Daily Current Affairs : October 24, 2017

NATIONAL

INSV Tarini, with an all-women crew enter Fremantle Port in Australia:

INSV Tarini entered Fremantle (Australia) port during its maiden voyage to circumnavigate the globe. This is the first-ever Indian circumnavigation of the globe by an all-women crew. The vessel is skippered by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi, and the crew comprises Lieutenant Commanders Pratibha Jamwal, P Swathi, and Lieutenants S Vijaya Devi, B Aishwarya and Payal Gupta.

BHEL starts execution of 4,000 megawatt Yadadri plant in Telangana:

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) announced that it has commenced execution of Yadadri supercritical thermal power project ordered by the Telangana State Power Generation Corporation Limited (TSGENCO).

The project is located at Damaracherla in Nalgonda district of Telangana and is valued at approximately Rs 20,400 crore.

Telangana

• • Capital: Hyderabad

• Chief Minister: Chandrasekhar rao

• Governor:  E. S. L. Narasimhan

Meghalaya Election department enters Limca Book of Records:

The Meghalaya Election Department has entered Limca Book of Records for the formation of the biggest human logo comprising young voters in the state. The logo formation was part of Mission Unite (U and I towards Enrolment) as part of the Special drive to enroll young and left out voters in the age categories of 18 to 21 years held in July at the Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex.

Meghalaya

• Capital: Shillong
• Chief Minister: Mukul Sangma
• Governor:  Banwarilal Purohit

Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Suresh Prabhu launches CIPAM’s Website:

The Minister for Commerce and Industry, Shri Suresh Prabhu launched the official website for the Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).  CIPAM has been set up under the aegis of DIPP with a mandate to effectively implement the National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy. Secretary DIPP, Shri Ramesh Abhishek was also present.

You may visit www.cipam.gov.in or follow CIPAM on Twitter at @CIPAM India for updates.

India’s first Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra Inaugurated:

India’s first Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) for Skilling in smart cities was inaugurated, October 23 in New Delhi, by Union Minister Rajnath Singh. The inauguration was done in collaboration with the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC).

More about the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra:

• The newly inaugurated Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra leverages NDMC infrastructure for skilling initiatives
• Located at Mandir Marg, New Delhi, the NDMC-PMKK Centre for Skilling in Smart Cities is an exemplary heritage building of approx. 30,000 sq.ft., with a capacity of skilling 4,000 youth annually

INTERNATIONAL

Bangladesh Signs Gas Oil Deal with India:

Bangladesh signed long-term sales and purchase agreement with an Indian refiner to import gas oil to meet the country’s energy demand.

The deal between Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) and Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) was signed in presence of India’s external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, who arrived in Dhaka recently on a two-day visit to discuss bilateral issues.

Bangladesh

• Capital: Dhaka
• Currency: Bangladeshi taka

Nicaragua signs Paris climate agreement:

Nicaragua has signed the Paris climate agreement, meaning that the US and Syria are the only two countries not to be giving the accord their support.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani arrives in India:

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani arrived on a day-long visit. He met his Indian counterpart Ram Nath Kovind and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Afghanistan

• • Currency: Afghan afghani

• Capital: Kabul

Second World Congress on Marxism to be held in Beijing:

The 2nd World Congress on Marxism is scheduled to be held in Peking University in Beijing next May.

The congress, to be held from May 5 to May 6, is expected to attract more than 300 Marxism researchers to discuss Marxism in the 21st century and its developments in China.

China

• Currency: Renminbi
• Capital: Beijing
• Prime minister: Li Keqiang
• President: Xi Jinping

BANKING & BUSINESS

SBI launches ‘2nd SBI Digital Hackathon’ Digitize for Bank:

State Bank of India (SBI) launched the second edition of its Hackathon. This hackathon has been named ‘Digitize For Bank’.

The mainfocus is on four ‘Cognitive’ themes namely Facial Recognition, Signature Recognition, Voice based Authentication and Cheque Truncation Value Enhancers.

Induslnd Bank Launches M-wallet:

IndusInd Bank, in association with MobiKwik, announced the launch of a co-branded wallet, “IndusInd Mobikwik”, that allows its customers to pay at the MobiKwik merchant network using their accounts, with a “direct debit feature”.

The direct debit feature will allow IndusInd Bank account holders to link their accounts just once and pay using the co-branded app as and when required, thereby eliminating the need to load the MobiKwik prepaid wallet separately.

SBI signs MoU with Escorts for tractor financing:

The State Bank of (SBI), the country’s largest public-sector lender, said it has signed an agreement with Escorts Ltd to finance farmers for purchase of Escorts tractors.

The aim of the tie-up with Escorts is to promote, market and make accessible, organised finance facility, with superior features, at competitive interest rates to farmers across the country, who wish to purchase Powertrac and Farmtrac tractors manufactured by Escorts.

APPOINTMENT & RESIGNS

Ex-IB chief Dineshwar Sharma as interlocutor:

Home minister Rajnath Singh said former Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma will be the Centre’s interlocutor and it will be left to him to decide whom to engage with — a formulation that puts the onus on separatists, some of who have been arrested by the NIA for alleged terror funding.

IPPB appoints Suresh Sethi as its MD & CEO:

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has appointed Mr. Suresh Sethi, the former MD of Vodafone M-Pesa Ltd. as its Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Sethi had been selected by the Banks Board Bureau from amongst top contenders for the post, from both public and private sector Banking and Fintech professionals. Mr. Sethi has broad international experience of over 27 years in the Banking and Financial Services industry with Citigroup, YES Bank and Vodafone M-Pesa across India, Kenya, UK, Argentina and US.

Shri Ngangom Sarat Singh appointed as member of the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) for Manipur and Mizoram:

Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Shri R.K. Singh administered oath of office and secrecy to Shri Ngangom Sarat Singh, on his appointment as member of the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) for Manipur and Mizoram. The JERC is a two-member Commission, each member representing the respective participating State.

Shri Ngangom Sarat Singh has been appointed as the member from the Manipur side for a period of 5 years, with effect from the date of his taking charge of the post or till he attains the age of 65 years, whichever is the earliest.

Manipur

• Capital: Imphal
• Chief Minister: N. Biren Singh
• Governor: Najma Heptulla

Mizoram

• • Capital: Aizawl
  • Chief Minister: Lal Thanhawla

• Governor: Nirbhay Sharma

Nepal govt accepts resignation of its Ambassador to India:

The Nepal government accepted the resignation of Deep Kumar Upadhyay, the country’s ambassador to India, who has quit to contest the upcoming parliamentary elections.

A cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba accepted the resignation of Upadhyay, leaving the envoy’s post vacant.

Shri Alok Kumar Pateria appointed as ADG, CISF:

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Shri Alok Kumar Pateria, as Additional Director General, CISF on deputation basis for a period up to 31.05.2020 i.e. date of his superannuation from the date of assumption of charge of the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

Nepal

• Prime minister:Sher Bahadur Deuba
• Currency: Nepalese rupee
• Capital: Kathmandu

Rakesh Asthana Appointed New CBI Special Director:

Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana was appointed the special director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Asthana, a 1984-batch IPS officer, had been serving in the Central Bureau of Investigation as additional director.

AMFI appoints NS Venkatesh as New CEO:

Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) is set to get its chief executive officer (CEO), after C V R Rajendran vacated the post, midway last year.

N S Venkatesh, executive director and chief financial officer of Lakshmi Vilas Bank is likely to join Amfi later this month, said fund executives.

AWARDS & HONOUR

Gitanjali Rao Named America’s Top Young Scientist:

Gitanjali Rao, an 11-year-old from Lone Tree, Colorado, is the winner of this year’s Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge for her sensor that can detect lead levels in water better than traditional methods.

SPORTS

Jitu, Heena strike gold in air pistol mixed team event:

Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu gave India their first gold medal of the ISSF World Cup Final in New Delhi, clinching the top honours in the 10m air pistol mixed team event on the opening day of competitions.

Rai, a Commonwealth and Asian Games gold-medallist, and Sidhu, former Commonwealth Games gold-winner, picked up their third gold together in the mixed team event, being held officially for the first time at an ISSF World Cup.

Gaganjeet Bhullar Won Macao Open Golf Title:

Gaganjeet Bhullar held his nerve to complete a wire-to-wire victory and lift his eighth Asian Tour title at the Macao Open.

OBITUARY

Film maker V sasi passes away:

Noted Malayalam filmmaker I.V. Sasi passed away in Chennai. He was 69.

HISTORIC EVENT OF THE DAY

United Nations Day: 24th October

UN Day marks the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter. With the ratification of this founding document by the majority of its signatories, including the five permanent members of the Security Council, the United Nations officially came into being.

24 October has been celebrated as United Nations Day since 1948. In 1971, the United Nations General Assembly recommended that the day be observed by Member States as a public holiday.