Oct - Nation and World

Question 1

World’s Longest Highway tunnel

Answer 1

PM Narendra Modi
October 3, 2020
Inaugurated Atal Tunnel 
at Rohtang
at an altitude of above 3,000m
9.02Km long tunnel
Connects manali to Lahaul-Spiti valley

Question 2

19th India-Myanmar Foreign Office Consultations held through Virtual Mode

Answer 2

1 October, 2020
Indian delegation led by- Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla
Myanmar delegation- Permanent secretary, U soe Han
Topic discussed- border cooperation, ongoing restoration work pn earthquake damaged pagodas in Bagan.

Question 3

PM inaugurates Vaishvik Bhartiya Vaigyanik Summit(VAIBHAV) virtually

Answer 3

2 oct, 2020
The PM said gov. has recently given market authorization for an indigenously developed pneumococcal vaccine.
He addressed that government has launched an ambitious mission to eradicate TB in India by 2025, which is 5 years before the global target.

Question 4

DRDO successfully Test-fires Laser-Guided Anti-Tank Missile

Answer 4

1 Oct, 2020
Tested in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra
It was second successful test firing missile, having a range of upto 5km.

Missile was test fired from an MBT Arjun Tank at KK Ranges in Armoured Corps Centre and School in Ahmednagar.

DRDO- Defence Research and Development Organisation
ATGM- Anti Tank Guided Missile

Question 5

India-Japan Sign Pact to boost cooperation in 5G, Artificial Intelligence(AI)

Answer 5

7 oct, 2020
India-Japan 13th foreign ministers strategic dialogue
The two sides finalising the text of a cyber security agreement that promotes cooperation in 5G, Internet of Things(IoT) and Artificial Intelligence(AI)
Foreign Minsters - S. Jaishankar(EAM) and Toshimitsu Motegi

Question 6

India’s Solidarity with Taiwan Irks China Amid India-China Stand-off at the Eastern Border of Ladakh

Answer 6

11 oct, 2020 Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen thanked India

Question 7

India,Afghanistan Relations

Answer 7

6 oct, 2020
Abdullah Abdullah,Chairman of the High Council for National Reconcilation in Afghanistan
Visits India- 5days
Met PM and briefed him on the peace process and talks between Afghan government and Taliban at Doha in Qatar.
He met NSA(National security Adviser) Ajit Doval who told him India favours a democratic and sovereign Afghanistan “where no terrorism can operate”

Question 8

India Test Anti-Radiation Missile

Answer 8

Rudram-1
9 oct, 2020
India successfully tested a new indigenous air-launched missile called ‘Rudram-1’
Designed to destroy a variety of enemy surveillance communation and radar targets on the ground after being fired from Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter.
Strike range of 100-200km

Question 9

India and Bangladesh hold Joint Naval Exercise ‘Bongosagar’

Answer 9

The second edition of India-Bangladesh bilateral naval exersice held on 3 oct,2020
In Northern Bay of Bengal.
Ships from both navies participated in surface warfare drills, seamanship evolutions and helicopter operations.
Indian Navy ships- Kiltan, Khukri
BD Navy ships- Abu Bakr, Prottoy

Later followed by third edition of India-Bangladesh Cordinated Patrol (CORPAT)

Question 10

French Cooperation with India

Answer 10

France Appoints First Envoy for Indo-Pacific
President Emmanuel Macron has appointed the country’s first ambassdor for the Indo-Pacific.
Christophe Penot, October 14, 2020 was appointed to pay special attention to cooperation with India as a formost strategic partner in region.

Question 11

India Test-fires Naval Version of supersonic BrahMos Missile

Answer 11

18 oct, 2020
A naval version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was successful test-fired from an indigenously built stealth destroyer of the Indian Navy in the Arabian Sea.
Fires from INS Chennai and it hit target with pin point accuracy

Question 12

India partcipates in 18th Meeting of Prosecutors General of SCO

Answer 12

18th Meeting of Prosecutors General of SCO(Shanghai Cooperation Organisation)
held on 20 oct, 2020 via video conference.
India was represented by the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
India will hold SCO Prosecutors General Meeting in 2021
8 countires which are the members of SCO are -
China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.

Question 13

India’s Central Asia Outreach : India, Kazakhstan Cooperation

Answer 13

India and Central Asia’s biggest state Kazakhstan are exploring widening defence partnership including joint production as well as opening a new chapter in the heavy engineering sector.

Question 14

Recent Cabinet Approvals

Late October

Answer 14

MoU( Memorandum of Understanding) signed between India and Nigeria on cooperation in Exploration of outer space for peaceful purposes.
MoU was signed between ISRO and NASRDA ( National Space Research and Development agency)

Extension of Market Intervention Scheme for Procurement of Apples in Jammu and Kashmir for year 2020-2021

MoU between ICAI(Institute of Chartered Accounts of India) and CPAs(Certified Practising Accountants), Papua New Guinea.

Productivity Linked bous (PLB) and Non-PLB for 2019-2020, The Union Cabinet approved to pay a PLB for the year 2019-2020 to 16.97 lakh non-gazetted employees of commercial establishments like Raliways, Posts, Defence etc. Finacial implication of this would be ₹ 2,791 CR
Non-PLB is given to Non-Gazetted Central Gov. Employees. 13.70 lakh employees would be helped by this and ₹ 946 CR would be the financial implication for it.

Question 15

Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) Dedicates 1st “Flash Flood Guidance Services” for south Asia

Answer 15

23 oct, 2020
IMD dedicated first of its kind “ Flash Flood Guidance Services”(FFGS) for south Asian Countries namely India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka to issue impact based forecasting of floods.
Launched by Dr. M. Rajeevan, Secretary, Minstry of Earth Sciences.
The FFGS has in deapth science, dynamics and diagnostics to provide guidance for the possible occurrences of flash floods at local level.

Question 16

Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan Virtually Addresses World Bank- IMF Annual Meeting 2020

Answer 16

21 oct, 2020 Dr. Harsh Vardhan( Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare)
addressed the world bank-International Monetary Fund annual meeting.

Question 17

Indian Navy gets first batch of women pilots for Maritime Reconnaissance missions

Answer 17

The pilots completed Dornier Operational Flying Training(DOFT) on October 20 at INS Garuda in Kerala’s Kochi.
They were operationalized by Southern Naval Command (SNC) and have been identified as Lieutenant Shubhangi Swaroop, LT Divya Sharma and LT shivangini.
They graduated as fully operational MR Pilots at a ceremony held at INS Garuda on October 22, 2020.

Question 18

Indigenously-built stealth Corvette INS Kavaratti commissioned into Indian Navy.

Answer 18

Chief Of Army Staff (COAS) General MM Naravane on October 22, 2020 commissioned the Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) stealth Corvette INS kavaratti into the Indian Navy at the Naval dockyard in Visakhapatnam.
INS kavaratti is the last of the four indigenously built ASW stealth Corvettes under Project 28 (Kamorta class) and has been designed by the Directorate of Naval Design, the Indian Navy’s in-house wing.
The ship will be manned by a team of 12 officers and 134 sailors with Commander Sandeep Singh as First Commanding Officer. It will be part of the Eastern Fleet under the Eastern Naval Command.

Question 19

Indian successfully completes final trial of NAG missile; Missile finally ready for induction into Army.

Answer 19

Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on October 22nd, 2020 carried out the final user trial of the 3rd generation Anti Tank Guided Missile (ATGM), Nag, at the Pokhran firing range, Rajasthan. With the successful trial, the missile is now ready for induction into the Indian Army.
The Nag missile was carried from a Nag Missile Carrier (NAMICA).
At present, the Indian Army is using second-generation Milan 2T and Konkur ATGM.

Question 20

3rd India-USA two plus two Ministerial dialogue held in New Delhi, Signed BECA and 4 other MoUs

Answer 20

On October 27, 2020 India hosted the third India-USA 2+2 Ministerial dialogue in New Delhi where Indian side was represented by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Dr Subramaniam Jaishankar.The US was represented by Secretary of the State Michael Richard Pompoe also known as Mike Pompoe and Secretary of Defence Mark Thomas Esper.
The agenda of this dialogue covered all bilateral regional and global issue of mutual interest.

During the dialogue India-USA signed 5 agreements which are as follows:

1. Basic exchange on cooperation agreement (BECA)
2. MoU on technical Cooperation in Earth Observation and Earth Sciences.
3. Agreement to extend duration of global centre of nuclear energy signed.
4. MoU on electronic exchange of customs data related to postal shipments.
5. Letter of intent(LoI) regarding cooperation in traditional Indian medicine.

Question 21

ISRO-NASA Satellite NISAR scheduled to be launched by 2022.

Answer 21

Under the ongoing collaboration between the national aeronautics and space administration (NASA) and Indian space research organisation (ISRO) NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite is scheduled to be launched by 2022.

Question 22

Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Tokyo

Answer 22

The Foreign ministers of Australia, India, Japan and United States met in Tokyo on October 6, 2020 for a highly anticipated ‘Quad’ Ministerial meeting.

Question 23

Women empowerment and security in Bangladesh : The Country Introduces Death Penalty for Rape.

Answer 23

Bangladesh introduced death penalty for Rape on October 12 2020 after days of protests sparked by a string of sexual assaults.
Demonstrations have broken out across the country after harrowing footage of a group of men stripping and attacking a woman went viral on social media.

Question 24

Armenia Azerbaijan military conflict : Russian president Vladimir steps in, Brokers first talks with both leaders.

Answer 24

After Putin held a series of phone-discussion with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, they accepted his invitation to send their Foreign Ministers to Moscow on October 9 2020.

Question 25

China joints WHO vaccine initiative shunned by US

Answer 25

China said on October 9, 2020 that it is joining a multilateral effort to manufacture and distribute Coronavirus vaccine portraying itself as a responsible global citizen dedicated to improving public health around the world.
Over 160 nations have joined the international agreement known as Covax, which aims to ensure both rich and poor countries get vaccine simultaneously.
The WHO, which leads Covax, welcomed the move. The Trump administration has said It would not join covax because it will not be considered constrained by multilateral organisation influenced by the corrupt. WHO and China

Question 26

China’s imports exports up as global economy reopens
factory activity agog
companies rushed to grab market share

Answer 26

China’s imports grew at Their fastest pace this year in September, while exports extended strong gains as more trading partners lifted coronavirus restrictions in a further boost to the world’s second-biggest economy exporters in September grew 9.9% from a year earlier customer data showed in October 13, 2020 broad line with analysts expectations and up from a solid 9.5 increase in August.

Question 27

Pakistan China along with Russia and Cuba elected to human rights body;
US upset;
Saudi loses

Answer 27

Pakistan along with China Russia Cuba won the seat in the United Nations human rights Council despite strong opposition from activist groups over there abysmal human rights records.
The secret ballot voting in 193 member United nation General assembly on 13 October 2020 Pakistan secured 169 votes, Uzbekistan has received 164, Nepal 150 and China 139. Saudi Arabia lost the race with just 90 Votes.

Question 28

China’s continued bid to woo Sri Lanka with $90 million investment.

Answer 28

China announced on October 11, 2020 that it was providing a $90 million grant to Sri Lanka two days after the island nation’s President sought help from a visiting Chinese delegation in disproving a perception that China fund funded mega projects are ‘debt traps’.
Calling the financial assistance a timely grant the Chinese embassy in Sri Lanka capital Colombo said that it would be useful for supplies in the rural areas.

Question 29

China Iran’s new-found friendship

Answer 29

China backs Iran nuclear deal calls for new Mideast forum
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi has called for a new forum to defuse tensions in the Middle East after a meeting with his Iranian counterpart in the second week of October 2020 where he reiterated Beijing support for Tehran.

Question 30

North Korea on wheels monster ICBM at Parade

Answer 30

North Korea and we have previously unseen intercontinental ballistic missiles at unprecedented predawn military parade on October 10, 2020.
Give me declared at the parade “we will continue to build our nation defence power and self defensive deterrence”.

Question 31

West Asia politics : despite US Objections UN arms embargo on Iran Ends

Answer 31

A decade-long United nation arms embargo on Iran that barred it from purchasing foreign weapons like tanks and fighter jets expired on October 18, 2020 as planned under its nuclear deal with world powers despite objections from the United States.

Question 32

New Zealand elections: Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Party score win

Answer 32

Prime Minister Jacinda Arden one the elections for Prime Minister with 64 parliamentary seats
The ruling labour party was handed a resounding mandate in election as voters rewarded Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for her decisive response to COVID-19.

Question 33

China continues to bounce back; records 4.9 growth

Answer 33

Growth in the world’s second largest economy accelerated to 4.9% over a year earlier in the three month ending September up from the previous quarter three point to official data showed on October 19, 2020.

In the Economy contracted by 6.8% in the first quarter and its worst performance since at least mid-1960s before rebounding
Industrial production rose 5.8% over the same quarter last year a marked improvement over the first 1.3% contraction.

Question 34

How the pandemic Has hit GDP growth

Answer 34

The international monetary fund released world economic Outlook report in the third week of October 2020 the previous WTO was released in April this year.

India’s post Covid losses the biggest in South Asia this is the biggest contraction among the countries which have been selected here.
three other countries Afghanistan Pakistan Sri Lanka will also experience contraction in GDP this year.

India will only be the second country apart from Afghanistan which will not be able to regain its 2019 GDP level even in 2021.
While India’s per capita GDP will fall below Bangladesh is in 20-21 it will overtake it marginally once again in 21-22.

Question 35

Andorra Joins International Monetary Funds as 190th Member

Answer 35

Europe’s Andorra formally joined the international monetary fund (IMF). on 16th Oct 2020 becoming the crisis lender’s 190th member state as the tourism and trade dependent principality struggles with the corona-virus pandemic.

Question 36

FATF retains Pakistan on grey list, gives Islamabad time till February to comply with 27 point action plan

Answer 36

Pakistan is groups of satisfying the global watchdog on terror financing and money laundering, the financial action task force FATF were dashed to the ground on October 23, 2020.

Since June 2018, Pakistan made a high-level political commitment to work with FATF and the APG to strengthen its a AML/CFT regime and to address its strategic counter terrorist financing related deficiencies. Pakistan’s continuous political commitment had led to progress in a number of areas in its action plan.