DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 8 NOV 2017

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 8 NOV 2017

(DAILY NEWS INDIA)

SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1.      COP23 CLIMATE CHANGE SUMMIT HELD IN BONN,GERMANY

i. 23rd annual “conference of the parties” under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change begun on November 6, 2017 in Bonn, Germany. This conference will continue till November 17, 2017.

ii. COP23 was opened on November 6, 2017 by Fiji’s PM Voreqe ‘Frank’ Bainimarama. The India Pavilion at COP 23 was inaugurated by Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan. India’s theme for COP 23 is ‘Conserving Now, Preserving Future’.

2.      GUINEA BECOMES NEW MEMBER OF INTERNATIONAL SOLAR ALLIANCE

i. Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj held a meeting with Guinea’s Foreign Minister, Mamady Toure. During the course of this meeting, Mamady Toure handed over Guinea’s Instrument of Accession to the India-initiated International Solar Alliance.

ii. The International Solar Alliance is an alliance of countries which are located completely or partly between Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. It was jointly launched by the PM of India Narendra Modi and the then President of France Francois Hollande in November 2015 in Paris, on the side lines of COP21.

iii. Under the ISA, solar rich countries will collaborate to fulfill their objectives and needs pertaining to solar energy by emulating successful practices and setting up common mechanisms and instruments for harnessing solar energy on a huge scale.

iv. Ms. Sushma Swaraj has extended an invitation to Guinea to attend the summit level meeting of founder members of ISA in New Delhi.

3.      ‘PARADISE PAPERS’ TO BE MONITORED THROUGH RECONSTITUTED MULTI AGENCY GROUP

i. Revelations made in the media under the name ‘Paradise Papers’ [based upon expose done by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists] indicate that out of 180 countries represented in the data of offshore entities held by persons of different nationalities, India ranks 19th in terms of a number of names.

ii. 714 Indians reportedly appear in the tally. Further, the Government has directed that investigations in cases of Paradise Papers will be monitored through a reconstituted Multi Agency Group, headed by the Chairman, CBDT Sushil Chandra.

iii. BJP Member of Parliament R K Sinha, Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt’s wife Manyata Dutt, Current Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, Karti Chidambaram, son of former finance minister P Chidambaram and former Union Minister Sachin Pilot are some of the Indian names in the list.

4.      INDIA TO CONTRIBUTE USD 100 MILLION TO UN PARTNERSHIP FUND

i. India has pledged an additional amount of USD 100 million towards the UN partnership fund, scaling up its support to sustainable development projects across the developing world.

ii. The contribution would be in addition to India's contribution of 10.582 million US dollar to various other UN program. A total of USD 398.98 million was pledged by about 20 countries during the conference session.

iii. The objective of this partnership is to reduce poverty and hunger, improving health, education and equality, and expanding access to clean water, energy and livelihoods.

iv. The fund will be deployed to implement country-level projects that are geared towards achieving the 17 sustainable development goals of the 2030 Agenda.

5.      HDFC BANK MAKES RTGS, NEFT ONLINE TRANSACTIONS FREE

i. HDFC Bank Ltd has made online transactions through RTGS and NEFT free of cost from 1st November 2017, with an aim to promote a digital economy.

ii. According to the revised fees and charges for savings and salary accounts, customers will not have to pay any charge for doing online transactions through Real Time Gross Settlement and the National Electronics Funds Transfer.

iii. Also, HDFC Bank has said that, a customer can avail one cheque book of 25 leaves free, only once in a year. If a cheque is returned due to insufficient funds, each such cheque will attract a penalty of Rs 500. In cases where cheques deposited are returned unpaid, the charge has been raised to Rs 200 per instance.

6.      PAYTM INTRODUCES BHIM UPI FOR SEAMLESS MONEY TRANSFER

i. Paytm introduced payments using BHIM UPI through which users can create their own Paytm BHIM UPI ID on the app, using which customers can transfer money.

ii. Users can link any of their savings bank account with this unique Paytm BHIM UPI ID and start sending and accepting money. With Paytm BHIM UPI, users can make instant money transfers directly between two bank accounts, with no waiting time to add beneficiary. They don’t have to share their bank account details and IFSC code to receive money.

iii. As per the National Payments Corporation of India guidelines, users can send up to Rs. 1 lakh a day using BHIM UPI and there is no receiving limit. This feature preview is currently available on the Paytm Android app and will soon be available on iOS.

7.      MAYA SWAMINATHAN SINHA AWARDED ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR BY ASSOCHAM

i. Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India honoured CMC Skills’ Founder Ms. Maya Swaminathan Sinha with the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2017’ award in Ranchi. ASSOCHAM organized “One Day National Summit on Leadership cum Awards 2017’’ at Hotel BNR Chanakya, Ranchi.

ii. At the event, organizations and professionals who have worked extraordinarily and accomplished achievements were honoured. Ms. Maya Sinha is a former Indian Revenue Service Officer with over 30 years of professional experience. She is the Founder & Director of CMC Skills Pvt. Ltd. and Clear Maze Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

8.      APOLLO MUNICH HEALTH INSURANCE WINS ‘GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY OF THE YEAR’

i. Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company was awarded the 21st Asia Insurance Industry Awards in the “General Insurance Company of the Year” category, at Singapore.

ii. Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company is a joint venture between integrated healthcare provider, Apollo Hospitals Group, and the Munich Re Group. The Asia Insurance Industry Awards is hosted annually by Asia Insurance Review.

iii. Apollo Munich Health Insurance was awarded the ‘General Insurance Company of the year’ in recognition of its market leadership through innovation in products, services, practices etc. It has accomplished a number of firsts in India for its products: lifelong renewal, no sub-limits, no claim-based loading and co-payment, portability, restore and multiplier benefits and the first standalone dengue product.

9.      BINOY KUMAR APPOINTED AS SPECIAL SECRETARY IN COMMERCE MINISTRY

i. senior IAS officer Binoy Kumar was appointed as Special Secretary in the Commerce Ministry.

ii. Binoy Kumar is a 1983 batch IAS officer of the Telangana cadre. He was the Director General of Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals, the procurement arm of the central government that was closed on 31st October 2017.

iii. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment as the Special Secretary (Logistics), Department of Commerce.

10.  GUJARAT CADRE IAS OFFICER HASMUKH ADHIA NAMED NEW FINANCE SECRETARY

i. The government named Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia as the new Finance Secretary of India.  Hasmukh Adhia is a 1981 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre. He replaces Ashok Lavasa. It’s a convention in Finance Ministry to appoint the senior most secretary as the Finance Secretary. Hasmukh Adhia joined the revenue department in 2015 from the Department of Financial Services.

ii. He has played a key role in implementing demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax. There are five departments in Finance Ministry: Expenditure, Economic Affairs, Financial Services, Revenue and Department of Investment and Public Asset management.

11.  INDIAN RAILWAYS LAUNCHES MAIN ARCH ON WORLD’S HIGHEST BRIDGE ON CHENAB

i. The Indian Railways has launched the main arch of the world's highest bridge on the River Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district which will provide direct connectivity to the Kashmir Valley.

ii. The iconic bridge will soar 359 metres above the bed of the River Chenab and will be 30 metres higher than the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris.

12.  LONG-RANGE CRUISE MISSILE ‘NIRBHAY’ TEST-FIRED

i. India conducted a flight test of its indigenously designed and developed long-range sub-sonic cruise missile ‘Nirbhay’. It can carry warheads of up to 300 kg from a test range at Chandipur along the Odisha coast.

ii. This was the fifth experimental test of the homegrown missile system. The test fire was carried out by Defence Research and Development Organisation.

13.  INDIA END COMMONWEALTH SHOOTING CHAMPIONSHIP AT TOP WITH 20 MEDALS

i. The Indian shooting contingent finished the Commonwealth Shooting Championship 2017 with the best tally of 20 medals.

ii. Indian shooters won a total of six gold, seven silver and seven bronze medals in the competition. On the competition's final day, Satyendra Singh and Sanjeev Rajput won a gold and a silver respectively in the men's 50m rifle three positions.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. WHICH COUNTRY INAUGURATED THE 23RD ANNUAL “CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES” UNDER THE UN FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE?

a)  USA

b)  Germany

c)  Switzerland

d)  Canada

Q2. WHICH COUNTRY RECENTLY JOINED THE INTERNATIONAL SOLAR ALLIANCE?

a)  Nigeria

b)  China

c)  Guinea

d)  Libya

Q3. ‘THE PARADISE PAPERS’ IS BASED ON LEAKED DATA OF OFFSHORE LAW FIRMS AND THE COMPANY REGISTRIES LOCATED IN WORLD’S MOST SECRETIVE COUNTRIES. INDIA HOLDS WHICH POSITION AMONG 180 COUNTRIES IN THE LIST?

a)  100

b)  26

c)  29

d)  19

Q4. WHAT IS THE CONTRIBUTION OF INDIA TO UN PARTNERSHIP FUND?

a)  USD 100 million

b)  USD 180 million

c)  USD 1000 million

d)  USD 110 million

Q5. WHO WAS APPOINTED AS THE NEW FINANCE SECRETARY OF INDIA?

a)  Shri Nithiyanand

b)  Hasmukh Adhia

c)  Suresh Prabhu

d)  Nirmala Sitharaman

ANSWERS: 

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