Daily Current Affairs, 23rd October 2018

1) Environment Ministry Launches 'Harit Diwali, Swasth Diwali' Campaign

•Environment Ministry has launched Harit Diwali, Swasth Diwali campaign. This campaign was initiated in 2017-18 wherein a large number of school children participated and took a pledge to minimize bursting of crackers. 

•The Harit Diwali-Swasth Diwali campaign is now merged with “Green Good Deed” movement that has been initiated as a social mobilization for conservation and protection of the environment. 

2) 27th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference Starts In Gandhinagar, Gujarat

•The 27th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference (FEC 2018) has started in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The FEC 2018 aims to provide a forum for the discussion of key physics and technology issues as well as innovative concepts of direct relevance to the use of nuclear fusion as a source of energy. 

•The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) fosters the exchange of scientific and technical results in nuclear fusion research and development through its series of Fusion Energy Conferences. 

3) Gwalior Hosts 4-Day International Dance Festival

•Uzbekistan Ambassador to India Farhod Arziev inaugurated a four-day international dance festival titled "Udbhav Utsav" in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. Dance troupes from Bulgaria, Turkey and Sri Lanka, apart from 25 teams from India, participated in the event. The dance festival was sponsored by the Greenwood group of schools. 

4) India And Croatia Sign 2 Agreements

•India and Croatia signed two agreements to strengthen cultural and diplomatic cooperation between the two countries. The agreements were signed following External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Croatia Marija Pejcinovic Burić in New Delhi. 

•Both leaders discussed ways to step up cooperation in trade and investment, health, science and technology, education, tourism and culture. 

5) India, China Signed Agreement On Security Cooperation

•The first India-China high-level meeting on bilateral security cooperation held in New Delhi recently. During the meeting, the two sides discussed issues of mutual interest including bilateral cooperation on counter-terrorism and welcomed increased cooperation between India and China in the area of security.

•An Agreement on security cooperation was also signed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh and State Councilor and Minister of Public Security of China, Zhao Kezhi.   

6) World's Longest Sea-Crossing Bridge Opened In China

•China has opened the longest sea-crossing bridge ever built, nine years after construction began. The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge connects Hong Kong and Macau to the mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai.  The $20-billion bridge spans 55 kilometers. 

•The bridge, designed to withstand earthquakes and typhoons, has been built using 400,000 tonnes of steel, enough to build 60 Eiffel Towers. Estimates suggest the bridge will be in use for 120 years but there are likely to be restrictions on usage. 

7) Invest India Wins UN Investment Promotion Award

•The ‘Invest India’ initiative of the Union Government won the top United Nations Investment Promotion Award in recognition of its efforts to boost investments in the renewable energy sector in India.

•The award was presented by Armenian President Armen Sarkissian to Deepak Bagla, the CEO of Invest India, in Geneva, Switzerland at the inauguration of the World Investment Forum organised by the UN Convention on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). 

8) Joint Military Exercise ‘Druzhba-III’ Starts Between Pakistan And Russia

•A contingent of the Russian Army arrived in Pakistan to participate in joint training exercise ‘Druzhba-III’.According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), this will be the third joint military drill between Islamabad and Moscow under the bilateral training cooperation agreement. 

•Russia and Pakistan have been holding the “Friendship” drills since 2016. In October 2016, they held their first-ever joint military exercise in Pakistan. 

9) Paytm Launches ‘PayPay’ Mobile Wallet In Japan

•Paytm has launched a QR-based smartphone payment settlement service in Japan in collaboration with SoftBank and Yahoo Japan Corporation.  it is a smartphone-based settlement service that allows users to store money from a bank account in their 'PayPay' wallet and make payments with it. 

•Paytm stated that it is built around its QRtech which it has deployed in India to allow customers to make offline payments. Paytm is also offering a ‘cashback’ to users of PayPay in Japan. 

10) Bajrang Punia Bagged Silver At Wrestling World Championships

•Wrestler Bajrang Punia won the silver medal after he went down against Japan’s Takuto Otoguro in the 65kg final of the Wrestling World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. It is his second medal at the Worlds. Only the fourth Indian ever to make it to the World Championship gold medal match, 24-year-old Bajrang was rattled by the 19-year old Otoguro. 

•In the process, Otoguru became Japan's youngest World Champion at the age of 19. Bajrang had won a bronze in 2013 edition. Sushil Kumar, country's greatest ever wrestler, is the lone Indian to win a gold medal at the Worlds, achieving the feat in 2010 in Moscow in the 66kg category.