DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS : NOVEMBER 3, 2017

NATIONAL

Assam signs MoUs with Singapore for skilling state’s youth:

Assam government signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) and Terms of Reference (ToR) with Singapore for skilling youth of the state.

The MoU and ToR for North East Skills Centre (NESC) was signed between Skill, Employment and Entrepreneurship Department, of Assam government and ITE Education Service, Singapore in the presence of Foreign Affairs Minister of Singapore Dr Vivian Balakrishnan and Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

An MoU for Guwahati City Greening was inked between the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority and Singapore Corporation Enterprise.

Assam

• Capital: Dispur
• Chief Minister: Sarbananda Sonowal
• Governor: Prof Jagdish Mukhi
  

PM’s address at World Food India 2017:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the World Food India 2017 festival at the Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi in the presence of Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal.

Allahabad to get India’s first black buck conservation reserve:

Uttar Pradesh cabinet decided to make India’s first conservation reserve for black buck in Allahabad’s Meja.

Among the five major decisions taken in the cabinet meeting, the black buck conservation reserve in Meja Forest Division of Allahabad is seen as the most important one.

Uttar Pradesh

• Capital: Lucknow
• Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath
• Governor: Shri Ram Naik

PAN Indian Army Release of Integrated Quarter Master Package (IQMP) Software Application:

Integrated Quarter Master Package (IQMP) software application was formally released to the Indian Army by the Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Sarath Chand in an event organised at South Block. IQMP is web based software developed by Army Software Development Centre in association with M/s TCS Ltd. The application automates various logistics related functions of an Army Unit. The application will replace numerous legacy applications such as ‘Vastra’ and ‘Quarter Master Package’.

Haryana govt signs Rs 20,000 cr worth MoU for logistics parks:

Haryana government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Verbind, an integrated trade facilitation services organisation, to set up logistics and trading hub in the state that would attract investment to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore.

The logistics and trading hub will be spread over an area of 600 acres near Gurugram and the public-private project is expected to generate employment for 6 lakh.

Haryana

• • Capital: Chandigarh

• Chief Minister: Manohar Lal Khattar

• Governor: Kaptan Singh Solanki

INTERNATIONAL

Indo – Kazakhstan Joint Exercise “PRABAL DOSTYK 2017”:

A fourteen day joint training exercise “PRABAL DOSTYK – 2017” between the Indian Army and the Kazakhstan Army commenced  with the Opening Ceremony at Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh. The joint exercise is aimed at enhancing the military ties between the two countries as also at achieving interoperability between the two armies. The training contingents comprise of platoon strength from the 11th Gorkha Rifles of the Indian Army and a similar strength of the Kazakhstan Army.

Kazakhstan

• Currency: Kazakhstani tenge

• Capital: Astana

World’s third largest book fair opens in Sharjah:

With more than 1.5 million book titles and 1,650 publishing houses from 60 countries, Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) opened its doors to public and trade visitors. It is the third largest book fair in the world.

The book fair was held under the theme ‘A World in My Book’. The event has been organised by Sharjah Book Authority (SBA).

Kazakhstan to change its name by 2025:

Kazakhstan is changing its name to Qazaqstan as part of a transition from Cyrillic to a Latin-based script. A national commission will be set up to oversee the transition, which will be completed by 2025.

BANKING & BUSINESS

Goa named safest for women in India, Bihar most unsafe:

The safest state to be a woman in India is Goa, followed by Kerala, Mizoram, Sikkim and Manipur. States where women and girls are the most vulnerable are Bihar, Jharkhand, UP and, perhaps not so surprisingly, Delhi.

The findings of the first-ever gender vulnerability index (GVI) are expected to help identify the challenges women face with respect to four parameters — education, health, poverty and protection against violence — and assist policy makers mark out priorities.

Pakistan rated among most dangerous countries for journalists:

An international index for press freedom has placed Pakistan among the most dangerous countries for journalists along with the Philippines and Bangladesh.

The 2017 World Press Freedom Index, prepared by international media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders (RSF), ranked Pakistan 139th out of 180 countries surveyed for the report. In 2016, Pakistan was 146th. India is 136th in the report.

Forbes names Chanda Kochhar the most powerful woman in India:

CEO of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar was named the most powerful woman in India as she ranked 32nd in World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list by Forbes.

CEO of HCL Enterprise Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson of Biocon Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson of Hindustan Times Group Shobhana Bhartia and actress Priyanka Chopra are the other Indian women who featured on the list.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has topped Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women list:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has topped the Forbes list of the 100 most powerful women beating British PM Theresa May, philanthropist Melinda Gates and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.

New entries in the list included US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump (19), US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley (43), Indian actress and United Nations Children’s Fund goodwill ambassador Priyanka Chopra (97).

APPOINTMENTS

Trump names Jerome Powell as chairman of US Federal Reserve:

US President Donald Trump has appointed Jerome Powell as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, replacing Janet Yellen, the first woman to head the country’s central bank.

Indian-American lawyer gets key post in US State Department:

The US Senate has confirmed the nomination of Manisha Singh, a prominent Indian-American lawyer, to a key administration position in the State Department that would make her in charge of the country’s economic diplomacy.

Singh replaces Charles Rivkin as the assistant secretary of state for economic affairs.

USA

• President of the United States: Donald Trump

• Currency: United States Dollar

• Capital: Washington, D.C.

Gavin Williamson appointed as new UK defence secretary, replacing Michael Fallon:

Theresa May has named Gavin Williamson her new Defence Secretary after the shock resignation of Sir Michael Fallon.

Russia

• Russian President: Vladimir Putin.

• Currency: Russian ruble

• Capital: Moscow

Paytm Payments Bank appoints Sudhanshu Jain as CFO:

Paytm Payments Bank (PPB) said it has appointed former ICICI Bank executive, Sudhanshu Jain as its Chief Financial Officer.

Rajesh Vaishnaw appointed as High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Malta:

Shri Rajesh Vaishnaw, presently Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Malta.

AWARDS

Royal Opera House at Mumbai gets UNESCO heritage award:

The restored Royal Opera House, located at Mumbai’s Charni Road, has received the Award of Merit from the 2017 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation.

Meanwhile, amongst this, all Mumbai bagged the maximum number of UNESCO Heritage Awards for – Christ Church and Royal Opera House (Award of Merit), Bomonjee Hormarjee Wadia Fountain and Clock Tower and Wellington Fountain (Honourable Mention).Ahead, Delhi bagged for Haveli Dharampura in Shahjahanabad.

The other two winners from India were the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam, Tamil Nadu, and the Gateways of Gohad Fort near Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.

SPORTS

Prakash, Amanpreet, Jitu win medals in 50m pistol event at Commonwealth Shooting Championships:

Indian shooters Prakash Nanjappa, Amanpreet Singh and Jitu Rai made a clean sweep in the 50m pistol event at the Commonwealth Shooting Championships.

Prakash won the coveted gold medal with a score of 222.4, while Amanpreet and Jitu settled for silver and bronze medals respectively.

India’s K Srikanth achieves career-best World No 2 ranking:

India ace Kidambi Srikanth was rewarded for his sensational run this season as he grabbed a career-best ranking of World No. 2 after jumping two places in the latest BWF ranking.

Srikanth, who reached five finals and clinched four titles this year so far, now has 73,403 points, 4527 points away from World Champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, who heads the ranking list.

The 25-year-old from Guntur has clinched back-to-back titles at Indonesia and Australia and then at Denmark and France.

US Open Grand Prix Gold winner HS Prannoy, who had reached the semifinals at Paris, also improved a place to reach a career-best ranking of World No. 11. Singapore Open champion B Sai Praneeth, however, dropped a place to be at the 16th spot, while Sameer Verma, who had skipped the events at Denmark and France due to fitness issues, is steady at the 18th place.

In women’s singles, P V Sindhu, who also reached the semifinals at France, was static at World No. 2, while former World No. 1 Saina Nehwal was also steady at the 11th spot.