 5,000 crore to mobilise funds for various development works.
• Malaysia’s Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has agreed to abolish death penalty for all crimes and halt pending executions.
• Manipur claimed victory in the final of the 24th Senior Women’s National Football Championships, by defeating hosts Odisha in the finals held at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, Odisha.
• Members of the European Parliament have voted in favour of a proposal to ban single-use plastics in a bid to curb marine pollution. The proposal called for a complete ban on plastic cutlery, cotton buds, drink stirrers and a reduction in the use of food and drink containers like plastic cups. The ban is likely to take effect by 2021.
• Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton won his 5th Formula 1 world championship after finishing fourth at the Mexican Grand Prix.
• NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has successfully completed flyby of Venus at distance of about 2,415 kilometres during its first gravity assist from planet.
• NASA's Parker Solar Probe became the closest human-made object to the Sun, surpassing the closest approach of 42.72 million kilometres set by German-American Helios 2 spacecraft in April 1976.
• North and South Korea have agreed to begin reconnecting rail and road links that have been cut since the 1950-53 Korean War. Later this month, the two countries will discuss plans to co-host the 2032 Olympic Games.
• Pakistan has successfully test-fired Ghauri ballistic missile capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads up to a distance of 1,300 kilometres. The launch was conducted by Army Strategic Forces Command and was aimed at testing the operational and technical readiness.
• Pakistan's Minister of Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry announced that the country is going to send a Pakistani astronaut to space for the first time in 2022. An agreement in this regard has been signed between Pakistan's space agency SUPARCO (Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission) and a Chinese company.
• Pakistan's Supreme Court reintroduced the ban on airing Indian movies and TV shows on local channels, overturning an earlier verdict by the Lahore High Court (LHC).
• Portuguese professional footballer Cristiano Ronaldo became the 1st player to score 400 goals across the top-five European football leagues after getting on the scoresheet in his side's match against Genoa .  
• President Ram Nath Kovind has given assent to Karnataka Good Samaritan and Medical Professional (Protection and Regulation during Emergency Situations) Bill, 2016. This law will ensure that good samaritans are not harassed in any manner and face any criminal or civil liability while helping accident victims. With this, Karnataka became first state give legal protection to good Samaritans who help accidents victims with emergency medical care within golden hour.
• President Ram Nath Kovind was on a 3-day visit to Tajikistan. During this visit, he held talks with the top leadership of the country to strengthen India's ties with the Central Asian country.  
• President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of the Republic of Uzbekistan was on a visit to India. This is his first official state visit. During this visit, he met the President and Prime Minister of India, as well as Indian government officials, and discussed various issues of mutual benefit.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unveiled a 64-foot-tall statue of peasant leader Sir Chhotu Ram at his native village Sampla in  Rohtak district  of Haryana. The statue has been sculpted by renowned sculptor and Padma Bhushan-recipient Ram Vanji Sutar.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated 1st Assembly of International Solar Alliance (ISA) in New Delhi. The same event also marked inauguration of 2nd Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Renewable Energy Ministerial Meeting and second Global RE-Invest (Renewable Energy Investors’ Meet and Expo).
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and dedicated to the nation a newly-refurbished National Police Memorial and a newly-built Police Museum in Delhi. A 30-foot-tall and 238-tonne heavy black granite sculpture honouring the slain troopers and a wall of valour bearing the names of over 34,800 martyred personnel were also unveiled during the event.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the maiden Uttarakhand Investors Summit in Dehradun. Leading industrial houses have participated in the two-day event which will explore investment opportunities in the state.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit in Argentina in November. This will be their 4th meeting this year after the Wuhan summit and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in China, and BRICS summit in South Africa.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a 3 day visit to Japan. During this visit, modi attended the 13th Annual India-Japan Bilateral Summit. Focus areas of 13th India Japan Bilateral Summit : To boost cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, carry out joint infrastructure projects in third countries and enhancing defence ties, including launch of talks for a logistic support pact between the two navies.
• Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh was on a 3-day visit to Israel. Aim of this visit : To strengthen cooperation with the nation in key sectors like dairy, agriculture, and horticulture.
• Queensland voted in favour of a bill to legalise Abortion. With this it became the 5th Australian state to do so.
• RBI allowed state-owned oil companies to borrow long-term working capital from overseas (relaxing policy on borrowing up to 10 billion USD). RBI has allowed state-owned oil companies to raise ECB (External Commercial Borrowings) of minimum maturity of 3 or 5 years.
• RBI approved proposal of Kerala government for the formation of Kerala Bank, decided by special task force headed by M S Sriram. Bank will be formed by consolidating State Cooperative Bank and 14 district cooperatives, with net deposit amount of INR 65000 Crores. Unification will be completed by March 2019.
• Realtors body National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to provide skill training and jobs in construction sector for 2.5 lakh poor people.
• Russia has successfully sent an unmanned Soyuz rocket into space weeks after a failed launch endangered the lives of two astronauts. The mission deployed a satellite into the low Earth orbit, ranging between approximately 240 km and 900 km.
• Russian chemical holding company PhosAgro has signed a deal to supply 2 million tonnes of fertiliser worth $1 billion to Indian Potash during 2019-2021.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin was on a 2 day visit to India. The visit was focussed on the two countries signing a $5-billion deal for India to procure Russia's most advanced S-400 long-range surface-to-air missile defence system.
• Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide $3 billion in foreign currency support for a year to Pakistan to help address the country's balance of payment crisis.
• Saudi Arabia has announced a grant of $200 million to Yemen to help stabilise the country's economy and increase the value of the Yemeni rial. Note : The Yemeni rial has lost nearly half its value this year amid the ongoing civil war.
• Shahi Litchi from Bihar has received Geographical Indication (GI) tag from Chennai based Geographical Indication Registry and Intellectual Property India.
• Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe  arrived in India on a three-day visit. Aim of this visit : To boost ties in a range of areas, including trade, investment and maritime security.
• Steel manufacturing giant Tata Steel was named as an official partner for the prestigious Men's hockey World Cup 2018 to be held here from 285th November to 16th December 2018.
• Suraj Panwar won India's first medal in Athletics at the Youth Olympic Games 2018 after claiming the Silver medal in the Men's 5000m race walk event .
• Swiss digital technology company ABB announced it's investing $150 million to build a new factory in Shanghai, China, where robots will make robots. The 75,000-square-foot factory will produce robots for China as well as for export elsewhere in Asia.
• Telugu is the fastest growing language in the US, a study by US-based Centre for Immigration Studies claimed.
• Thangjam Tababi Devi became India’s first judo medallist at the Olympic level.
• The 2018 World Wrestling Championships held at Budapest (Hungary). This is the 15th edition of the Championships.
• The 2nd Global Renewable Energy Investment Meeting and Expo for the year 2018 (REINVEST- 2018) was held at Noida. This meeting was organised by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy from 3rd to 5th October 2018.
• The 6 member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its 4th bi-monthly policy statement  kept the Repo rate unchanged at 6.50% after hiking it by 25 bps two times in a row.
• The 6th RCEP Inter-sessional Ministerial Meeting (IMM) was held at Singapore. India was represented by C. R. Chaudhary (Minister of State for Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution).
• The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is going to establish India’s first AICTE Training And Learning (ATAL) Academy in Jaipur (Rajasthan).
• The Arunachal Pradesh government has launched two farmer welfare schemes. They are : CMSKY (Chief Minister's Sashakt Kisan Yojana) and CMKSY (Chief Ministers Krishi Samuh Yojana).
• The Bihar government prohibited all principal secretaries and police officials from carrying cell phones to "high-level" meetings.
• The Central Government launched a new scheme titled IMPRESS, to promote research in Social Sciences. IMPRESS : Impactful Policy Research in Social Sciences.
• The Central Information Commission (CIC)  brought Indian cricket governing body BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) under the RTI (Right to Information) Act. The commission also directed BCCI to put online and offline mechanisms in place within 15 days to receive RTI queries.
• The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC)  has announced that the Vigilance Awareness Week 2018 will be observed from 29th October to 3rd November 2018. Theme of Vigilance Awareness Week 2018 : “Eradicate Corruption-Build a New India (भ्रष्टाचार मिटाओ- नया भारत बनाओ)”. The commission observes the Vigilance Awareness Week every year during the week in which the birthday of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (31st October) falls.
• The Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu announced that passengers can soon use facial recognition biometrics to enter airports under the government's DigiYatra initiative, which will become operational by February 2019.
• The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the UN Environment has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development.
• The Delhi Cabinet approved government jobs for sportspersons from the city who excel in their respective fields.
• The Druzhba 2018 (Friendship 2018) joint bilateral military exercise between Pakistan and Russian special forces has begun in Pakistan. Note : “Druzba” is Russian word, which means “friendship”.  
• The European and Japanese space agencies have launched a 7-year mission to Mercury titled BepiColombo. The mission comprises two satellites launched together: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and Mio (Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, MMO).
• The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has announced that it is going to raise the prize money for the Women's World Cup from $15 million to $30 million starting with next year's edition in France. President of FIFA : Gianni Infantino.
• The government has constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) to strengthen the legal framework to deal with and prevent sexual harassment at workplace. Head of this GoM : Rajnath Singh (Home Minister).
• The government hiked the interest rate for General Provident Fund (GPF) and other related schemes by 40 bps to 8% for the October-December quarter. The new interest rate would apply on provident funds of employees of central government, Railways and defence forces.
• The government is going to auction over 100 Mineral blocks by March 2019. Jharkhand will auction the highest number of blocks at 20, followed by Rajasthan at 16.
• The government is going to sell up to 9% stake in Coal India on October 31 and November 1, which is expected to fetch nearly ₹14,900 crore to the exchequer.
• The government is probing the Competition Act 2002 to check if the big discounts offered by online retailers like Amazon, Flipkart promote competition. In this regard, the government has appointed 10-member panel. Head of this Panel : Injeti Srinivas (corporate affairs secretary).
• The government of india has notified the sale of electoral bond by the State Bank of India (SBI) through its 29 authorized branches from 1st to 10th November 2018. An Electoral Bond is just like a promissory note that will be payable to bearer on demand and free of interest.
• The government  appointed a parliamentary panel to examine the functioning of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), its coverage and recovery of arrears. Head of this Panel : Kirit Somaiya (BJP MP)
• The Hindi Version of the Biography of Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath titled 'Yoddha Yogi: Yogi Adityanath Ki Jeevan Yatra', was recently released. The book is written by Pravin Kumar, Deputy Resident Editor, Times of India, Lucknow.
• The Home Ministry  announced that a foreign-origin spouse of any Indian national or an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholder is now eligible for obtaining the OCI card. The OCI card allows people multiple entry, multi-purpose and life-long visa for visiting the country.
• The Indian Air Force (IAF) has successfully undertaken series of flight trials of Astra Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVR-AAM) from September 26 to October 3, 2018.
• The Indian and Chinese armies are going to resume their annual bilateral military exercise 'Hand-in-Hand' in December 2018. The last 'Hand-in-Hand' exercise took place in Pune in the year 2016.
• The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun has signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) to launch a programme titled ‘Prakriti’ to provide platform for school children to learn practical skills towards sustainable use of resources.
• The Indian cricket team beat the Windies to register their 100th Test win at home, becoming the fourth cricketing nation to reach the landmark figure in Test cricket history.
• The Indian government's flagship Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme has crossed the one-lakh beneficiary mark within a month of its launch on September 23.  The scheme's real impact at the population level will show in one-two years, Ayushman Bharat CEO Indu Bhushan said.
• The Indian Navy began the third edition of JIMEX, a 9-day bilateral maritime exercise with Japan, after a gap of five years. Aim of JIMEX : Improving understanding and imbibing the best practices of each other.
• The Indian railways announced its plan to build world’s highest railway line titled Bilaspur-Manali-Leh Line. The projected cost to construct the 465 km line will be Rs 83,360 crore.
• The Indian Railways announced that it has decided to refer to its cleaning staff as 'housekeeping staff' instead of 'safaiwalas'.
• The Indian Railways has decided to install the Loco Cab Voice Recording (LCVR) devices (also known as Black Boxes) in the train engines to facilitate investigators trying to identify the cause of accidents and assess crew performance. The black box is currently used in Aircrafts.
• The Indian Railways has decided to install the Loco Cab Voice Recording (LCVR) devices (also known as Black Boxes) in the train engines to facilitate investigators trying to identify the cause of accidents and assess crew performance. The black box is currently used in Aircrafts.
• The Indian rupee plunged 21 paise to hit a fresh lifetime low of 74.27 against the US dollar.
• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully conducted a test for the safe and precise landing of Vikram, the lander aboard Chandrayaan-2 for India's second Moon mission. The test was meant to assess the performance of navigational, guidance and control system of the moon lander.
• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Central University of Jammu (CUJ), for setting up of Satish Dhawan Center for Space Science in the University.  It will be first of its kind institute coming up in Jammu and Kashmir.
• The Indian Under-18 Men’s and Womens Hockey teams won Silver Medals at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games held at Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• The Indian Under-18 Men’s and Womens Hockey teams won Silver Medals at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games held at Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• The Indo Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) celebrated its 57th Raising day on 24th October 2018. The force was raised on 24th October in 1962.
• The International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) has acquired the software company Red Hat in a $34 billion cash and debt deal, marking its biggest ever acquisition till date. Red Hat will be a distinct unit within IBM’s Hybrid Cloud team.
• The International Conference on Status and Protection of Coral Reefs (STAPCOR – 2018) was conculed  at Bangaram Island, Union Territory of Lakshadweep.Theme of STAPCOR 2018 : “Reef for Life”.
• The International Court of Justice has ordered the United States to lift sanctions on Iran which are linked to humanitarian goods and civil aviation. Iran claims the US sanctions violate terms of a treaty it signed with the country in 1955.
• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasted a growth rate of 7.3% for India in the year 2018 and 7.4% in 2019.
• The joint military exercise between United Arab Emirates (UAE) and United States (US) titled Iron Magic 19 kicked off near Dubai. The two-week military exercise is part of series of joint military exercises held throughout the year between UAE armed forces and armed forces of other countries.
• The Keylong station in Himachal Pradesh will be the 1st railway network to be inside a tunnel.
• The Madras Institute Of Technology (MIT) has announced plans to create a $1-billion college for Artificial Intelligence (AI) focusing on "responsible and ethical" uses of the technology.
• The Madras Institute Of Technology (MIT) has announced plans to create a $1-billion college for Artificial Intelligence (AI) focusing on "responsible and ethical" uses of the technology.
• The maiden joint exercise of Coast Guards of India and Vietnam “Sahyog HOP TAC -2018” was held in the Bay of Bengal off the Chennai coast, Tamil Nadu. Aim of Sahyog HOP TAC -2018 : Strengthening the working level relationship between coast guards of both navies.
• The Ministry of Finance has imposed anti-dumping duties of up to $185.51 per tonne for 5  years on certain Chinese steel products. The duties have been imposed to guard domestic industry against cheap imports of straight length bars and rods of alloy steel.
• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced that the 1st  crewed test flight by a SpaceX rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) is expected to take place in June 2019. It will be the first manned US launch to the ISS since the space shuttle's retirement in 2011.  
• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) retired its 1st planet-hunting mission as the Kepler Space Telescope ran out of fuel. Launched in March 2009 into an Earth-trailing heliocentric orbit, Kepler discovered over 2,600 planets and surveyed over 5,00,000 stars.
• The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has allowed the government to take control of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) by replacing all its board members.
• The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which has served as a "watchdog of democracy" and been part of some landmark cases in which its intervention had significant impact, has completed 25 years on 12th October 2018. The commission was established on 12th October 1993 under the Protection of the Human Rights (PHR) Act, 1993.
• The Netherlands has issued its 1st gender-neutral passport to 57-year-old Leonne Zeegers.
• The Odisha government along with the Department of Sports and Youth Services,  launched the official mascot of the 2018 Men's Hockey World Cup named 'Olly', at the Puri beach. The mascot aims to raise awareness about the conservation of the Olive Ridley turtle.
• The Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed appointed new 20-member cabinet comprising a record 50% Women. This cabinet comprises the country's 1st female Defence Minister Aisha Mohammed.
• The Punjab government launched 3 android mobile applications aimed at checking crop residue burning and creating awareness about its ill-effects. They are : i-Khet Machine, e-PEHaL and e-Prevent.
• The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has announced that soon passengers on board trains will be able to file a 'zero FIR' through an app which will be immediately investigated by the force. Zero FIR means that an FIR can be filed in any police station.
• The reduction in cash withdrawal limit to ₹20,000 from ₹40,000 by State Bank of India on its Classic and Maestro debit cards came into effect. According to SBI, this move will help in checking frauds and promote digital transactions.
• The Reliance Health Insurance (subsidiary of Reliance Capital) received final approval from IRDAI for its new health insurance business. Ravi Viswanath has been appointed as CEO of new health insurance company.SBI halved ATM withdrawal limit from 40000 to 20000 per day, for debit cards of ‘Classic’ and ‘ Maestro’ platforms. It aims to reduce number of fraudulent transactions and promote cashless transactions.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed Fino Payments Bank (one of India's first payments banks) to open new accounts after it submitted a compliance report. Fino payments bank has been barred by the central bank from adding new customers since the end of May because an RBI audit revealed that some Fino accounts had deposits in excess of the stipulated amount of ₹1 lakh.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that it would inject ₹36,000 crore liquidity into the system through purchase of government bonds in October amid fears of a potential credit crunch.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued final guidelines aimed at promoting money transfer between e-wallets and digital transactions. These new guidelines will allow transfer of funds between different mobile wallets. The rules will allow mobile wallets to issue cards in partnership with card networks like Mastercard and Visa.
• The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board  approved enhancement of free accident insurance cover for pilgrims visiting the shrine to ₹5 lakh besides free treatment to trauma victims from nearby areas.
• The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has launched a national level entrepreneurship awareness campaign titled Udyam Abhilasha. It would create and strengthen cadre of more than 800 trainers to provide entrepreneurship training to the aspiring youths, encouraging them to enter the admired segment of entrepreneurs.
• The Supreme Court has banned the sale and registration of Bharat Stage IV vehicles from 1st April 2020. The apex court added that only vehicles compliant with the Bharat Stage VI emission standards can be sold from then.
• The UNICEF and the WHO reiterated India's status as a polio-free country after some oral polio vaccine vials were found contaminated with the type-2 polio virus last month. India has a high routine immunisation coverage and so the risk of children getting vaccine-derived polio virus was "minimal", said the two global organisations in a joint statement.
• The Union Cabinet has approved establishment of National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET). It will be set up by merging existing regulatory institutions in the skills space – National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) and National Skill Development Agency (NSDA).
• The Union Government has decided to cover damages to crops in wild animal attacks under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna in select districts on an experimental basis. In this regard, Government has amended provisions of crop insurance scheme in consultation with various stakeholders after review of its working for the last two years. CEO of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) :  Ashish Kumar Bhutani.
• The Union Home Ministry has advised the Chandigarh administration to exempt Sikh women, including non-turbaned, from wearing helmets while riding two-wheelers.
• The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development has launched a new scheme titled SPARC, which aims to improve the research ecosystem of India’s higher educational institutions by facilitating academic and research collaborations between Indian Institutions and the best institutions in the world. SPARC : Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration.
• The Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has launched Youth Road Safety Learners Licence programme in New Delhi. It is first-of-its-kind training programme in India. This programme will help Government to achieve its target of reducing road accidents by 50% by 2020.
• The Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has launched Youth Road Safety Learners Licence programme in New Delhi. This first-of-its-kind training programme will help Government to achieve its target of reducing road accidents by 50% by 2020.
• The United Nation's World Statistics Day is celebrated at an interval of every five years on 20th October. This day was started in the year 2010.
• The US Air Force's unmanned space plane X-37B has completed 400 days in Earth's orbit as part of its fifth secretive mission. The aircraft is orbiting at a height of around 320 km and is powered by solar cells with lithium-ion batteries.
• The 'W Series', an All-female Formula One-like driving competition, to encourage female drivers towards Formula One racing will start next year.
• The World Economic Forum (WEF) has announced its new Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution in India (Maharashtra). It will be fourth center in chain-ones as part of WEF’s global network along with San Francisco (US), Tokyo (Japan) and Beijing (China) are already functioning.
• The world’s largest airport terminal “under one roof” with a capacity to serve 90 million passengers has been officially opened in Istanbul.
• The world’s longest sea-crossing opened in southern China. The 55-kilometre (34-mile) crossing, connects Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China.
• To benefit the 25 lakh poor people who were left out of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), the Odisha Government has launched State Food Security Scheme (SFSS). The beneficiaries of the SFSS will get cheap rice at the cost of Re 1 as availed by the people covered under the NFSA. Each poor man will get 5 kg of rice per month as per the provision of the National Food Security Act, 2013.
• To commemorate Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary, PM Narendra Modi released a rendition of Gandhiji's favourite bhajan 'Vaishnav Jan To' by artists from 124 nations. The video of the song features voices of singers from 40 countries, with short clips of the world's region they represent.
• To commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and honour of his service to humanity, the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has launched India for Humanity initiative. It will feature year-long series of artificial limb fitment camps in a number of countries spanning globe.
• To enable IT professionals and organisations to bring together their efforts towards social causes and service to society on one platform, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a 'Main Nahin Hum' portal and app. The portal, based on the theme 'Self4Society', is expected to generate wider participation of interested people motivated to work for the benefit of society.
• To help its users answer various queries, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched an Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered chatbot named Ask Disha. It has gone live on IRCTC’s next-gen e ticketing website and soon will be integrated on the IRCTC Rail Connect Android app. DISHA - Digital Interaction to Seek Help Anytime.
• To provide financial assistance to the children of construction workers for their technical education in the state, the Odisha Government has launched a new scheme titled ‘Nirman Kusuma’ programme'. The scheme was launched by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneshwar .
• To provide health information to users, including first-aid and other health and nutritional topics, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has launched a mobile health app tot;ed ‘MedWatch’. It is first of its kind mobile health app built by any of the three armed forces.
• To sensitize people about eating safe food and be healthy, the Union Government has launched a national campaign titled ‘Swasth Bharat Yatra’. Under this campaign, a pan-India cycle rally is being organized to create consumer awareness about eating safe and nutritious food for becoming healthy and combating food adulteration.
• 'Train 18', Indian Railways' 1st -ever engineless train that travels at 160 kmph, began trials. It can cut down travel time by around 15% compared to Shatabdi and has sliding doors which open only after the train stops.
• Union Cabinet has approved Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between India and Finland on Environmental Cooperation.
• Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi unfurled India's highest tricolour installed on the terrace of any building at Haj House, Mumbai. Measuring 20x30 feet, the flag is erected at a height of 20 metres on the top of the building.
• Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has reconstituted Supreme Court-empowered Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA). This comes after tenure of the last EPCA expired on October 3, 2018. Chairman of reconstituted EPCA : Bhure Lal (Former IAS officer).
• Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has launched a campaign titled Harit Diwali-Swasth Diwali. Aim of Harit Diwali-Swasth Diwali Campaign  : To reduce adverse environmental conditions especially pollution in the country after post Diwali celebrations due to excessive bursting of crackers which contributes significantly to air and noise pollution.
• Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi announced that Declaration of criminal record has been made mandatory for those applying for an Indian visa. The decision was made based on "complaints of serial child sexual abuse offenders managing to visit India". "
• United States and Morocco have launched GCTF Terrorist Travel Initiative under auspices of Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF). The initiative brings together stakeholders to share expertise on developing and implementing effective counterterrorism watchlisting and screening tools.
• US President Donald Trump announced that the country is going to withdraw from the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia. The treaty required elimination of short-range and intermediate-range nuclear and conventional missiles by both countries.
• US President Donald Trump has turned down India's invitation to be the chief guest at next year's Republic Day parade.
• US-based ride-hailing startup Uber is going to launch its drone-based food delivery service titled 'UberExpress'  by 2021.
• Uttar Pradesh Cabinet led by CM Yogi Adityanath has approved the proposal to rename Allahabad. From now onwards, Allahabad will be called Prayagraj.
• Uttar Pradesh Cabinet led by CM Yogi Adityanath has approved the proposal to rename Allahabad as 'Prayagraj'.
• Uttar Pradesh was perceived as the most corrupt state in India according to a survey titled India Corruption Survey 2018. This survey was conducted by the Transparency International India in 15 states and Union Territories. According to this survey, Gujarat, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh named as the least corrupt states. Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Tamil Nadu named as the most corrupt states.
• Venezuela announced that it is abandoning the US dollar, with all future transactions on the Venezuelan exchange market to be made in euro.
• Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu released the Biography of late Industrialist, Dr. Anumolu Ramakrishna titled ‘Building a Legacy’. This book has been authored by V. Pattabhi Ram and R. Mohan.
• Weightlifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga has become India's first-ever gold medallist in the history of Youth Olympics.
• World number two Caroline Wozniacki won her 30th WTA singles title with victory over Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova in the China Open 2018 final in Beijing.
• World's first robot citizen Sophia has been granted the world's first robot visa for a world tour on behalf of her Hong Kong-based developer Hanson Robotics.  
• Yes Bank has appointed US-based advisory firm Korn Ferry to assist the bank's 'Search and Selection Committee' in finding a successor to MD and CEO Rana Kapoor. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had denied a three-year extension to Kapoor and asked him to step down by January 31 next year.

sponsored links