Current affairs ONE LINERS October 8-14

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

• The First Meeting of India-Australia Joint Steering Committee was held. Shri TVSN Prasad, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs and Mr. Stephen Bouwhuis, First Assistant Secretary, International and Auscheck Division, Criminal Justice Group, Attorney-General’s Department led the respective delegations
• Amemorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya under the ‘Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat’ programme to boost the cultural ties.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced at the foundation stone-laying ceremony of a bridge between Okha and Beyt Dwarka,
• ISRO would set up the exclusive research facility in Assam to explore the possibility of using geospatial technology, which include data generated through global positioning system (GPS), geographical information systems (GIS) and satellite remote sensing for expediting the development of Assamthe setting up of the country’s first “Marine Police Training Institute” at the newly created Dev Bhoomi Dwarka district of Gujarat.
• India and the European Union agreed to strengthen ties in key areas of trade and security after their 14th summit, during which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the top EU leadership deliberated extensively on bilateral, regional and international issues.
• President launched 100 crore rupees Mata Amrita nandamayi Math Project “Jeevamritham“to provide filtration system for cleaning drinking water to 5000 villages across India, in kollam district in Kerala.
• The US government has approved the sale to Saudi Arabia of the advanced Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defence system for USD 15 billion, the State Department.
• A group of ministers or GoM has been set up under Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to make the composition scheme more attractive and to revisit the goods and services tax rates on restaurants.
• In a bid to create awareness about para-sports and provide a platform to para sportspersons to narrate their stories of triumph and adversity,thenationspride.com, the country’s first portal dedicated to para-sports was launched.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an intensive immunisation drive from Gujarat’s Vadnagar, saying no child should suffer from any vaccine-preventable disease.
• The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the 3rd International Conference on Yoga in New Delhi. The theme of this year’s conference is “Yoga for Wellness”.
• Hyderabad will host the first ever global scale International Trade and Technology event on Indian Fisheries and Aquaculture AquaEx India 2018 from March 15 to 17 next year.
• A grand temple worth Rs 30 crore is going to be built in honour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh.
• Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, inaugurated Saudi Aramcos ARAMCO ASIA INDIA office in Gurugram jointly with Mr Amin H Al-Nasser, President and CEO of Saudi Aramco. The office is located at Two Horizon Tower, Gurugram.
• Rajasthan became the first state in the country to incorporate skill development programme in higher education.
• Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis launched ‘MahaLabharthi‘, web portal that will help people get information about all the government schemes that they are eligible for. The government is now working to connect the web portal with other websites, to allow people to apply for the welfare schemes.
• Textiles Minister SmritiIraniinaugurated the 44th edition of Indian Handicrafts and Gifts (IHGF)-Delhi Fair at India Expo Centre and Mart on the outskirts of Delhi in Greater Noida.
• Government of Indiawill commemorate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation, during the period from 2nd October 2019 to 2nd October 2020.
• Himachal Pradeshgovernment implemented the Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS) to provide easy access to curative health care services by way of additional cover. The scheme would provide top-up coverage of Rs 30,000 per senior citizen to all existing Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) smart card holders. This would be in addition to the basic coverage of Rs 30,000 in Trust and Society mode.
• The Bangalore International AirportLimited (BIAL) has given push to its plan to make Kempe gowda International Airport (KIA) the country’s first airport to have complete Aadhaar-enabled entry and biometric boarding system.
• The Gujarat governmentannounced 4 per cent cut in the value-added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel, bringing down their prices by Rs 2.93 and Rs 2.72 respectively.
• National Mission for Clean Ganga has approved eight projects worth Rs. 700 crore, out of which four pertain to sewage management in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, three are related to treatment of drains through bio-remediation and one of inventorization and surveillance of river Ganga.
• IIT-Kharagpur has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Samsung India for the setting up of a digital academy on the institute’s campus.
• The recently constituted Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister(EAC-PM) will hold its first meeting in new delhi to deliberate upon and lay out a roadmap to give a leg up to the Indian economy in the short term after GDP growth for the first quarter fell to a three-year low of 5.7%.
• The Government has launched Sampoorna Bima Gram Yojana and expansion of Postal Life Insurance. Under the Sampoorna Bima Gram Yojana, at least one village having a minimum of 100 households will be identified in each of the revenue districts of the country. Communication Minister Manoj Sinha said, endevour will be made to cover all households of that identified village with a minimum of one Rural Postal Life Insurance policy each.
• Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditya nath flagged off 50 buses under the ‘Sankalp Seva‘ service in Lucknow.
• Gujarat Government has announced the Garments and Apparel Policy-2017, with the aim of creating more opportunities in the garment sector of Gujarat and to create huge employment opportunities for women through the apparel industry.
• The world’s largest combustion research centre was inaugurated at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in Tamil Nadu.
• The Kolkata is all set to host an international Puppet festival from October 26.West Bengal principal secretary Tourism and Home Affairs Atri Bhattacharya will be inaugurating the festival.

INTERNATIONAL

• A psychology student from Belarus, Aleksandra Chichikova, was chosen Miss Wheelchair World in the first-ever edition of the beauty pageant held in Warsaw.
• A BRICS-themed subway train with carriages representing the five-member nations including India has started test operations in China’s south-eastern Xiamen city where the grouping’s summit was held last month.
• The U.S.& Israel announced its withdrawal from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), accusing it of “continuing anti-Israel bias.”
• German Railways will assist Indian Railways to make country’s existing rail corridors semi-high speed. The semi high-speed trains will run at 200 km per hour.
• State-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has started selling lubricants in Myanmar as part of broader plans of Indian retailers to play a bigger role in the south-east Asian nation’s oil and gas sector.HPCL is the first Indian oil company to have started marketing lubes in Myanmar and has chosen commercial hubs of Yangon and Mandalay.
• Indian Naval Ships Satpura and Kadmatt participated in Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with Japanese Marine Self Defence Force (JMSDF) held at Sasebo, Japan.
• The world’s first “negative emissions” plant that turns carbon dioxide into carbonate rocks has begun operations in Iceland. The engineering experiment by Swiss firm Clime works aims to capture 50 tonnes of atmospheric CO2 over a year, equaling a US household’s greenhouse emission.

BANKING & BUSINESS

• India’s third largest private sector bank – Axis Bank acquired payments wallet Free charge for Rs 373 crore in an all-cash deal.
• Reliance Capital arm will get a loan assistance of Rs300 crorefrom IREDA and utilise the funds for lending it to its renewable energy projects.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved Rs2,000 crorespecifically for setting up Aadhaar centresin post offices, a move that will see private contractors phased out from the data collection process.
• Pension regulator PFRDA notified the increase in maximum entry age limit for National Pension System (NPS) to 65 years, its Chairman Hemant Contractor has said.
• The government has made biometric identification Aadhaar mandatory for all post office deposits, PPF, the National Savings Certificate scheme and Kisan Vikas Patra.
• The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned an amount Rs. 273.06 crore to the Andhra Pradesh Government under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for Rural Water supply, Road and Bridge projects.
• China-led AIIB and multilateral funding agency ADB will co-finance a USD 100-million loan for India to improve power transmission network and expand the use of solar and wind energy.
• The Andhra Pradesh Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Master card to setup a centre of excellence in Visakhapatnam.
• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has formed a High-level Task Force on Public Credit Registry (PCR) for India. The task force has been constituted under the chairmanship of Yeshwant M. Deosthalee.
• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed India’s GDP growth forecast to 6.7 per cent for 2017 from 7.2 per cent predicted earlier due to “still lingering disruptions associated with the currency exchange initiative introduced in November 2016, as well as transition costs related to the launch of GST.”
• Microsoft has signed a 15-year wind energy agreement with GE in Ireland, becoming one of the first global technology firms to support a new wind project in the country. Microsoft will purchase 100 percent of the wind energy from its new, 37-megawatt Tullahennel wind farm in County Kerry, Ireland.
• World Bank Group member IFC has invested USD 76 million (Rs 500 crore) in 5-year unrated masala bond issuances of Fullerton India Credit Company.
• Tyagi, who took over the reins of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in March this year, has been ranked at the seventh position among the top 10 regulators worldwide.
• SEBI has tightened the noose on listed companies not adhering to norms regarding minimum public shareholding (MPS). Those that are non-compliant will have to pay a fine of 5,000 a day.
• According to Brand Finance’s Nation Brands 2017, India has been ranked the eighth most valuable nation brand.  The United States topped the list with China at second position.
• Retail inflationcame in at 3.28 per cent in September, unchanged from August, despite softening of vegetable and cereal prices, according to government data. In year-on-year comparison, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or retail inflation figures were at 4.39 per cent in September 2016.
• Country’s largest private sector lender ICICI Bankcommitted a financial assistance of Rs 10 crore to the Indian Armed Forces.
• Standard Chartered Bank said it has officially opened its new Global Business Services (GBS) centre here in Bengaluru with an aim to attract the best minds available locally to redefine banking for the world.
• The nation’s largest lender State Bank of India is creating a 15,000-sqft innovation centre in Navi Mumbai investing around Rs 100 crore, a senior official said.
• HSBC announced the launch of mobile app – Trade Transaction Tracker – to help customers track the status of their trade transactions on a real-time basis.
• India has emerged as the second largest market for the industry, a report by professional networking giant LinkedIn has revealed.
• The country slipping three notches to 100 among 119 countries on the Global Hunger Index (GHI), 2017. This is worse than the likes of North Korea, Bangladesh, and Iraq, and better only than Pakistan and Afghanistan among Asian countries.
• London has retained its rank as the number one city in the world according to Global Power City Index (GPCI). London performed strongly across all areas, ranking ahead of cities such as New York, Tokyo, Paris and Singapore
• State Bank of India said it has launched a new product to provide short-term working capital demand loans to its MSME clients.The new initiative, called SME Assist, would offer loans to MSME customers on the basis of their input credit claims under Goods and Services Tax (GST).
• Union Bank of India has launched an Android app, Union Sahyog, as part of its drive to digitize customer-facing banking services.
• MasterCard announced the launch of its innovation centre to focus on solving “India-specific” problems in the areas of technology and financial enablement. This would be their second innovation centrein Pune, India, after Singapore, in Asia and ninth globally.
• The Reserve Bank of India issued final guidelines for prepaid payment instruments (PPI) such as closed, semi-closed and open wallets. According to the new guidelines, all the PPIs will now be interoperable, which means will allow transaction with each other.
• Japanese capital city Tokyo has topped The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Safe Cities Index 2017, which ranked 60 cities on parameters including personal and health security.
• The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley participated in the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) Meeting in Washington D.C. The discussion focused on the agenda items pertaining to Global Economy and Framework for Growth, Compact with Africa and International Financial Architecture.
• Regulator SEBI banned Swasata Steel Industries Ltd (SSIL) and its seven directors from the securities market for at least four years in a case related to illegally raising Rs 12 crore from the public.
• UNESCO’s executive board has chosen former French Culture Minister Audrey Azoulay to be the UN cultural agency’s next leader over a Qatari candidate in an unusually heated race overshadowed by Mideast tensions. Azoulay succeeds outgoing Director-General Irina Bokova of Bulgaria, whose eight-year term was marred by financial woes and criticism over Palestine’s inclusion as a member.

APPOINTMENTS

RESIGNS

AWARDS

BOOKS and AUTHORS

SPORTS

• Lewis Hamilton moved within reach of a fourth Formula One world championship after winning a Japanese Grand Prix
• Indian shuttler SamiyaImad Farooqui clinched the gold medal at the Under-15 women’s singles competition after defeating Indonesia’s Widjaja Stephani at the Asian Junior Championship Yangon, Myanmar.
• World number one Rafael Nadal won his sixth title of another remarkable year at the China Open by defeating Nick Kyrgios (Australia)
• Unseeded Caroline Garcia of Francewon her second title in as many weeks as she stunned new world number one Simona Halep in the closely fought final of the China Open.
• India’s Anupama Ramachandran clinched the World Open Under-16 Snooker Championship title at St. Petersburg in Russia.
• Fifth seeded Indian pair of Harmeet Desai and Souymajit Ghosh lost to second seeds Ho Kwan Kit and Ng Pak Nam of Korea to settle for the silver medal at the ITTF Challenge Polish Open in Czestochowa.
• Iceland became the smallest country ever to qualify for the World Cup when they beat Kosovo to book a place at their first finals in Russia next year as winners of Group I.
• India’s Anupama Ramachandranhas clinched the the World Open Under-16 Snooker Championship title at St. Petersburg in Russia.
• Veteran Indian pacer Ashish Nehra announced that he will retire from international cricket after the opening T20 against New Zealand at his home ground of Delhi on November 1.
• Commonwealth Games bronze medallist RMV Gurusai dutt clinched the mens singles title at the Bulgarian International Future Series tournament.
• Mixed pair of Jemson Ningthoujam and Ankita Bhakat clinched the gold medal as India returned with three medals from the World Archery Youth Championship in Rosario, Argentina.
• FIFA has decided to suspend the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) with immediate effect in accordance with the decision of the Bureau of the FIFA Council dated 10 October 2017 on account of undue third-party interference.
• Premier all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan became the first cricketer from Bangladesh to be inducted in the MCC World Cricket Committee under the chairmanship of Mike Gatting.

HISTORIC EVENTS OF THE DAY

OBITUARIES

• Bismoy Kumar Mohanty – Noted Journalist
• Kundan Shah – Veteran director
• Purushottam Lal Kaushik – Former Union minister and socialist leader

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