NATIONAL

Centre takes 10 new Swachh iconic places under Swachh Bharat Mission of Phase II:

Cabinet minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar announced ten new Iconic places to be taken under the Phase II of Swachh Iconic Places (SIP) initiative in the second quarterly review meeting which was held at Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine, in Katra, Jammu and Kashmir. These ten new iconic places which are to be brought to a higher standard of swachhta and visitors’ amenities.

They are: 1. Gangotri, 2. Yamunotri. 3. Mahakaleshwar Temple, Ujjain, 4. Char Minar, Hyderabad, 5. Church and Convent of St. Francis of Assissi, Goa, 6. Adi Shankaracharya’s abode Kaladi in Ernakulam, 7. Gomateshwar in Shravanbelgola, 8. Baijnath Dham, Devghar, 9. Gaya Tirth in Bihar and 10. Somnath temple in Gujarat.


India will host the 18th IRF World Road Meeting:

     The International Road Federation (IRF), together with IRF India, the 18th IRF World Meeting which will take place in New Delhi, India on 14-17 November 2017. The World Road Meeting (WRM) has been organized once every four years for the last 60 years by the IRF.

The theme for WRM 2017 is “SAFE ROADS and SMART Mobility: The Engines of Economic Growth.”

 


Mumbai, Chennai among top 20 tourist destinations in Asia Pacific:

    Mumbai and Chennai have been named among the top 20 tourist destinations in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, according to MasterCard Asia Pacific Destinations Index 2017.

Overall, Bangkok remains the most visited in the list of 171 destinations across 22 countries in the APAC region. Chennai ranked 14 with 5.2 million international overnight arrivals, while Mumbai stood 15 with 4.9 million arrivals. In terms of total night spentMumbai ranked 13, with tourists stayed for 30.7 million nights in 2016, while Chennai was at 15 with 29.6 million nights.


INTERNATIONAL

China boosts naval power with new aircraft carrier:

    China has launched its second aircraft carrier, marking an incremental rise in its capacity to project power in the West Pacific. The carrier, called Type 001-A was transferred from dry dock into the water at a launch ceremony that started at the Dalian shipyard of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation.

Vice-Chairman of Central Military Commission (CMC): Fan Changlong


U.S. moves anti-missile system to South Korea:

    The U.S. military started moving parts of an antimissile defence system to a deployment site in South Korea to secure an early operational capability of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in response to North Korea’s advancing nuclear and missile threat.

 

 


Japanese PM Abe to visit Russia, Britain:

    Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is to visit Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the state and prospects for development of Russo-Japanese cooperation in the political, trade and economic and humanitarian spheres.

He will also visit Britain next for talks with Prime Minister Theresa May for the Defence co-operation, trade and Britain’s exit from the European Union.


India, US discuss measures to strengthen partnership at UN:

    The US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley discussed with her Indian counterpart Syed Akbaruddin the economic and anti-corruption reforms undertaken by India to spur growth and measures to strengthen Indo-US partnership at the world body and also with the United Nations.

 

 


Modi, Wickremesinghe sign economic cooperation deal:

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed a range of bilateral issues and matters of mutual concern with visiting Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in New Delhi. Following the talks, an agreement on cooperation in economic projects between India and Sri Lanka was signed.

    External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, and Road, Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari also called on the visiting dignitary.


Banking & Business

RBI to issue new Rs 5, 10 coins:

The Reserve Bank will soon put into circulation new Rs 10 coins that have been minted to commemorate 125th year of National Archives of India. It will also put into circulation new Rs 5 coins to celebrate 150th anniversary of Allahabad High Court. The RBI said the existing coins in this denomination shall also continue to be legal tender.

 

 


Highlights of Rs.10 & 5 coins

On the design of new Rs 10 coin, the RBI said that on the reverse of the coin, there will be an image of National Archives Building in the centre with inscription ‘125 YEARS’ below the image.

It will also bear logo of 125th anniversary celebration.

The year “1891” and “2016” in English shall be written on the upper and lower periphery of the coin respectively. The year “1916” and “2016” in international numerals shall be written respectively on left and right top of the image.

On the design of new Rs 5 coin, the RBI said the coin’s face will bear an image depicting centre facade of Allahabad High Court Building emerging from the book.

The year 1866-2016 in English numerals shall be written at the bottom of the image.


SEBI to grant one licence to brokers, clearing members:

    Market regulator SEBI decided to grant a unified licence to brokers and clearing members to operate in commodity derivative as well as equity markets. SEBI’s board approved a proposal for integration of stock brokers in equity and commodity derivative space.

 


Science & Technology

A data glove for the speech-disabled:

    A data glove, which measures the individual joint angles of all the five fingers to understand the activity of daily living, developed by Nayan Bhatt, Research Scholar from IIT Madras, recently won the Budding Innovators Award given by the Delhi-based National Research Development Corporation (NRDC).

In the case of people with Parkinson’s disease, the data glove will provide information about hand kinematics and help clinicians assess the severity of disease.

 


NASA’s super balloon collects data in near space:

    A stadium-sized pressure balloon launched by NASA in New Zealand began collecting data in near space, beginning a 100-day planned journey after several launch attempts were thwarted by storms and cyclones. To detect ultra-high energy cosmic particles from beyond the galaxy.

 


AWARDS

Srishti Kaur wins Miss Teen Universe pageant:

    Srishti Kaur from India was crowned Miss Teen Universe 2017. Samantha Pierre from Canada and Ary Trava from Mexico were the runners-up in the event held at the Ruben Dario National Theatre in Nicaragua’s capital Managua.

 

 


SPORTS

Kaka tops MLS pay list:

Former Brazil star Kaka topped the list of Major League Soccer’s highest-paid players for a third straight year, with wages of $7.168 million (€ 6.553 million).

 

 


OBITUARY

Silence of the Lambs director dies at 73:

Director Jonathan Demme, best known for “The Silence of the Lambs”, was suffering from esophageal cancer, died in New York at the age of 73. Demme, who also directed the Oscar winning film “Philadelphia”.

 

 


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