DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 3 NOV 2017

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 3 NOV 2017

(DAILY NEWS INDIA)

SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1.   PRESIDENT OF INDIA INAUGURATES 21ST WORLD CONGRESS OF MENTAL HEALTH

i. The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated the 21st World Congress of Mental Health being organized by the World Federation for Mental Health in partnership with Caring Foundation and other institutions in New Delhi.

ii. The World Congress of Mental Health is taking place in India for the first time.

2.   INTER-STATE COUNCIL RECONSTITUTED WITH PM MODI AS CHAIRMAN

i. The Inter-State Council, has been reconstituted with PM Narendra Modi as its Chairman and six Union ministers and all chief ministers as members.

ii. Inter-State Council investigates and advises on disputes between states. The Union ministers who will be members of the reconstituted council are: Rajnath Singh (Home), Arun Jaitley (Finance), Sushma Swaraj (External Affairs), Thaawar Chand Gehlot (Social Justice and Empowerment), Nitin Gadkari (Road Transport) and Nirmala Sitharaman (Defence).

iii. Chief Ministers of all states and Union territories having legislative assemblies will also be members of the council. The following Union ministers have been made permanent invitees to the council:

1.Suresh Prabhu (Commerce), Harsimrat Kaur Badal (Food Processing Industries), Ramvilas Paswan (Food), Jual Oram (Tribal Affairs), Dharmendra Pradhan (Petroleum), Prakash Javadekar (HRD) and Piyush Goyal (Railway).

iv. Main Purpose of this council is to discuss and investigate policies, subjects of common interest, and disputes, among states.

3.   INDIA SLIPS 21 SLOTS ON WEF GENDER GAP INDEX

i. India slipped 21 places on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap index to 108, behind neighbours China and Bangladesh, primarily due to less participation of women in the economy and low wages, according to the WEF Global Gender Gap Report 2017.

ii. India’s latest ranking is 10 notches lower than its reading in 2006 when the WEF started measuring the gender gap. According to the Report, India has closed 67% of its gender gap. Bangladesh ranked 47th while China was placed at 100th.

iii. Top 5 Countries in the List are- Iceland, Norway, Finland, Rwanda and Sweden.

4.   WORLD’S THIRD LARGEST BOOK FAIR OPENS IN SHARJAH

i. World’s 3rd largest book fair, Sharjah International Book Fair 2017, opened on November 1, 2017 in Sharjah, UAE. SIBF 2017 has been organised by Sharjah Book Authority. The fair will continue for 11 days.

ii. Theme of SIBF 2017 is ‘A World in My Book’. .As United Kingdom is SIBF 2017 ‘Country of Honour’, a special programme will be held featuring elite British authors and prominent literary figures.

iii. The fair showcases more than 1.5 million book titles and 1650 publishing houses from 60 countries. Two million visitors are expected to attend Sharjah International Book Fair 2017. Book sales in last year’s SIBF reached USD 48.2 million.

iv. It is to be noted that Sharjah has been declared as the ‘World Book Capital 2019’ by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

5.   MUKESH AMBANI BECOMES ASIA'S RICHEST PERSON: FORBES

i. Chairman of Reliance Industries Limited Mukesh Ambani overtook China’s Hui Ka Yan to become Asia’s richest person with a total wealth of $42.1 billion, according to Forbes’ real-time billionaire’s list.

ii. Ambani's personal wealth rose by $466 million. On the other hand, the wealth of China Evergrande Group’s Chairman Hui Ka Yan slumped by $1.28 billion to $40.6 billion. Globally, Ambani stood at the 14th spot on Forbes’ real-time billionaire’s list, which is based on the value of person’s stock holding and assets on a real-time basis.

6.   ASSAM SIGNS MOUS WITH SINGAPORE FOR SKILLING STATE’S YOUTH

i. Assam government has MoUs and Terms of Reference with Singapore for skilling youth of the state. The MoU and ToR for North East Skills Centre were signed between Skill, Employment and Entrepreneurship Department, of Assam government and ITE Education Service, Singapore.

ii.  An MoU for Guwahati City Greening was inked between the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority and Singapore Corporation Enterprise.

7.   INDIAN AIR FORCE CONTINGENT IN ISRAEL TO PARTICIPATE IN ‘EX BLUE FLAG-17’

i. A 45 member contingent of the Indian Air Force had left for Israel to participate in exercise ‘Blue Flag-17’. Blue Flag is a bi-annual multilateral exercise which aims to strengthen military cooperation amongst participating nations.

ii. The exercise is being conducted at Uvda Air Force Base in Israel.

8.   INDIA, KAZAKHSTAN JOINT EXERCISE “PRABAL DOSTYK- 2017” BEGINS IN HIMACHAL PRADESH

i. Indian and Kazakhstan armies began a 14-day joint exercise “Prabal Dostyk- 2017” in Himachal Pradesh, to strengthen bilateral relations and exchange skills and experience. This is the 2nd joint military exercise between India and Kazakhstan. The first edition of “Prabal Dostyk” was held in Kazakhstan in 2016.

ii. The joint exercise is aimed at improving the military relationship between India and Kazakhstan and achieving interoperability between the two armies.

iii. The joint exercise aims to acquaint the forces with each other’s operating procedures with focus on counter- insurgency and counter-terrorism operations under the UN’s mandate.

9.   YES BANK UNVEILS BHIM YES PAY

i. Private sector bank, Yes Bank has unveiled BHIM YES PAY which is being termed as India’s 1st wallet that is fully integrated with all the IndiaStack APIs and National Payment Corporation of India products.

ii. BHIM YES PAY is currently available for Android Users and will soon be available for iOS users. Around 5.5 lakh customers of Yes Bank are currently registered on BHIM YES PAY.

iii. In addition to other payment infrastructure like Unified Payments Interface and Immediate Payment Service, BHIM YES PAY has been integrated with three other products of National Payment Corporation of India viz. RuPay Virtual Card, BharatQR and Bharat Bill Payment Service.

10.           AJAY BISARIA NAMED INDIA’S NEXT HIGH COMMISSIONER TO PAKISTAN

i. India has appointed Ajay Bisaria as the next high commissioner to Pakistan. He is currently ambassador to Poland. Bisaria takes over from Gautam Bambawale, who was last month appointed India’s ambassador to China.

ii. Bisaria was in charge of the Eurasia desk that looks after India’s ties with Russia and the Central Asian republics, prior to his appointment as India’s ambassador to Poland.

11.           NEELAMANI N. RAJU APPOINTED KARNATAKA’S FIRST WOMAN POLICE CHIEF

i. Neelmani N. Raju has been appointed as Karnataka’s first woman Director General and Inspector General of Police.

ii. She will take over from Rupak Kumar Dutta, who is retiring from service.

12.           EESL RECEIVES $454 MN FUNDING FROM GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS

i. Global Environment Facility, an international partnership of 183 countries, International development banks, United Nations agencies and international non-governmental organizations will provide $454 million funding for energy-efficiency projects run by Energy Efficiency Services Ltd.

ii. Energy Efficiency Services Ltd is leading implementation of energy efficiency projects across India. It is promoted by four public sector firms in the energy sector viz. NTPC Ltd, Power Grid Corp. of India Ltd., Rural Electrification Corp. Ltd and Power Finance Corp. Ltd

iii. $454 million funding to EESL comprises of a GEF grant of $20 million and co-financing of $434 million in the form of loans and equity. The loan component also includes $200 million loan from the Asian Development Bank,

13.           MAHARASHTRA GOVT ADDS 18M TO SHIVAJI STATUE, TO BE WORLD’S TALLEST AT 210M

i. The 210-metre-high statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj has received environmental clearance, making it the world’s tallest statue, once built.

ii. The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority approved the government’s application to increase the height from the earlier proposed 192 metres. Currently, the Spring Temple Buddha statue, which stands at 208 metres in China, is the world’s tallest statue.

14.           CHANDA KOCHHAR, PRIYANKA CHOPRA FEATURED ON FORBES 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN IN THE WORLD

i. ICICI Bank Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Chanda Kochhar and Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra have featured on the list of the world’s 100 most powerful women compiled by Forbes.

ii. The overall list was topped by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She has retained the top position for the seventh consecutive year and 12 times in total. 2nd position is occupied by UK PM Theresa May. 3rd place was secured by Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

iii. PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi is at the 11th position. Chanda Kochhar, CEO & MD of ICICI was ranked 32 on the list. HCL Corp. CEO Roshni Nadar Malhotra took the 57th position.

iv. Other Indians on the list are Shobhana Bhartia, chairperson and editorial director for HT Media, at the 92nd place and Priyanka Chopra, at 97. The list covered four metrics—money, media presence, spheres of influence and impact.

15.           K SATCHIDANANDAN SELECTED FOR EZHUTHACHAN PURASKARAM

i. Noted Malayalam Poet and literary critic, K Satchidanandan, has been selected for Ezhuthachan Puraskaram 2017. This is Kerala government's highest literary honour.

ii. The award is for his contributions to Malayalam literature and poetry. This award has been Instituted in the name of Ezhuthachan, the father of Malayalam language, the award carries a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh and a citation.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. WHO IS THE CHAIRMAN OF RECENTLY RECONSTITUTED INTER-STATE COUNCIL?

a)  RBI Governor

b)  Finance Minister

c)  Prime Minister

d)  President

Q2. WITH WHICH FOREIGN COUNTRY, THE ASSAM GOVERNMENT SIGNED MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING AND TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR SKILLING YOUTH OF THE STATE?

a)  Argentina

b)  Canada

c)  Malaysia

d)  Singapore

Q3. WHAT IS THE THEME OF THE WORLD’S THIRD LARGEST BOOK FAIR, SHARJAH INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR 2017?

a)  A World in My Book

b)  Books For Better Life

c)  Book For The Knowledge

d)  Book is My World

Q4. PRABAL DOSTYK- 2017 IS THE JOINT EXERCISE BETWEEN INDIA AND WHICH COUNTRY?

a)  China

b)  Kazakhstan

c)  Pakistan

d)  Sri Lanka

Q5. ENERGY EFFICIENCY SERVICES LTD RECEIVES $454 MN FUNDING FROM WHICH ORGANISATION FOR ENERGY efficiency programs?

a)  Global Green Growth Institute

b)  Earth System Governance

c)  Global Environment Facility

d)  United Nations Environment