DAILY CURRENT
AFFAIRS: 3 NOV 2017
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
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
