DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: OCTOBER 24, 2018

Daily Current Affairs ( Oct 24, 2018) like many other sections is inevitable and this also helps to score in the Banking awareness , Static GK and Financial Awareness sections. Remember, Banking Awareness and Static Awareness Questions are asked from the General Awareness section. This will also help you to ride your preparations for the forthcoming exams.

NATIONAL

TCS Only Indian Firm Among Top 10 To Get Foreign Labour Certification

The Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the only Indian company among the top 10 firms to get foreign labour certification for the H-1B visas for the fiscal year 2018 by receiving over 20,000 such certifications.

According to the report, the London-headquartered Ernst and Young, a multinational professional services firm, has emerged as the top employer to have received the certification. Ernst and Young is followed by Deloitte Consulting which received 69,869 H-1B specialty occupations labour conditions programme. Indian-American owned Cognizant Technology Corp comes at number three.

The visa programme allows employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in the US on a non-immigrant basis in specialty occupations or as fashion models of distinguished merit and ability.  

Ministry of Environment launches Harit Diwali-Swasth Diwali campaign

The Environment Ministry has launched Harit Diwali, Swasth Diwali campaign. This campaign was initiated in 2017-18 wherein large number of school children participated and took pledge to minimize bursting of crackers.

The Harit Diwali-Swasth Diwali campaign is now merged with “Green Good Deed” movement that has been initiated as a social mobilization for conservation and protection of environment. The Ministry is encouraging all schools and colleges to be part of this campaign.

INTERNATIONAL

First Trilateral Meeting of India, Afghanistan And Iran held in Tehran

India, Afghanistan and Iran held their first trilateral meeting on Chabahar port project during which they reviewed its implementation.

The meeting assumes significance as the strategically-located port on the energy-rich Iran’s southern coast was coming under the ambit of US sanctions on Tehran.

In May 2016, India, Iran and Afghanistan had signed a pact which entailed establishment of a transit and transport corridor among the three countries using Chabahar Port as one of the regional hubs.

The Indian delegation at the trilateral meeting was led by TS Tirumurti, Secretary (Economic Relations).

The Chabahar port is being considered a gateway to golden opportunities for trade by India, Iran and Afghanistan with central Asian countries.

BANKING AND ECONOMY

India is world’s 2nd most underinsured country

India has the second largest insurance gap in the world of $27 billion (in absolute terms) after China, where the underinsurance or insurance gap is over $76 billion.

According to a Lloyd’s of London’s report, global underinsurance stands at $162.5 billion in 2018.

Underinsurance is the gap between the level of insurance in place to cover global risks and the actual cost to businesses and governments of rebuilding and recovering from major catastrophes.

The global underinsurance gap is now $162.5 billion, which is down only over 3 per cent since 2012 when it stood at $168 billion.

6 member panel set up to resolve Stressed Assets

An overseeing committee (OC) is set up under the inter-creditor agreement (ICA) for resolution of stressed assets and it will have six members.

The OC, which is being formed under the aegis of the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), will approve resolution plans for stressed assets submitted by lead lenders.

An intercreditor agreement is an agreement among creditors that sets forth the various lien positions and the rights and liabilities of each creditor and its impact on the other creditors.

It includes Janki Ballabh (former Chairman, State Bank of India), MBN Rao (former Chairman & Managing Director, Canara Bank ), M Damodaran (former Chairman, SEBI) and HR Khan (former Deputy Governor, RBI).

PNB Metlife launches AI-powered customer service app ‘Khushi’

Life insurer PNB Metlife has unveiled an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered customer service app ‘Khushi’.

The app is designed to be a one-stop shop providing insurance-related information, anytime, anywhere, such as policy features, premium due details besides providing fund value and portfolio details.

It has the ability to understand customer intent and provide tailored responses.

In 2016, the company had launched ‘conVRse’, virtual reality (VR) service platform as well as ‘eBranch’, a paperless digital platform enabling real time transfer of information.

PNB Metlife

Headquarters: Mumbai

Paul Biya wins 7th term as President of Cameroon

Cameroon’s President Paul Biya has won a seventh term in office in elections.

Biya, at 85 is currently sub-Saharan Africa’s oldest leader and he took 71.3% of the vote, according to official results.

Biya’s nearest challenger, Maurice Kamto of the MRC/CRM, gained just 14.2%.

Cameroon

Capital: Yaounde

Currency: CFA Franc

APPOINTMENTS

Fali S. Nariman conferred  Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award

Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu has presented the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award to eminent jurist and senior advocate at Supreme Court Fali S Nariman.

He is one of India’s most distinguished constitutional lawyers and he has argued several leading cases. He was the senior advocate to Supreme Court of India since 1971 and has remained President of Bar Association of India since 1991.

The award was instituted in 1999 by Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management in memory of India’s second Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.

The award consists of cash award of Rs. 5,00,000 plus citation and plaque.

ACC Appoints M Nageshwar Rao As Interim Director

The Union Government has sent CBI Director Alok Verma on leave. Verma was appointed as CBI Director in 2016 for two years and his tenure ends in December 2018. The decision was taken by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) issued an order appointing M Nageshwar Rao as Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Nageshwar Rao, a 1986 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Odisha cadre, was working as the Joint Director in the investigating agency.

Narendra Modi Conferred With Seoul Peace Prize

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been conferred with the Seoul Peace Prize for 2018 for his contribution to international cooperation and fostering global economic growth.

The Seoul Peace Prize was established in 1990 to commemorate the success of the 24th Olympic Games held in Seoul. The award was established to crystalise Korean people’s yearning for peace on the Korean peninsula and in the rest of the world.

He is the 14th recipient of the award and the past laureates included former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and renowned international relief organizations like Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam.

Invest India Wins UN Investment Promotion Award

Invest India, the country’s investment promotion body, has won the UN Award for excellence in promoting investments in sustainable development.

The award was presented by Armenian President Armen Sarkissian to Deepak Bagla, the CEO of Invest India, at the World Investment Forum, Geneva.

The awards, organised by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), honour investment promotion agencies (IPAs) and their governments for their achievements.

Invest India is set up as a non-profit venture under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.

SPORTS

Virat Kohli becomes the fastest batsman to score 10,000 ODI runs

Virat Kohli became only the fourth batsman to score 10,000 ODI runs for India and in the process, he also broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record to become the fastest to reach the milestone.

Overall, Kohli became the fifth Indian batsman and 13th ever to reach 10000 ODI runs. While Tendulkar took 259 innings to get there, Kohli got to the landmark in a mere 205 innings.

Kohli is also second only to Tendulkar in the list of most century-scorers in one-day internationals.

IMPORTANT DAYS

United Nations Day – October 24

The United Nations Day is devoted to making known to people of the world the aims and achievements of the United Nations Organization.

UN Day marks the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter.

World Development Information Day – 24 October

The UN’s World Development Information Day has been held on 24 October. In 1972, the United Nations General Assembly decided to institute a World Development Information Day coinciding with United Nations Day on October 24

This resolution called for introducing World Development Information Day to help draw the attention of people worldwide to development problems.

World Polio Day – 24 October

World Polio Day was established by Rotary International over a decade ago to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk, who led the first team to develop a vaccine against poliomyelitis.

It is to generate awareness towards eradication of polio as well as to commemorate the efforts of thousands of employees of WHO and other volunteers committed to the eradication of Polio.

Theme 2018 – “End Polio Now”.