DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 30 OCT 2017

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 30 OCT 2017

(DAILY NEWS INDIA)

                                  SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1.      INDIA TO HOST UN WILDLIFE SUMMIT IN 2020

i. The UN for Environment Programme announced that, India will host the next United Nations global wildlife conference on migratory species (CMS COP13) in 2020. The Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species is held once in three years.

ii. It is the only international treaty devoted exclusively to migratory wildlife species. The summit aims to conserve terrestrial, marine, and avian migratory species on a global level.

2.      CABINET APPROVES RS 7,000 CR FOR CONSTRUCTION OF SIX IIT CAMPUSES

i. The Union Cabinet has approved over Rs 7,000 cr for construction of permanent campuses of six new Indian Institute of Technology across the country.

ii. Each of the permanent campuses to be established at Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Palakkad (Kerala), Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir), Dharwad (Karnataka), Bhilai (Chhattisgarh) and Goa will have a facility for housing 1,200 students from the academic year 2020-2021.

3.      KARNATAKA GOVT SIGNS MOU WITH MICROSOFT

i. The Karnataka Government announced the signing of an MoU with Microsoft Corporation India Private Limited with an intention to empower smallholder farmers with technology-oriented solutions that will help them increase income.

ii. The MoU will experiment with Karnataka Agricultural Price Commission and Department of Agriculture to help improve price forecasting practices to benefit farmers.

4.      INDIA AND US HOLD 11TH TRADE POLICY FORUM MEETING IN WASHINGTON

i. The 11th Trade Policy Forum Meeting was held in Washington D.C., US. In the 11th TPFMeeting, Indian Minister for Commerce and Industry, Suresh Prabhu had productive discussions with the United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Robert Lighthizer and his team.

ii. During the meeting, discussions were held on issues related to bilateral trade between India and US, areas of mutual cooperation, market access in agriculture, non-agricultural goods and services and Intellectual Property Rights.

iii. Union Minister Suresh Prabhu strongly expressed India’s concerns related to problems faced by Indian services companies in obtaining H-1B and L-1 visas.

5.      SIDBI REVAMPS PORTAL FOR EASY CREDIT ACCESS

i. Small Industries Development Bank of India has revamped its portal udyamimitra.in with enhanced features to provide easy access to credit and hand-holding services for micro small medium enterprises. In the market place, any bank, other than those requested, can also pick up the application for sanction, and this will be one of the best updates. The portal brings transparency and competition among lenders and removes the need to approach several banks individually.

ii. The portal is mobile-enabled and provides a self-assessment module inbuilt within it. It sends various information on registered MSMEs from time to time and also allows loan applications to be perused and picked up by multiple lenders.

iii. The revamped version of the portal is planned to leverage the experiences to create and implement a much larger platform to transform the digital landscape for MSME loans.

6.      N.J.GANGTE APPOINTED AS THE NEXT HIGH COMMISSIONER OF INDIA TO THE REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA

i. N.J.Gangte has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Zambia.

ii. He is presently the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. He is expected to take up his assignment shortly.

7.      ENGLAND BEAT SPAIN 5-2 TO WIN FIRST-EVER U-17 TITLE

i. England scripted a dramatic turnaround in Kolkata to win the 2017 FIFA U17 World Cup for the very first time after a 5-2 win over European U17 champions Spain.

ii. Spain appeared to throw in the towel after letting slip a commanding lead, and their woe was compounded by further strikes from Marc Guehi and Foden to round off a comprehensive 5-2 victory.

8.      SHARMILA TAGORE HONOURED WITH LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

i. Veteran actor Sharmila Tagore has received the Lifetime Achievement Award. The 72-year-old actor was bestowed with the recognition by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi for her contribution in the field of cinema.

ii. Minister of State for Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh and Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari presented the award to Tagore.

iii. The celebrated actor debuted in movies with legendary director Satyajit Ray's Bengali film Apur Sansar in 1959. Her breakout role in Hindi cinema was Shakti Samanta's 1964 film Kashmir Ki Kali.

9.      AU SMALL FINANCE BANK, SIDBI LAUNCH RS. 200-CR FUND FOR MSMES

i. AU Small Finance Bank has entered into a tie-up with Small Industries Development Bank of India to launch Rs. 200 cr fund for providing loans to micro, small and medium enterprises.

ii. As per the terms of this tie-up, AU Small Finance Bank and SIDBI will earmark a corpus of Rs 100 cr each for lending in the current financial year. Term loans in the range of Rs. 25 lakh to Rs. 2 cr will be extended in the next 12-15 months to nearly 100 MSME units.

iii. 10% interest rate will be charged on these loans. SIDBI will play an advisory role, whereas all the processes including disbursement, monitoring and recovery will be handled by AU Small Finance Bank.

10.  SATYA GOPAL APPOINTED CHIEF SECRETARY OF ARUNCHAL PRADESH

i. Delhi Principal Home Secretary Satya Gopal has been transferred to Arunchal Pradesh as the chief secretary. Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal relieved Satya Gopal from the Delhi Principal Home Secretary post. Satya Gopal is a 1988 batch IAS officer.

ii. Delhi PWD’s Principal Secretary Ashwani Kumar has been appointed as a link officer for the post of Delhi’s principal home secretary till further order.

11.  PATNA PIRATES CLINCHED THIRD PRO KABADDI SUCCESSIVE TITLE

i. Pardeep Narwal scored incredible 24 points to steer Patna Pirates to third consecutive Pro Kabaddi title. Pardeep, who had scored 76 points in three playoffs, helped Patna come from behind and thump Gujarat Fortunegiants 55-38 in the summit clash of Pro Kabaddi season 5.

ii. Gujarat’s Sachin Tawar was the only player who had managed to break through Patna defence and scored 11 points. The 20-year old raider finishes the 2017 edition as the highest raider with 369 raid points and 19 Super 10s.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. WHICH COUNTRY WILL HOST UN WILDLIFE SUMMIT IN 2020?

a)  Malaysia

b)  Singapore

c)  Japan

d)  India

Q2. WHERE WAS THE 11TH TRADE POLICY FORUM MEETING HELD AT?

a)  Saudi Arabia

b)  Switzerland

c)  Washington

d)  New York

Q3. WHO WAS APPOINTED AS THE CHIEF SECRETARY OF ARUNCHAL PRADESH?

a)  Girija Vaithyanathan

b)  Satya Gopal

c)  Subramaniya Rao

d)  C Chandrmouli

Q4. WHAT IS THE PORTAL MANAGED BY SMALL INDUSTRIES DEVELOPMENT BANK OF INDIA?

a)  Udyamimitra.in

b)  Mithrusakthi. in

c)  Udaymsme. in

d)  Sidbimsme. in

Q5. BY DEFEATING WHOM PATNA PIRATES WON THE THIRD CONSECUTIVE PRO KABADDI TITLE?

a)  Dabang Delhi

b)  Puneri Palton

c)  Gujarat Fortune Giants

d)  Telugu Titans

ANSWERS:  

1 - D      2 - C       3 - B       4 - A       5 - C