DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 17 OCT 2017

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 17 OCT 2017

(DAILY NEWS INDIA)

SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1.      FIRST INVESTMENT AGREEMENT SIGNED BETWEEN NIIF AND ABU DHABI INVESTMENT AUTHORITY

i. National Investment and Infrastructure Fund of India signed an investment agreement worth $1 billion with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

ii. As a part of this pact, ADIA has become the first institutional investor in NIIF’s Master Fund and a shareholder in NIIF’s investment management company named National Investment and Infrastructure Limited. NIIF is a fund created by the Government of India for enhancing infrastructure financing in the country.

iii. The fund has been created to attract investments (in commercially viable infrastructure development projects) from both domestic and international sources. Corpus of the NIIF is proposed to be $6 billion, in which Government of India will invest 49 per cent.

iv. The remaining $3 billion will be procured from long-term international investors, such as a sovereign wealth funds, insurance and pension funds, and endowment funds.

2.      BANGKOK BANK SIGNS DEAL WITH INTELLECT DESIGN FOR DIGITAL TRANSACTION BANKING PLATFORM

i. Intellect Global Transaction Banking a specialist firm of Intellect Design Arena Ltd. has been selected by Bangkok Bank, as a technology partner to implement a comprehensive cash management platform and corporate portal.

ii. Bangkok Bank is Thailand’s market leader in corporate and small and medium-sized enterprise banking. The digital portal which will be developed by IGTB for Bangkok Bank will integrate a number of previously separate platforms, thereby enabling a consistent and consolidated view of clients’ working capital and payments activities, irrespective of the country they operate in.

iii. With back-end processing of transactions, risk management and reporting, all centralised and handled in one place, Bangkok Bank’s transaction processing rate will improve significantly.

3.      SEBI REVAMPS EXPERT PANEL ON MARKET INFRASTRUCTURE INSTITUTIONS

i. SEBI reorganised its committee on Market Infrastructure Institutions that advises it on reviewing norms related to stock exchanges, clearing corporations and depository participants.

ii. The five member expert committee on MII is now chaired by R Gandhi, former Deputy Governor at Reserve Bank of India. Other members are Leo Puri, UTI AMC Managing Director, Gopal Naik, Dean, faculty at IIM Bangalore, G Anantharaman, former whole time member SEBI, and S Ravindran executive director at SEBI.

iii. One of the major responsibilities of this committee is overall assessment of the existing MIIs’ framework and identifying areas for review in the Stock Exchanges and Clearing Corporations norms and depository participants regulations.

iv. The panel would also be responsible for addressing suggestions received from public under the consultation process.

4.      MAHINDRA LAUNCHES 'PRERNA' PROJECT FOR WOMEN FARMERS

i. Mahindra & Mahindra has launched a program, Prerna, to empower women working in the agriculture sector by promoting efficient and ergonomic farm tools and equipment. The project will be initially launched in the state of Odisha, with the intention to positively impact the lives of over 1,500 families across 30-plus villages.

ii. The first project under Prerna is a collaboration between Mahindra & Mahindra, the Central Institution for Women in Agriculture, a department of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

5.      YES BANK COMMITS RS 156 CR FOR NAMAMI GANGE PROJECT

i. Private sector Yes Bank has committed Rs 156 crore to fund first Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) to be constructed at Varanasi under Hybrid Annuity-PPP Model.

ii. The bank has signed a deal with Essel Infraprojects for the financial closure of Rs 156 crore that will fund the STP under Namami Gange Project.

6.     Mohun Bagan lifts Governor’s Gold Cup for 10th time

i. Football club Mohun Bagan has won the 37th All India Governor’s Gold Cup football tournament. Mohun Bagan defeated Partha Chakra by a narrow 1-0. The final match was played at Paljor Stadium in Gangtok, Sikkim.

ii. Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling was present during the final match and gave away trophies and cash prize to winners and the runner-up.

7.      EMINENT POET PRABHA VARMA CHOSEN FOR PADMA PRABHA PURASKARAM

i. Eminent poet, lyricist and journalist Prabha Varma has been selected for the Padma Prabha Puraskaram for 2017. The announcement was made by the chairman-cum-managing director of ‘Mathrubhumi’ daily, M P Veerendra Kumar.

ii. A jury headed by ace novelist M Mukundan chose Varma for the prestigious award, considering his contribution to Malayalam literature. The award, carrying a cash prize of Rs 75,000, a plaque and a citation, was instituted by the Padma Prabha Memorial Trust.

8.      KAVITA DEVI, INDIA’S FIRST WOMAN WRESTLER TO SIGN FOR WWE

i. Kavita Devi, a former competitive powerlifter, has become the first ever Indian woman to be signed by the World Wrestling Entertainment.

ii. Hailing from Haryana, Kavita underwent training to be a professional wrestler under the guidance of The Great Khali (Dalip Singh Rana) at his Punjab based wrestling promotion and training academy.  She also won a gold medal at the 2016 South Asian Games.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. FIRST INVESTMENT AGREEMENT WAS SIGNED BETWEEN NIIF AND ABU DHABI INVESTMENT AUTHORITY. NIIF IS A FUND CREATED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA FOR ENHANCING __________ IN THE COUNTRY?

a)  Banking

b)  IT

c)  Infrastructure

d)  Educational Institutions

Q2. MAHINDRA’S PRERNA’ PROJECT FOR WOMEN FARMERS WILL BE LAUNCHED IN WHICH INDIAN STATE?

a)  Odisha

b)  Madhya Pradesh

c)  Telengana

d)  Maharashtra

Q3. SEBI REORGANISED ITS COMMITTEE ON MARKET INFRASTRUCTURE INSTITUTIONS THAT GIVES ADVICE ABOUT OF THE FOLLOWING?

a)  Depository participants.

b)  Stock exchanges

c)  Clearing corporations

d)  All the above

Q4. NAME THE EMINENT PERSON WHO HAS BEEN SELECTED FOR THIS YEAR’S PADMA PRABHA PURASKARAM FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION TO MALYALAM LITERATURE?

a)  M T Vasudevan

b)   Prabha Varma

c)   Subash Chandran

d)  O V Vijayan

Q5. WHO IS THE FIRST INDIAN WOMAN WRESTLER TO SIGN WITH WWE?

a)  Kavita Devi

b)  Geeta Phogat

c)  Babitha

d)  Sakshi Malik

ANSWERS: 

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