Current Affairs December 3, 2017

NATIONAL

Konark Dance festival begins in Odisha

The 31st edition annual Konark festival begins in Odisha. It began near the world famous Sun Temple of Konark. The festival held every year from 1st to 5th December.

Many celebrated dancers from all over the country will perform in this festival. It is organized by Odisha Tourism and Odissi Research Centre.

Along with the dance festival, International Sand Art Festival has begun at Chandrabhaga beach in Konark. Eight international sand sculptors and 62 national artists were being exhibited their works in the festival.

Odisha

Capital: Bhubaneswar

Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik

Governor: Senayangba Chubatoshi Jamir

The Shared Value Summit begins in New Delhi

The Minister of Industry and Commerce, Suresh Prabhu was the chief guest for the Shared Value Summit 2017, which was held in New Delhi. Mr Prabhu unveiled the Inclusive Business List and Emerging Social Enterprise List for the year 2017.

The summit is being organised by Shared Value Initiative India, Institute for Competitiveness (India), and SoulAce & India Council on Competitiveness.The summit aims to provide a platform to identify and address the barriers that exist to equality and empowerment in the Indian society.

Theme: “Equity and Empowerment”.

Skill India Partners with Airbnb to Upskill Hospitality Entrepreneurs

A tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed here today between National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and Tourism and Hospitality Sector Skill Council (THSC) with Airbnb, the world’s leading community-driven hospitality company.

The MoU will provide hospitality skills training to hospitality micro-entrepreneurs in India.Partnership builds on Airbnb’s commitment is to support Skill India mission by creating and Empowering 50,000 Hospitality Entrepreneurs in India.

INTERNATIONAL

CITIES of Wild Fauna and Flora held in Geneva, Switzerland

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITIES) of Wild Fauna and Flora was held in Geneva, Switzerland. CITIES is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.

India wins award for putting high effort to combat Illegal Wildlife Trade. The award was given to Wildlife Crime Control Bureau by the Secretary-General of CITIES.

“Operation Save Kurma” was conducted in the country by the WCCB to combat the proliferating illegal trade in live turtles and its parts from the country to destinations abroad, which has brought the award to WCCB.

Switzerland

Capital: Bern

Currency: Swiss franc

President: Doris Leuthard

BUSINESS

Corporation Bank launches RuPay credit cards

Corporation Bank has launched its RuPay Select and RuPay Platinum credit cards. These cards will boost digital payment and will be beneficial in creating a ‘less cash society’.

Jai Kumar Garg, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Corporation Bank, unveiled the cards in Mangaluru. Personal accident insurance of ₹10 lakh and ₹2 lakh is offered on RuPay Select Credit Card and RuPay Platinum Credit Card, respectively.

RuPay is an Indian domestic card scheme conceived and launched by the National Payments Corporation of India.

Corporation Bank

Headquarters: Mangalore

MD&CEO: Jai Kumar Garg

Tagline: Prosperity for all

APPOINTMENTS

DK Sarraf appointed as PNGRB Chairman

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet appointed D K Sarraf as the new Chairman of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board. He is the former Chairman of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) was constituted under The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act, 2006. It is mandated to regulate the refining, processing, storage, transportation, distribution, marketing and sale of petroleum, petroleum products and natural gas.

Infosys Appoints Capgemini’s Salil Parekh appointed as MD & CEO of Infosys

Infosys has appointed Salil Parekh MD & CEO of the company with effect from January 2. He joins from French IT and consulting company Capgemini where he is the CEO of financial services across Europe.

As part of the appointment interim CEO and MD Pravin Rao, a company veteran, will step down.

Kenyatta sworn in for second term as Kenya’s president

Uhuru Kenyatta has been sworn in for a second five-year term as president of Kenya.

Kenyatta took the oath which was administered by the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary, Anne Amadi, pledging to uphold the Constitution and rule justly.

Kenya

Capital: Nairobi

Currency: Kenyan shilling

Prime Minister: Jomo Kenyatta

AWARDS AND HONOURS

“Lipstick Under My Burkha” has bagged a top prize at the time Global Sustainability Film Awards 2017

“Lipstick Under My Burkha”, which explores women’s sexuality, has bagged a top prize at the tve Global Sustainability Film Awards.

It is produced by Prakash Jha and directed by Alankrita Shrivastava and stars Konkona SenSharma and Ratna Pathak Shah.

Miss Korea Jenny Kim Crowned Miss Supranational 2017

Miss Korea Jenny Kim has bagged the title of Miss Supranational 2017 at the gala event, which was held in Poland’s Spa Resort of Krynica- Zdroj.

Miss Columbia Tica Martinez and Romania’s Bianca Tirsin were adjudged First Runner Up and the second runner-up.

Yahoo India’s ‘Personality of the Year’ is Amit Shah

Amit Shah, President of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) named as the Yahoo’s Personality of the Year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the most searched personality and bags Yahoo’s People’s Choice Award for Personality of the Year 2017.

Aadhaar topped the Most Searched Newsy Terms category and GST was the Top Business Story.

Sunny Leone continued her reign as Most Searched Female Celebrity, while actor Vinod Khanna, who passed away this year, was the Most Searched Male Celebrity.

Olympian and badminton player PV Sindhu, women’s cricket team captain Mithali Raj and team member Harmanpreet Kaur were among the most searched sports personalities.

Indian of the year special achievement award bagged by Manushi Chhillar

Miss World 2017, Manushi Chhillar was awarded the Indian of the year special achievement award for her historic win at the Miss World contest.

It was given by Minister of Finance and corporate affairs, Arun Jaitley and Indian Cricket Team Captain Virat Kohli.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS

‘Two’ First Novel in English by Gulzar released

Gulzar sahab is best known for his poetry and film lyrics, has come out with his novel ‘Two’ which is a debut novel in English and it revolves around the area of Punjab which became Pakistan after Partition.

The novel was originally written in “Urdu’ later it translated into the English form.

‘Populism’ Named Cambridge Dictionary’s Word of the Year