DAILY GK 19-20 OCT 2026
1.
25TH SCO CHG MEETING IN TAJIKISTAN· The 25th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (CHG) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was held under the chairmanship of Qohir (Kokhir) Rasulzoda, Prime Minister (PM) of Tajikistan in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
· Union Minister Rajnath Singh, Ministry of Defence (MoD) represented India at the meeting.
· India to host 1st SCO Civilisation Dialogue: During the meeting of SCO CHG, Union Defence Minister Rajnath announced that India will host the 1st SCO Civilisational Dialogue Forum by the end of 2026.
· The meeting resulted in a series of outcomes like: adoption of a Joint Communique; approval to a number of decisions such as: the implementation of the Programme of Multilateral Trade and Economic Cooperation (PMTEC) Action Plan for 2026-2030 and on the development of cooperation in areas of mutual interest, including transport and industry and the budget for 2027.
2. INDIA’S FIRST INDIGENOUS MULTI-PURPOSE VESSEL ‘INS SAMARTHAK’ COMMISSIONED
· Vice-President (VP) C. P. Radhakrishnan commissioned the Indian Navy (IN’s) first indigenous Multi-Purpose Vessel (MPV), Indian Naval Ship ‘INS Samarthak’, at INS Kadamba Naval Base in Karwar, Karnataka.
· INS Samarthak, a Sanskrit word meaning the proponent, carries the motto “विजयार्थम् एकनिष्ठता” (“Victory is Our Sole Aim”) and features an Indian elephant emerging from the waves, symbolising strength, intelligence, and agility.
· Built by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) at its Kattupalli shipyard in Tamil Nadu (TN).
· INS Samarthak is the first major naval warship designed and delivered by an Indian private shipyard, featuring over 75% indigenous content.
3. HENLEY PASSPORT INDEX 2026
· Henley & Partners, a British consultancy expertized in investment migration, released the latest edition of Henley Passport Index 2026 Global Rankings.
· India climbed one spot to 84th, from 85th in October 2025, despite a decline in visa-free access from 57 to 55 destinations, sharing its rank with Algeria and Mauritania.
· Singapore retained its position as the world’s most powerful passport with access to 193 destinations without a prior visa, followed by Japan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and South Korea (188 destinations) sharing second place.
· Sweden ranked at 3rd position, with an overall visa-free score of 187 destinations.
· Afghanistan ranked at 106th position (with free-access to only 22 countries), again emerged as the world’s weakest passport; followed by Syria (ranked at 105th spot, 25 destinations); Iraq (ranked at 104th spot, 28 destinations); and Pakistan (ranked at 103rd spot, 29 destinations).
4. GLOBAL HUNGER INDEX 2026
· Welthungerhilfe (WHH), Germany-based humanitarian organisation, in collaboration with the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV) and Helvetas, released the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2026, titled “No Security Without Food Security”.
· India ranked 100th among 122 countries, with a GHI score of 24.1, placing it in the serious hunger category.
· The report was released on 14 October 2026, ahead of World Food Day (16 October), during a hybrid event hosted in Berlin, Germany.
· The GHI score for each country is calculated based on their performance across 4 key indicators.
· Undernourishment (1/3rd): The share of the population whose caloric intake is insufficient.
· Child Stunting (1/6th): The share of children under the age of 5 who have low height for their age.
· Child Wasting: The share of children under the age of 5 who have low weight with respect to their height.
· Child Mortality: The share of children who die before their 5th birthday.
· Based on the values of the 4 indicators, the GHI score for each country ranges from 0 to 100, where 0 means the best score (which indicates no hunger) and 100 (worst score).
· The global score rose from 17.6 in 2018 to 18.1 in 2026, indicating a moderate level of hunger globally.
· Hunger levels worsened in 32 countries, while 57 countries are not on track to achieve low hunger levels by 2030.
· Top Performing Countries: Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica and Croatia were among the 24 countries with scores below 5.0.
· Bottom 5 Countries: Somalia recorded the highest hunger score of 47.0, followed by DRC (121st; 39.5), Chad (120th; 38.0), Madagascar (119th; 36.5) and Haiti (118th; 34.4).
5. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON AWARD
· Padma Shri awardee Reema Nanavaty, Director of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) of India, received the Hillary Rodham Clinton Award at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) in Washington, D.C., USA, for her contributions to women’s economic empowerment, livelihoods, peace and security.
· She received the Padma Shri in 2013 in the field of Social Work for her contributions to social service.
· The award, established in 2014, presented by former United States of America (USA) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton through GIWPS.
· The 2026 recipients also included Tory Burch, fashion designer and founder of the Tory Burch Foundation, and Muhammad Yunus, Nobel laureate (Nobel Peace Prize in 2006), founder of Grameen Bank and former chief adviser to Bangladesh’s government.
6. WORLD’S BEST CONSUMER BANK 2026 AWARD
· State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest Public Sector Bank (PSB), won Global Finance Magazine’s World’s Best Consumer Bank 2026 award for the second consecutive year, along with the Best Bank in India 2026 award
· The awards were presented at the World’s Best Bank Awards Ceremony held alongside the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Annual Meeting 2026 in Bangkok, Thailand.
· Banco Santander (Spain) won the World’s Best Bank award, DBS Bank (Singapore) received the World’s Best Corporate Bank award, BBVA (Spain) was named World’s Best Emerging Markets Bank, and Ecobank (Togo) won the World’s Best Frontier Markets Bank award.
· SBI Chairman Challa Sreenivasulu Setty accepted the awards on behalf of the bank’s customers and employees.
· SBI: Headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
· SBI is India’s largest bank by assets and deposits, tracing its origins to the Bank of Calcutta (1806), which later became part of the Imperial Bank of India (1921) before its transformation into SBI on 1 July 1955.
7. INDIA–RUSSIA CONDUCT JOINT MILITARY EXERCISE INDRA 2026
· India and Russia conducted the 15th edition of the bilateral Naval Exercise INDRA-2026 at Vladivostok and the Sea of Japan (East Sea), Russia.
· Exercise is being conducted in 3 phases Naval Harbour Phase, Naval Sea Phase, Land - Based Phase.
8. INDIA-AUSTRALIA MILITARY EXERCISE AUSTRAHIND
· The 5th edition of the India-Australia Joint Military Exercise AUSTRAHIND 2026 commenced at the Foreign Training Node, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
· The official theme is “Joint Sub-Conventional Operations in Island and Coastal Environment under Chapter VII of the United Nations (UN) Mandate”.
· IA: The contingent comprises troops from the Garhwal Rifles, along with personnel from other arms and services.
· Australian Army: The contingent comprises troops from 13 Brigade.
9. INDIA-SINGAPORE MARITIME EXERCISE SIMBEX-26
· The 33rd edition of the Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX-2026) commenced at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh (AP), involving the Indian Navy (IN) and the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN).
· The ceremony was held aboard INS Nilgiri and INS Kamorta at Visakhapatnam.
