Daily Current Affairs, 21st October 2018

1) PM Narendra Modi Dedicated National Police Memorial To The Nation In New Delhi

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the National Police Memorial (NPM) to the nation in New Delhi. It has been built in recognition of the supreme sacrifice made by police personnel since independence. Since Independence of the country, 34,844 police personnel have been martyred, with 424 losing their lives this year. 

•The memorial has been erected on 6.12 acres of land in Chanakyapuri, at the northern end of Shanti Path. The central sculpture of the NPM is a 30 feet monolith made of a single piece of granite, weighing 238 tonnes. 

2) 4 Himalayan Peaks Named After Late PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee

•Four Himalayan peaks near Gangotri glacier of Uttarkashi district have been named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.  Located near Sudarshan and Saifi peaks in Raktvan valley, the peaks have been named Atal-1, 2, 3 and 4.

•The peaks are located at 6,557m, 6,566m, 6,160m and 6,100m on the right flank of Gangotri glacier. The team, which returned after the climb, had hoisted the national tricolor on each of the peaks.

3) India Ranked 9th Most Valuable Nation Brand

•India has secured ninth rank out of top 50 valuable national brands, according to a report titled ‘Nation Brands 2018’ released by Brand Finance, a leading brand valuation and strategy consultancy.  India was ranked 8th in last year's report but slipped by a spot to the 9th rank, despite its brand value rose by 5%.

•India's brand value was $2,046 billion in 2017 and has increased to $2,159 billion in 2018. The US topped the list with a brand value of $25,899 billion which rose by 23% from last year. China is at the second spot with a brand value of $12,779 billion. China's brand value saw an increase of 25% from last year.

4) IFC Launches $1 Billion Masala Bond Programme In The US And Europe

•IFC, International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s lending arm, has launched its $1 billion masala bond programme in the US and Europe. These bonds are aimed at funding the rapidly expanding investment activities of IFC in India.

•Masala bonds are rupee-denominated borrowings issued overseas. IFC uses them to raise rupee funds overseas and brings the proceeds to India for investments.  IFC pioneered the masala bond programme in October 2013.