Today's Event – 18th October 2021

• 33 – Heartbroken by the deaths of her sons Nero and Drusus, and banished to the island of Pandateria by Tiberius, Agrippina the Elder dies of self-inflicted starvation

• 320 – Pappus of Alexandria, Greek philosopher, observes an eclipse of the Sun and writes a commentary on The Great Astronomer (Almagest).

• 1599 – Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia, defeats the Army of Andrew Báthory in the Battle of Șelimbăr, leading to the first recorded unification of the Romanian people

• 1648 – Boston shoemakers form first American labor organization.

• 1748 – Signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the War of the Austrian Succession.

• 1775 – African-American poet Phillis Wheatley is freed from slavery.

• 1797 – Treaty of Campo Formio is signed between France and Austria

• 1851 – Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London.

• 1860 – The Second Opium War finally ends at the Convention of Peking with the ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin, an unequal treaty.

• 1867 – United States takes possession of Alaska after purchasing it from Russia for $7.2 million. Celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day.

• 1898 – The United States takes possession of Puerto Rico from Spain.

• 1900 – Count Bernhard von Bülow becomes chancellor of Germany

• 1914 – The Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement is founded in Germany.

• 1921 – The Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic is formed as part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

• 1922 – The British Broadcasting Company (later Corporation) is founded by a consortium, to establish a nationwide network of radio transmitters to provide a national broadcasting service.

• 1929 – The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council overrules the Supreme Court of Canada in Edwards v. Canada when it declares that women are considered "Persons" under Canadian law.

• 1945 – The USSR's nuclear program receives plans for the United States plutonium bomb from Klaus Fuchs at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

• 1945 – Argentine military officer and politician Juan Perón marries actress Eva Duarte.

• 1954 – Texas Instruments announces the first transistor radio.

• 1963 – Félicette, a black and white female Parisian stray cat, becomes the first cat launched into space.

• 1967 – The Soviet probe Venera 4 reaches Venus and becomes the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet.

• 1991 – The Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopts a declaration of independence from the Soviet Union.

National Events- 

•  National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Sunday said Kashmiris were not involved in the recent civilian killings in the union territory and that these attacks were carried under a conspiracy to defame Kashmiris. He also termed these incidents an attempt to disrupt the peaceful atmosphere in the union territory.

•  Nitin Agarwal, who was elected as a legislator on the Samajwadi Party ticket but then cozied up to the ruling BJP, is all set to be the deputy speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly with the support of the saffron party.

•  The BJP’s national office-bearers will meet on Monday, October 18, 2021, to discuss a host of issues ranging from the upcoming five state assembly polls to the farmers’ agitation and the Covid-19 pandemic.

• Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Tayabba’s front Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation is funding a little known Hazi Baba Trust to convert regular schools in Afghanistan into madrassas with a view to radicalise young students for carrying out terrorist action in that country and beyond. 

• Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said there has been an increased frequency of extreme weather events in recent times which are a clear indication of changing dynamics of the climate.

International Events- 

• Bill Clinton spent a fourth night at a Southern California hospital where he is recovering from an infection but is expected to be released Sunday after making great progress, a spokesman said. 

•   Three people were killed when a helicopter crashed in southwestern Germany on Sunday, police said. The aircraft crash in a forested area near the small town of Buchen on Sunday afternoon, the news agency dpa reported.

•  At least two migrants died and 21 have disappeared after their boat capsized on Sunday off the Tunisian coast in the Mediterranean Sea, Tunisian officials said. Seven others were rescued. According to the spokesman at the court in Mahdia, a Tunisian port, coast guards were alerted by a survivor.

•  The suspect arrested in England’s Essex following the killing of British Conservative MP Sir David Amess has been named as Ali Harbi Ali, a 25-year-old man of Somali heritage, now being held under the stringent Terrorism Act.

• Russia is reporting its largest daily number of new coronavirus infections, more than 70% up on the number a month ago as the country faces a sustained rise in cases.

Job alerts-

• CBIC Recruitment Jobs for Customs MTS, Steno, Tax Assistant and other posts. Last date 5th November 2021

• India Post Payment Bank Jobs for India Post Payment Bank Manager and other posts. Last date 23rd October 2021

• Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD) Jobs for 124 various posts and other posts. Last date 24th October 2021

Sports-

•  The international football federation, FIFA’s plans to hold its flagship Men’s World Cup every two years has raised heckles in the clubs’ circuit. The plan to switch the Men’s World Cup from a quadrennial schedule to a biennial is now causing concerns among other international federations too.

•  Former India cricketer Suresh Raina says Virat Kohli deserves to draw the curtains on his T20 captaincy stint by winning the shortest format’s World Cup in the UAE and Oman.

•  A call on whether to retain Mahendra Singh Doni for the next season of the IPL will be taken only after knowing the rules of the system, a top Chennai Super Kings official said on Sunday.

•  Star India all-rounder Hardik Pandya considers the ongoing T20 World Cup the biggest responsibility of his career as a finisher because "everything is on my shoulders" in the absence of "life coach and brother" Mahendra Singh Dhoni from the playing line-up.

• Rory McIlroy felt as though he had been spinning his wheels for the last five months as he tried to get better and instead got nowhere. It took the Ryder Cup for him to realize what he had was always good enough.

Technology-

•  Apple is planning to release a redesigned MacBook Pro line, consisting of a new 14-inch as well as a new 16-inch model powered by the Apple Silicon M1X on Monday and now a new report has claimed that the MacBook Pro models will come with a notched display.

•  Microsoft has partnered with Amazon for native Android apps support on Windows 11. This means that the Microsoft Store and Amazon App store will be integrated

•  As per the Delhi Police, Instagram users were targeted over chat by Choudhary to invest money in bogus schemes.

• TeamViewer, a German software development firm that cut its full-year earnings guidance this month, said finance chief Stefan Gaiser's contract would not be renewed 

• Google has said that so far in 2021, it has sent over 50,000 warnings to those whose accounts were the target of government-backed phishing or malware

Economy – 

•  The sharp economic recovery and rising demand post the second wave of Covid coupled with a spike in global oil prices may pose a challenge for the Government in FY22 to maintain fiscal discipline amid good growth in tax revenue.

•  The Government has sought applications for a total of 20 positions of judicial and technical members at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) as well as the appellate tribunal NCLAT.

•  Opportunities are galore in India for all investors and industry stakeholders with the current reset in the global supply chain and clear-headed and committed leadership in the country, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has told CEOs of top American companies.

• After touching an all-time high of 61,894.33 in opening deals, the 30-share Sensex was trading 511.54 points or 0.83 per cent higher at 61,817.49. Similarly, the Nifty surged 157.40 points or 0.86 per cent to 18,495.95. It touched a new intra-day record of 18,521.10 in initial deals.

• According to the depositories’ data, FPIs have pulled out Rs 1,472 crore from capital markets on a net basis in the current month so far.

Local –

•  Delhi has launched online permit and registration for e-vehicles

•  Maharashtra planning to hold sero survey

•  161 rowdies held in police custody in West Bengal during idol immersion

•  Dalits in Madurai (Tamil Nadu) got a crematorium after 75 years

• Covid recovery rate has increased by 99% in Andhra Pradesh

GK – 

Sela tunnel, which was seen in the news recently, is located in which Indian state?

[A] Uttarakhand
[B] Sikkim
[C] Arunachal Pradesh
[D] Assam

Henrietta Lacks, who received WHO Director-General’s Award, was from which country?

[A] USA
[B] Australia
[C] UK
[D] Germany

What is the name of the consortium launched by the Department of Biotechnology, to monitor Bacterial and Viral infections?

[A] Bharat Health
[B] One Health
[C] Covid Warrior
[D] Health Heroes