Daily Current Affairs from 1st & 2nd Nov 2017 (English)
1. The Union Ministry
of Commerce and Industry released the Core sector growth has hit six-month high
in September 2017 according to the index of eight core industries. The core
industries comprising of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products,
fertilisers, steel, cement, and electricity was up 5.2% in
September 2017 compared with 4.4% in August 2017 and 5.3% in September
2016. Besides, August 2017 core sector growth was revised downwards from 4.9%.
2. The acceptance of
necessity (AoN) for the procurement of 111 naval utility helicopters (NUHs)
worth Rs 21,738 crore for Indian Navy was accorded by the Defence Acquisition
Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. It is first
proposal under strategic partnership model to get approval which is considered
as a major boost to defence manufacturing in country. AoN is first step of
procurement of an defence equipment. After DAC gives AoN, request for proposal
can be issued to firms, seeking their responses with technical and commercial
bids. Before this step, Indian Navy had issued a request for information (RFI)
for procurement of 111 NUHs.
3. India has jumped
over 30 ranks to attain 100th spot from 130th position in 2017 Ease of Doing Business
Index. World
Bank has recently released Doing Business (DB) Report 2018 titled as
‘Doing Business 2018: Reforming to Create Jobs’, India leapfrogged to 100th
among 190 countries. India is only country in South Asia and BRICS economies to
feature among most improved economies of the DB Report this year. In South Asia
region, India was top improver, but was ranked below Bhutan (75). Nepal (105),
Sri Lanka (111), Maldives (136), Pakistan (147), Bangladesh (177) and
Afghanistan (183) were ranked below India. The Ease of Doing Business Index
assesses 190 economies and covers 10 indicators which span the lifecycle of a
business. These 10 indicators are: Starting a business, Dealing with
construction permits, Getting electricity, Registering property, Getting
credit, Protecting minority investors, Paying taxes, Trading across borders,
Enforcing contracts and Resolving insolvency. Each one of these indicators
carries equal weight age. India’s score also increased from 56.05 in 2017 to
60.76 in Doing Business 2018.
4. Global Clubfoot
Conference organised by CURE India in partnership with Union Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare was inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind in New Delhi. It is one of
the most common orthopedic birth defects where one or both feet are rotated
inwards and downwards. They are unknown (idiopathic), but it may be combination
of genetics and environment.It causes foot deformity, abnormality walking,
callus, knock knees, or shortened legs. It can cause permanent disability if not
treated early. Ponseti method is initially used which involves moving foot into
an improved position followed by casting, which is repeated at weekly
intervals. 500 doctors from20 countries and 29 Indian states are attended the
conference.
5. SEBI (Securities
and Exchange Board of India) is planning to bring Initial Coin Offerings (ICO)
under its existing legal framework. In recent times, popularity of crypto currencies has increased
rapidly and number of entities looking at raising funds through ICO. ICO is an
unregulated means of crowd funding for project via use of cryptocurrency such
as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero, DASH, Litecoin, Z-cash etc. Unlike an IPO, which
is governed by SEBI regulations, there is no regulator for this kind of crowd
sourcing in India. China’s Central Bank recently had banned ICO as dubbed it as
an illegal public finance mechanism used for issue of securities and money
laundering. Crypto Currencies or Virtual Currencies are type of
unregulated digital money. They are mainly peer-to-peer system, and transacted
between users directly, without an intermediary. These transactions are
verified by network nodes and recorded in public distributed ledger called
blockchain. It is used and accepted among the members of a specific virtual
community. They are being transferred, stored or traded electronically. They
are neither issued by central bank/public authority, nor is necessarily
attached to fiat currency.
6. The introduction
of National Council for Teacher Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017 in Parliament
to amend National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) Act,1993 was approved by
the Union Cabinet. The amendment seeks to grant retrospective recognition
to Central/State/Universities who are found to be conducting teacher education
courses without NCTE permission till academic year 2017-2018. Henceforth,
all institutions running teacher education courses such as B.Ed and D.El.Ed
have to obtain recognition from NCTE under section 14 of NCTE Act. Further,
courses of such recognized institutions/universities must be permitted under
section 15 of NCTE Act. The amendment will make students studying in these
Institutions/Universities or those who have already passed out from here
eligible for employment as teacher.
7. The implementation
of Special Banking Arrangement (SBA) for Rs. 10,000 crore for payment of
outstanding claims on account of fertilizer subsidy in year 2016-17.
Government is making available fertilizers, namely 21 grades of P&K
fertilizers and Urea to farmers at subsidized prices through fertilizer
manufacturers and importers. CCEA chaired by Prime Minster Narendra Modi also
approved that in future, Department of Fertilizers will avail SBA with
concurrence of Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance.
8. INDRA-2017(The
Joint Indo-Russia Tri-Services Exercise) was successfully conducted from 19 to
29 October 2017 at Vladivostok, Russia. It was first time Russia has hosted Tri-Services Exercise on
its soil. The theme of INDRA-2017 Exercise was ‘Preparation and Conduct of
Operations by Joint Force for Suppression of International Terror Activity at
the request of a host country under UN mandate’. It was India’s first joint
tri-services exercise and also first between Russia and India. The army
exercise tasks involved check point defence and humanitarian convoy escort in
back drop of threat from armed groups. Naval tasks comprised Visit, Board,
Search and Seizure (VBSS) operations besides Joint Air Defence, Force
Protection Measures and Anti-mining Operations. The bilateral INDRA exercise
was annually conducted by India and Russia since 2003. The name of the exercise
INDRA has been derived from INDia and RussiA. Since 2003, 17 such service
specific exercises with Russian defence forces have been conducted.
9. A nationwide
science talent search examination (Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan (VVM)) , unique
initiative to give a boost to learning of science, technology and mathematics
among youth-especially the school students is going to held on 26th Nov
2017.
It will provide platform to India’s generation next to imbibe values of science
and technology (S&T) for better future. The exam has been organized by
eminent scientists and academicians associated with Vigyan Prasar (VP), an
autonomous organisation under Department of Science and Technology and National
Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT), Ministry of Human Resources
and Development (HRD).
10. An
earthquake-proof fibre-reinforced concrete that can dramatically enhance the
earthquake resistance of seismically vulnerable structures was developed by
the Researchers from University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada. The
material is made of eco-friendly ductile cementitious composite (EDCC) which
combines cement with polymer-based fibres, flyash and other
industrialadditives, making it highly sustainable.
11. The Union Cabinet
approved signing and ratifying agreement between India and Armenia on
cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters. The Agreement
will help in availability of relevant information for prevention and
investigation of Customs offences. It is also expected to facilitate trade and
ensure efficient clearance of goods traded between countries.
12. Rashtriya Krishi
VikasYojana (RKVY) was launched during 2007-08 to achieve 4% annual growth in
agricultural sector by ensuring holistic development. The scheme was under
implementation from XI Five Year Plan. The CCEA has approved continuation
of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) as Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana-
Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied sector Rejuvenation
(RKVY-RAFTAAR) for three years i.e. 2017-18 to 2019-20. It aims to
make farming remunerative economic activity by strengthening farmer’s effort,
risk mitigation and promoting agribusiness entrepreneurship.
13. Integrated Quarter
Master Package (IQMP) software application for automating various logistics
related functions of an Army Unit was launched formally by the Indian
Army. IQMP is web based software developed by Army Software Development
Centre in association with TCS Ltd. It will replace numerous legacy
applications such as ‘Vastra’ and ‘Quarter Master Package’. It will also play
an important role in achieving automation of Indian Army and play important
role towards ‘Digital Army’ in consonance with Government’s ‘Digital India
Initiative’.
Announcement !
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பெயரில்லாProfileபெயரில்லாSaid: Thanks for the current affairs update. Really helpful for all who are preparing. It would be really helpful if we get a monthly PDF like TAMIL version it's a really good collection and split of topics. Same like that, we also need in English monthly pdfView profileThanks for the current affairs update. Really helpful for all who are preparing. It would be really helpful if we get a monthly PDF like TAMIL version it's a really good collection and split of topics. Same like that, we also need in English monthly pdf
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Kessal DProfile
Kessal DSaid: we will do it from february onwardView profilewe will do it from february onward
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