Daily Current Affairs : October 23, 2017

NATIONAL

Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia says GST rate structure needs to be rearranged:

Hasmukh Adhia suggest, some GST rate have to be rearranged in order to reduce the burden on small and medium businesses’. To meet the desires of a common man, and, small and medium businesses, it is important to harmonize some items in the same Chapter are divided. Because, the merger of GST more than a dozen central and state levies like service tax, value-added tax and excise duty will take about a year to stabilize.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj raises concern over Rohingyas to their homeland:

External affair Minister Sushma Swaraj visited to Dhaka, being welcomed by the Bangladesh Foreign minister A.H. Mahmood Ali. She said, India wanted Rohingya to return safe to their homeland. After the meeting, she was addressing the joint press conference in her two – day visit at Dhaka. However, She didn’t mention the word ‘Rohingya’ instead she referred the displaced persons from the ‘Rakhine state’. She said India also supports the Rakhine Advisory Commission recommendation, headed by the Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.

India hands over the 1971 war memorabilia to Bangladesh:

India hands over the memorabilia of the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 to the Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. It includes military equipments utilized by the joint Army forces of India and Bangladesh during the Liberation War as well as large number of documents and artifacts including historical photographs, audio and video clippings, battle records, maps, newspaper clippings, documentary films. The collection is proposed to be displayed at the Bangladesh National Museum in Shahbagh and the Museum of Independence in Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka.

Blueprint for port modernization is ready: Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari

Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said a Blueprint has been finalized for 142 expansion projects to modernize 12 major ports and develop new harbors at a cost about Rs. 90,000 crore. These 12 ports under the administrative control of the Centre saw a growth of 3.24% in cargo to 326.4 million tone (mt) during April – September period as compared to 316.1 mt in the corresponding period last fiscal.

Kandla port gets Rs. 1,176 Cr to develop smart city:

Kandla port trust has received Rs. 1,176 crore for setting up Environment clearance in the smart Industrial port city in Kutch, Gujarat. The proposal is to develop a smart industrial port city at two separate sites in the Gandhidham. The proposal would house about 35,700 residential flats, schools and parks and also it will generate more than 60,000 jobs to the people.

Banking & Business

Maruti Suzuki India becomes largest passenger car exporter from India:

    According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) Maruti Suzuki India has exported 57,300 units of passenger’s cars in the April – September period this fiscal against 54,008 units in the year ago-period, up 6 per cent. It has now been pushed to the fourth spot behind Volkswagen and General Motors.

ONGC and RIL joins to share infrastructure:

    ONGC and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) have agreed to share infrastructure in the KG Basin, following tough negotiations lasting for six months brokered by DG Atanu Chakraborty of the Directorate-General of Hydrocarbons (DGH). The agreement will help RIL and its partner BP Plc transport gas from their newer fields in Krishna Godavari Basin (KG-D6) block using a sub-sea pipeline passing through edges of ONGC’s block in the neighbourhood. The MoU was aimed at working out the modalities for sharing infrastructure, identifying additional requirements as well as firming up commercial terms.

CIL’s lift up 6.7% of Coal to the power sector:

        Supply of Coal by coal India Limited to the power sector increased 6.7 % to 204.5 million tons (MT) in the first six months of this fiscal even as power producers regret over low coal stock at their plants. CIL’s transmit to the power sector in April – September 2016-17 was 191.5 MT.

Domestic Crude steel production rose by 6.8%:

    Domestic crude steel production jumped 6.8 per cent to 8.39 million tonnes (mt) in September 2017 compared to 7.86 mt in September 2016. The Joint Plant Committee (JPC) under the Ministry of Steel said steel production was 49.764 mt in April-September 2017, a growth of 4.5 per cent over the same period of the last year.

Government made new rules for cash transactions above Rs. 50,000:

        The government has made it mandatory to check the original identification documents of individuals dealing in cash above the Rs 50,000 threshold for banks and financial institutions as part of the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules. The PMLA and its rules impose obligation on reporting entities like banks, financial institutions and intermediaries such as stock brokers to verify the identity of clients, maintain records and furnish information to the Financial Intelligence Unit of India (FIU-IND).

SPORTS

Kidambi Srikanth wins Denmark Open badminton title:

`     Indian Shuttler Kidambi Srikanth continued his Outstanding run as he defeated South Korea’s Lee Hyun II to win Denmark Open 2017 title. With this, he has won three Super series titles this year after he clinched Australia Open and Indonesia Open.

India wins Hockey Asia Cup 2017:

    India has crushed Malaysia 2-1 to win the Hockey Asia Cup title for the third time in Bangladesh. Ramandeep singh and Lalit Upadhyay were the stars of the match for India as they each scored a goal even before the halftime.

Virat kohli records at 200 ODI:

Indian skipper Virat Kohli became the second batsman-ever to score a hundred on his 200th ODI in the opening match against New Zealand at the Wankhede. In 200 ODIs, Kohli has scored 8888 runs, than any other batsman in the world. He is the only player to score Century after AB de Villiers in 200 ODIs. Virat Kohli hit his 31st ODI ton to overtake Ricky Ponting and jump to second on the list of most ODI centuries.

Divij-Lipsky duo clinch European Open Tennis tournament:

Divij Sharan and Scott Lipsky of US clinched the double title in the European Open tennis tournament in Antwerp, Belgium. The pair beat Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Julio Peralta of Chile.