DAILY GK 17-18 OCT 2026

 DAILY GK 17-18 OCT 2026

        1.       CHAIR OF UNESCO’S INDIAN OCEAN PANEL
·         Dr. T. M. Balakrishnan Nair, Director of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), was elected as Chair of the UNESCO’ s (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Sub-Commission for the Indian Ocean (IOCINDIO) during its second Intergovernmental Session in Bali, Indonesia.
·         Turki Al-Said of Kuwait and Badal Mohammed Rezah of Mauritius were elected Vice-Chairs of IOCINDIO, pending formal confirmation of their official appointments.
·         UNESCO’s IOC approved the establishment of IOCINDIO in 2023, which was formally launched in May 2025, to strengthen regional cooperation in ocean science, marine observations, capacity building and ocean information services.
 

2.       CHAIRPERSON OF FSIB
·         The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved the appointment of Subhas Chandra Lal (SCL) Das as the part-time Chairperson of the Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB) for a three-year term.
·         Alongside the new Chairperson, MoF appointed six part-time members to FSIB.
 
3.       INDIA’S RAMSAR SITE TALLY REACHES 103
·         Sukhna Wetland in the Union Territory (UT) Chandigarh and Sauj Jheel in Manipuri district of Uttar Pradesh (UP) have been officially designated as Ramsar Convention Sites of International Importance, bringing the total number of internationally recognised Ramsar sites in India to 103.
·         UP now has 14 Ramsar Sites, ranking 2nd in India after Tamil Nadu(TN).
·         Spanning over 565 acres of land, Sukhna Wetland is located at the foothills of the Outer Himalayas, and is surrounded by a catchment area of more than 10,000 acres that includes a Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS).
·         It is a peri-urban reservoir that regulates water and sediment flows from its catchment.
·         Sauj Jheel is a shallow lake surrounded by farmland in the floodplain of Ganaga river.
·         It forms part of a large network of wetlands, including Saman Jheel (recognised as Ramasar Site in December 2019).
·         Sauj Jheel has been designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by Birdlife International for supporting over 30,000 waterbird species.
 
4.       NITI AAYOG LAUNCHES DATA CENTRE EVALUATION FRAMEWORK
·         National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog’s Frontier Tech Hub released the Data Centre Evaluation Framework, to help States assess investment proposals, evaluate infrastructure readiness and promote sustainable data-centre development amid rising artificial intelligence and computing demand. 
·         The framework recommends five pillars, Power and Energy; Water and Cooling management; Environmental protection; Economic Value creation; and Policy, Governance and Implementation through resource efficiency, outcome-linked incentives, time-bound approvals and monitoring.
·         India’s data-centre capacity grew from approximately 375 megawatts (MW) in 2020 to 1.5 gigawatts (GW) in 2026.
·         NITI Aayog’s Frontier Tech Hub: It was established in March 2025 by NITI Aayog, headquartered in New Delhi with Yugal Kishore Joshi serving as Programme Director.
·         Anurag Jain, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog.
 
5.       ‘UDAN’ SCHEME COMPLETES 10 YEARS
·         India’s Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), known as UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) implemented by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), completed 10 years of implementation.
·         The UDAN scheme launched on 21 October 2016 was designed to improve connectivity to unserved and underserved regions by making regional air routes more accessible and financially viable.
·         The scheme is implemented by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), which serves as its nodal implementing agency.
·         In July 2026, the next phase of UDAN scheme was launched, which will be implemented in span of ten years, from Financial Year 2026-27 (FY27) to FY36, with a total outlay of Rs 28,840 crore (Cr).
·         UDAN has operationalised 687 regional routes and 95 aerodromes (including 17 heliports and 2 water aerodromes), facilitating over 3.68 lakh flights and benefiting 1.72 crore passengers.
 
6.       INDIA’S UNESCO TENTATIVE LIST FOR WORLD HERITAGE SITES
·         The Permanent Delegation of India to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced the addition of 3 Indian sites to UNESCO’s World Heritage Tentative List.
·         Sites added are Karst-mud-volcano Complex of Baratang Island and Andaman Subduction Volcanoes in the Andaman and Nicobar (A&N) Islands, and Sirpur Cultural and Archaeological Landscape in Chhattisgarh. 
·         With this, the total number of Indian sites on the tentative list increases to 81, including 59 (Cultural Category), 3 (Mixed category) and 19 (Natural category).
 
7.       PAKISTAN TO CHAIR IMF AND WORLD BANK BOARDS OF GOVERNORS
·         Pakistan was named the incoming chair of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG) for 2027 during their annual meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, marking its first return to the position since 1953.
·         Ahad Khan Cheema, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and World Bank Governor, was named incoming chair.
 
8.       WORLD HEALTH SUMMIT 2026
·         The World Health Summit (WHS 2026), a leading platform for global health, was held in Berlin, Germany.
·         Theme - “From Crisis to Resilience: Innovating for Health”.
·         The event, led by Professor Axel R. Pries, President of the WHS, saw the participation of more than 4,000 people from over 130 countries.
·         The World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Hub 2030 Strategy to help countries detect and assess emerging health threats within 24 hours. 
·         The Government of Bangladesh and the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced a EUR 250 million women’s health programme; the Gates Foundation and Wellcome Leap committed USD 100 million for stillbirth prevention; and Germany pledged EUR 10 million for maternal and child health. 
 
9.       69TH COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE
·         The 69th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) was held under the Presidency of Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane, Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces of South Africa, in Cape Town, South Africa.
·         The week-long conference, hosted by the Parliament of South Africa in partnership with CPA South Africa branch, was held under the theme of “Strengthening International Law and Parliamentary Democracy in a Changing World Order: Commonwealth Leadership”.
·         Harivansh Narayan Singh, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha led the Indian Parliamentary delegation at the 69th CPC.
·         On the sidelines of the 2026 CPC, 2026 Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) General Assembly was chaired by Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane, President of 2026 CPA, with participation of members from over 100 CPA branches.
·         The CPA General Assembly theme “New Leadership Opportunities for the Commonwealth: Parliamentary Action to Strengthen Democracy and International Law”.
·         Ruth Forrest MLC (Parliament of Tasmania, Australia) (2026 Commonwealth Parliamentarian of the Year Award)
·         Dr. Angelo Farrugia (House of Representatives, Parliament of Malta) (2026 Parliamentarian Life-time Achievement Award)
·         Sugath Wasantha de Silva, MP (Parliament of Sri Lanka) (2026 New Parliamentarian Award)
·         Babar Saleem Swati (Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan) (2026 Parliamentary Equality and Diversity Award).
·         The Parliament of Canada in partnership with CPA Canada Federal Branch will host the 70th CPC in Canada in 2027.