DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 10 NOV 2017

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 10 NOV 2017

(DAILY NEWS INDIA)

SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1.      RADHA MOHAN SINGH INAUGURATES THREE-DAY ORGANIC WORLD CONGRESS – 2017 IN GREATER NOIDA

i. Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Radha Mohan Singh inaugurated the 3-day Organic World Congress – 2017 at India Expo Centre in Greater Noida. 1,400 representatives from 110 countries, and 2000 delegates from India participated in the Organic World Congress – 2017. The goal is to move from organic India to the organic world.

ii. The Organic World Congress is organized once every three years in a different country. The International Federation of Organic Farming Movements and Organic Farming Association of India are organizing the event.

iii. One of the highlights of the event is the exhibition of carefully preserved diverse indigenous seed varieties over generations. 55 seeds group from 15 Indian states showcase 4,000 varieties of seeds in the event.

2.      HDFC BANK LAUNCHED SMARTUP ZONE IN KOCHI

i. HDFC Bank has announced the launch of its SmartUp Zone in Kochi, an exclusive area inside the branch dedicated for start-ups.

ii. SmartUp Zones will be launched in over 65 branches in 30 cities across India, including tier 2 and 3 cities that are emerging as start-up hubs. The objective is to harness the potential of the startup and fintech eco-system using a multi-pronged approach.

3.      PM MODI FLAGGED OFF BANDHAN EXPRESS & INAUGURATES TWO BRIDGES

i. ‘Bandhan Express’ a passenger train between Kolkata and Bangladesh’s southwestern industrial city of Khulna was inaugurated on November 9. ’Bandhan Express’ was jointly flagged off (through video conferencing) by Indian PM Narendra Modi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina.

ii. It is a fully air-conditioned passenger train and will run every Thursday from both Kolkata and Khulna.  ’Bandhan Express’ will cover 172 kms distance between Kolkata and Khulna in four hours.It is the second Indo-Bangla train service after the Maitree Express, which runs between Dhaka and Kolkata.

iv. The three leaders also inaugurated two bridges over the rivers Meghna and Titas in Bangladesh to provide an end-to-end immigration facility to ease Dhaka-Kolkata Maitree train services.

4.      DELHI GOVT SIGNS TWIN CITY AGREEMENT WITH SEOUL

i. Delhi Government signed a twin city agreement with the Seoul Metropolitan Government with an objective to strengthen cooperation between two cities in the fields of smart city, e-governance, climate change and transportation.

ii. This agreement, referred to as ‘Establishment of Friendship City Relationship’ was signed between Park Won Soon, Mayor of Seoul (South Korea) Metropolitan Government and Delhi and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

ii. It also envisages cooperation in the areas of environment, education, solid waste management, waste water management, public health, culture & tourism, and youth exchange. The twin city agreement between Delhi and Seoul will come into effect after being approved by Union Government.

5.      INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY MINISTERIAL MEETING HELD IN PARIS

i. International Energy Agency Ministerial meeting was held in Paris, France. Energy security, clean energy technology and government-industry dialogue on investment and digitalization were the key focus areas for this meeting.

ii. Indian delegation to IEA Ministerial Meeting, Paris was led by Union Minister of State (I/C) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Raj Kumar Singh.

iii. During the course of this event, India signed joint work programmes with IEA and other member countries of IEA viz. Brazil, Indonesia, Chile and Thailand.

iv. Mr. Raj Kumar Singh also had a delegate level discussion with the French Minister of State for Ecological and Inclusive Transition, Ms. Brune Poirson on the side lines of this event. He also held discussion with US Secretary of Energy, Mr. James Richard Perry on various issues of Power and New & Renewable Energy.

6.      SBI RELEASES ECONOMIC REPORT ON OIL PRICE HIKE, IMPACT ON CAD

i. The Economic Research Department of State Bank of India has released a report on oil price hike and how unlikely it is to impact the Current account deficit and how inflation could stretch fiscal.

ii. The report is authored by Dr. Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Group Chief Economic Adviser of SBI. The report said that, with this rate and assuming oil price reduces to reasonable levels, the Government could receive budgeted Rs 1 lakh cr in small savings in financial year 2018, and would be able to do a buyback of Rs 75000 cr.

iii. It further said that, an average annual one dollar increase in oil price can lead to an increase in oil imports by 1561 million dollars annually.

7.      BENGALURU OUTRANKS SAN FRANCISCO IN CONFIDENCE TO GO DIGITAL

i. According to a report based on a survey by Economist Intelligence Unit, published on November 7, 2017, India’s Silicon Valley – Bengaluru has been adjudged as the best city among 45 cities for the confidence of its businesses in their ability to go digital.

ii. Economist Intelligence Unit’s ‘Confidence to go Digital’ survey – Top 5 cities: Bengaluru, India, San Francisco, US, Mumbai, India, New Delhi, India and Beijing, China.

8.      INDIA AT 7TH POSITION IN BUSINESS OPTIMISM RANKING: REPORT

i. India has slipped in 'business optimism' index to the 7th position in the September quarter, from the 2nd slot in the previous three months, showing clear signs of lag in the economy, as per Grant Thornton's International Business Report.

ii. Indonesia is at the top, followed by Finland (2nd), the Netherlands (3rd), Philippines (4th), and Austria (5th). According to the quarterly global survey on business optimism, Indian businesses have expressed low confidence over revenue expectations in the next 12 months.

9.      PAYPAL LAUNCHES DOMESTIC PAYMENTS IN INDIA

i. American digital payments company PayPal launched domestic operations in India. At launch, Indian consumers will be able to make transactions at select online merchants.

ii. Merchants offering PayPal will be able to process both local and global payments through the platform, getting access to PayPal’s more than 200 million customers around the world and in India through a single integration.

iii. However, customers in India will not be able to store any money in their PayPal accounts as the company is yet to receive a prepaid payment instrument licence from the RBI.

10.  IDFC BANK PARTNERS WITH MOBIKWIK

i. IDFC Bank has entered into a “strategic alliance” with mobile wallet major MobiKwik to launch a co-branded virtual Visa prepaid card for customers of MobiKwik.

ii. Important feature of this alliance is one need not be a customer of IDFC Bank to use the co-branded pre-paid card.

11.  SAINA NEHWAL BEATS PV SINDHU TO BECOME NATIONAL CHAMPION FOR 3RD TIME

i. World number 11 Saina Nehwal became the national champion for the third time, defeating world number 2 PV Sindhu in the women's singles final of Senior National Badminton Championships, in Nagpur, Maharashtra.

ii. Nehwal, who had previously won senior nationals in 2006 and 2007, won with the scoreline of 21-17, 27-25. Saina has played nationals thrice, winning the title each time.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. WHERE WAS THE ORGANIC WORLD CONGRESS – 2017 INAUGURATED?

a)  Gonda

b)  Lucknow

c)  Ayodhya

d)  Greater Noida

Q2. THE BANDHAN EXPRESS, A PASSENGER TRAIN WAS FLAGGED OF AND INAUGURATED VIRTUALLY BETWEEN INDIA AND WHICH COUNTRY?

a)  Bangladesh

b)  Pakistan

c)  Nepal

d)  Sri Lanka

Q3. DELHI GOVERNMENT SIGNED A TWIN CITY AGREEMENT WITH WHICH CITY OF SOUTH KOREA, WITH AN OBJECTIVE TO STRENGTHEN COOPERATION BETWEEN TWO CITIES IN THE FIELDS OF SMART CITY, E-GOVERNANCE, CLIMATE CHANGE AND TRANSPORTATION?

a)  Daegu

b)  Seoul

c)  Ulsan

d)  Incheon

Q4. WHERE THE INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY MINISTERIAL MEETING DID WAS HELD AT?

a)  Holland

b)  Switzerland

c)  France

d)  Polland

Q5. WHICH PRIVATE SECTOR BANK ENTERED INTO A PARTNERSHIP WITH MOBIKWIK COMPANY TO LAUNCH A CO-BRANDED VIRTUAL VISA PREPAID CARD FOR CUSTOMERS OF MOBIKWIK?

a)  DCB bank

b)  Bandhan bank

c)  Catholic Syrian bank

d)  IDFC Bank

ANSWERS: 

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