Current Affairs 11th October 2018

Current Affairs 11th October 2018 - Important Points

• World Mental Health Day 2018 observed globally on - 10th October 2018
• President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated 29th Accountants General conference on - 10th October 2018
• Nikki Haley resigned as US Ambassador to United Nations on - 9th October 2018
• IMF predicts India to grow at 7.3 percent in 2018-19 on - 9th October 2018
• Indian Air Force launched its first mobile health app ‘MedWatch' on - 8th October 2018
• NITI Aayog organised workshop on Best Practices in International Arbitration on - 10th October 2018
• Tushar Mehta appointed as Solicitor General of India on - 10th October 2018

 Current Affairs 11th October 2018 - Details

World Mental Health Day 2018 observed globally on - 10th October 2018

The World Mental Health Day was observed by the World Health Organisation on 10th October 2018 with an aim to raise awareness of mental health issues  around the world and mobilising efforts to support mental health.

Important Highlights on Adolescent mental health

• One in six people are between 10 to 19 years suffering with Adolescent mental health.
• The mental health conditions account for 16 percent of the global burden of disease and injury in people aging 10-19 years.
• Half of all mental health conditions start by 14 years of age but most cases are undetected and untreated.
• Depression is one of the leading causes of illness and disability among adolescents all across the world.
• Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15-19 year old teenagers.

President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated 29th Accountants General conference on - 10th October 2018

The 29th Accountants General conference was inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind in New Delhi on 10th October 2018. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India organised this two-day conference.

The meet will be held at the new building of CAG located at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg. It will also be attended by Accountants General from all over the nation.

Important Highlights

• The conference will be involving deliberations on adopting most modern audit techniques to further improve audit effectiveness and increase accountability in public spending.
• Other than this CAG of India Rajiv Mehrishi, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Mallikarjun Kharge will be taking part in the deliberations.
• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will also be addressing the officers on the second day of the conference.
• Mainly, the conference will be comprising four brainstorming sessions on Audit Planning, audit execution and accounting in a digital environment, among others.

Nikki Haley resigned as US Ambassador to United Nations on - 9th October 2018

Indian-American Nikki Haley resigned as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations on 9th October 2018. President Donald Trump made the formal announcement of her resignation and applauded her work during the period of her job.

Haley, former South Carolina governor, did not give any reasons for her exit, however, dismissed speculations that she was planning to run for Presidential bid in 2020.
Infact she she stated that she would be campaigning for Trump's re-election in two years from now.

Her resignation just ahead of the upcoming mid-term elections in November 2018 came as a shock and surprise to the American foreign policy and national security experts and can be a big loss to the Trump Administration.

IMF predicts India to grow at 7.3 percent in 2018-19 on - 9th October 2018

India’s growth rate is predicted to increase to 7.3 percent in 2018 and 7.4 percent in 2019, as per the latest World Economic Outlook report released by the IMF(International Monetary Fund) on 9th October 2018. India had recorded a growth rate of 6.7 percent in 2017.

The latest growth prediction for India, however, is comparatively bit  lower than what was predicted in April 2018 World Economic Outlook for 2019 due to the recent increase in oil prices and tightening of the global financial conditions.

Important Highlights of the report

• The acceleration reflects a rebound from transitory shocks with strengthening investment and robust private consumption.
• The report states that India's medium-term growth prospects remain strong at 7.75 percent, benefiting from ongoing structural reform,  but have been marked down by just under 0.5 percentage point as compared to the April 2018 WEO.
• In addition to that, the IMF has lowered the growth projections for both India and China by 0.4 percent and 0.32 percent, respectively, from its annual April's World Economic Outlook.
• China’s growth rate is projected to moderate from 6.9 percent in 2017 to 6.6 percent in 2018 and subsequently 6.2 percent in 2019,  reflecting a slowing external demand growth and necessary financial regulatory tightening.
• India's slow growth projection for 2019 is also a result of the latest round of US tariffs on Chinese imports.
• The report added that aggregate growth in the emerging market and developing economy group stabilised in the first half of 2018 itself.

Indian Air Force launched its first mobile health app ‘MedWatch' on - 8th October 2018

Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, Chief of the Air Staff, launched an innovative mobile health application called ‘MedWatch’ on 8th October 2018, on the occasion of its 86th anniversary.  This MedWatch app has been conceived by the doctors of IAF and developed in-house by the Directorate of Information Technology (DIT) with zero financial outlay.

Important Functions of the App

• The app ‘MedWatch’ will be providing correct, scientific and authentic health information to air warriors and citizens of India.
• It comprises a host of features including information on basic first aid, health topics and nutritional facts at the same time.
• It also contains reminders for timely medical review, vaccination and utility tools like BMI calculator,health record card, helpline numbers and web links.
• More information related this app is made available on the website - www.apps.mgov.gov.in

NITI Aayog organised workshop on Best Practices in International Arbitration on - 10th October 2018

The inaugural ‘Workshop on Best Practices in International Arbitration’ was organised by NITI Aayog and the ICC International Court of Arbitration on 10th October 2018 in New Delhi. The chief guest Justice AK Sikri inaugurated the same workshop who is a judge at the Supreme Court of India and was presided over by PP Chaudhary, MoS in the Law Ministry as well. NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant also witnessed the occasion.

Important Highlights

• The workshop was attended by more than 200 senior officers from central and state governments alongwith public sector undertakings.
• It covered the basic concepts of international arbitration and included best practices on drafting of arbitration agreements and  the factors to consider when deciding on the seat, venue, governing law and institution.
• It also covered topics related to the arbitrators selection, enforcement of arbitral awards and the role of courts before, during and after the arbitration even.
• The information sharing session topics were delivered by world-class faculty and practitioners from UK, Singapore, Paris and India.

Tushar Mehta appointed as Solicitor General of India on - 10th October 2018

Senior Advocate Tushar Mehta was appointed as the Solicitor General of India on 10th October 2018
with effect from the date of assumption of charge of the office for a period till 30th June 2020 or until further orders. The Appointment Committee of Cabinet approved his appointment. At present, Mehta is serving as the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) of India.

The seat of the Solicitor General of India has been lying vacant for the last 11 months after Senior Advocate Ranjith Kumar resigned on 20th October 2017. The Solicitor General is the second highest ranking law officer of the Union Government, first is the Attorney General.

More about Tushar Mehta

• He was serving as the Gujarat Advocate General when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was then the Chief Minister of the state.
• He moved to Delhi after the Narendra Modi government named him the Additional Solicitor General.
• Mehta has also handled several controversial cases including Justice BH Loya’s death and the arrest of the five activists by the Maharashtra police.
• He is also representing the UP government in Ayodhya land dispute case pending before a three-judge Supreme Court bench.
• Tushar Mehta was recently named special prosecutor to handle the 2G spectrum case.