Daily Current Affairs, 22nd October 2018

1) 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 ofPolice Commemoration Day (21st October). 

2) 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. 

3) Parliamentary Panel To Examine Functioning Of EPFO

•A parliamentary panel will examine the functioning of retirement fund body Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), its coverage and recovery of arrears. The panel will be headed by BJP MP Kirit Somaiya.

•The panel has selected a wide range of subjects related to labourers, including the International Labour Organisation conventions binding on India and the measures taken by the government to implement them. Earlier, the panel had suggested that the EPFO should act as the sole regulator for all categories of provident funds, particularly private PF trusts.

4) India’s First Domestic Cruise ‘Angriya’ Flagged Off From Mumbai

•Angriya, India’s first luxury cruise ship, has been inaugurated at Mumbai. Union minister for shipping Nitin Gadkari and Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis flagged-off the cruise which will operate between Mumbai and Goa. 

•Named after the first Maratha Navy Admiral Kanhoji Angre and the Angria bank coral reef near Vijaydurg, the luxury ship has 104 rooms, divided into eight different categories. It can accommodate 399 passengers and will have 67 crew members including hospitality and marine crew.

5) Cope India 2018: India, Japan, US Plan Joint Air Exercise

•India, Japan and the U.S. are set to elevate the bilateral ‘Cope India’ air exercise to a trilateral format. The three countries already conduct naval war games under the expanded Malabar naval exercise. 

•The U.S. had proposed a trilateral air exercise between India, Japan and the U.S. For this, the Cope India exercise will be elevated to a trilateral level in phases. The next edition is scheduled to be held in December 2018 for which the Final Planning Conference to finalise the modalities of the exercise is scheduled in Kalaikunda, West Bengal. 

6) Climate Fund Approves $1billion For Projects In Poor Countries

•A UN-backed fund has approved more than 1 billion dollars for 19 new projects to help developing countries tackle climate change. Officials overseeing the South Korea-based Green Climate Fund stated the funding approved at the meeting in Manama includes projects linked to geothermal energy in Indonesia, greener cities in Europe and West Asia, and protection for coastal communities in India. 

7) L&T Ranks 22 In Forbes' Best Global Employer List, Alphabet Tops

•Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro is the only domestic firm to be featured among the top 25 companies in the Forbes' global 2000 best employers list that is led by Google parent Alphabet. 

•While L&T is ranked 22, there are only four domestic firms in the top 100 list which include Mahindra & Mahindra at 55, Grasim Industries at 59 and HDFC at 91, and only 24 domestic companies in the overall list,as per the US magazine. 

•The Top 3 companies in the List are: 
1. Alphabet 
2. Microsoft
3. Apple. 

8) Mumbai Beat Delhi To Lift Vijay Hazare Trophy Title For 3rd Time

•Mumbai has defeated Delhi by four wickets to win their third Vijay Hazare Trophy title at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. Mumbai last won the trophy way back in 2006-07 when they defeated Rajasthan. Aditya Tare struck a fluent half-century. He was rewarded with Player of the match award.