General Affairs
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar Slams Congress For 'Institutionalising Corruption'
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Hitting out at the Congress over its protest against demonetisation, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar today accused the party of "institutionalising" corruption.
Terming it as a war between two political cultures, the minister, who is also his party's election in-charge for the 2018 Karnataka Assembly polls, said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, honesty would be rewarded and the dishonest would be punished.
"Today, the BJP is observing anti-black money day across the country. Surprisingly the Congress is also observing, but there is a difference... The Congress is observing this day as 'black money support day'," Mr Javadekar said.
"They are supporting black money, we are opposing black money. They institutionalise corruption, we are bringing honesty and transparency in the system. This is a war of two political cultures, and the last three-and-half years are testimony to this," he told reporters in Bengaluru.
Exactly a year ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced withdrawal of Rs. 1,000 and Rs.500 notes from circulation as a measure to fight black money, corruption, fake currency and terror funding.
The opposition is observing "black day" today.
Calling demonetisation a "historic" decision, Mr Javadekar cited various steps taken by the government in its "relentless" fight against black money and corruption.
"The Modi government has taken a series of decisions...we are getting results," he said, adding that the message of the Modi government is "live honest, live happily".
Describing the BJP-led government's demonetisation exercise as a "reckless" step, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday termed the scrapping of higher value currency notes as "organised loot and legalised plunder".
Hitting back at Dr Singh, Mr Javadekar referred to the coal, 2G, Commonwealth scams under his premiership, and said "Congress stands for corruption".
He said with demonetisation every rupee, practically 99 per cent of the notes which were anonymous, has now got "identity".
According to him, scrutiny is on with regard to one lakh transactions post demonetisation that are highly suspicious.
"So demonetisation action has started and now all those suspected accounts and those cash deposits, appropriate action will be taken against them."
He said 37,000 shell companies have been identified through which black money used to be converted into white.
Action will be taken against them after scrutiny, he said, adding, already two lakh shell companies have been de-registered and their accounts frozen.
Dependence on cash has reduced and digital economy has got a boost. Digital transactions are up by 60 per cent and there is a substantial increase in debit and credit cards, also RTGS and NEFT money transfers, he said.
"Tax payer compliance is up by 25 per cent and tax collection has also improved by 15 per cent, all these things show positive impact of demonetisation," he said.
The government's war against black money will continue and more steps would be taken, the minister said.
Calling the Goods and Services Tax (GST) a "major" tax reform which was "unanimously" passed by all parties and all states, Mr Javadekar hit out at the Congress for opposing it now "for the sake of politics".
"It is unfortunate that six finance ministers of the Congress, two of Left parties support GST at the GST Council and speak against it outside for political gains. But they won't get any gain," he said.
Terming it as a war between two political cultures, the minister, who is also his party's election in-charge for the 2018 Karnataka Assembly polls, said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, honesty would be rewarded and the dishonest would be punished.
"They are supporting black money, we are opposing black money. They institutionalise corruption, we are bringing honesty and transparency in the system. This is a war of two political cultures, and the last three-and-half years are testimony to this," he told reporters in Bengaluru.
Exactly a year ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced withdrawal of Rs. 1,000 and Rs.500 notes from circulation as a measure to fight black money, corruption, fake currency and terror funding.
The opposition is observing "black day" today.
Calling demonetisation a "historic" decision, Mr Javadekar cited various steps taken by the government in its "relentless" fight against black money and corruption.
"The Modi government has taken a series of decisions...we are getting results," he said, adding that the message of the Modi government is "live honest, live happily".
Describing the BJP-led government's demonetisation exercise as a "reckless" step, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday termed the scrapping of higher value currency notes as "organised loot and legalised plunder".
Hitting back at Dr Singh, Mr Javadekar referred to the coal, 2G, Commonwealth scams under his premiership, and said "Congress stands for corruption".
He said with demonetisation every rupee, practically 99 per cent of the notes which were anonymous, has now got "identity".
According to him, scrutiny is on with regard to one lakh transactions post demonetisation that are highly suspicious.
"So demonetisation action has started and now all those suspected accounts and those cash deposits, appropriate action will be taken against them."
He said 37,000 shell companies have been identified through which black money used to be converted into white.
Action will be taken against them after scrutiny, he said, adding, already two lakh shell companies have been de-registered and their accounts frozen.
Dependence on cash has reduced and digital economy has got a boost. Digital transactions are up by 60 per cent and there is a substantial increase in debit and credit cards, also RTGS and NEFT money transfers, he said.
"Tax payer compliance is up by 25 per cent and tax collection has also improved by 15 per cent, all these things show positive impact of demonetisation," he said.
The government's war against black money will continue and more steps would be taken, the minister said.
Calling the Goods and Services Tax (GST) a "major" tax reform which was "unanimously" passed by all parties and all states, Mr Javadekar hit out at the Congress for opposing it now "for the sake of politics".
"It is unfortunate that six finance ministers of the Congress, two of Left parties support GST at the GST Council and speak against it outside for political gains. But they won't get any gain," he said.
International Solar Alliance Founding Ceremony Deferred
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The founding ceremony of International Solar Alliance (ISA) to be graced by French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 8 has been deferred, an official said today.
The new schedule of the ISA's formal launch, where a large number of stakeholders are expected, has not been finalised, New & Renewable Energy Secretary Anand Kumar told PTI.
Besides, the second edition of Global Renewable Energy Investors Meet & Expo, RE-INVEST 2017, scheduled for December 7-9, at the India Expo Mart in Greater Noida is postponed to April 19-21, 2018.
"The RE-INVEST 2017 has been postponed due to inconvenience to stakeholder nations including Germany, the UK and Czech. Some of these nations are going to the polls. The RE-INVEST 2017 has been rescheduled for April 19-21," he said.
RE-INVEST showcases India's renewable energy potential and the government's efforts to develop and scale up capacity to meet the national energy requirement in a socially, economically and ecologically sustainable manner.
ISA looks to provide a platform for cooperation among solar resource rich countries where the global community, including corporates, industry, and other stakeholders, can make a positive contribution to assist and help achieve the common goals of increasing the use of solar energy.
Of the Rs. 4 lakh crore funding from financial institutions, including public and private sector banks, during RE-INVEST 2015, around Rs. 1.37 lakh crore were disbursed.
India needs an investment of around USD 100 billion to meet the target of having 175 GW renewable energy capacity by 2022.
The new schedule of the ISA's formal launch, where a large number of stakeholders are expected, has not been finalised, New & Renewable Energy Secretary Anand Kumar told PTI.
Besides, the second edition of Global Renewable Energy Investors Meet & Expo, RE-INVEST 2017, scheduled for December 7-9, at the India Expo Mart in Greater Noida is postponed to April 19-21, 2018.
RE-INVEST showcases India's renewable energy potential and the government's efforts to develop and scale up capacity to meet the national energy requirement in a socially, economically and ecologically sustainable manner.
Of the Rs. 4 lakh crore funding from financial institutions, including public and private sector banks, during RE-INVEST 2015, around Rs. 1.37 lakh crore were disbursed.
India needs an investment of around USD 100 billion to meet the target of having 175 GW renewable energy capacity by 2022.
IndiGo, Clobbered For Passenger Assault Video, Pleads Self-Defence
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A passenger is assaulted and dragged on the tarmac at the Delhi airport by the staff of IndiGo airlines in a video that has been widely shared since it emerged yesterday. "How dare you!" the furious passenger screams as he is manhandled and physically prevented from boarding a coach to the terminal after his plane landed in Delhi on October 15.
Rajeev Katiyal has said that he was waiting for a bus to take him to the terminal after his plane from Chennai landed, when an IndiGo employee "shouted at me in a very rude manner."
In the video, Mr Katiyal is seen arguing with employees. When he tries to get on the coach, he is roughly pulled back and in the scuffle, he falls to the ground. He tries to get up, but is pinned down by two employees, one of them smiling. "How dare you...how dare you!" he shouts in rage, flailing, kicking and hitting out as he is held down by his neck.
The only employee who was sacked was Montu Kalra, who shot the video; the two employees seen on the video, Juby Thomas and Sahiv Sharma, have been issued warning letters.
The video, compared to United Airlines dragging a passenger off an overbooked flight in April, has caused waves of shock and anger against India's most successful budget airline, which saw its stocks plunge 4.5 per cent in the biggest drop in a single trading day since September.
"In a civilised society, fisticuffs have to be condemned," said Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju today, ordering an inquiry and asking the airline to explain.
Yesterday, IndiGo chief Aditya Ghosh had offered his "personal apologies", saying "this does not reflect our culture."
Today, the airline put out a detailed four-page defence in which it said its staff had followed the Standard Operating Procedure and acted in self-defence, but was attacked first by the passenger.
"Whatever may have been the provocation, whether verbal or physical abuse, we could have tried to display more restraint," said the airline.
Aditya Ghosh also said: "The reality is that my colleagues were only trying to act in the best interest of the safety of Mr Katyal and trying to prevent a potential serious mishap."
Addressing allegations that the "whistleblower" had been fired instead of those who attacked the passenger, IndiGo said it was Montu Kalra who instigated his colleagues into physically stopping Mr Katiyal from boarding a bus after an argument.
"Montu Kalra is the one you can hear shouting in the video and instructing the other two colleagues who were junior to him to prevent the customer from boarding the bus and holding him back at the ramp area itself...He instigated the incident and further provoked the customer by beginning to shot a video on his mobile phone. He is the exact opposite of what Indigo's customer service stands for."
Mr Katiyal "charged towards Juby Thomas, grabbed his face and pulled him", said the airline.
Former Air India chief Ashwani Lohani, who now heads the Railway Board, hit out at IndiGo for the "disgusting" and "inhuman" act. He said: "The subsequent action of the airline in sacking the whistleblower is the icing on the cake of gross misconduct."
Rajeev Katiyal has said that he was waiting for a bus to take him to the terminal after his plane from Chennai landed, when an IndiGo employee "shouted at me in a very rude manner."
The only employee who was sacked was Montu Kalra, who shot the video; the two employees seen on the video, Juby Thomas and Sahiv Sharma, have been issued warning letters.
The video, compared to United Airlines dragging a passenger off an overbooked flight in April, has caused waves of shock and anger against India's most successful budget airline, which saw its stocks plunge 4.5 per cent in the biggest drop in a single trading day since September.
"In a civilised society, fisticuffs have to be condemned," said Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju today, ordering an inquiry and asking the airline to explain.
Yesterday, IndiGo chief Aditya Ghosh had offered his "personal apologies", saying "this does not reflect our culture."
Today, the airline put out a detailed four-page defence in which it said its staff had followed the Standard Operating Procedure and acted in self-defence, but was attacked first by the passenger.
Aditya Ghosh also said: "The reality is that my colleagues were only trying to act in the best interest of the safety of Mr Katyal and trying to prevent a potential serious mishap."
Addressing allegations that the "whistleblower" had been fired instead of those who attacked the passenger, IndiGo said it was Montu Kalra who instigated his colleagues into physically stopping Mr Katiyal from boarding a bus after an argument.
"Montu Kalra is the one you can hear shouting in the video and instructing the other two colleagues who were junior to him to prevent the customer from boarding the bus and holding him back at the ramp area itself...He instigated the incident and further provoked the customer by beginning to shot a video on his mobile phone. He is the exact opposite of what Indigo's customer service stands for."
Mr Katiyal "charged towards Juby Thomas, grabbed his face and pulled him", said the airline.
Former Air India chief Ashwani Lohani, who now heads the Railway Board, hit out at IndiGo for the "disgusting" and "inhuman" act. He said: "The subsequent action of the airline in sacking the whistleblower is the icing on the cake of gross misconduct."
India Demands Transparency In UN Security Council Reform Process
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India has demanded transparency in the UN Security Council reform process so that the people could know what is preventing the members from translating discussions into a negotiating text for the much needed revamping of the world body's top organ.
Indian Ambassador to the UN Syed Akbaruddin said that even after almost a decade, UN members have not been able to agree on even a document that would be the basis of negotiating reforms.
In his address to the plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly on the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council, Mr Akbaruddin said there was no greater example of institutional inertia that resisted constructive adaptation than the inability to translate discussions into a text for negotiations.
This is despite 10 years of so-called intergovernmental negotiations authorised by the General Assembly and the continuous annual consideration of the agenda item here since 1993, he said.
"Modern challenges take the concerted efforts not just of governments, but also of whole societies, and so wider society could be more involved in the diplomatic process. Perhaps, we need to consider options of opening the process, so that others are aware of what is it that stops the current discussions from even beginning on the path of a negotiating text," Mr Akbarruddin said.
"Transparency in the working of diplomats is a useful adaptation that we can consider in this changing world as a pathway to progress," he said.
On the inordinate delay in reforming the UN Security Council, Mr Akbaruddin told members of the General Assembly, that there is "no more vivid reflection" of deepening crisis of multilateralism than the "dysfunctional Security Council", which no longer reflects contemporary realities and hence confronts a crisis of legitimacy and credibility.
"When proliferating transnational threats, deepening economic interdependence, worsening environmental degradation - all call for effective multilateral action - we have fallen short of a substantive response on an issue as important as reform of the Security Council," he said.
"This is a sign that the ageing pillars of the established multilateral order are creaking and crumbling all around us, unable to meet the need for change," Mr Akbaruddin said.
Referring to the agenda of discussion of the UN Security Council reform, the top Indian diplomat said this is indicative of the "lack of even incremental change in our approach to issues of importance," oblivious of the pace of change all around.
"As multilateral diplomats, we are used to punishing processes, but never has a process itself become a punishment, as in this case," he rued.
"If this is the 'new normal', it does not bode well for multilateralism. Never have the normative foundations of multilateral cooperation shown up to be weaker than in this instance," he said.
Indian Ambassador to the UN Syed Akbaruddin said that even after almost a decade, UN members have not been able to agree on even a document that would be the basis of negotiating reforms.
This is despite 10 years of so-called intergovernmental negotiations authorised by the General Assembly and the continuous annual consideration of the agenda item here since 1993, he said.
"Modern challenges take the concerted efforts not just of governments, but also of whole societies, and so wider society could be more involved in the diplomatic process. Perhaps, we need to consider options of opening the process, so that others are aware of what is it that stops the current discussions from even beginning on the path of a negotiating text," Mr Akbarruddin said.
"Transparency in the working of diplomats is a useful adaptation that we can consider in this changing world as a pathway to progress," he said.
On the inordinate delay in reforming the UN Security Council, Mr Akbaruddin told members of the General Assembly, that there is "no more vivid reflection" of deepening crisis of multilateralism than the "dysfunctional Security Council", which no longer reflects contemporary realities and hence confronts a crisis of legitimacy and credibility.
"When proliferating transnational threats, deepening economic interdependence, worsening environmental degradation - all call for effective multilateral action - we have fallen short of a substantive response on an issue as important as reform of the Security Council," he said.
"This is a sign that the ageing pillars of the established multilateral order are creaking and crumbling all around us, unable to meet the need for change," Mr Akbaruddin said.
Referring to the agenda of discussion of the UN Security Council reform, the top Indian diplomat said this is indicative of the "lack of even incremental change in our approach to issues of importance," oblivious of the pace of change all around.
"As multilateral diplomats, we are used to punishing processes, but never has a process itself become a punishment, as in this case," he rued.
"If this is the 'new normal', it does not bode well for multilateralism. Never have the normative foundations of multilateral cooperation shown up to be weaker than in this instance," he said.
Twitter To Double Tweet Limit To 280 Characters
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Twitter announced Tuesday it would double the limit for tweets to 280 characters in a bid to draw in more users and boost engagement at the social network.
"We're expanding the character limit! We want it to be easier and faster for everyone to express themselves," tweeted the site, which started testing an increase to its 140-character limit in most languages in early September.
The changes will be rolling out in all languages except Japanese, Korean, and Chinese, in which space limitations have not been an issue, Twitter said.
Twitter, which has been lagging behind rival social networks in user growth and struggling to reach profitability, faced a dilemma over the change in that it could alienate longtime users and transform the nature of the service.
Product manager Aliza Rosen said in a blog post that the test showed most people still used 140 characters or fewer, suggesting the fast-moving nature of Twitter will not change.
Twitter began to look at the new limit "so every person around the world could express themselves easily in a tweet," Rosen said.
"Our goal was to make this possible while ensuring we keep the speed and brevity that makes Twitter, Twitter. Looking at all the data, we're excited to share we've achieved this goal and are rolling the change out to all languages where cramming was an issue."
She noted that in the first few days of the test many people used the full 280 limit because it was new and novel, "but soon after behavior normalized."
As a result, "the brevity of Twitter remained," she said.
Some users have worried that longer tweets could profoundly change the nature of the one-to-many messaging platform, which is popular with journalists and politicians but has failed to win the mass appeal of rivals like Facebook.
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said there was a positive response to the test of the longer limit.
"In addition to more Tweeting, people who had 280 characters received more Likes, Retweets, @mentions, Followers, and were more satisfied with Twitter. So, you'll be getting 280 too -- enjoy!" Stone tweeted.
Last month, Twitter reported its loss for the past quarter narrowed as the company suggested it could reach profitability for the first time in the fourth quarter.
The update showed Twitter's monthly active user base rose slightly to 330 million, roughly in line with forecasts.
"We're expanding the character limit! We want it to be easier and faster for everyone to express themselves," tweeted the site, which started testing an increase to its 140-character limit in most languages in early September.
Twitter, which has been lagging behind rival social networks in user growth and struggling to reach profitability, faced a dilemma over the change in that it could alienate longtime users and transform the nature of the service.
Product manager Aliza Rosen said in a blog post that the test showed most people still used 140 characters or fewer, suggesting the fast-moving nature of Twitter will not change.
Twitter began to look at the new limit "so every person around the world could express themselves easily in a tweet," Rosen said.
"Our goal was to make this possible while ensuring we keep the speed and brevity that makes Twitter, Twitter. Looking at all the data, we're excited to share we've achieved this goal and are rolling the change out to all languages where cramming was an issue."
She noted that in the first few days of the test many people used the full 280 limit because it was new and novel, "but soon after behavior normalized."
As a result, "the brevity of Twitter remained," she said.
Some users have worried that longer tweets could profoundly change the nature of the one-to-many messaging platform, which is popular with journalists and politicians but has failed to win the mass appeal of rivals like Facebook.
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said there was a positive response to the test of the longer limit.
"In addition to more Tweeting, people who had 280 characters received more Likes, Retweets, @mentions, Followers, and were more satisfied with Twitter. So, you'll be getting 280 too -- enjoy!" Stone tweeted.
Last month, Twitter reported its loss for the past quarter narrowed as the company suggested it could reach profitability for the first time in the fourth quarter.
The update showed Twitter's monthly active user base rose slightly to 330 million, roughly in line with forecasts.
Business Affairs
Threat of 'imported inflation' looms as oil prices jump to $62/barrel
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The sudden flaring up of oil prices to $62 a barrel will threaten the Indian economy as the impact can be severe for currency, foreign exchange reserves, inflation and interest rates.
1. Trade Deficit To Widen
Higher oil prices are not a good thing for Indian economy as the country imports 80 per cent of its crude oil requirement. In fact, the oil has a 20 per cent share in total imports. The rising prices could easily translate into higher import bill and consequently higher trade deficit if the export doesn't back up. In fact, India runs a trade deficit for many decades. The trade surplus was last seen in 1976-77.
2. Current Account Deficit
India has managed to contain the current account deficit (CAD) in the period after 2012-13 when it was 4.8 per cent. But the trend was reversed in the first quarter of 2017-18 when CAD moved from 0.7 per cent in 2016-17 to 2.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2017-18. The country's economy so far was saved because of lower oil prices or imports and sustained inflow of dollar into Indian equity and debt market. But if the CAD widens, there will be implications. The Indian rupee value has been quite stable post September 2013 when the RBI announced a slew of measure to boost the rupee value.
3. Higher inflation
The higher oil prices will have a direct impact on the inflation numbers. The CPI or retail inflation is already showing signs of strengthening. The CPI closed at 2.89 per cent in September. The higher import duties, targeted at protecting Indian industry, also has an inflationary impact. There will be a double whammy if the rupee also depreciates. A higher inflation and lower growth will have much larger implication.
4. Interest rate cycle to reverse
The interest rates have almost bottomed out because of higher retail inflation. But if the inflation goes up because of higher oil prices or because of a rupee depreciation, the economy, which is already under pressure, will have a new problem at hand.
5. Foreign reserve kitty
While India's foreign exchange reserves at close to $400 billion are a no match to China's $3 trillion or Japan's $1.3 trillion. A depreciating rupee will impact the future portfolio inflows into the country.
The sudden flaring up of oil prices to $62 a barrel will threaten the Indian economy as the impact can be severe for currency, foreign exchange reserves, inflation and interest rates.
1. Trade Deficit To Widen
Higher oil prices are not a good thing for Indian economy as the country imports 80 per cent of its crude oil requirement. In fact, the oil has a 20 per cent share in total imports. The rising prices could easily translate into higher import bill and consequently higher trade deficit if the export doesn't back up. In fact, India runs a trade deficit for many decades. The trade surplus was last seen in 1976-77.
2. Current Account Deficit
India has managed to contain the current account deficit (CAD) in the period after 2012-13 when it was 4.8 per cent. But the trend was reversed in the first quarter of 2017-18 when CAD moved from 0.7 per cent in 2016-17 to 2.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2017-18. The country's economy so far was saved because of lower oil prices or imports and sustained inflow of dollar into Indian equity and debt market. But if the CAD widens, there will be implications. The Indian rupee value has been quite stable post September 2013 when the RBI announced a slew of measure to boost the rupee value.
3. Higher inflation
The higher oil prices will have a direct impact on the inflation numbers. The CPI or retail inflation is already showing signs of strengthening. The CPI closed at 2.89 per cent in September. The higher import duties, targeted at protecting Indian industry, also has an inflationary impact. There will be a double whammy if the rupee also depreciates. A higher inflation and lower growth will have much larger implication.
4. Interest rate cycle to reverse
The interest rates have almost bottomed out because of higher retail inflation. But if the inflation goes up because of higher oil prices or because of a rupee depreciation, the economy, which is already under pressure, will have a new problem at hand.
5. Foreign reserve kitty
While India's foreign exchange reserves at close to $400 billion are a no match to China's $3 trillion or Japan's $1.3 trillion. A depreciating rupee will impact the future portfolio inflows into the country.
Punjab National Bank to shut down 200 to 300 loss-making branches in next 12 months
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As a part of its consolidation plan, the country's second largest public sector lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) has planned to close down, merge or relocate about 200-300 of its loss-making branches over the next 12 months. This was revealed by Sunil Mehta, managing director and chief executive, Punjab National Bank. "We have closed 2 or 3 branches so far. One of our departments is working on it. We have identified about 200-300 loss-making branches. So, either we will prepare a plan for revamping them, or merger, closure or reopening them at other locations," he said. In fact, to carry out this plan, the Punjab National Bank has formed a group of senior officials to do a detailed study and lay out strategies for branch network rationalization. According to Mehta, the bank wants to turn loss-making branches into profit-making units by tweaking their business strategy.
At the end of March 2017, the bank had 6,937 branches, while it added nine branches from April to June taking the network to 6,946, but in the second quarter, PNB had closed down a total of six branches taking the network tally to 6,940 branches by September end. Moreover, the bank had also closed down 928 ATMs in six months from 10,681 as on March end to 9,753 as on September end 2017.
According to bank officials, digital banking had gathered pace and a substantial expansion of the BC network was helping the bank to enhance its outreach. This has tempered the requirement of a large-scale expansion of the network. PNB, with a customer base of 100 million, has 9,753 ATMs and 8,224 BC outlets as of September.
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) new policy on outlets gave flexibility in locating branches and outlets, added Mehta.
According to RBI's revised banking outlet policy, banks have been given more leeway in opening, relocating, and closing down branches. The focus is reaching customers to provide financial services and that could be done through brick-and-mortar branches as well business correspondent (BC) outlets. Banks may shift, merge or close all "banking outlets" (except rural outlets and sole semi-urban outlets) at their discretion.
As a part of its consolidation plan, the country's second largest public sector lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) has planned to close down, merge or relocate about 200-300 of its loss-making branches over the next 12 months. This was revealed by Sunil Mehta, managing director and chief executive, Punjab National Bank. "We have closed 2 or 3 branches so far. One of our departments is working on it. We have identified about 200-300 loss-making branches. So, either we will prepare a plan for revamping them, or merger, closure or reopening them at other locations," he said. In fact, to carry out this plan, the Punjab National Bank has formed a group of senior officials to do a detailed study and lay out strategies for branch network rationalization. According to Mehta, the bank wants to turn loss-making branches into profit-making units by tweaking their business strategy.
At the end of March 2017, the bank had 6,937 branches, while it added nine branches from April to June taking the network to 6,946, but in the second quarter, PNB had closed down a total of six branches taking the network tally to 6,940 branches by September end. Moreover, the bank had also closed down 928 ATMs in six months from 10,681 as on March end to 9,753 as on September end 2017.
According to bank officials, digital banking had gathered pace and a substantial expansion of the BC network was helping the bank to enhance its outreach. This has tempered the requirement of a large-scale expansion of the network. PNB, with a customer base of 100 million, has 9,753 ATMs and 8,224 BC outlets as of September.
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) new policy on outlets gave flexibility in locating branches and outlets, added Mehta.
According to RBI's revised banking outlet policy, banks have been given more leeway in opening, relocating, and closing down branches. The focus is reaching customers to provide financial services and that could be done through brick-and-mortar branches as well business correspondent (BC) outlets. Banks may shift, merge or close all "banking outlets" (except rural outlets and sole semi-urban outlets) at their discretion.
One year of demonetisation: We fought a decisive battle against black money and won, says PM Modi
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Today marks the first anniversary of demonetisation, a step that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said 'will be remembered as a watershed moment in India's economic history'. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has termed the demonetisation - a historic and multi-dimensional success. The BJP is celebrating November 8 as 'Anti-Black Money Day'. However, this celebration move has not gone well with the country's grand old party Congress as party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi termed the note ban move a 'tragedy' that wreaked havoc on Indian economy. The Congress will observe this day as 'Black Day'.
Rahul Gandhi will participate in a candle-light vigil as part of 'Black Day' protest in Surat, Gujarat. Reports suggest that the Congress vice president will have informal meetings with the industry representatives and workers during the day.
Speaking on one year anniversary of demonetisation, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said: "Biggest achievement is that terrorism has been badly hit & the stone pelters which were in thousands have reduced because their cash flow has been cut."
Earlier this week, Congress National spokesperson Randip Singh Surjewala in a press conference said that millions of people in informal sector lost their jobs due to demonetisation. "Small traders were wiped out, factories were shut. How can the BJP celebrate such day?" Surjewala had asked. Congress is not alone to protest the BJP's Anti-Black Money Day celebration. Regional parties such as TMC, AAP, BSP and Swaraj Abhiyan have hit out at the Central government for the demonetisation move. Arvind Kejriwal led-Aam Aadmi Party observing November 8 as Dhokha Diwas (Cheating Day). Swaraj Abhiyan founder Yogendra Yadav on Tuesday said that the government's celebration on the first anniversary of demonetisation was a "cruel joke".
Prime Minister Modi in a series of tweets listed out the achievements of demonetisation. He said that 125 crore Indians fought a decisive battle against black money and corruption and Won. "I bow to the people of India for steadfastly supporting the several measures taken by the Government to eradicate corruption and black money," the Prime Minister said this in a tweet.
125 crore Indians fought a decisive battle and WON. #AntiBlackMoneyDaypic.twitter.com/3NPqEBhqGq
The Prime Minister has also asked people to share feedback on demonetisation directly on NM App. PM Modi has also released a 7-minute video to show note ban benefits.
What do you feel about the efforts to uproot corruption & black money. Tell me through this survey. https://t.co/TYuxNNJfIfpic.twitter.com/eZB4tI9EmS
Manmohan Singh
Demonetisation has proved too be mere bluster to reap political dividends while the real offenders have escaped. I repeat as I stated in parliament, this was organised loot and legalised plunder. We know by now that none of the stated objectives of eliminating black money, terror financing and counterfeit currency have been met. To promote a less cash economy coercive steps like demonetisation are ineffective. The cash in circulation after one year is close to 90 per cent of the previous levels. The fact that more than 99 percent of the demonetised currency came back into the banking system has punctured the government's claims.
P Chidambaram
Demonetisation and GST have derailed the economy. We had to put the economy back on the rails. But who will put it back on rails now? Don't look at us. I am looking at you (the voters). You have to decide who will put the economy back on the rails. I think the whole scheme (demonetisation) was to help some people who had black money to convert it into white money. It is one of the biggest scams. I am sure someday, somebody will enquire into it. None of the objectives of demonetisation-counterfeit notes, stopping terror funding and black money, as claimed by government have been served.
Sitaram YechuryWhat is the Modi govt celebrating? A demonetisation disaster which brought the economy to a halt. Everything that we warned about demonetisation has come true; the most cruel attack on the vast majority of Indians, opening most vicious doors for corruption and crony capitalism. Dead people in queues exemplify the misery. Job losses, lives and livelihoods destroyed as the poorest of the poor were hit by Jumlanomics which took 86% of the cash out in a midnight Tughlaqi firman.
Arun Jaitley
November 8, 2016 would be remembered as a watershed moment in the history of Indian economy. This day signifies the resolve of this Government to cure the country from "dreaded disease of black money". When the country is participating in "Anti-Black Money Day", a debate was started that whether the entire exercise of demonetisation has served any intended purpose. This narrative attempts to bring out positive outcomes of demonetization in short-term and medium-term with respect to stated objectives. One of the important objective of demonetisation was to make India a less cash economy and thereby reduce the flow of black money in the system. The reduction in currency in circulation from the base scenario reflects that this intended objective has been met.
Mamata Banerjee
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee earlier this week had announced that she would change the picture of her Twitter account to black on November 8 and today she changed it to black. Banerjee in a Facebook post said: "Demonetisation is a big scam. I repeat, demonetisation is a big scam. If thorough investigation is conducted, this will be proved. Demonetisation was not to combat black money. It was only to convert black money into white money for vested interests of political party in power. Black money became 'white fund' for them and the country was plunged into darkness."
Today marks the first anniversary of demonetisation, a step that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said 'will be remembered as a watershed moment in India's economic history'. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has termed the demonetisation - a historic and multi-dimensional success. The BJP is celebrating November 8 as 'Anti-Black Money Day'. However, this celebration move has not gone well with the country's grand old party Congress as party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi termed the note ban move a 'tragedy' that wreaked havoc on Indian economy. The Congress will observe this day as 'Black Day'.
Rahul Gandhi will participate in a candle-light vigil as part of 'Black Day' protest in Surat, Gujarat. Reports suggest that the Congress vice president will have informal meetings with the industry representatives and workers during the day.
Speaking on one year anniversary of demonetisation, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said: "Biggest achievement is that terrorism has been badly hit & the stone pelters which were in thousands have reduced because their cash flow has been cut."
Earlier this week, Congress National spokesperson Randip Singh Surjewala in a press conference said that millions of people in informal sector lost their jobs due to demonetisation. "Small traders were wiped out, factories were shut. How can the BJP celebrate such day?" Surjewala had asked. Congress is not alone to protest the BJP's Anti-Black Money Day celebration. Regional parties such as TMC, AAP, BSP and Swaraj Abhiyan have hit out at the Central government for the demonetisation move. Arvind Kejriwal led-Aam Aadmi Party observing November 8 as Dhokha Diwas (Cheating Day). Swaraj Abhiyan founder Yogendra Yadav on Tuesday said that the government's celebration on the first anniversary of demonetisation was a "cruel joke".
Prime Minister Modi in a series of tweets listed out the achievements of demonetisation. He said that 125 crore Indians fought a decisive battle against black money and corruption and Won. "I bow to the people of India for steadfastly supporting the several measures taken by the Government to eradicate corruption and black money," the Prime Minister said this in a tweet.
Prime Minister Modi in a series of tweets listed out the achievements of demonetisation. He said that 125 crore Indians fought a decisive battle against black money and corruption and Won. "I bow to the people of India for steadfastly supporting the several measures taken by the Government to eradicate corruption and black money," the Prime Minister said this in a tweet.
125 crore Indians fought a decisive battle and WON. #AntiBlackMoneyDaypic.twitter.com/3NPqEBhqGq
The Prime Minister has also asked people to share feedback on demonetisation directly on NM App. PM Modi has also released a 7-minute video to show note ban benefits.
What do you feel about the efforts to uproot corruption & black money. Tell me through this survey. https://t.co/TYuxNNJfIfpic.twitter.com/eZB4tI9EmS
Manmohan Singh
Demonetisation has proved too be mere bluster to reap political dividends while the real offenders have escaped. I repeat as I stated in parliament, this was organised loot and legalised plunder. We know by now that none of the stated objectives of eliminating black money, terror financing and counterfeit currency have been met. To promote a less cash economy coercive steps like demonetisation are ineffective. The cash in circulation after one year is close to 90 per cent of the previous levels. The fact that more than 99 percent of the demonetised currency came back into the banking system has punctured the government's claims.
P Chidambaram
Demonetisation and GST have derailed the economy. We had to put the economy back on the rails. But who will put it back on rails now? Don't look at us. I am looking at you (the voters). You have to decide who will put the economy back on the rails. I think the whole scheme (demonetisation) was to help some people who had black money to convert it into white money. It is one of the biggest scams. I am sure someday, somebody will enquire into it. None of the objectives of demonetisation-counterfeit notes, stopping terror funding and black money, as claimed by government have been served.
Sitaram YechuryWhat is the Modi govt celebrating? A demonetisation disaster which brought the economy to a halt. Everything that we warned about demonetisation has come true; the most cruel attack on the vast majority of Indians, opening most vicious doors for corruption and crony capitalism. Dead people in queues exemplify the misery. Job losses, lives and livelihoods destroyed as the poorest of the poor were hit by Jumlanomics which took 86% of the cash out in a midnight Tughlaqi firman.
Arun JaitleyNovember 8, 2016 would be remembered as a watershed moment in the history of Indian economy. This day signifies the resolve of this Government to cure the country from "dreaded disease of black money". When the country is participating in "Anti-Black Money Day", a debate was started that whether the entire exercise of demonetisation has served any intended purpose. This narrative attempts to bring out positive outcomes of demonetization in short-term and medium-term with respect to stated objectives. One of the important objective of demonetisation was to make India a less cash economy and thereby reduce the flow of black money in the system. The reduction in currency in circulation from the base scenario reflects that this intended objective has been met.
Mamata Banerjee
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee earlier this week had announced that she would change the picture of her Twitter account to black on November 8 and today she changed it to black. Banerjee in a Facebook post said: "Demonetisation is a big scam. I repeat, demonetisation is a big scam. If thorough investigation is conducted, this will be proved. Demonetisation was not to combat black money. It was only to convert black money into white money for vested interests of political party in power. Black money became 'white fund' for them and the country was plunged into darkness."
Demonetisation: Deposits worth Rs 395 crore after note ban under CBI scanner
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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is investigating 77 cases involving Rs 395 crore related to depositing of demonetised currencies in banks, post-offices, railways, insurance companies etc.
The investigating agency said in a statement today that it has arrested 21 public servants and 26 private persons out of 307 accused (including public servants & private persons) found to be involved in these cases. Chargesheet has been filed in 12 cases and regular department action has also been recommended in a few cases.
It has claimed that demonetized and new currency worth crores of rupees and large number of incriminating documents have been recovered so far.
The agency has acted on more than 500 references received from general public and other agencies. It has also conducted joint surprise checks on banks and others.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is investigating 77 cases involving Rs 395 crore related to depositing of demonetised currencies in banks, post-offices, railways, insurance companies etc.
The investigating agency said in a statement today that it has arrested 21 public servants and 26 private persons out of 307 accused (including public servants & private persons) found to be involved in these cases. Chargesheet has been filed in 12 cases and regular department action has also been recommended in a few cases.
It has claimed that demonetized and new currency worth crores of rupees and large number of incriminating documents have been recovered so far.
The agency has acted on more than 500 references received from general public and other agencies. It has also conducted joint surprise checks on banks and others.
Demonetisation: Micro-finance industry sees Rs 7,000 crore write-offs
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Demonetisation has impacted cash-intensive sectors the most. Micro-finance institutions, who lend to women self-help groups and very small businesses, too were hit by the sudden withdrawal of cash. According to MFIN, a self-regulatory organisation of the NBFC-MFIs, the MFI industry which has a total loan portfolio of just over Rs 1 lakh crore, may have to write-off 7 per cent of outstanding loans, or Rs 7,000 crore, because of delinquencies due to demonetisation.
"Demonetisation affected a lot of businesses where cash was used extensively including MFIs. But the impact have been extended in case of MFI sector due to non-monetary influences on ground after demonetisation," says Ratna Vishwanathan, CEO, MFIN. She says the non-payment after the first three months were more influenced by people who were politically motivated or had vested interest and wanted to create a place for themselves in the business post demonetisation.
Defaults in the first three months after demonetisation jumped sharply. According to MFIN, in January-March 2017 quarter, loans overdue by 30 days or more had jumped sharply from 0.33 per cent a year ago to 10.8 per cent. In the October-December 2016 quarter, loans overdue by 30 days or more jumped 7.52 per cent from 0.27 per cent a year ago. Even after eight months after demonetisation, the impact on default rate remained quite high with default rates at 7.5 per cent against 0.32 per cent a year ago.
Default rates have varied from region to region. However, according to Ratna Vishwanathan, the poorer geographies, where delinquencies should have been high actually saw healthy recoveries while geographies which are relatively prosperous like Western UP and Vidarbha (Maharashtra), rate of default were high.
However, she says there has been improvement after January. Recoveries for loans given after January have been at 90-95 per cent.
"Post-UP elections, after clarity emerged on loan waiver, recoveries in Western UP have improved from 25 per cent to 75-80 per cent. However, in Vidarbha region, there are certain areas where delinquency rates are still as high as 94-95 per cent," says Ratna.
Jugal Kataria, chief financial officer, Satin Creditcare Network Limited, shares similar views. "In the short-term, demonetisation was negative for the microfinance sector because of the its dependence on cash. With no immediate alternative to cash being available for the bottom of the pyramid, the collections by MFIs were adversely impacted. However, today the situation has come back to pre-demonetization levels," he says.
However, demonetisation has a positive impact as far as push to financial inclusion is concerned. According to Abhishek Pandit, director, business services, AISECT, a State Bank of India (SBI) business correspondent, they opened 6.1 million accounts in the past one years, and average balance of customers increased 80 per cent from Rs 480 crore pre-demonetisation to Rs 884 crores now.
One of the goals of demonetisation was to give a fillip to digital payments, but the MFI sector and financial inclusion firms have not made much of a headway in this regard even after demonetisation. "One would expect the daily average transaction (which happens predominantly in cash) to reduce, this, however, has not happened and the transactions continue to be steady in cash," says Abhishek Pandit of AISECT.
He explains that most of the customers in the financial inclusion ecosystem are low wage earners and hence have a high dependency on cash. They have not yet adopted either online or electronic transaction formats, especially since most of them get their earnings in cash and hence are compelled to work with cash. Ratna Vishwanathan of MFIN says cost (of digitisation) is a big stumbling block for MFIs in adopting digital means. "The margin at which MFIs are working is 10 per cent. Some 8-8.5 per cent goes towards operational cost. What is left is 1.5-2 per cent. How can you expect these firms to spend on digitisation," she says.
However, efforts are being made for implementing digitisation with limited success. As Satin Creditcare says the effect of digitisation is increasing each day. "Having started a pilot on cashless disbursement in first quarter of the current financial year, today about 15-20 per cent of our disbursements are in cashless mode and this proportion is only going to increase going forward," says Jugal Kataria, Chief Financial Officer, Satin Creditcare Network Limited.
Demonetisation has impacted cash-intensive sectors the most. Micro-finance institutions, who lend to women self-help groups and very small businesses, too were hit by the sudden withdrawal of cash. According to MFIN, a self-regulatory organisation of the NBFC-MFIs, the MFI industry which has a total loan portfolio of just over Rs 1 lakh crore, may have to write-off 7 per cent of outstanding loans, or Rs 7,000 crore, because of delinquencies due to demonetisation.
"Demonetisation affected a lot of businesses where cash was used extensively including MFIs. But the impact have been extended in case of MFI sector due to non-monetary influences on ground after demonetisation," says Ratna Vishwanathan, CEO, MFIN. She says the non-payment after the first three months were more influenced by people who were politically motivated or had vested interest and wanted to create a place for themselves in the business post demonetisation.
Defaults in the first three months after demonetisation jumped sharply. According to MFIN, in January-March 2017 quarter, loans overdue by 30 days or more had jumped sharply from 0.33 per cent a year ago to 10.8 per cent. In the October-December 2016 quarter, loans overdue by 30 days or more jumped 7.52 per cent from 0.27 per cent a year ago. Even after eight months after demonetisation, the impact on default rate remained quite high with default rates at 7.5 per cent against 0.32 per cent a year ago.
Default rates have varied from region to region. However, according to Ratna Vishwanathan, the poorer geographies, where delinquencies should have been high actually saw healthy recoveries while geographies which are relatively prosperous like Western UP and Vidarbha (Maharashtra), rate of default were high.
However, she says there has been improvement after January. Recoveries for loans given after January have been at 90-95 per cent.
"Post-UP elections, after clarity emerged on loan waiver, recoveries in Western UP have improved from 25 per cent to 75-80 per cent. However, in Vidarbha region, there are certain areas where delinquency rates are still as high as 94-95 per cent," says Ratna.
Jugal Kataria, chief financial officer, Satin Creditcare Network Limited, shares similar views. "In the short-term, demonetisation was negative for the microfinance sector because of the its dependence on cash. With no immediate alternative to cash being available for the bottom of the pyramid, the collections by MFIs were adversely impacted. However, today the situation has come back to pre-demonetization levels," he says.
However, demonetisation has a positive impact as far as push to financial inclusion is concerned. According to Abhishek Pandit, director, business services, AISECT, a State Bank of India (SBI) business correspondent, they opened 6.1 million accounts in the past one years, and average balance of customers increased 80 per cent from Rs 480 crore pre-demonetisation to Rs 884 crores now.
One of the goals of demonetisation was to give a fillip to digital payments, but the MFI sector and financial inclusion firms have not made much of a headway in this regard even after demonetisation. "One would expect the daily average transaction (which happens predominantly in cash) to reduce, this, however, has not happened and the transactions continue to be steady in cash," says Abhishek Pandit of AISECT.
He explains that most of the customers in the financial inclusion ecosystem are low wage earners and hence have a high dependency on cash. They have not yet adopted either online or electronic transaction formats, especially since most of them get their earnings in cash and hence are compelled to work with cash. Ratna Vishwanathan of MFIN says cost (of digitisation) is a big stumbling block for MFIs in adopting digital means. "The margin at which MFIs are working is 10 per cent. Some 8-8.5 per cent goes towards operational cost. What is left is 1.5-2 per cent. How can you expect these firms to spend on digitisation," she says.
However, efforts are being made for implementing digitisation with limited success. As Satin Creditcare says the effect of digitisation is increasing each day. "Having started a pilot on cashless disbursement in first quarter of the current financial year, today about 15-20 per cent of our disbursements are in cashless mode and this proportion is only going to increase going forward," says Jugal Kataria, Chief Financial Officer, Satin Creditcare Network Limited.General Awareness
Current Affairs were found in Month - October 2017
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Appointments
Ajit Kumar P assumed charge as the Vice Chief of Naval Staff.- A. P. Maheshwari has been appointed as Director General in Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D).
- Alok Kumar Pateria has been appointed as Additional Director General in CISF. Note that O.P Singh is current Chief (Director General) of CISF.
- Audrey Azoulay (France) elected as new Director General of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
- Brenda Hale apponted as first female president of UK's supreme court and Ian Burnett as youngest lord chief justice of UK's Supreme Court.
- Cricketer Suresh Raina has been appointed as brand ambassador of Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) and also the brand ambassador of Swachh Bharat Mission in Ghaziabad City (Uttar Pradesh).
- Delhi Dynamos FC appointed Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez as club’s brand ambassador for upcoming Indian Super League Football season.
- Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) appointed Param Shah as new Director for its United Kingdom (UK) operations.
- Food delivery company Swiggy appointed Rahul Bothra as its first chief financial officer (CFO).
- Government appointed Dineshwar Sharma as its Representative to carry forward dialogue with elected representatives, various organizations and concerned individuals in Jammu and Kashmir.
- After this appointment, Supreme Court adjourned hearing of plea (filed by Delhi-based NGO in 2014) challenging Article 35A of Constitution by 3 months.
- Article 35A of empowers J&K legislature to define permanent residents (PR) of state. It was added through Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954 issued under Article 370 of Constitution.
- J&K Constitution adopted on November 17, 1956 defines Permanent Resident as person who has been resident of state for 10 years and has acquired immovable property in state. Provision of Permanent Resident bars Indian citizens of other states to settle in J&K and do any personal or professional activities. Therefore, Plea was filed to remove Article 35A of constitution.
- Government appointed Rajnish Kumar as chairman of State Bank of India for 3 years term, succeeding Arundhati Bhattacharya.
- Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) appointed Jayant Rikhye as Chief Executive Officer for India.
- India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) appointed Suresh Sethi as its Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer.
- Indian Weightlifting Federation President Birendra Prasad Baishya elected as chairman of two sub-committees of International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Ethics Commission AND Anti-Disciplinary Commission.
- Jacinda Ardern has been elected as new Prime Minister of New Zealand. She is youngest Prime Minister of NZ in over 150 years.
- John K Paul unanimously re-elected as President of the Federations of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) for 2017-18.
- Leslie Thng has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of air carrier Vistara, joint venture between Tata group and Singapore Airlines.
- NS Venkatesh has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).
- National Basketball Association (NBA) appointed Scott Fleming as NBA India's Head of Basketball Operations.
- Neelmani N. Raju has been appointed as Karnataka’s first woman Director General and Inspector General of Police (DG and IGP).
- New Ambassadors Appointed -
- Vinay Mohan Kwatra - Principality of Monaco
- Sibi George - Switzerland.
- Pooja Kapur - Macedonia.
- Manika Jain - Cambodia
- N.J.Gangte - Zambia
- New Appointments -
- C.K. Mishra - Secretary in Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change.
- Injeti Srinivas - Secretary in Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
- Gopal Krishna - Secretary in Ministry of Shipping
- Preeti Sudan - Secretary in Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
- Mahesh Kumar Gupta - Member (Engineering) in Railway Board.
- D.K.Gayen - Member (Staff) in Railway Board
- Ngangom Sarat Singh has been appointed as member of Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) for Manipur and Mizoram.
- Ngangom Sarat Singh has been appointed as member of Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) for Manipur and Mizoram.
- Nisha Desai Biswal is appointed as President of US-India Business Council (USIBC).
- Noted Actor Anupam Kher has been appointed as Chairman of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) Pune.
- Online eyewear firm Lenskart announced Bollywood Actor Katrina Kaif as its first ever brand ambassador.
- PNB MetLife India Insurance Company Ltd (PNB MetLife) appointed Ashish Srivastava as new Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer.
- PNB MetLife India Insurance Company appointed Ashish Srivastava as new Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer.
- Rakesh Asthana is appointed as special director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
- Sangram Singh has been appointed as CEO of Digital Payments firm Freecharge (Owned by Axis Bank).
- Shinzo Abe has been re-elected as Prime Minister of Japan for his Third Term. He belongs to Liberal Democratic Party.
- Tata Group Firm Voltas appointed Pradeep Bakshi as Its managing director (MD) and Chief executive officer (CEO).
- US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) appointed Richard Verma( former U.S. Ambassador to India) as its Board member.
- Ukhnaa Khurelsukh has been appointed as new Prime Minister of Mongolia.
- Utpal Kumar Singh has been appointed as Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand.
- Vikram Singh has been appointed as Private Secretary to President Ram Nath Kovind for 2 Years.
- Vinit Kumar has been appointed as Chairman of Kolkata Port Trust.
- World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) appointed Indian Person Sunny Verghese as its new chairman. WBCSD is global network of over 200 CEOs who are responsible for a combined revenue of more than $ 8.5 trillion and 19 million employees.
- World Health Organization (WHO) appointed Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Chief Soumya Swaminathan at one of 2 newly created Deputy Directors General posts at WHO. This is highest post held by an Indian in WHO.
- Zafar Mahmood Abbasi has been appointed as new Chief of Pakistan Navy.
Awards
- 12-year old Indian girl Poorvi G B has been awarded best performer subtitle at Little Miss World 2017pageant held in Greece.
- 2017’s Kalakar Puraskar instituted by Mandd Sobhann will be conferred on Noted Konkani folk artiste Gopal Gowda.
- Kalakar Puraskar honors Konkani artistes from fields of folk arts, theatre, music and dance. Award carries a cash award of Rs 25,000 and a citation.
- 30th Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration for 2015 and 2016 has been awarded to Carnatic vocalist T M Krishna for his services in promoting National Integration in India.
- The award consists of a citation and a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh and is bestowed on Oct 31.
- Govardhan Eco Village set up by International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Palghar (Maharashtra) won Green Platinum Award during Green Building Congress 2017 held at Jaipur (Rajasthan).
- Actor Anupam Kher received Pramod Mahajan Smriti Award. Saira Banu, who moved Supreme Court seeking a ban on instantaneous ‘Triple Talaq’ among Muslims, is the second recepient of Pramod Mahajan Smriti Award.
- Actor Prakash Raj received Kota Shivaram Karanth Huttura Prashasti award in Kota (Udupi district), Karnataka.
- Akinwumi Adesina (Nigeria), President of African Development Bank will be honored by 2017 World Food Prize.
- Since 1987, World Food Prize is awarded annually by World Food Prize Foundation to recognize contributions in any field related to world food supply.
- American author George Saunders won 2017 Man Booker Prize for his novel Lincoln in the Bardo.
- It is given by Man Group (UK) with £50,000 as Prize Money. Man Booker Prize begun in 2005. It is 8th edition of these awards.
- Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu has been honoured with prestigious Golden Peacock Award in 17th London Global Convention, in category of Global Leadership in Public Service and Economic Transformation.
- Blue Planet Prize (Noted as Most prestigious award in environmental science), has been given to German theoretical physicis Hans Joachim Schellnhuber.
- Choti Kumari from Bihar won International acclaim for her efforts to uplift Musahar community in Bihar, considered most downtrodden community in state’s caste-ridden society. Title was Women’s Creativity in Rural Life Award and was given by Switzerland-based Women’s World Summit Foundation.
- Engineering Services Company L&T Technology Services Ltd (LTTS) conferred with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Industrial Innovation Award 2017.
- Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) received an award from All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for supporting start-ups.
- Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which manages brand AMUL, has been awarded as best FMCG in food sector at 5th International Advertising Associations (IAA) Leadership Awards in Mumbai.
- Indian IT Firm TAKE Solutions will receive Golden Peacock Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance from Institute of Directors in London (UK).
- Indian-American Gitanjali Rao won 2017 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge for inventing a quick, low-cost test to detect lead-contaminated water.
- Jaipur and Srinagar Airport won first and second rank in category of 2-5 million passengers in Airport Service Quality (ASQ)-Airport Council International (ACI) survey 2017. Jaipur Airport received award in same category in 2016 as well.
- Journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead recently has been posthumously accorded with prestigious Anna Politkovskaya Award, instituted by Reach All Women (RAW) in War. Pakistani activist Gulalai Ismail is also honored for her fight against Islamic extremism.
- M K Sanu has been chosen for Mathrubhumi Literary Award for 2016 in recognition of his rich contribution to the Malayalam literature.
- Nobel Prize 2017 -
- Physics - Rainer Weiss (USA), Barry C. Barish (USA) and Kip Throne (USA) for decisive contributions to LIGO detector and observation of gravitational waves.
- Chemistry - Jacques Dubochet (Switzerland), Joachim Frank (Germany) and Richard Henderson (Scotland) for developing a technique to produce detailed images of life’s complex molecular machinery.
- Physiology / Medicine - American trio of Jeffrey C. Hall (USA), Michael Rosbash (USA) and Michael W. Young (USA) for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm.
- Literature - Kazuo Ishiguro (Japan).
- Peace - International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) for its work to draw attention to catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.
- Economic Sciences - Richard H. Thaler (USA) for his contributions to behavioral economics. It is also called Sveriges Riksbank Prize (Sveriges Riksbank is Sweden’s central bank).
- About Nobel Prize -
- Established in 1895, in memory of Swedish inventor Alfred Bernhard Nobel.
- Prize ceremonies take place annually in Stockholm (Sweden), except peace prize which is held in Oslo (Norway)
- Each recipient received US$1.1 Million.
- Among total 835 recipients so far, 12 are Indians (5 Indian citizens and 7 of Indian origin or residency). Rabindranath Tagore was first Indian citizen to be awarded (1913) and Mother Teresa is the only woman in list (1979).
- Noted Actor Sharmila Tagore received Lifetime Achievement Award by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi for her contribution in field of cinema.
- Noted British Indian Businesman Swraj Lord Paul (Chairman of Caparo Group) has been honoured with Life Time Achievement Award at the 2nd British Asian Achievers Awards organised by Jagatwani a Hindi weekly.
- Noted Indian-American Ajay Raju has been honoured with 3rd American Bazaar Philanthropy award for his philanthropic activities in USA.
- Noted Novelist T D Radhakrishnan’s is selected for 2017’s Vayalar award.
- Vayalar Award was instituted in 1977 by Vayalar Ramavarma Memorial Trust in memory of Malayalam poet and lyricist Vayalar.
- Noted actor and playwright Girish Karnad will be honoured with Tata Literature Live Lifetime Achievement Award 2017. He will receive the award as a playwright.
- Noted journalist Prabha Varma selected for Padma Prabha Puraskaram 2017, by Mathrubhumi daily.
- Noted lyricist Javed Akhtar will be honored with Hridaynath Mangeshkar Award 2017. He will receive INR 1 lakh and a memento.
- Noted music composers Usha Khanna, Bappi Lahiri, Anu Malik and playback singers Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan have been selected for Madhya Pradesh government’s prestigious National Lata Mangeshkar Award.
- Noted writer Namita Gokhale received first Centenary National Award for Literature, conferred by Asam Sahitya Sabha.
- Online travel solutions provider Cleartrip named Best Mobile App for Travel and Leisure at Mobexx Awards 2017. IIT-Roorkee won Schneider’s ‘Go Green in the City’ contest held in Paris.
- President Ram Nath Kovind gave National award for senior citizens to Indian boxing coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu and Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics and Management for 2017 to Bindeshwar Pathak.
- President Ram Nath Kovind presented Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics and Management for 2017 to Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak.
- Rajesh Nath (MD of VDMA India) has been conferred Cross of the Order of Merit (also known as Bundesverdienstkreuz or Federal Cross of Merit ), highest civilian honour in Germany.
- South African Indian-origin researcher couple Salim Abdool Karim and Quarraisha Abdool Karim honoured with prestigious US award for their contributions in field of HIV/AIDS Research.
- US-headquartered IT services Firm CSS Corp won Customer Service Excellence Award 2017 by National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM).
Books
- Actress Deepika Padukone launched Hema Malini’s biography Hema Malini: Beyond the Dream Girl written by Ram Kamal Mukherjee.
- Book Dreamnation: Uniting a Country with Handwritten Dreams containing inspiring words of Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has been released. It is co-authored by Saji Mathew and Jubie John.
- Book The Singing Tree was launched by an international NGO Orbis India to spread awareness on preventing child blindness. Author of this book is Ken Youngstein.
- Former President Pranab Mukherjee released 3rd part of his memoir The Coalition Years: 1996-2012. speaking candidly about believing he could have been the Congress choice for the Prime Minister’s post. Other 2 memoirs are The Dramatic Decade: The Indira Gandhi Years and The Turbulent Years: 1980-1996.
- Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje launched e-book India 2017 Yearbook compiled by Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Rajiv Mehrishi.
Committees
- 21-member Committee on corporate governance headed by Kotak Mahindra Bank Chief Uday Kotak submitted its report to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Rcommendations Include -
- Separation of roles - Roles of chairman and managing director at listed firms should be separated and chairmanship should be limited to only non-executive directors.
- Minimum board strength - Should be increased to 6 members and at least one woman should be appointed as independent director.
- Independent Directors - At least half of board members to be independent directors at listed companies.
- Shareholder meeting and cash flow statement - Top 100 firms by market capitalisation should webcast shareholder meeting and all listed firms should have cash flow statement every six months.
- Credit ratings - Updated list of all credit ratings obtained by the listed entity must be made available at one place, which would be very helpful for investors and other stakeholders.
- Minimum remuneration - Independent directors must get minimum remuneration of Rs 5 lakh per annum and sitting fee of Rs 20,000-50,000 for each board meet.
- Risk management and IT committee - Top-500 listed companies should have risk management committee of boards for cyber security.
- 5 member committee headed by Prasar Bharati Chairman A Surya Prakash has been formed to select editor-in-chief of Rajya Sabha TV (RSTV).
- A Parliamentary Committee under B C Khanduri has been formed to examine operational preparedness of armed forces.
- An Internal Committee has been formed by External Affairs Ministry to examine India-China relations. It will be headed by Shashi Tharoor and will primarily Focus on Doklam and Rohingya Muslims Issues.
- Committee headed by T K Viswanathan submitted its report on review of on Section 66A of the IT Act. It was constituted after Supreme Court struck down controversial Section 66A of IT Act in 2015.
- Section 66A of the IT Act deals with arrests of people for posting content deemed to be allegedly objectionable on Internet.
- GST Council constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) to make GST composition scheme more attractive, to be headed by Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
- Committee will look to make GST Composition Scheme more attractive as only 15.50 lakh businesses out of total 98 lakh GST registered ones opted for composition scheme.
- GoM will also revisit tax structure of different categories of restaurants in order to rationalise rates which is Currently 12% on non-AC restaurants and 18% on air-conditioned ones.
- GST Composition scheme -
- It is an alternative method of levy of tax designed for small taxpayers whose turnover is up to Rs 75 lakh (Rs 50 lakh in case of 8 north-eastern states and hilly state of Himachal Pradesh). Its aims to bring simplicity for small taxpayers as manufacturers have to pay 2% tax on their annual turnover and file returns quarterly. The tax rate is 5% for restaurant services and 1% for traders.
- Government appointed Committee on Haj Policy recommended phasing out Haj pilgrims' subsidy and allowing women devotees above 45 years to travel in a group of at least 4 without a male. Panel was headed by Afzal Amanullah.
- Government constituted a high-level committee for proper management of water resources in the North Eastern Region (NER), under Chairmanship of Vice-Chairman in Niti Aayog (Rajiv Kumar Currently).
- Home Ministry formed study group under Rina Mitra, to examine problems faced by people residing near International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LOC) in Jammu and Kashmir.
- Law Ministry created a panel (Second National Judicial Pay Commission) to recommend new salary structure for 21000 judges of lower courts in India. It will be headed by Former SC judge PV Reddi and will submit its recommendations in early 2019.
- President Ram Nath Kovind appointed a 5 member Committee headed by G Rohini to examine subcategorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), to ensure more backward among OBC communities can avail benefits of reservation.
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) panel on external benchmark rate for banks headed by Janak Raj submitted its report. Panel observed that several practices including violation of RBI guidelines, inflating of base rate and arbitrary adjustment of spreads are prevalent among major banks in India.
- Reserve Bank of India constituted a 10-member High Level Task Force on Public Credit Registry (PCR) for India, which will suggest a roadmap for developing a transparent, comprehensive and near-real-time PCR for India. It will be Headed by YM Deosthalee.
Days
- Disarmament Week celebrated every year from October 24-30, since United Nations founded it in 1978. Aim is to control usage of weapons of mass destruction.
- Oct 08, 2017 - 85th Indian Air Force Day.
- IAF on this occasion launched mobile health App named MedWatch. It has features that will provide authentic health information to all IAF personnel.
- Oct 1 - UN International Day of Older Persons. 2017 Theme is Stepping into the Future: Tapping the Talents, Contributions and Participation of Older Persons in Society.
- Oct 1 - World Vegetarian Day. It initiates month of October as Vegetarian Awareness Month that ends on November 1 as World Vegan Day.
- Oct 10 - World Mental Health Day. 2017 theme is Mental health in the workplace. Oct 10 is also observed as World Day against the Death Penalty.
- Oct 11 - International Day of Girl Child. 2017 theme is The Power of the Adolescent Girl: Vision for 2030.
- Oct 13 - International Day for Disaster Reduction. 2017 theme is Home Safe Home: Reducing Exposure, Reducing Displacement.
- Oct 14 - World Standards day. 2017 theme is Standards make cities smarter.
- Oct 15 - UN International Day of Rural Women.
- Oct 15 - UN World Students Day. It Commemorates Birth Anniversary of Noted Indian Scientist and Former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. He was known as Missile Man of India and honored with hightest Indian Honor Bharat Ratna in 1997. UN declared this day in 2010.
- Oct 16 - World Food Day. 2017 Theme is Change the future of migration. Invest in food security and rural development
- Oct 17 - International Day for Eradication of Poverty (IDEP). 2017 theme is Answering the Call of October 17 to end poverty: A path toward peaceful and inclusive societies.
- Oct 17 - World Sawfish Day. Scientists announced that sawfish, sighted off Indian coast less than 10 times in over a decade appears to be more threatened than tigers and elephants.
- Oct 2 - Birth Anniversary of Noted Leader Lal Bahadur Shastri (2nd Prime Minister of India). He gave famous slogan Jai Jawaan Jai Kisaan.
- Oct 2 - International Day of Non-Violence, on occasion of Birth Anniversary of M K Gandhi (also referred as Gandhi Jayanti). UN approved this day in 2007.
- Andhra Pradesh Government launched Swachh Andhra Mission on this occasion, with Badminton Player PV Sindhu as brand ambassador.
- On this occasion, Nepali version of MK Gandhi’s autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth released in Kathmandu, translated by Shekhar Giri.
- On This occasion, Bihar government launched drive against child marriage and dowry.
- On This occasion, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG) was conferred with Swachh Bharat Inter-Ministerial Award.
- Oct 2, 2017 - UN World Habitat day (First Monday of October every year). 2017 theme was Housing Policies: Affordable Homes.
- Oct 20 - UN World Statistics Day. Theme for 2017 is Better Data, Better Lives.
- Oct 21 - National Police Commemoration Day.
- On This Occasion, Uttar Pradesh Government announced to double ex-gratia amount for police officials martyred on duty. Now this amount becomes INR 40 lakh, compared to INR 20 lakh earlier.
- Oct 22 - International Stuttering Awareness Day. 2017 Theme is A World That Understands Stuttering.
- Oct 24 - First International Day of Diplomats celebrated in Brasilia (Brazil). Diplomats of Bangladesh, Brazil, France, Ghana, India, Israel, Italy, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey participated in Event, to recognise hard work and sacrifices of diplomats and their families.
- Oct 24 - United Nations Day, started in 1948. Oct 24 is Raising Day of Indian Paramilitary Force ITBP (Indo Tibetan Border Police).
- Oct 24 - World Development Information Day (WDID).
- Oct 24 - World Polio day.
- Oct 27 - Infantry Day. It commemorate sacrifices made by infantry who fought against Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir in 1947. This was first infantry action by Indian Army after independence.
- Oct 27- World Day for Audiovisual Heritage. 2017 Theme is Discover, remember and share.
- Oct 28 - International Animation Day.
- Oct 31 - World Cities Day. 2017 theme is Innovative Governance, Open Cities. General theme of World Cities Day is Better City, Better Life.
- Oct 31 - Rashtriya Ekta Diwas (National Unity Day). Observed to commemorate birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhai Patel who played important role in unifying India pre-independence.
- Oct 4 - World Animal Day.
- Oct 5 - World Teachers’ Day. It commemorates signing of 1966 UNESCO/ILO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers. 2017 theme is Teaching in Freedom, Empowering Teachers.
- Oct 9 - World Post Day.
- World Space Week 2017 observed from 4th to 10th October with theme Exploring New Worlds In Space.
Defence
- 45 Member Contingent of Indian Air Force left for Israel to participate in exercise ‘Blue Flag-17’, onboard a C-130J special operations aircraft. Exercise will be conducted in First week of November 2017. This is first time the Indian Air Force is operating with Israeli AF in a multilateral exercise.
- 5th India-Sri Lanka Joint Army Exercise MITRA SHAKTI 2017 Organized in Pune.
- Defence Ministry launched ‘ARPAN Version 3.0’ software for Defence Security Corp, developed by Tech Mahindra. It would simplify personal documentation and all issues related to DSC Personnel's progression.
- Exercise INDRA-2017, First ever Tri Services Joint Exercise between Indian and Russian Armed Forces conducted in Eastern Military District of Russia.
- French defence firm Thales will develop Active Electronically Scanned Array (ASEA) radars for Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) designed Tejas Mk-1A light combat aircrafts.
- Government forces launched a major Cordon-and-Search-Operation (CASO), in Hajin town of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, following specific inputs about presence of militants in area.
- INS Sukanya Arrived in Indonesia for participating in 30th CORPAT (Coordinated Patrol) and 3rd Joint Naval exercise between India and Indonesia.
- Indian Army approved huge procurement plans for infantry modernization at a cost of nearly Rs 40,000 crore to replace aging weapons. Under this, Approx 7 lakh rifles, 44,000 light machine guns (LMGs) and nearly 44,600 carbines will be procured.
- Indian Army organised ‘Jashn-e-Breng’ festival in Kokernag village of Anantnag district to promote peace and brotherhood between security forces and local population.
- Indian Naval Ships Satpura and Kadmatt participated in Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with Japanese Marine Self Defence Force (JMSDF) held at Sasebo (Japan).
- Indian and Japan Navies initiated an intensive air anti-submarine warfare exercise in Indian Ocean. It has P-8 I Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance Anti Submarine Warfare of Indian Navy and 2 P-3 Orion Anti Submarine Warfare aircraft of Japanese Navy.
- Indigenously-built anti-submarine warfare stealth corvette INS Kiltan has been commissioned into Indian Navy.
- It is India’s first major warship to have a superstructure of carbon fibre composite material resulting in improved stealth features, lower top weight and maintenance costs.
- Larsen and Toubro (L&T) handed over offshore patrol vessel (OPV) Vikram to Indian Coast Guard. It is country’s first-ever such defence vessel to be built in a private shipyard.
- Ministry of Defence (MoD) will raise 3 new tri-service agencies - Defence Cyber Agency, Defence Space Agency and a Special Operations Division. These will be headed by officers of rank of Major General (equivalent in Navy and Indian Air Force).
- Defence Cyber Agency will work in close coordination with National Cyber Security Advisor and It will focus on non-civilian cyber issues, including safeguarding critical infrastructure. It will be have over 1,000 personnel.
- Defence Space Agency will work closely with ISRO and DRDO for better utilisation and integration of space resources. It will have over 200 personnel.
- Special Operations Division will have components of Special Forces of Army, Navy and IAF and will be trained together for various external contingencies.
- USA will provide Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System(EMALS) technology to India for aircraft carriers. It will help to launch heavy combat planes from short runway of an aircraft carrier using electromagnetic force, instead of old steam-powered catapults.
Economy
- Refining and Marketing - Asia Report by credit rating agency Moody’s -
- India will surpass China as the fastest-growing product market in Asia for petroleum consumption, growing at 6 % in 2018, as compared to 2.5-3 % Growth rate for China.
- In absolute terms, China will still account for nearly half of demand in region.
- China and India will be key growth engines within Asia Pacific region, representing over 80 % of sector’s expected growth in 2018.
- India signed $200 Million Loan Agreement with World Bank for Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project, to support Assam Government to facilitate agri-business investments and increase agriculture productivity and market access
- AU Small Finance Bank signed Bancassurabce agreement to sell health insurance products of Aditya Birla Health Insurance.
- AU Financiers was initially a non-banking finance company (NBFC) and got licence of Small Finance bank from RBI in Dec 2016.
- AU Small Finance Bank tied up with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to launch an INR 200 crore fund for providing loans to MSMEs. It will fund term loans in the 25 lakh to 2 crore ticket size.
- Abu Dhabi Global Market (Abu Dhabi) and Yes Bank have signed MOU to boost cross-border exchange between United Arab Emirates and India. It will enable fintech innovators from Middle East region and India to apply into Yes FinTech programmes and ADGM’s Regulatory Laboratory and will get to expand into each other’s markets.
- According to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Maruti Suzuki India is largest passenger cars exporter from India in first half (April-September) of ongoing fiscal with 57,300 units exported in period, followed by Volkswagen and Hyundai.
- Additionally, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) left past Bajaj Auto to become 2nd biggest bike seller in India during first half of ongoing fiscal. While Hero MotoCorp continues to top the list.
- Andhra Pradesh government signed MoU with Mastercard to pave way for digital financial transactions in a secure environment.
- As per Data, Direct Tax Collections in first half (April-September) of FY 2017-18 shows growth of 15.8 % over previous year with net direct tax collections at 3.86 lakh crore rupees. These collections are 39.4 % of total budget estimates of Direct Taxes for FY 2017-18.
- As per Morgan Stanley, India will be world’s fastest-growing large economy by 2026-27 with digitisation providing enhancement of 50-75 bps to GDP growth. India will grow to a 6-trillion-dollar economy and achieve upper-middle income status by 2026-27.
- As per a world bank report -
- India will maintain its place as top remittances receiving nation with overseas Indians sending in USD 65 billion in 2017, compared to 62.7 Billion USD in 2016.
- Other top 5 remittances receiving countries after India - China (USD 61 billion), Philippines (USD 33 billion), Mexico (USD 31 billion), and Nigeria (USD 22 billion).
- Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) will co-finance a USD 100-million loan for boosting power sector in India.
- BNP Paribas Securities Services teamed up with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to deliver an innovative blockchain based platform named Corporate Event Connect. It will provide fast, accurate and secure corporate event announcements to clients around world.
- Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) will develop Integrity Index of 25 Government Organizations in line with its broader strategy and emphasis on preventive vigilance. Index will be for bench-marking internal processes and controls within organisation as well as management of relationships and expectations of outside stakeholders.
- CVC will observe vigilance awareness week from 30 October to 4 November 2017 with theme My Vision Corruption Free India.
- Chhattisgarh Government reduced rate of interest on loan given to women and their self-help groups (SHGs) under ‘Saksham Yojna’ from 6.5 % to 5 %, operated by Chhattisgarh Mahila Kosh.
- Digital payments firm MobiKwik partnered with IRCTC to allow customers to book railway tickets using MobiKwik’s payment gateway in IRCTC Rail connect app.
- Rukaiya Rangwala is recently Appointed as MobiKwik's Payment Gateway Business Head.
- E-commerce Firm Myntra launched its CSR initiative in association with Textile Ministry to work directly with weavers and elevate their economic stature and uplift handlooms Industry in India.
- Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) has been reconstituted with Bibek Debroy as Chairman. Its First meeting has been held in Delhi.
- Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) of India inked MoU with Punjab National Bank (PNB) to provide easy access to export finance for SMEs and merchant exporters of council.
- European Securities & Markets Authority (ESMA) certified clearing arms of National Stock Exchange (named National Securities Clearing Corporation Ltd) and Bombay Stock Exchange (named Indian Clearing Corporation Limited) as qualified central counterparty (CCP).
- CCP is a corporate entity which guarantees the terms of a trade even if a buyer or seller defaults on the agreement.
- As per Basel III framework, entities are subjected to lower capital requirement/charges while participating in capital markets through qualified central counterparty (CCP).
- This certification will now enable European entities to have lower capital requirements to participate in Indian Capital Markets.
- Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched mandatory use of Public Finance Management System (PFMS) for all Central Sector Schemes, to ensure that benefits of Government Schemes reach directly to real beneficiaries. He stated that soon PFMS will become a Government wide Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS) as a comprehensive Payment, Receipt and Accounting System.
- Finance Ministry allowed public sector banks (ICICI, HDFC and Axis) and top 3 private banks to accept deposits under various small savings schemes to encourage savings. Until now, most of small savings schemes were sold through post offices.
- Now banks will sell National Savings Time Deposit Scheme 1981, National Savings (Monthly Income Account) Scheme 1987, National Savings Recurring Deposit Scheme 1981 and NSC VIII issue.
- So far, these banks were allowed to receive subscription only under Public Provident Fund (PPF), Kisan Vikas Patra-2014, Sukanya Samriddhi Account, Senior Citizen Savings Scheme-2004.
- Finance Ministry imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of certain steel wire rods from China for a period of five years.
- First Small Finance Bank in North East India commenced operations with name RGVN (North East) Microfinance Limited. It is based in Guwahati. In April 2017, it received final licence from RBI under Banking Regulation Act 1949 to carry on business as a small finance bank.
- Flipkart launched in-house brand for large appliances named MarQ to expand Flipkart’s self-branded offerings on its marketplace.
- GDP Growth Rate Forecasts -
- Japanese financial services company Nomura stated that India’s GDP growth will be around 7.1 % in 2017-18.
- Asian Development Bank (ADB) predicted 7 % for India in 2017 - 18 and 7.4 % in 2018 - 19.
- OECD (Paris based think tank) announced that Indian economy will grow at 6.7 % in 2017-2018.
- International Monetary Fund (IMF) trimmed India’s growth forecast for 2017-18 to 6.7% from 7.2 earlier. Forecast for 2018-19 is 7.4 %.
- World Bank reduced India’s GDP growth forecast to 7% for 2017-18 from 7.2% estimated earlier.
- NITI Aayog expects GDP to grow at 6.9-7 % in 2017-18 and 7.5% in 2018-19.
- GST Council reduced tax rates on 27 items Including dried mangoes, Khakhra, plain chapatis, unbranded Namkeen, unbranded ayurvedic medicines and paper wastes to (5 % from 12 %). Food packets used in ICDS scheme, plastic and rubber wastes will now be taxed at 5 % instead of 18 5. GST Council approved quarterly filing of returns for businesses with turnover up to 1.5 crore rupees and raised threshold for composition scheme from 75 lakh rupees to 1 crore rupees.
- Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) launched excel-based offline tool for businesses to file initial GSTR- 3B returns. Taxpayers can download the offline utility and upload on GST portal after filling. It will automate filing GSTR-3B Returns.
- Government announced Bank Recapitalisation Plan to infuse Rs. 2.11 lakh crore ( $32.4 billion) capital over next 2 years into public sector banks (PSBs) and prioritised financing support for MSMEs in 50 clusters.
- Capital infusion will be done to check widening losses of PSB Banks due to Rise in NPAs. NPAs of banks had more than doubled to Rs. 7.33 lakh crore in June 2017 from Rs. 2.75 lakh crore in March 2015.
- Under this plan, PSBs will get Rs 1.35 lakh crore from Recapitalisation Bonds, 18,000 crore from Budgetary and 58,000 through sale of share of banks.
- Government also constituted Alternative Mechanism Panel headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to oversee merger proposals of public sector banks (PSBs).
- Government announced that subscribers to General Provident Fund (GPF) and other similar funds shall get interest at rate of 7.8% with effect from 1st October, 2017 to 31st December, 2017.
- Government announced to build 83,677km of roads, highways, greenfield expressways with investment of Rs.6.92 lakh core by 2022. It also includes first phase of new umbrella programme BharatMala Pariyojana that involves construction of 34,800 km highways by 2022.
- It was announced as part of INR 9 lakh crore package to Boost economy, that also includes 2.11 lakh crore for bank recapitalisation.
- Bharatmala -
- It will include economic corridors (9,000 km), inter-corridor and feeder route (6,000 km), national corridors efficiency improvement (5,000 km), border roads and international connectivity (2,000 km), coastal roads and port connectivity (2,000 km) and greenfield expressways (800 km).
- BharatMala project will be funded in three-pronged manner – market, private investment and asset recycling of NHAI’s toll assets. Of total INR 5,35,000 crore, 2.09 lakh crore will be raised as debt from market, 1.06 lakh crore will be mobilised through public-private partnership (PPP) mode and 2.19 lakh crore will flow from accruals of Central Road Funds and toll collections.
- Government has launched Sovereign Gold Bonds 2017-18 – Series-III, from October 09, 2017 to December 27, 2017.
- Sovereign Gold Bonds were launched under sovereign gold bond scheme in November 2015, to reduce demand for physical gold and shift part of domestic savings, used for purchase of gold, into financial savings.
- Features of Sovereign Gold Bonds -
- Denomination in units of one gram of gold and multiples thereof. Minimum investment in bonds is one gram. Maximum limit will be of 4 kg for individual and HUF (Hindu Undivided Family) and 20 kg for trusts and similar entities.
- Issue price will be fixed in Rupees on basis of simple average of closing price of gold of 999 purity published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association.
- Interest rate will be 2.50% per annum payable semi-annually on nominal value.
- Tenor will be 8 years with exit option from 5th year, that can exercised on the interest payment dates.
- Bonds can be used as collateral for loans and will be also tradable on stock exchanges.
- Capital gains tax on it has been exempted.
- Government increased its stake IDBI to 77.79% by acquiring 3.81% shares through preferential allotment. Previously government owned 73.98% of IDBI Bank.
- Government made Aadhaar linking mandatory for Public Provident Fund, National Savings Certificate and Kisan Vikas Patra schemes till December 31, 2017.
- Government already made mandatory to link Aadhaar to PAN by December 31, 2017 and SIM connections by February 2018.
- Some 135 welfare schemes are to be linked to Aadhaar by March 31, 2018.
- Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) also launched new online facility for its members to Aadhaar number with their Universal Account Number (UAN) to ensure speedy EPFO services.
- Government reduced Basic Excise Duty rate on Petrol and Diesel by Rs. 2 per litre, to contain impact of rising international prices of crude petroleum oil and keep petrol and diesel Prices under control. Revenue loss on account of these reductions in excise duty is about Rs. 26,000 crore annually.
- HDFC Bank launched SmartUp zones in its branches across India, to become preferred banker for the start-up community. An exclusive area inside the branch premises of HDFC Bank (SmartUp Zones) will be dedicated to start-ups and trained bank staff will offer tailor-made banking and advisory solutions to entrepreneurs.
- HDFC Life Insurance Company launched service bot Neo that uses artificial intelligence for customer service. It is second bot put in operation by HDFC Life after SPOK, which was an email answering bot for customer queries.
- HDFC Life Insurance and Apollo Munich Health Jointly launched Click2Protect Health plan that provides both life and health cover under a single plan. It combines HDFC Life’s Click2Protect 3D Plus protection plan and Apollo Munich’s Optima Restore health indemnity plan.
- HSBC (Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) launched mobile app Trade Transaction Tracker to help customers track status of their trade transactions on a real-time basis. It will provide global view of import and export documentary transactions across markets in single app.
- HSBC recently appointed John Flint as its next CEO.
- ICICI Bank committed assistance of INR 10 crores to Indian Armed Forces in 2 equal tranches. First tranche will support post-graduation education of widows of soldiers and education for their children. Second program will provide financial assistance for marriages of daughters of ex-servicemen.
- Income Tax Department launched online chat service for taxpayers so that they can seek answers to their basic queries and doubts relating to direct tax issues. Experts and independent tax practitioners have been deputed to answer the general queries of a taxpayer.
- India signed $300 Million Loan Deal with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to Promote Further Fiscal Reforms in West Bengal and improve quality of public service delivery in state.
- Indian Government signed $65.5 million loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to continue interventions to check coastal erosion on Western Coast in Karnataka. It is 2nd Tranche of a $250 million financing facility under Sustainable Coastal Protection and Management Investment Program.
- Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-Hyderabad) developed tGST app to ease up process of GST calculations for Commercial Taxes Department of Telangana.
- IndusInd Bank acquired Micro-lender Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd for $2.4 billion. It will boost IndusInd’s presence in microfinance lending and rural banking.
- IndusInd Bank and e-Wallet Firm MobiKwik launched co-branded wallet ‘IndusInd MobiKwik’ that allows its customers to pay at the MobiKwik merchant network using their accounts, with a ’Direct Debit Feature’.
- Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) will exit infrastructure and private equity funds management business, called IDFC Alternatives that has assets worth $2.6 billion. IDFC is currently engaged in merger discussions with Shriram Group.
- Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) raised INR 660 crores as Fully Serviced Bonds through e-bidding on BSE Portal. Proceeds will be utilized by IWAI for capital expenditure for development of National Waterways (NWs) under National Waterway Act 2016 during 2017-18.
- International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggested a 3-pronged approach for structural reform in India that includes -
- Addressing banking and corporate sector weaknesses
- Continued fiscal consolidation through revenue measure
- Improving efficiency of labour and product markets.
- Kotak Mahindra Bank andf Fintech Firm Zeta launched multi-wallet digital prepaid solution for salaried employees named Paymint. Paymint’s single digital interface will enable firms to manage multiple reimbursements and allowances offered to employees including meal vouchers, medical reimbursements etc.
- Kotak Mahindra Bank also tied up with Samsung Pay to enable its credit and debit cardholders to tap and pay using Samsung smart phones at merchants. It uses the Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) that enables consumers to make in-store payments without need for a physical card.
- LG Electronics launched exclusive OEM co-branded card in partnership with Bajaj Finserv that will enable customers to buy all LG products at no-cost EMI option across all LG formats, for invoices valuing INR 7,000 - 2 lakh.
- Madhya Pradesh, which was first state to switch to January-December financial year from existing April-March cycle starting 2018, has put plan on hold till Central Government shifts to January-December fiscal cycle.
- Maharashtra Government released sum of INR 4000 crores under first phase of over 34,000 crore farm loan waiver scheme for benefit of 8 lakh farmers.
- Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution brought into effect Bureau of Indian standards (BIS) Act 2016 that replaces Bureau of Indian Standards Act 1986.
- It aims to help in ease of doing business, enhance ‘Make In India’ campaign and ensure availability of quality products and services to consumers.
- BIS Act 2016 establishes BIS as the National Standards Body of India for the purpose of standardization, marking and certification of articles and processes. It has broaden BIS’s ambit and allows central government to make it mandatory for certain notified goods, articles, processes, etc to carry standard mark.
- Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas launched Start-up Sangam initiative to develop new business models, marketing plans, technology and innovations in heavy oil and gas industry sector by supporting 30 start-ups. For this, 10 oil and gas PSUs have setup Rs. 320-crore venture capital fund to encourage start-ups based on innovative ideas in energy sector.
- Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of RBI kept policy rates unchanged with current values -
- Repo Rate - 6.00 %
- Reverse Repo - 5.75 %
- Bank Rate - 6.25 %
- Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate - 6.25 %
- CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) - 4 %
- SLR(Statutory Liquidity ratio) - 19.5 % (Changed from 20 %)
- Moody’s affirmed Baa3 rating on SBI’s senior unsecured debt (issued via its London branch) and (P)Baa3 rating on its senior unsecured medium-term note (MTN) program. Baa3 denotes lowest rating in investment grade on long-term corporate obligation, which carries moderate risks.
- Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) launched India’s first commodity options in Gold. with bi-monthly duration. The option will also have existing gold kilo futures contract as its underlier.
- Options are an instrument that gives buyer right to buy or sell an underlined at present price on a future date. They are of two types: puts (right to sell) and calls (right to buy).
- National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) acquired 7% stake in Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for INR 900 crores from IDBI Bank. NABARD now holds 10% Stake in SIDBI.
- NABARD also sanctioned amount INR 273 crore to Andhra Pradesh Government for Rural Water supply, Road and Bridge projects. These funds have been sanctioned under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF).
- Odisha government's Directorate of Treasuries and Inspection and State Bank of India signed MOU for integration of SBI e-Pay with State's cyber treasury to facilitate revenue collection from citizens through digital banking platform.
- Odisha government also launched porta for Open State Government Data Platform at odisha.data.gov.in, to share data with people.
- Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) plans to raise crude oil production by 4 metric tonne (MT) and double natural gas output by 2020, inline with Government’s aim to cut country’s oil imports by 10% from 77% in 2013-14. by 2022.
- Property Portal Magicbricks launched India's first online bidding platform for residential and commercial properties under name My Bid, My Home that allows consumers to bid for ready-to-move-in residential properties in Gurugram (Haryana).
- RBI issued guidelines to banks will provide funds to women self-help groups, SHGs, in rural areas at 7 % under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) in the current fiscal (2017-18).
- Re-Insurer General Insurance Corp of India (GIC Re) launched its INR 11,370 crore initial public offer (IPO), as India's third biggest IPO ever after Coal India's 15,200 crore and Reliance Power's 11,700 crore IPOs.
- Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd signed agreement with Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd (IREDA) for INR 300 crore loan.
- Reliance Communication received final approval from Department of Telecommunication (DoT) for its merger with Sistema. It will extend validity of RCom's spectrum portfolio in highly valued 800 and 850 MHz band in 8 major telecom circles across country for 12 years period (2021 to 2033).
- Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) became first Indian company to cross Rs 6 trillion market capitalization after its shares surged over 75% and hit a fresh lifetime high with current market cap of INR 6.02 trillion. Rsecent rally in stockss was due to 15% tariff hike by its telecom arm Jio that is expected to improve company’s profitability.
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved directions for peer-to-peer (P2P) lending. P2P lending is online mechanism which raises loans for people who need to borrow, from people who want to invest.
- Recently RBI notified that peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms would be treated as non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).
- RBI has now stated that aggregate exposure of a lender to all borrowers and Aggregate loans taken by a Borrower shall not exceed 10 lakh, across all P2P Platforms.
- Exposure of a single lender to the same borrower is capped at Rs. 50,000. Tenure of the loan should not exceed 36 months.
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has Put penalties on Yes Bank and IDFC Bank -
- Yes Bank - 6 crore penalty for misreporting data on non-performing assets. Yes Bank reported Its NPAs to be INR 748.9 Crores as of March 2016 while RBI stats tell that its is 5.5 Times more than this figure. Yes Bank has also been penalized for failing to report a security incident involving its ATMs on time.
- IDFC Bank - 2 crore penalty for breaching regulations on giving loans. RBI said That IDFC Bank failed to comply with regulations pertainting to sanction/renewal of loans and advances.
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) initiated prompt corrective action (PCA) on Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) that restricts several banking activities in view of high non-performing assets. Activities Include openin branches, hiring staff and lending activities. OBC is 7th Govt. bank to face such restrictions by RBI after Dena Bank, Central Bank of India, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and UCO Bank.
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched financial literacy drive in 80 blocks in 9 states to educate people on e-transactions, formal sector borrowings and insurance purchases. States are Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Odisha, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) made Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) compulsory for companies having with Loans of Rs 5 crore. Banks will capture this number in Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC) database that captures details of loan above Rs 5 crore.
- LEI number will help banks in monitoring the aggregate exposure of corporate borrowers. Firms can obtain their LEI code from Legal Entity Identifier India Ltd. (LEIL).
- LEI is a global reference number that uniquely identifies every legal entity or structure that is party to a financial transaction. It is a unique 20 digit alphanumeric code that is assigned to a legal entity.
- LEI system has been set up Global authorities to enable identification and linking of parties to financial transactions in order to manage counterparty risk.
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stated that Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPA) ratio for NBFCs has increased to 5 % at end of March 2017 from 2.9 % in March 2012.
- Bad loans of NBFCs amount to around Rs.74,230 crores. However, compared to banks, NBFCs reported a fairly higher Return on Assets.
- Capital to Risk-weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) of NBFCs has declined in recent years. Still, it was higher than the prescribed regulatory level of 15 %.
- Capital to Risk-Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) OR Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) is ratio of a bank's capital to its risk. It marks bank's ability to absorb a reasonable amount of loss.
- Reserve Bank of India opened a branch in Dehradun (Uttarakhand) to ease up Related financial transactions for State government. Earlier, state government had to do financial transactions through Kanpur (UP) branch of RBI.
- Reserve Bank of India will soon allow inter-operability among prepaid payment instruments (PPI) like e-walllets (Paytm, Mobikwik etc.). It will enable users to transfer funds from one mobile wallet to another as per vision for Payment and Settlement Systems in country.
- RBI also announced fresh KYC guidelines for PPIs (Prepaid Payment Instruments). With these guidelines to complete full KYC formalities, mobile wallet user can now send-receive money between wallets of different companies and banks seamlessly through Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
- E-Wallet firms have been instructed to ensure KYC compliance of existing users by December 31, 2017.
- Users who do not have stipulated KYC in place, will be allowed to keep only up to Rs 10,000 in wallets post deadline.
- No credit facility will be provided to such users, if KYC is not completed within next 12 months.
- SBI Collaborative Innovation Centre (CIC) launched 2nd edition of its Hackathon named Digitize For Bankand to be held in first half of November 2017. It focuses on 4 Cognitive themes - Facial Recognition, Signature Recognition, Voice based Authentication and Cheque Truncation Value Enhancers. It aims to bring out solutions based on digital technologies to counter challenges faced by Banking sector.
- SBI Foundation granted INR 10 crore for conservation and restoration of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSTM) of Mumbai over 3-5 years.
- SEBI announced that listed companies not following the norms with regard to Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) would face penalty as INRT 5000 / Day.If non-compliance continues for over 1 year, amount of fine per day will double to 10,000.
- As per MPS Norms, Any listed company must have at least 25 % as public shareholders and 75 % can be held by promoters.
- SEBI reorganised its committee on Market Infrastructure Institutions (MII) that advises it on reviewing norms related to stock exchanges, clearing corporations and depository participants. Now the panel will be headed by former RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi.
- Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) revised framework for block deals on stock exchanges by providing two separate trading windows of 15 minutes each and increasing minimum order size to Rs 10 crore.
- Earlier, a trade with a minimum quantity of 5 lakh shares or minimum value of Rs. 5 crore, executed through a single transaction was referred to as ‘Block Deal’. Buyers and seller were allowed to enter Block Deal Orders only during first 35 minutes of continuous trading session i.e. from 9:15 am to 9:50 am.
- Shipping Ministry sanctioned INR 25 crore to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and INR 50 crore to Karwar port in Karnataka for development of coastal berth under flagship Sagarmala project.
- Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) revamped its portal www.udyamimitra.in with enhanced features to provide easy access to credit and hand-holding services for micro small medium enterprises (MSME).
- Star Health Insurance Launches First-ever Insurance Policy for Persons Diagnosed with Cancer, called Star Cancer Care Gold.
- State Bank of India (SBI) signed agreement with Escorts Ltd to finance farmers for purchase of Escorts tractors under name Powertrac and Farmtrac.
- State Bank of India (SBI) waived off account closing charges for Savings accounts that are over an year old. Earlier, SBI levied closure charges of Rs 500 for its savings account customers.
- State Bank of India (SBI) will lend 2317 Crore rupees ($357 million) to 6 companies for 575 megawatts of grid-connected rooftop solar projects under a World Bank programme. SBI already has given approx 12000 Crore as loans in Solar Sector.
- India aims to raise renewable energy capacity to 175 gigawatts (GW) by 2022, from 57 GW currently. Solar Energy accounts for 100 GW in that target.
- State Bank of India has slashed Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) charges up to 80 %. New IMPS service charges are -
- No charges for transactions under Rs 1000.
- INR 1 - Between 1000 - 10,000
- INR 2 - Between 10001 - 100000
- State Bank of India launched a new product to provide a short-term working capital demand loan to MSME clients, called SME Assist. It would offer loans to MSME customers on basis of their input credit claims under Goods and Services Tax (GST).
- State Bank of India will create a 15,000-sqft innovation center in Navi Mumbai, investing around Rs 100 crore. It will be largest innovation center by any financial services company in India.
- Tata AIA Life launched Chatbot Eazy Connect that will extend online customer service to social media platforms. It will be available through social media platforms and is developed to respond to most frequently asked queries.
- Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Governor E S L Narasimhan launched first regional language version of ‘GST Rate Finder’ App in Telugu.
- English version of GST Rate Finder was launched in July 2017 and now telugu version is first regional language version of this app.
- Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommended 40% reduction in carbon emissions in telecom networks by 2022-23 considering 2011-12 as base year in order to make telecom sector greener.
- Union Bank of India launched Bilingual (Hindi and English) Android app Union Sahyog to digitise customer-facing banking services such as missed call/SMS-based services, Internet banking, deposit and loan product information, online account opening and online loan application etc.
- Vijaya Bank signed MoU with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) for enabling all HPCL retail outlets with BHIM/UPI merchant solutions. It will empower all petrol pumps to accept digital payments.
- Visa tied up with Andhra Pradesh government for Digital Dhan Sankalp project to develop Visakhapatnam into India’s first ‘less cash’ city.
- Zee Entertainment acquired 100 % stake in 2 media entities - 9X Media and INX Music for Rs 160-crore. 9X Media operates five music channels- 9XM (Hindi), 9X Jalwa (Hindi), 9X Jhakkas (Marathi), 9XO (English) and 9X Bajao (Hindi).
International
- Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) become first Indian Oil Marketing Company (OMC) to enter lubricant market in Myanmar.
- 2017 Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index by Australian Centre for Financial Studies (ACFS) -
- India has ranked 28th out of 30 countries. India’s overall index value in 2017 is 44.9, which marks an improvement over index value of 43.4 in 2016.
- Denmark has retained the top spot in this index for sixth consecutive year.
- 2017 World Solar Challenge (solar car race) began from Darwin (Australia). In this race, 42 solar cars will cover a distance of 3,000 kms from Northern Australian city of Darwin to southern city of Adelaide.
- 70 Indian words were added to Oxford English Dictionary (OED) in September 2017. Example words are - Dadagiri, Jugaad, Surya Namaskar etc. and few other regional language words.
- ADIA (Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA)) became first institutional investor in India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF)’s Master Fund and a shareholder in NIIF’s investment management Company. ADIA invested approx 1 Billion USD in NIIF.
- African country Burundi became first nation to withdraw from International Criminal Court (Hague, Netherlands) that has authority to prosecute individuals for international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
- In recent years, 3 African Nations South Africa, Gambia and Burundi expressed their intent to leave ICC citing reason that it focuses too much on African nations.
- Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) launched promotion of north eastern products in Bangladesh and Myanmar. Exports of APEDA scheduled products to Bangladesh during 2016-17 were US $396.44 million and US $24.15 million for Myanmar.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft launched open-source and deep learning interface Gluon that will help developers to deploy machine learning models across several platforms. It will give developers a place to prototype, build, train and deploy machine learning models.
- American tech Firm Cisco Systems acquired American communication software and service provider BroadSoft for $1.9 billion.
- As per Authentic Brands Study by Cohn & Wolfe -
- Indian consumers regard Google as most authentic brand, followed by Microsoft, Amazon, Maruti Suzuki and Apple.
- Amazon tops list globally, followed by Apple.
- As per Credit Suisse Research Institute's (CSRI) report CS Family 1000 -
- India has 108 publicly-listed family owned businesses, 3rd highest in world. With average market capitalization of USD 6.5 billion, India ranks 5th in Asia Pacific and 22nd globally, in terms of average m-cap.
- Top 5 countries in terms of number of family-owned companies - China, USA, India, France AND Hong Kong
- As per Data by Twiplomacy (Burson Marsteller research project that tracks use of Twitter by governments and international organizations) -
- USA Prez Donald Trump is most followed leader on Twitter, followed by Pope Francis and Indian PM Narendra Modi.
- As per Report by Tourism Australia, Maharashtra is leading Indian tourist source market for Australia with over 59,000 tourists having visited Australia in year ended June 2017, folowed by Delhi and Karnataka.
- As per Thomson Reuters Foundation - Delhi ranked fourth in terms of women safety, among 19 assessed megacities of over 1 crore population. Japan’s capital Tokyo emerged as safest city in terms of risk of sexual harassment.
- As per UN report Levels and Trends in Child Mortality 2017 -
- India is among 5 countries (including Pakistan, Nigeria, Congo and Ethiopia) that are responsible for half of all new-born deaths in world, with approx 5 Million children diying before reaching age of 5 in 2016.
- Also, With 2.51 million deaths in 2015, India is at top in pollution related deaths, according to a report by The Lancet Commission on pollution and health. China follows India with 1.8 Million Pollution Victims.
- Australian Government announced that it will establish a national space agency as a part of long term plan to develop Australia’s domestic space industry. It will be called ARSE (Australian Research & Space Exploratio).
- Australia’s last car factory was shut down as USA carmaker GM Holden Ltd closed its plant in South Australia. It marks end of car manufacturing industry in Australia.
- Austria’s law banning face veils such as burkhas or niqabs came into effect, to promote cohabitation between majority Austrian population and people from third countries living in Austria.
- BRICS - themed subway train with carriages representing five member nations started test operations in China’s Xiamen city.
- Indian carriage depicts elephants and yoga.
- Chinese carriage is red and displays icons such as the Great Wall and Tian’anmen Square.
- Brazilian carriage is green and decorated with images of footballs and football stars.
- Russian carriage shows country’s ballet and matryoshka dolls.
- South African carriage displays pictures of diamonds.
- Sixth carriage combines cultural elements from all the five BRICS countries.
- Bangkok Bank (Thailand) selected India based iGTB (Intellect Global Transaction Banking - a specialist firm of Intellect Design Arena Ltd) as tech partner to implement a cash management platform and corporate portal.
- Bangladesh and USA Armies held Joint Pacific Resilience Disaster Response Exercise and Exchange (DREE) in Dhaka.
- Bharti Airtel acquired Consumer Mobile Businesses (CMB) of Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices Maharastra Ltd (TTML) with over 4 crore TTSL customers joining Bharti Airtel. Bharti Airtel will absorb TTSL’s CMB operations across country in nineteen circles (17 under TTSL and 2 under TTML).
- Bharti Airtel received Ghana’s National Communications Authority’s approval for merger between Bharti Ghana (Airtel) and Millicom Ghana (Tigo). Merger will result in 2nd largest mobile network operations in Ghana.
- Brand Finance’s Nation Brands 2017 -
- India ranked 8th most valuable nation brand while USA retained its top position and China took second spot.
- In terms of valuation, India’s National Brand Value in 2017 is $2.04 trillion, down by 1% from last year’s $2.06 trillion. However, India’s brand rating has improved from ‘AA-‘ to ‘AA’.
- Cabinet Approvals -
- MOU with Switzerland for technical co-operation in Rail sector.
- Approval of Extradition Treaty wirth Lithuania, to provide a legal framework for seeking extradition of terrorists, economic offenders and other criminals from and to Lithuania.
- MoU for upgradation of Women’s Police Training Centre at Yamethin (Myanmar).
- Cabinet approvals -
- Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with Japan on Technical Intern Training Program (TITP). Under this, India will send 3-lakh youth to Japan for on-job training for 3-5 years.
- MOC with Japan on establishing a Liquid, Flexible and Global LNG Market.
- MoU between Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Financial Services Commission (Gibraltar) for mutual co-operation and technical assistance.
- MOU between Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Capital Markets Authority (Kuwait).
- MoU with Morocco on cooperation in water resources.
- Government approed updating status of International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) from Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) to Inter-Governmental Organization (IGO). It will bring IALA at par with International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO) and will enable more safe, economic and efficient movement of vessels.
- Extradition Treaty with Lithuania to provide legal framework for seeking extradition of economic offenders, terrorists and other criminals from and to Lithuania.
- Canada has been chosen as partner country for 23rd Technology Summit to be held in November 2017 in New Delhi, organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Department of Science and Technology (DST).
- Central American country Nicaragua signed Paris Agreement on climate change, leaving USA and Syria as only 2 countries left to sign this global climate pact.
- China launched remote sensing VRSS-2 satellite for Venezuela by Long March-2D carrier rocket. This is 3rd Venezuelan satellite launched by China after Venesat -1 (2008) and VRSS – 1 (2012).
- China opened a 409-km new expressway linking Tibet’s provincial capital Lhasa with Nyingchi, which is close to Arunachal Pradesh border. It has been built at a cost of nearly $5.8 billion.
- China's Shanghai will have first Tesla Electric Car factory outside USA. Tesla is headed by Noted Entrepreneur Elon Musk.
- China’s Zhejiang Electric Power Company will construct world’s tallest power supply pylon in east Zhejiang Province, with 380-metre height. It will get past China’s Dabaoshan pylon (370 m).
- East African country Zimbabwe banned import of fruits and vegetables to preserve scarce foreign currencies.
- Economist Intelligence Unit’s Safe Cities Index 2017 -
- Japanese capital Tokyo topped the list of 60 cities. Singapore and Japanese city Osaka ranked second and third.
- Indian cities Delhi and Mumbai have been ranked 43rd and 45th respectively.
- External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will lead a ministerial delegation to the ASEAN-India ‘Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas’ (PBD) to be held in 2018, in Singapore. PBD 2018 will also mark 25 years of the ASEAN-India partnership.
- Fifteen countries elected to UN Human Rights Council by UN General Assembly Including Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan. They will serve a three-year term from January 1, 2018.
- Fifty Indian peacekeepers stationed in South Sudan awarded with UN Medal for their professionalism and service in protecting civilians and building durable peace in conflict-ridden South Sudan.
- First Meeting of India-Australia Joint Steering Committee (JSC) held in New Delhi.
- First USA crude oil cargo of 1.6 million barrels bought by Indian Oil Corporation reached Paradip Port (Odisha). Indian Oil became placed order of 3.9 million barrel from USA.
- First ever Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - India Music Festival held at Purana Quila in New Delhi, to celebrate 25 year anniversary of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations.
- First metro train of Pakistan arrived from China as a gift. It has been called Orange Line Metro Train serviceand will begin operations in December 2017. Also, Pakistan and Iran signed MoU to improve border security.
- France’s lower house of parliament approved new Anti-Terror Law. Now several controversial measures under state of emergency that has been in act for nearly two years have been made permanent.
- Germany Based It Firm itelligence acquired Hyderabad-based SAP services provider named vCentric Technologies.
- Germany will assist Indian Railways to make country’s existing rail corridors semi high speed (max speed of 200 km per hour) on existing 643 km Chennai-Kazipet corridor of Indian Railways.
- Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2017 report released by Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) -
- India ranked 100th position among 119 countries, slipping 3 positions as compared to 97th rank in 2016 GHI.
- Neighbours - Nepal (72), Bangladesh (88), Sri Lanka (84) and China (29), Pakistan (106).
- BRICS - Brazil (18), Russia (22), India (100), China (29), South Africa (55)
- Top 5 - Belarus (1), Bosnia & Herzegovina (2), Chile (3), Croatia (4), Cuba (4)
- Bottom 5 - Zambia (115), Madagascar (116), Sierra Leone (117), Chad (118), Central African Republic (119)
- Global TB Report 2017, released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) -
- India tops list of seven nations, accounting for 64 % of the 10.4 million new tuberculosis (TB) cases worldwide in 2016.
- India is followed by Indonesia, China, Philippines, Pakistan, Nigeria and South Africa.
- Estimated 1.7 million people died from TB in 2016.
- Gulf Nation Qatar announced that it will introduce a minimum wage for workers, amid increasing global scrutiny over its alleged ill-treatment of migrant labourers.
- Hurricane Nate has hit Louisiana (USA) with maximum wind speed of 137 kilometres per hour.
- India Stated to UN General Assembly that there is no possibility of India joining Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as non-nuclear weapon state.
- As per NPT, those countries that have built and tested a nuclear explosive device before January 1, 1967 are nuclear-weapon states. Note that Pokhran I (Codenamed Smiling Buddha) was India's first successful nuclear test that was held on 18 May, 1974.
- India advocates maintaining a credible minimum deterrence based on a No-First Use policy. India also committed to not using nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states.
- India will be guest of honour during 6th World Government Summit to be held in February 2018 in Dubai (UAE). The summit is first global forum for governments, countries, organizations and private sector leaders interested in industry of the future.
- India's exposure to US government securities increased sharply to $135.7 billion, with China at top with $1.166 trillion, followed by Japan with exposure worth $1.113 trillion. India is 12th largest holder of US government securities.
- Indian President Ram Nath Kovind visited African Nations Dijibouti and Ethiopia as his first Foreign Visit.
- Indian software company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) signed a pact with National University in Philippines to launch a comprehensive training programme aimed at enhancing the skills of university graduates for the job market.
- International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) launched IBM Blockchain as first international payments network of its kind to Help financial institutions in cross-border payments. IBM partnered with KlickEx Group and Stellar.org, a nonprofit organization that supports an open source blockchain network for financial services.
- International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended its Brazilian arm and Honorary Membership of head of Brazil’s Olympic committee Carlos Nuzman, amid proven corruption allegations.
- Iran’s key strategic port of Chabahar became operational with First shipment of wheat from India to Afghanistan, from Kandla port in Gujarat.
- Its a major push for India’s Afghan outreach as it completely bypasses Pakistan, under 2016 Indo-Afghan-Iran trilateral pact.
- Chabahar port is strategically located in Sistan-Balochistan province on energy-rich Iran’s southern coast and can be easily accessed from India’s western coast.
- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully launched Michibiki-4 satellite (QZSS-4) as 4th satellite in Michibiki series i.e. Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), which is a satellite-based high-precision global positioning system similar to US operated GPS.
- Lebanon’s parliament approved country’s first budget in 12 years, ro reform fragile economy and prevent rising debt.
- Political crisis gripped Lebanon since the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in 2005, thereby preventing successive government from passing the budget.
- Middle Eastern Mainstream airline Qatar Airways acquired 49 % stake in Italian Airline AQA Holdings.
- Myanmar will launch its own satellite system MyanmarSat-2 in June in 2019, with 6 C-band and 6 Ku-band transponders.
- Myanmar is currently using MyanmarSat-1 on lease system, whereas MyanmarSat-2, will be used on joint ownership system with an undisclosed partner.
- National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) signed MoU with Finland's Fortum Oyj for developing electric vehicle charging infrastructure in upcoming development projects in India.
- Nepal and India will conduct joint head tigers count in protected areas along border in November 2017, using a similar camera tapping method.
- ONGC Videsh Ltd (overseas arm of ONGC) acquired 30 % interest in Namibian Petroleum Exploration License (PEL) 37, from UK’s Tullow Oil.
- Oman revised tourist visa for people from India, China and Russia in order to attract more tourists from these countries. Oman granted non-sponsored tourist visafor the citizens of India, China and Russia.
- Palestinian political parties Hamas and Fatah signed reconciliation deal to end a decade-long rift, brokered by Egypt. This was signed to implement a unity agreement that was signed in 2011 but was not put to action.
- Passport Index developed by advisory firm Arton Capital -
- Singapore’s passport become most powerful in world with Visa-Free Score of 159.
- India secured 75th rank in index with Visa-Free Score of 51.
- Afghanistan stayed at bottom position (94th) while Pakistan sexcond worst (93rd).
- Peru Government authorized medicinal and therapeutic use of cannabis (marijuana) in country, becoming sixth Latin American country to legalise cannabis.
- Poland will quit a precautionary Flexible Credit Line (FCL) from International Monetary Fund (IMF) worth $9.2 billion, after Polish economy gaining strength recently. Polish budget reported a surplus for January - August 2017 amid rise in revenue from value-added tax.
- Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Asia University Rankings 2018 -
- Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) emerged as top-ranked Indian institute in List with rank 34th. Note that IIT Bombay was ranked 179th in QS World University Rankings. Other top 4 Indian Institutes in List are IIT Delhi (41st rank), IIT Madras (48th rank), Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore (51st rank).
- Singapore’s Nanyang Technology University has topped QS Asia University Rankings 2018.
- Report by analyst firm Canalys -
- India overtook USA to become world’s second-largest smartphone market, trailing only China.
- In the second quarter of 2017, India’s smartphone market recovered quickly with shipments growing 23% year-on-year in third quarter to reach over 40 million units.
- Report by professional Network LinkedIn -
- India is second largest market for global pharmaceuticals and biotechnology workforce industry, with 13.7 % contribution.
- Russia used its veto power to block a UN Security Council resolution to extend work of International inspectors to determine who was behind deadly chemical weapons attacks in Syria that took place on 4 April 2017 in Syria.
- SAP launched Asia Pacific Japan (APJ) region’s first SAP Leonardo Center in Bengaluru and fourth SAP Leonardo Center globally. Its a go-to place for SAP’s ecosystem for digital inspiration and co-innovation.
- SS Athenia, first British ship to be sunk during Second World War has been found in Ireland.SS Athenia was sunk by German submarine during World War II in 1939.
- Also, Britain-based shipwreck hunter found maritime astrolabe, a navigation tool that guided Portuguese explorers on perilous voyage to India in 16th century. It has been confirmed as world’s oldest astrolabe.
- Saudi Arabia Government announced that women will now be able to attend sports events in stadiums starting from 2018. It is aimed at empowering and engaging women in society as an integral part of development process.
- Saudi Arabia became first country to give citizenship to a robot, after it named a robot Sophia as its Citizen during a business event named Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh.
- Saudi Arabian Oil Firm Saudi Aramcos (Known as Aramco) Opened Its India Office named ARAMCO ASIA INDIA in Gurugram (Haryana).
- In 2016 Saudi Aramco established its formal business in India through its subsidiary ARAMCO Asia India (AAI). It will focus on crude oil and LPG marketing, engineering & technical services, and other business development activities.
- Scientists developed new military watch for Russian army kit, which is capable of resisting high impact and can even survive a nuclear explosion.
- Spanish Colony Catalonia declared independence from Spain, following a parliamentary referendum. After this declaration, Spanish government dismissed Catalan President, allowing spain to directly administer the region.
- Sri Lanka signed MoU with India to build 1,200 houses in strategically located southern port city of Hambantota. 600 will be constructed in Southern Province while remaining will be built across Sri Lanka, through one model village in each of country’s 25 districts.
- Hambantota port is located right in middle of vital energy supply lines in Indian Ocean, connecting Middle East and East Asia. Hambantota gained significance recently after Sri Lanka decided to build deep-sea port and airport with huge Chinese loans.
- India also provided equipment and vehicles worth USD 585,000 to University of Jaffna in Sri Lanka.
- Sri Lankan Coast Guard commissioned Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) SURAKSHA gifted by India at Colombo port, as first OPV of Sri Lankan Coast Guard.
- Travel guide company Lonely Planet ranked Chile as Most worth visiting country in 2018, followed by South Korea and Portugal. Seville of Spain was ranked as number one city in most visit worthy cities.
- Turkey opened its largest military base in Africa, in Mogadishu (capital of Somalia) to train Somali Soldiers.
- UAE begun collecting new sin taxes on tobacco products, energy drinks and soft drinks, with tobacco and energy drinks taxed at 100 % and soft drinks at 50 %.
- All six members of Gulf Cooperation Council have agreed to begin collecting so-called VAT taxes. GCC includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE.
- UN announced end of 13 year old military peacekeeping mission in Haiti, that helped maintain order in Haiti through 13 years of political turmoil and disaster.
- USA and Israel withdrew from UNESCO, accusing UNESCO of “anti-Israel bias”.
- USA approved sale of THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) anti-missile defence system to Saudi Arabia at an estimated cost of $15 billion (Rs. 98,000 crore). It includes 44 THAAD launchers and 360 missiles along with fire control stations and radars.
- USA initiated placing antidumping duty investigations against import of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin from India and China.
- Anti-dumping measures are taken to ensure fair trade and provide a level-playing field to domestic industry.
- USA lifted economic and trade sanctions against Sudan that were put in 1997, in response to Sudanese Govt’s efforts to end hostilities in conflict areas, improve humanitarian access and maintain cooperation with USA in regional conflicts to tackle terrorism.
- United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) launched 2017 State of World Population report in London (UK) with name Worlds Apart: Reproductive Health and Rights in an Age of Inequality. As per report, economic inequality goes hand in hand with inequality in reproductive health.
- Vanuatu (South Pacific island nation) became first nation to accept bitcoin in exchange for citizenship. Vanuatu’s citizenship program costs $200,000 USD, meaning that at current prices the residency program costs less than 42 bitcoins.
- World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business index’ 2017 (190 Nations) -
- India - India Improved 30 positions to rank 100th amongst 190 countries, Rankng India among top 10 improvers in 2017.
- Top 5 - New Zealand (1), Singapore (2), Denmark (3), South Korea (4), Hong Kong (5)
- Bottom 5 - Somalia (190th), Eritrea (189th), Venezuela (188th), South Sudan (187th), Yemen (186th)
- Neighbours - Bangladesh (177), Nepal (105), Pakistan (147), Sri Lanka (111)
- BRICS - Brazil (125), Russia (35), China (78), South Africa (82)
- World Payments Report 2017 by Capgemini and BNP Paribas -
- China is ahead of India in digital payments space with 38 Billion Transactions in 2015, as compared to 4.5 Billion Digital Transactions in India in 2015. India had 25 billion non-cash transactions for 2017-18..
- China will have growth of 36 % in digital transactions during 2016-20 while India will grow at average 26.2 % during the period.
- Globally, Debit cards account for 46 percent of non-cash transactions followed by credit cards with 19.5 percent in 2015.
- World skills competition 2017 held in Abu Dhabi (UAE) -
- Indian team consisting of 28 competitors won 2 medals and 9 Medallions of Excellence in key skills. Mohit Dudeja won a silver for Patisserie and Confectionery and Kiran won a bronze for Prototype Modelling.
- World’s deepest lake - Lake Baikal (Russia) is reportedly undergoing its gravest crisis in recent history.
- It Holds 23 % of world’s unfrozen fresh water. It is as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and includes over 3,600 plant and animal species.
- Since past few years, it has been crippled by a series of damaging phenomena such as disappearance of the omul fish, rapid growth of putrid algae and death of endemic species of sponges across its vast 3.2 million-hectare area.
Meetings
- 14th India-EU Summit held in New Delhi (October 06, 2017). EU was represented by European Council President Donald Tusk. 3 MOUs were Signed on this occasion -
- Implementing Arrangement for Indian Researchers hosted by European Research Council grantees in Europe
- Finance Contract of Bangalore Metro Rail Project Phase-2-Line R6 for Euro 300 million out of total loan of Euro 500 million
- Joint Declaration between International Solar Alliance and the European Investment Bank
- 11th World Congress on Adolescent Health held in New Delhi with theme Investing in Adolescent Health—the Future is Now.
- 12th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties 12 (COP) to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) Held in Manila (Philippines) with theme Their Future is Our Future – Sustainable Development for Wildlife and People. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announced that India will host next CMS Conference of the Parties 13 (CMS COP13) in 2020.
- 34 species of vultures including 4 from India on their migratory routes were awarded highest protection by Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) 2017 held in Manila.
- 14th SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Law conference and 11th SAARC chief justices conference held in Colombo (Sri Lanka).
- 2nd World Congress on Marxism will be held in Peking University in Beijing in May 2018 with theme Marxism and the current world and China
- 3-day international dentistry exhibition World Dental Show 2017 organized in Mumbai (Maharashtra) to showcase evolving global technologies and techniques in dentistry.
- 3rd Global Investors’ India Forum held in New Delhi with theme Ideate, Innovate, Implement and Invest in India.
- 48th Conference of Governors held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
- 5th Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS) 2017 will be hosted by India in New Delhi in November 2017.
- 63rd National Conference of Association of Physiologists and Pharmacologists of India was held at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), in Puducherry.
- 8th Conference of SAARC Nations' Speakers and Parliamentarians held in Colombo (Sri Lanka), attended by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on India's Behalf.
- An International Peace Conference held in Imphal (Manipur), to promote peace and harmony in the North Eastern region of India.
- An International medical conference IMTechCon 2017 held at CSIR - Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH) in Chandigarh.
- Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Visited USA for participating in G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) Meeting in Washington D.C. He also participated in Annual Meetings of World Bank and IMF in Washington D.C.
- First ever Conference of Partners NGOs organized by Ministry of Women and Child Development in New Delhi with theme Implementation of Policies, Schemes and Programmes for Women and Children: Challenges and Way Forward.
- First-ever meeting of BIMSTEC Task Force on Traditional Medicine (BITFM) was held at Parvasi Bhartiya Kendra in New Delhi, organized by Ministry of AYUSH.
- Global Wildlife Programme (GWP) Conference held in New Delhi, jointly hosted by Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), World Bank and United Nations Development Programme with Theme Peoples’ participation in wildlife conservation.
- During this, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) unveiled 3rd National Wildlife Action Plan for 2017-2031, aimed at improving wildlife conservation. First action plan was released in 1983 to 2001 and 2nd from 2002 to 2016.
- Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated 4 day First ‘BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise- 2017 (BIMSTEC DMEx-2017) in New Delhi. Main exercise will comprise of Table Top Exercise (TTX), Field Training Exercise (FTX) and After Action Review (AAR).
- India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) signed IBSA Trust Fund Agreement that seeks to fight poverty in developing countries, during 8th IBSA trilateral Ministerial Commission Meeting in Durban (South Africa).
- Each country will contribute US $1 million annually to this fund which is managed by UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) Special Unit for South-South Cooperation.
- Meeting was attended by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on India'a behalf.
- Indian Government and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) organized International Conference on Consumer Protection for South, South East and East Asian Nations with theme Empowering Consumers in New Markets in New Delhi. India didn't invite Pakistan and North Korea to attend the same.
- International Gita Mahotsav will be organized in November 2017 in Kurukshetra (Haryana) in collaboration with Mauritius.
- International Labour Organisation (ILO)'s 15 day meeting started in Geneva (Switzerland).
- Ministry of Culture and National Geographic Society hosted 4th international conference on Dialogue of Civilizations – IV in Delhi, Gandhinagar and Dholavira. It was initiated by NGS in 2013 to promote knowledge about 5 ancient literate civilizations of world - Egypt, China, Mesopotamia, South Asia and Mesoamerica.
- United Nations conference on nuclear energy held at Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), to engage in dialogue on role of nuclear power in meeting future energy demand, contributing to sustainable development and mitigating climate change. Iran has boycotted the conference.
National
- 2 day International Conference on Yoga for Wellness held in New Delhi. It is 3rd International Conference on Yoga.
- 20th International Children’s Film Festival (ICFFI) will be held in Hyderabad (Telangana) in November 2017. It will be hosted by Telangana government jointly with CFSI (Children’s Film Society of India) and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
- 20th October 2017 - Gujarati New Year 2017. It is celebrated a day after Diwali and is also called Bestu Varas.
- 2nd India International Cherry Blossom Festival will be organized in November 2017 in Shillong (Meghalaya).
- 3rd India International Science Festival (IISF-2017) held in Chennai (Tamil Nadu) in October 2017, organised by Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) and Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA).
- During IISF 2017, New Guinness World Record for Largest Biology Lesson has been created with 1049 students participating.
- 400 out of approx 13,000 industrial training institutes (ITIs) have been de-affiliated by Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, on basis of quality inspection of these institutes. It was revealsed that they didn't have requisite infrastructure and trainers for imparting vocational training to students.
- 44th Indian Handicrafts and Gifts (IHGF) - Delhi Fair was held at India Expo Centre and Mart in Greater Noida (UP), by Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH).
- 5th Tawang festival organized at Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh).
- 5th India Water Week (IWW) organized with theme Water and Energy for Inclusive Growth in New Delhi.
- AYUSH Festival of Stamps 2017 held at Panaji (Goa).
- No helmet, no petrol campaign came into force in Andhra Pradesh, with CM Chandrababu Naidu allocating INR 10 crores for equipment to implement it.
- Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav (RSM)-2017 held in Ahmadabad (Gujarat), India’s 1st World Heritage City.
- MSME Minister of State (Independent Charge) Giriraj Singh launched MSME Delayed Payment Portal MSME Samadhaan at URL http://msefc.msme.gov.in. It will enable MSME entrepreneurs to directly register their cases relating to delayed payments by Concerned Government Departments.
- A Grand Memorial dedicated to PM Narendra Modi will be built in Sardhana (Meerut district) of Uttar Pradesh at a cost of 30 Crores INR. It will include 100-foot statue of PM Modi.
- Adobe will integrate Aadhaar-based authentication in its e-signature solution Adobe Sign, aimed at leveraging growth in market for e-signatures in India that is growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 57 %. Adobe Sign aimed at helping organizations to eliminate their dependency on wet signatures and allow digital validation of users’ legal identity.
- All India Institute of Ayurveda has been set up on a budget of Rs 157 crore as first medical institute under AYUSH ministry to hold National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) accreditation. Oct 17 also marks 2nd Ayurveda Day of 2017.
- Kerala Government will organise an international seminar and Global Ayurveda meet in Kochi in February 2018.
- An MoU signed by Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya under ‘Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat’ programme, to boost cultural ties.
- An Olive workshop on Olive Research and Development in India organized by Department of Agriculture and Corporation & Farmers Welfare at ICAR-Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture Srinagar.
- Andhra Pradesh Government laid foundation stone for TU142M aircraft museum in Visakhapatnam. Russian aircraft TU142M was decommissioned at INS Rajali in Tamil Nadu after 29 years service.
- Apple Music will set up two Mac Labs at AR Rahman-backed KM Music Conservatories (KMMC) based in Chennai and upcoming campus in Mumbai. Mac Labs will teach students how to create music using Logic Pro X, Apple’s professional music creation app for Mac.
- Arunachal Pradesh Assembly approved creation of a new district - Kamle, as 23rd district of state.
- As per report by Coeus Age Consulting -
- Madhya Pradesh emerged as top state in terms of digital initiatives with score of 100.1, followed by Maharashtra (99.9) and Andhra Pradesh (99.8).
- Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) launched Majuli Sustainable Tourism Development Project (MSTDP) to encourage carbon-free tourism experience in the country's largest river island, Majuli. Objective is to create an environmental protocol for tourism industry in the island.
- Assam government also recently announced Majuli as first carbon neutral district in India.
- Assam will host its first Global Investors Summit in Guwahati in February 2018, to attract more investments.
- State government of Assam has also launched a new Tourism policy, to increase tourist inflow in state, effective from January 2018 to December 2022.
- Assam Government also launched a new Information Technology (IT) Policy under which IT Startups will be provided financial support ranging 1.2 Lakh to 2.5 Lakh Per employee depending on type of operations and headcount.
- Bangalore International Airport (Kempegowda International Airport) will be India’s first airport to have complete Aadhaar-enabled entry and biometric boarding system by December 2018.
- Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) completed work on 4000 MW Yadadri supercritical thermal power project of Telangana State Power Generation Corporation, valued at approx INR 20,400 crores. It is highest value order ever placed in power sector in India.
- Bihar Government approved reservation for persons with disabilities in government jobs and educational institutions. Cabinet also approved establishment of a state advisory board for empowerment of ‘Divyangjan’ as envisaged in Act.
- Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved 2 Schemes - Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) and Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE) to boost Skill India Mission.
- SANKALP is INR 4455 crores central scheme (with 3300 crore loan from World Bank). SANKALP envisages setting up of over 50 Trainers and Assessors academies with self-sustainable models. It will leverage institutions for training the trainers in both long & short term VET thereby bringing about convergence. It will develop a skilling ecosystem that will support the country's rise in the Ease of Doing Business index.
- STRIVE is a INR 2200 crore central scheme with half of outlay as World bank loan assistance. STRIVE will develop mechanism for delivering quality skill development training by strengthening institutions - State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs), National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), Sector Skill Councils, ITIs and National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) etc.
- Both these schemes are being implemented to meet need for a national architecture for promoting convergence, ensuring effective governance and regulation of skill training and catalysing industry efforts in vocational training space.
- Central Government approved combined development of phase II and phase III of Harohalli industrial zone in Ramnagara district of Karnataka at cost of INR 1,561 crores.It is expected to generate 23,500 jobs.
- Central Government asked each state to name toilets in their rural households as izzat ghar, or to use a phrase in regional language equivalent to house of dignity.
- Central Government received 260 applications from foreign scientists for Visiting Advanced Joint Research (VAJRA) Faculty scheme. Out of these, 70 will be shortlisted for this year.
- Visiting Advanced Joint Research (VAJRA) Faculty scheme is a project by Department of Science and Technology and intends to select 1,000 scientists every year at Public funded academic institutions and national laboratories.
- Selected scientists will co-guide and mentor students as well as will help in developing collaborative programmes.
- Scientists selected under VAJRA will be paid US $15,000 in first month and US $10,000 per month for next 2 months. They will work in India for a minimum of a month and a maximum of three months.
- Central Water Commission (CWC) has signed MoUs with IIT Roorkee and MNNIT Allahabad to support dam rehabilitation efforts of various implementing agencies and CWC.
- Chennai Metro Rail Limited introduced free bicycle ride scheme for its customers to provide 100-hours of bicycle ride free of cost every month. There are 10 cycles in each of the stations and people can gain access to them at any time of the day.
- Chhattisgarh Government flagged-off ‘Cancer diagnosis Ambulance’, fitted with ultra-advanced equipment to detect cancer. Patients will be treated free-of-cost.
- Chhattisgarh become first state to award citizenship to Minority Hindus from Other nations, as it offered citizenship to 51 Hindu families who had migrated from Pakistan several years ago and have been living on outskirts of Raipur.
- Chhattisgarh government sbanned use of chlorinated plastic and Polyvinyl Chloride -PVC, to conserve and improve environment.
- Coffee output in India stayed at record 3.50 lakh tonnes in 2017-18, compared to 3.12 lakh tonnes in 2016-17.
- Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal approved Delhi government’s students higher education loan scheme that provides loans to students for higher education, even if they didn’t have any property as security. It was blocked earlier and now has been marked by LG as implementable.
- Development of a Turtle sanctuary in Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh) along with a River Biodiversity Park at Sangam has been approved under Namami Gange programme, to protect the rich aquatic biodiversity of river Ganga from escalating anthropogenic pressures.
- First phase of national optic fibre network Project called Bharat Net will be completed by December 2017, providing internet access (2 to 20 Mbps speed) to 100,000 gram panchayats. It was announced in ‘i-Bharat 2017’ conference organised by FICCI in New Delhi.
- BharatNet is Government’s ambitious rural internet connectivity programme which is implemented by Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL). It is world’s largest rural broadband connectivity programme using Optical fibre.
- Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI) has been declared as an Institute of National Importance under Ministry of Commerce & Industry, by virtue of Footwear Design & Development Institute Act 2017.
- FDDI can now award degrees and will now have autonomy to design its courses as per the requirement of the industry.
- Presently, FDDI imparts skill based graduate and post graduate courses in footwear, leather goods, retail and management to around 2500 students across eight campuses over India.
- Forbes Magazine released its India Rich List 2017. Top 10 Richest Indians are -
- Mukesh Ambani - $38 billion. Reliance Industries Chairman Mr Ambani topped the list for 10th Consecutive year.
- Azim Premji - $19 billion.
- Hinduja brothers - $18.4 Billion
- Lakshmi Mittal - $16.5 Billion
- Pallonji Mistry - $16 Billion
- Godrej family - $14.2 Billion
- Shiv Nadar - $13.6 Billion
- Kumar Birla - $12.6 Billion
- Dilip Shanghvi - $12.1 Billion
- Gautam Adani - $11 Billion
- Foundation stone for India's first Industrial Training Institute exclusively for Divyangjans laid at Dibrugarh (Complex). It will have sixty seats for three different trades with 20 seats per trade.
- Government approved INR 7000 crores for construction of permanent campuses of six new Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) - Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Palakkad (Kerala), Dharwad (Karnataka), Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir), Bhilai (Chhattisgarh) and Goa.
- Government approved disinvestment of 5% of its 89.32 % Stake in NLC India Limited through Offer for Sale (OFS) mechanism, expecting to raise INR 750 Crores.
- Government extended waiver of IRCTC Online ticketing service charges (INR 20 - 40 Per Ticket) till March 2018, that was announced in Sep 2016 to promote digital transactions after demonetization last year.
- Government gave green clearance for a greenfield airport project at Hirasar near Rajkot in Gujarat at cost of INR 1400 crores.
- Government inaugurated India’s first Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) for skilling in Smart Cities at New Delhi, aiming to bring momentum in skilling through collaborative efforts.
- Government launched Diploma in Elementary Education programme for in-service untrained elementary teachers, developed by National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) and specifically designed for untrained teachers working in primary and upper primary schools country.
- It will be last opportunity for such teachers who have not done teacher training courses. Parliament earlier extended deadline to December 2019 for untrained teachers to get qualified.
- Government launched SECURE Himalaya, a six-year project to ensure conservation of locally and globally significant biodiversity, land and forest resources in high Himalayan ecosystem spread over four states - Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Sikkim.
- Government launched Sampoorna Bima Gram (SBG) Yojana and expanded coverage of Postal Life Insurance (PLI) in a bid to provide affordable life insurance services to people particularly those living in rural areas.
- Under SBG Yojana, at least one village (min 100 households) will be identified in each of revenue districts of country to cover all households of identified village with minimum of one RPLI (Rural Postal Life Insurance) policy each. Coverage of all households in identified Sampoorna Bima Gram village is primary objective of this scheme.
- Expansion of PLI will no more be confined to government and semi-government employees only, but will also be available to other professionals.Postal Life Insurance (PLI) was introduced in 1884 and is one of oldest life insurance schemes.
- Government will observe 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi from 2 October 2019 to 2 October 2020. For this, Government constituted a National Committee headed by PM Narendra Modi.
- Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani announced setting up of 16 new Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) townships in Gujarat, aimed at attracting 15000 industrial units and 1 lakh jobs.
- Gujarat Government has announced State Garments and Apparel Policy-2017 aimed at make Gujarat number 1 in textile which produces more of cotton. Women workers will get Rs 4,000 subsidy, while their male counterparts will get Rs 3,500.
- Gujarat Govrnment inaugurated Birsa Munda Tribal University in Rajpipla, a tribal-dominated town in Narmada district of Gujarat.
- Gujarat government announced 4 % reduction in VAT (Value Added Tax) on petrol and diesel, becoming first state to cut VAT on fuel.
- Now, petrol and Diesel will get cheaper by Approx INR 3 / Litre across Gujarat.
- Note that recently central government has cut central excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs. 2 and also asked state governments to cut VAT on the fuel products by 5 % to bring down fuel prices.
- Gurugram-based VVDN Technologies (in partnership with Ireland’s Embedded Downloads) launched first Blockchain technology based smartphone ‘BitVault’. User interface used in BitVault is similar to Android but core operating system has been developed by VVDN.
- An International Blockchain Business Conference hekd in Vishakapatnam (Andhra Pradesh).
- Haryana Government renamed Amin village in Kurukshetra district to Abhimanyupur. Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna, was warrior prince in Mahabharata.
- Amin village is believed as site on which Kauravas had resorted to ‘Chakravyuh’ formation as a part of war strategy. Abhimanyu was trapped in ‘Chakravyuh’, but fought bravely till his last breath.
- Haryana Government will provide ration cards for nomadic tribes living in different parts of Haryana, to provide identification to them as permanent residents.
- Haryana Government will set up PGs (Paying Guests) for cattle under which people in urban areas will be able to rear their own cattle and produce quality milk for their personal consumption. Under this, State Government will mark upto 100 acres of land that will have 2 types of dairies – Traditional Dairies and PGs for cattle.
- Himachal Pradesh Government approved Heritage Tourism Policy 2017 & Mukhya Mantri Rural Road Repair Scheme along with other welfare initiatives.
- Himachal Pradesh government implemented Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS) to provide top-up coverage of Rs 30,000 per senior citizen to all existing Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) smart card holders, in addition to basic coverage of INR 30,000 in Trust and Society mode.
- Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar announced that Paika rebellion (Paika Bidroha) of 1817 will be named as First War of Independence against British Rule in history books from next academic session. Earlier, 1857 Sepoy Mutiny was regarded as First War of Indian Independence.
- Paiks were traditional landed militia under Gajapati rulers of Odisha. Bakshi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar, military chief of King of Khurda led army of Paikas forcing East India Company (British) forces to retreat in 1817.
- Hyderabad High Court directed Telengana government not to grant licence, to establish liquor retail outlets in scheduled areas without resolution of gramsabha.
- Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) is ranked No. 1 in Airports Council International’s (ACI) service quality survey in category of 5 to 15 million passengers per annum.
- GMR Hyderabad International Airport also recently signed MOU with Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) and Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) to promote tourism.
- IISc Bengaluru named as Best Indian Higher Education Institution in Times Higher Education SUBJECT WISE rankings. Different rankings have been issued for subjects such as Computer Science, Engineering and Technology, Social Sciences, Law Etc.
- IIT-Kharagpur signed MoU with Samsung for setting up of a digital academy that will train students on Internet of Things (IoT) through Tizen-based operating systems, commonly used by the company for its mobile phones and home appliances.
- India signed Contract for lending of € 300 million for Bangalore Metro Rail Project Phase II Line R6, with European Investment Bank (EIB).
- Bangalore Metro Phase II is to be jointly financed by European Investment Bank (€500 million) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (€300 million). Project includes total length of 72.095 km and 61 stations (12 underground).
- Indian Naval Academy (Ezhimala) conducted 4th annual Dilli seminar with theme India and Southeast Asia – Maritime Trade, Expedition and Civilisation Linkages.
- Indian Railway’s first set of solar plants with capacity of 5 megawatt peak (MWp) launched on roof tops of Hazrat Nizamuddin, New Delhi, Anand Vihar and Delhi railway stations by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, as part of National Solar Mission in which Railways plans to commission 1000 MWp solar plants across its network.
- Indian railways will be running steam hauled tourist train “Fairy Queen” between Delhi Cantonment and Rewari on second and fourth Saturday of every month till April 2018. Fairy Queen was built in 1855 and is the World’s oldest steam locomotive as certified by Guinness Book of Records in 1998.
- India’s first Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) under Hybrid Annuity Mode will come up in Haridwar (Uttarakhand) and Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh).
- It is a step towads realizing dream of Nirmal Ganga as first ever Hybrid Annuity-based model being applied in sewerage sector under Public Private Partnership (PPP) Mode.
- Under this, concessionaire responsible for maintenance of project will be paid based on performance in phased manner. It will ensure continued performance of sewage infrastructure assets created due to better ownership, accountability and optimal performance.
- Hybrid Annuity Model was approved in January 2016 with 100% central sector funding. Under this - development, operation and maintenance of STPs will be undertaken by Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) created by winning bidder at local level.
- Yes Bank committed Rs 156 crore to fund first Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) to be constructed at Varanasi under Hybrid Annuity-PPP Model. YES Bank signed deal with Essel Infraprojects in this regard.
- India’s first portal dedicated to para-sports has been launched by Mumbai based Saachi Munot with URL thenationspride.com. It is aimed at creating awareness about para-sports and provide a platform to para sportspersons to narrate their stories of triumph and adversity.
- Karnataka Government approved a policy that seeks to provide legal protection to transgender community and thereby safeguard them from social and sexual exploitation. Aim is to remove stigma attached to transgender community and integrate them into mainstream of society.
- Karnataka Government launched Mathru Purna scheme aimed at providing nutritious meals to about 12 lakh pregnant women and lactating mothers in state. Counselling and other maternity benefits will also be provided at Anganwadi centres under scheme.
- Karnataka Government signed MoU with Microsoft to empower smallholder farmers with technology-oriented solutions that will help them increase income.
- Karnataka government banned pillion riding on two-wheelers with less than 100 cc engine, in view of safety of pillion riders that are often victims of road accidents.
- Kerala Government banned using words Dalit and Harijan in all official communications, to curb growing influence of casteism in state.
- Kerala Tourism Department launched a 3 year long Continuous Tourist Survey (CTS) 2017-2020 to improve tourism in state, in collaboration with Datamation Consultants.
- Kerala government approved proposal of state Startup Mission (KSUM) to accord sabbatical leave to faculty members of all colleges who intend to establish startups. An expert panel headed by Saji Gopinath will select 10 faculty members for implementation of project.
- Kolkata (West Bengal) for first time hosted international Puppet festival named PUN (Puppets Unite Neighbours) International Puppet Festival.
- Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched Single Click Pension Delivery scheme where money will go directly into account of approx 35 lakh beneficiaries. He also honoured elderly who completed age of 100 years with Shataayu award.
- Madhya Pradesh Government announced measures for welfare of women in State, including financial assistance of Rs. 2 lakh for remarriage of widows.
- Madhya Pradesh Government inaugurated a community toilet for third gender, in Mangalwara area of Bhopal. This is the first community toilet for exclusive third gender usage in India.
- Madhya Pradesh Government launched Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojna for farmers, to lend money to farmers at 0 % interest.
- Madras high court (Tamilnadu) banned use of pictures of living persons on banners and hoardings in Tamil Nadu, aimed at maintaining clean environment and also ensure that there were no unnecessary drawings on buildings and residential places.
- Maharashtra Government approved climate change adaptation policy that will focus on developing environment-friendly villages and cities.
- Maharashtra Government launched ‘MahaLabharthi‘ web portal that will help people get information about all government schemes at URL https://www.mahalabharthi.in. It works on basis of personal, educational and professional information provided by a person while registering.
- Maharashtra State Government and Tata Trusts entered into a tie-up for social development initiatives in Chandrapur district, to focus on livelihood, digital literacy, data driven governance and child protection.
- Mahindra and Mahindra celebrated Mahila Kisan Diwas and launched Prerna programme to empower women working in agriculture sector. It is first launched in Odisha, aiming to impact lives of over 1,500 families across 30-plus villages.
- Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple (Madurai (TN)) adjudged best ‘Swachh Iconic Place’ in India, owing to high level sanitation and tourist friendly arrangements in the temple.
- Meghalaya Election Department entered Limca Book of Records for formation of the biggest human logo comprising young voters in state. It was part of Mission Unite (U and I towards Enrolment) as part of Special drive to enroll left out voters in age group 18 - 21 years.
- Ministries of Power and Textiles partnered under SAATHI (Sustainable and Accelerated Adoption of efficient Textile technologies to Help small Industries) Initiative Under which Power Ministry's PSU Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) would provide energy efficient Powerlooms, motors and Rapier kits to small and medium Powerloom units at no cost. This will result in energy and cost savings to unit owner and he may repay to EESL over a 4 - 5 years.
- Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) sanctioned INR 200 crores for flood affected reconstruction works in the 4 North Eastern States - Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.
- Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeITY) has set up an internal expert committee to advise government on a policy on artificial intelligence (AI).
- Ministry of Environment and Forests gave stage-I forest clearance for construction of Kaleswaram Lift Irrigation project stage-one in Telangana. Ministry approved about 3,200 hectares of forest land for project,
- Thus project aims to irrigate 7,38,851 hectares of land in upland areas of former undivided districts of Adilabad, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Warangal, Medak, Nalgonda and Rangareddy Its estimated cost is over Rs 80,500 Cr.
- Ministry of External Affairs launched #AsktheSpokesperson initiative on Twitter to create better awareness and understanding of foreign policy issues to general public.
- Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will move a proposal before Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for taking over Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), which is currently under Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA).
- BCAS is responsible for forming policies related to security of all commercial flights. Security agencies at airports, including Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), local police and Intelligence Bureau (IB) are bound by regulations passed by BCAS.
- After BCAS is taken over by MHA, CISF will assume larger role in airport security. It will help in better coordination and monitoring, since CISF, IB and state intelligence all report to MHA.
- Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) will implement Value Engineering Program to promote use of new technologies, materials and equipment in highways projects executed either under Public Private Partnership (PPP) or public funding mode.
- VEP aims to ensure that roads or bridges and other assets get constructed much faster, are structurally stronger and more durable.
- MoRTH also reconstituted nine-member National Panel of Experts (NPE) for approving proposals for use of new technologies, material and equipment in highway sector. It will be chaired by SR Tambe.
- Ministry of tourism organized tourism festival named Paryatan Parv, to draw focus on benefits of tourism and showcase the cultural diversity of country.
- Tourism Ministry gave Letters of Intent (LoI) to seven shortlisted companies for adopting 14 monuments under Adopt a Heritage Scheme at closing ceremony of ‘Paryatan Parv’ held in New Delhi.
- Mizoram’s Dampa Tiger Reserve now holds highest number of clouded leopards in Southeast Asia with population density of clouded leopards being 5.14 per 100 sq km.
- Naresh Kumar Gupta has been appointed as Lokayukta (Ombudsman) of Madhya Pradesh.
- National Centre for Combustion Research and Development (NCCRD) inaugurated at Indian Institute of Technology (Madras) in Tamil Nadu as world’s largest combustion research centre to understand combustion.
- NCCRD is supported by Science and Engineering Research Board (SERN) and has been established at cost of INR 90 crores.
- It will provide impetus to research in ‘Alternative Energy and Environmental Protection’ by focusing on effective utilisation of combustion as means of thermo-chemical energy conversion.
- National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) launched countrywide Free Eye Check-up Campaign and distribution of spectacles for truck drivers as their Poor vision increases risk of collisions.
- NHAI also launched its new website AND Project Monitoring Information System (PMIS) Moblie App for better monitoring of NHAI projects.
- National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will soon get powers to approve highway projects with construction cost of more than Rs 1,000 crore to ensure faster implementation of Bharatmala programme.
- Such projects are currently approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and are often delayed.
- Bharatmala programme envisions 44 economic corridors across country at cost of at least Rs 5 lakh crore. It involves constructing 24,000km of fresh highways.
- National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB) has signed a memorandum of cooperation with Andhra Pradesh State Government to develop technologies relating to banana production.
- National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) signed an MoU each with European Business Technology Centre (EBTC) and Lovely Professional University, for capacity building in intellectual property management by organizing training programmes in IPRs.
- Odisha Government is creating 1.2 lakh acre land bank across state for allocation to industrial sector in order to avoid repeat of Posco Chaos. Companies need pay only base premium upfront for land and annual rent for rest of 90 years lease period.
- Posco (South Korea based world’s fourth-largest steelmaker) signed agreement with Odisha government to set up a 12-million-tonne-capacity steel project in Jagatsinghpur district. It was biggest FDI in India at that point with worth $12 billion. However, POSCO surrendered the land due to its inability to start work on the project, amid land acquisition issues.
- Odisha Government is prepaing 2nd phase of State Climate Change Action Plan (SCCAP) for next five years with an outlay of Rs. 31667 crores. First phase of SCCAP was implemented from 2010-11 to 2015-16 and based on it, 102 action points in 12 major sectors have been identified.
- Official website of Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has been launched at URL http://cipam.gov.in. It will provide updates on all upcoming events of CIPAM and information related to Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).
- PM Narendra Modi approved INR 2000 crores for setting up Aadhaar enrolment and updation facilities in around 15,000 post offices by March 31, 2018.
- PM Narendra Modi has laid foundation stone for four sewerage projects under Namami Gange programme and four National Highway projects at Mokama in Bihar with total outlay of approx INR 3700 crores.
- PM Narendra Modi inaugurated Golden Jubilee Year Celebrations (50 years) of Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), only statutory professional body in India with objective of promoting, regulating and developing profession of Company Secretaries in India.
- PM Narendra Modi laid foundation stone of AIIMS Bilaspur and Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Una.
- PM Narendra Modi laid foundation stone of four-lane cable-stayed bridge between Okha and Beyt Dwarka with lenght 2.32 km and to be constructed at cost of INR 962.43 crores.
- PM also announced setting up of India’s first marine police training institute at Gujarat’s Devbhumi Dwarka district.
- He inaugurated first phase of Ghogha-Dahej Roll-on Roll-off ferry service at Ghogha in Bhavnagar district. It will cut down distance between Saurashtra and South Gujarat by 10 times.
- PM Narendra Modi launched Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) at Gandhinagar in Gujarat.
- PMGDISHA is expected to make 6 crore rural households digitally literate by March 2019 as it aims at imparting digital literacy to citizens in rural areas free of cost.
- He also laid foundation stone for Bhadbhut Barrage to be built over Narmada River in Bharuch (Gujarat).
- Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated first phase of Piped Natural Gas supply system in Bhubaneswar (Odisha). As part of the City Gas Distribution project, 25000 households in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack would get PNG connection by end of 2018 with expenses around 1700 crores.
- President Ram Nath Kovind declared Rural Gujarat as Open Defecation Free (ODF).
- President Ram Nath Kovind launched 100 crore rupees Mata Amritanandamayi Math Project Jeevamrithamto provide filtration system for cleaning drinking water to 5000 villages across India, in kollam district in kerala.
- Punjab Goverment approved increase in gross annual income limit for creamy layer of Other Backward Classes and Backward Classes from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh.
- Punjab Government restored Special Family Pension for widows of government employees killed by extremists, thta was revoked in 2016 by erstwhile Shiromani Akali Dal Government.
- Punjab government will merge 800 primary schools (with less than 20 students) with schools nearby. It aims to improve utilisation of teaching staff in state.
- Railways introduced new tri-weekly Special Rajdhani Express between Delhi and Mumbai to fulfil long demand of passengers of faster connectivity between two cities.
- Rajasthan Government expanded Annapurna Rasoi Yojna in all 191 urban areas of state and flagged off 50 Annapurna vans in Ajmer. 500 smart kitchen vans have been arranged for scheme.
- Under this scheme, people can get breakfast for Rs 5 and lunch and dinner for Rs 8 each. The total estimated cost of implementation of the scheme would be around Rs 400 Cr.
- Rajasthan Government introduced The Code of Criminal Procedure (Rajasthan Amendment) Bill 2017 to protect both serving and former judges, magistrates and public servants in state from being investigated for on-duty action without its prior sanction, replacing Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Ordinance 2017.
- Rajasthan assembly became first in India to call attention and adjournment motions and proposals online from legislators to send them to state government. It wll save time, labour and use of paper in functioning of assembly.
- Rajasthan became first state to incorporate skill development programme in higher education as Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in collaboration with state’s Department of College Education has prepared 16 courses for entrepreneurship and skill development for colleges in state.
- Rajasthan government passed Backward Classes (reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions in State and of Appointments and Posts in Services under State) Bill to increase reservation quota for Other Backward Classes (OBC) from 21 to 26 %.
- Scientists for first time captured images of Snow Leopard at Thembang village’s Community Conserved Area (CCA) in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, using camera trap conducted by World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF-India). This is first evidence of elusive snow leopard in Arunachal Pradesh.
- Standard Chartered Bank opened its Global Business Services (GBS) centre in Bengaluru.
- Supreme Court (SC) directed governments of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Haryana and Rajasthan to ban use of petroleum (pet) coke and furnace oil in the industries with an aim to fight air pollution.
- Supreme Court also fined 2 lakh on Environment Ministry for not fixing pollution emission standards of Sulphur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxide for 34 categories of industries as per as Previous SC Order.
- Supreme Court (SC) imposed ban on the sale of firecrackers till 31st October 2017 in National Capital Region (NCR) Delhi, to check rise in pollution levels due to firecrackers usage during Diwali.
- Tamil Nadu Government laid foundation stone for an aerospace park at Kanchipuram district to be set up in 245 acres and at cost of Rs 198 crores.
- Traditional Mera Houchongba festival celebrated in Manipur, symbolizing brotherhood and unity among indigenous communities in State. A Regional conference of north east labour ministers and officials also held in Imphal (Manipur).
- Traditional festival Mera Houchongba celebrated in Manipur, promotes brotherhood and unity among indigenous communities. It was celebrated at Manipur Royal palace (Sana Konung) in Imphal.
- US-based fintech company Mastercard launched its global research and development arm Mastercard Labs in Pune (India), as second Mastercard Labs in Asia-Pacific After Singapore (9th in world).
- Union Minister for state for social justice and empowerment, Ramdas Athawale launched Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana during 4th workshop of Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana in Mumbai.
- Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana was launched by PM Narendra Modi to make high-quality medicines available to all at affordable prices, especially to poor and underprivileged, through exclusive outlets such as Jan Aushadhi Medical store.
- Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) launched online campaign #IamThatWoman in an attempt to end Gender bias in women against women.
- Uttar Pradesh State Government launched a mass marriage scheme called ‘Mukhyamantri Samoohik Vivaah Yojana’. Under this, social welfare department will conduct mass marriages and will authorize Urban local bodies to organize programmes in this regard. State government also launched Sankalp Seva bus service of 50 buses to connect 6,000 villages.
- Uttar Pradesh government notifed Vrindavan and Barsana towns in Mathura district as Sacred pilgrimage sites, making them first 2 places to be notified as teerth sthal in government records.
- Now, No meat and liquor shops will be allowed in these towns anymore. Aim is to honour sentiments of devotees that who are hurt by opeartions of liquor and meat shops.
- Uttarakhand State Government and Swan Cultural Center and Foundation launched ‘Solar Briefcase’ in Kedarnath Dham, to provide electricity to far-flung areas.
- Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu laid foundation stone to develop Muktyal to Vijayawada waterway stretch on River Krishna as part of National Waterway 4 at Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh. The 82-km inland waterway stretch is Phase-1 of National Waterway-4 developed under Sagar Mala project.
- WWF-India and Capgemini launched One Planet Academy as first environment education portal for students and teachers in India. It is a digital network for schools, teachers and students.
- West Bengal Government will set up a Scheduled Caste advisory council to look into development of the Scheduled Caste population in state. It will be first such scheduled caste advisory council in an Indian state.
Persons
- 38-year-old Sikh lawyer Jagmeet Singh became first non-white politician to head a major political party in Canada - New Democratic Party.
- Freedom of Oxford honour bestowed on Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 1997 by Oxford city has been withdrawn as a rection to her perceived response to plight of Rohingya muslims in Myanmar. Aung San Suu Kyi’s name from Junior Common Room in North Oxford (England) has also been removed.
- A documentary on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, titled ‘An Insignificant Man’, is to be released in November 2017.
- According to Forbes magazine, Jeff Bezos (Amazon CEO) Surpassed Bill Gates as richest person in world with worth $90.6 billion, compared to Gates' $90.1 billion Worth.
- Anup Vikal resigned as e-Commerce Firm Snapdeal’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and General Counsel.
- Credit Card Services Major American Express's CEO CEO Kenneth Chenault would step down in 2018 after 16 years term.
- Facebook India MD Umang Bedi resigned, with Sandeep Bhushan appointed as interim Facebook India MD.
- Former Union minister Purushottam Lal Kaushik passed away. He served as tourism, civil aviation and Information and Broadcasting Minister during 1977 - 1980.
- Indian Former Powerlifter Kavita Devi became first Indian woman to be signed by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
- Indian origin Person Gina Miller named Uk’s most influential black person of the year as she won a legal challenge seeking Parliamentary approval for triggering Brexit.
- Indian-origin teenager Akshay Ruparelia became one of UK’s youngest millionaires at age of 19 through his online estate agency business.
- India’s first Olympic swimmer Shamsher Khan passed away. He represented India in 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne (Australia).
- Kerala High Court restored life ban imposed on cricketer S Sreesanth by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal.
- Noted Bengali Poet Punyaslok Dasgupta passed away.
- Noted Brazilian Sailor Robert Scheidt retired from Olympic Games. He won gold medals in 1996 (Atlanta) Olympics and 2004 (Athens) Olympics.
- Noted British actor Roy Dotrice passed away.
- Noted Indian film director and screenwriter in Hindi and Bengali cinema Ram Mukherjee passed away. He was father of Bollywood actress Rani Mukerji.
- Noted Malayalam director I V Sasi passed away.
- Noted Malayalam writer Punathil Kunjabdulla passed away.
- Noted classical singer of the Seniya and Banaras gharanas, Girija Devi pased away. She was known as Queen of Thumri. She was recipient of Padma Vibhushan - India’s second highest civilian honour.
- Noted filmmaker Filmmaker Kundan Shah passed away.
- Noted historian Satish Chandra passed away, known for his deep work on Mughal Empire. He was also author of NCERT’s leading history book History of Medieval India.
- Noted journalist Bismoy Kumar Mohanty passed way. Known as Owner and Editor of Odia daily Ajikali.
- PepsiCo India CEO D. Shivakumar resigned.
- Princess Rima Bandar bin Sultan has become the first woman to lead a sports federation in Saudi Arabia.
- Samsung Electronics CEO Kwon Oh-hyun resigned.
- Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar (country’s second-most senior legal officer) has resigned.
- Varun Dhawan became youngest Indian actor to have his wax statue at Madame Tussauds Museum in Hong Kong.
- Visits from India -
- Navy Chief Sunil Lanba visited Vietnam.
- Science & Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan visited South Africa to mark 20 years of Science & Technology cooperation between India and South Africa.
- Minister of Commerce & Industry Suresh Prabhu visited Sweden to attend Make in India: Sweden 2017organized by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in Stockholm.
- Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visited Philippines to attend Southeast Asian Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM).
- On sidelines of this meet, Mrs. Nirmala Met US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis. India and USA agreed to implement programme for Helicopter Operations from Ships other Than Aircraft Carriers (HOSTAC).
- Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Arun Jaitley visited Bangladesh.
- Bangladesh signed USD 4.5 billion third line of credit (LoC) agreement with India for its social sector development and infrastructure. The agreement was announced during PM Sheikh Hasina's visit to India in April 2017.
- External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Visited Bangladesh. Bangladesh Petroleum Corp and Numaligarh Refinery Ltd signed long-term sales and purchase agreement . BPC will take up to 250,000 tonnes of gas oil each year from NRL for first 3 years. She inaugurated India’s new chancery complex in Dhaka.
- Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan visited Japan to participate in 6th annual LNG Producers Consumer Conference.
- Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh visited South Africa. He inaugurated Gandhi museum on a small piece of land once owned by Mahatma Gandhi in Durban.
- Minister for Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu visited USA for attending 11th India-United States Trade Policy Forum (TPF) Meeting held in Washington DC.
- Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari Visited UAE for India-United Arab Emirates (UAE) Partnership Summit in Dubai. It was organized under Business Leaders Forum (BLF), an organisation of business leaders in UAE that was set up by UAE Ministry of Economy, Embassy of India and Consulate General of India.
- Visits to India -
- US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited India. Ashraf Ghani, President of Afghanistan also visited India and trilateral discussion of India-USA-Afghnaistan held in New Delhi.
- French Defence Minister Florence Parly visited India.
- India - France joint Naval exercise VARUNA will be held in early 2018.
- Prime Minister of Italy Paolo Gentiloni visited India. It marks 70 years of Diplomatic ties between India and Italy. MOUs Signed are -
- Cooperation for Safety in Railway sector, Energy, Cultural Cooperation.
- Promoting mutual investments between Italian Trade Agency and Invest India.
- Tunisian Foreign Affairs Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui Visited India for 12th Session of India-Tunisia Joint Commission Meet in Delhi.
- World Health Organisation (WHO) announced Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s appointment as its Goodwill Ambassador has been cancelled, After criticism from around the globe for same.
Science
- 5 students from Warangal (Telangana) selected to take part in 5th annual NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge to be held in April 2018 in USA.
- Astronomers discovered a 2 Sun-like star system around 350 light-years away that consumed rocky equivalent of 15 Earths, named Kronos (after child-eating Titan of Greek mythology).
- Cambridge University (UK) researchers discovered that oldest recorded solar eclipse occurred on 30 October 1207 BC, around 3200 years ago. It helped historians to date Egyptian pharaohs, monarchs of ancient Egypt. Solar eclipses are often used as a fixed point to date events in the ancient world.
- China began test runs of world’s first track-less train in Zhuzhou city, that runs on virtual trackand is being considered World’s First smart train. This train could travel at the speed of 70 kmph and is called Autonomous Rail Transit (ART).
- Geologists for first time discovered 152 million-year-old fossil of Ichthyosaur, an extinct marine reptile in in Kutch desert region of Gujarat. The specimen belongs to Ophthalmosauridae family of ichthyosaurs that lived in oceans between 165 and 90 million years ago.
- Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will set up a research centre in Guwahati (Assam) for exploring possibility of using geospatial technology and geographical information systems (GIS).
- International Conference of heads of Metrology Institutes held in Sevres (France) decided that measure of kilogram will no longer be pegged to cylinder. From 2019 onwards, it will be set by value of Planck constant in combination with definitions of meter and second.
- Till now, kilogram is only unit of measures pegged to a real object. But cylinder’s weight in kilogram fluctuates due to surface contamination with time, making it tricky to define its exact mass.
- NASA revealed that a mysterious world called Planet Nine does exist in solar system-
- It might be lingering on icy outer edges of solar system hiding in dark, but stretching out orbits of distant bodies.
- It is very distant and is 10 times mass of Earth and 20 times farther from sun than Neptune.
- NVIDIA unveiled world’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI) computer designed to drive fully autonomous robotaxis, named Pegasus. It be available to NVIDIA automotive partners in the second half of 2018. It will help to create a new class of vehicles that can operate completely without a driver.
- Researchers discovered new species of Gecko at Chhattisgarh’s Kanger Ghati National Park in Eastern Ghats. Its common name is Kanger valley rock gecko and scientific name is Hemidactylus kangerensis.
- Researchers from Brunel University (UK) developed first 3D printed wearable ‘battery’ that stacks silicone, glue and gel electrolyte, layer by layer to make a supercapacitor. It stores energy on its surface without chemical reactions and could be used to power smartphones, electric cars, medical implants like pacemakers etc.
- Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA) developed low-cost rapid test that can quickly and accurately detect Zika and dengue viruses from blood. Test is conducted through a strip which contains gold nano particles and antibodies that react to the presence of Zika or dengue virus.
- Researchers from North Carolina State University in USA found that antibiotic resistance can be passed between bacteria found in soil and spreading manure on ground as fertiliser can also spread antibiotic resistance to bacteria in soil.
- Bacteria contain small DNA molecules known as plasmids that are separate from bacteria's actual DNA and can pick up and exchange genes between bacteria. Thus, these plasmids in bacterias are responsible for antibiotic resistance in soil also.
- Scientists ETH Zurich in Switzerland successfully created the world's shortest X-ray laser pulse with a duration of just 43 attoseconds.
- Its significance lies in fact that to fully understand dynamics during a chemical reaction, scientists must be able to study all movements of atoms and molecules on their basic time scale.
- Molecules rotate in range of picoseconds, their atoms vibrate in the range of femtoseconds, and electrons move in the range of attoseconds.
- This laser pulse is shortest controlled event that has ever been created by humans. Researchers can now observe in high detail how electrons move within a molecule or how chemical bonds are formed.
- Scientists found that parasite called Leptomonas seymouri hosting virus Lepsey NLV1 may be also responsible for spread of kala-azar (visceral leishmaniasis). Earlier it was believed that parasite Leishmania donovani (sandfly) alone is responsible for spread of kala-azar.
- Scientists from Broad Institute and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in USA developed RNA Editing for Programmable A to I Replacement (REPAIR), a new gene editing tool therapies that can reverse disease-causing mutations in humans.
- REPAIR can tweak individual RNA ‘letters’ in human cells without making changes to entire genome and can have profound potential as a tool for both research and disease treatment.
- REPAIR is based on gene editing tool CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) that can be used to modify DNA in cells.
- Scientists from Florida State University (USA) developed new tool for objectively defining onset and demise of Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM). The new method uses rainfall rates to mark span of ISM at any given location throughout affected region.
- Scientists from Thiruvananthapuram based CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST) have developed organic filter that allows only near-infrared (NIR) light to pass through it. It was found to absorb light from 300-850 nm (both ultraviolet, visible and part of NIR light) and transmit NIR light from 850-1500 nm.
- Its Significance lies in fact that Currently available inorganic filters are expensive and brittle whereas organic filters are easy to process and flexible too. The filter can be used for night vision glasses, night photography. It will also have applications in security and forensics such as identifying blood stains on dark fabric which are invisible to naked eyes.
- Scientists from US have developed a smart bandage that can precisely control dose and delivery schedule of medication tailored for a specific type of wound, leading to faster healing. This is first bandage that is capable of dose-dependent drug release and can be used to heal chronic wounds or battlefield injuries.
- Scientists identified a new bacterium from a lime quarry in Karnataka and it will be expecting as a source of antibiotics for several diseases including malaria. It is named as Allostreptomyces indica YIM 75704T and belongs to Streptomycetaceae a family of bacteria.
- Scientists in Austria and China made first video call using quantum encryption, that is said to be unhackable. Encryption through quantum networks uses quantum particles to transfer information from one point to another and hacking Attempts would create detectable disturbances in system.
- USA's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) approved 2nd extension of Dawn mission at Ceres dwarf planet which is largest object in asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
- During this extension, Dawn will descend to lower altitudes than ever before at dwarf planet. Priority of second extension mission is to collect data with Dawn’s gamma ray and neutron spectrometer, which measures number and energy of gamma rays and neutrons.
- USA's Space Exploration Firm SpaceX launched 10 French-designed and USA built satellites for Iridium Satellite Constellation using Falcon 9 Rocket. It provides voice and data coverage to satellite phones, pagers and integrated transceivers over Earth’s entire surface.
- World's First 3D-printed cycling bridge has been made in Gemert (Netherlands). 3D printing is a method of manufacturing an object using a computer by placing layers of material one over other.
- World’s first floating wind farm located in Scotland started generating electricity, using five 6MW turbines procured from Norway. It is expected to generate 135GWh of electricity each year.
- World’s first hybrid electric tram powered by hydrogen fuel cells started running in Tangshan (north China’s Hebei Province). It marks a big step in application of green energy in public transport as water is only emission of this Tram and it emits no pollutants.
- It can can run for 40 kilometers at a maximum speed of 70 kilometers per hour after being refilled with 12 kilograms of hydrogen.
- World’s first negative emissions plant under CarbFix Project to turn atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) into stone begun operations in Hellisheidi (Iceland), intended to lock away carbon dioxide by reacting it with basaltic rocks.
- In CarbFix Project, CO2 is captured from ambient air, bound to water, and sent 700 meters underground. There, CO2 reacts with basaltic bedrock using enhanced weathering process and forms solid minerals, creating a permanent storage solution.
Sports
- 2017 European Open Men's Tennis 2017 -
- Singles - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France)
- Doubles - Scott Lipsky (USA) AND Divij Sharan (India)
- 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup (India)
- England won the Title with Spain as Runners-up. England won the finals by 5-2 Goals.
- Brazil Stayed Third. Final match was played in Kolkata. Tournament had total 24 Participant Teams.
- Other Honours -
- Phil Foden of England adjudged tournament’s best player and has been awarded ‘Golden Ball’.
- Rhian Brewster from England scored most goals (8 goals) and has been awarded, 'Golden Boot'.
- Gabriel Brazao (goalkeeper of Brazil) won ‘Golden Glove’ and Brazil won Fair Play Award.
- Other Facts -
- Nigeria is most successful team in U17 FIFA World Cups, with 5 titles so far.
- FIFA U17 World cup does not has provision of Giving prize money to winners.
- It was First FIFA Tournament hosted by India. Matches were played in six stadiums in six host cities - Kolkata, Kochi, New Delhi, Mumbai, Guwahati, Margao.
- Jackson Singh Thounaojam Became India's first goal Scorer in FIFA Tournaments as he scored a Header Goal in FIFA U-17 World Cup match against Colombia. India could not win a match though.
- Hyundai India were official transportation partner for Tournament.
- Adidas launched campaign #HereToCreate to inspire young football talent in India and to kick start a football revolution.
- Switzerland’s Esther Staubli became first female referee to officiate at a FIFA U-17 World Cup Match, when Japan and New Caledonia met in Kolkata.
- Official Mascot was clouded leopard named ‘Kheleo’ ad official ball is called ‘Krasava’.
- USA-Based Namit Deshpande became First NRI to Play for India’s U17 World Cup Team.
- 2017 Shanghai Rolex Masters Men's Tennis Title -
- Singles - Roger Federer (Switzerland)
- Doubles - John Peers (Australia) AND Henri Kontinen (Finland)
- 2017 Sultan of Johor Cup Hockey Tournament (Malaysia) -
- Australia won their 2nd title by winning over Great Britain in Final.
- India defeated Malaysia to grab 3rd Place in Tournament.
- 2017 Swiss Indoors (Basel) Men's Tennis 2017-
- Singles - Roger Federer (Switzerland)
- Doubles - Ivan Dodig (Croatia) AND Marcel Granollers (Spain)
- 2017 Tianjin Open Women's Tennis 2017 -
- Singles - Maria Sharapova (Russia). Its her first title since returning from a 15-month doping ban, defeating Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
- Doubles - Irina-Camelia Begu (Romania) AND Sara Errani (Italy)
- 2017 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships (47th) held in Montreal (Canada) -
- Medal table
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 China 3 1 2 6 2 Japan 3 0 1 4 3 Russia 1 3 2 6 4 United States 1 3 1 5 5 Germany 1 0 1 2 Great Britain 1 0 1 2
- India could not win a medal in the event.
- 2018 Commonwealth Games (21st) will be held on Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
- 2018 winter Olympics will be held in Pyeongchang (South Korea). Olympics Champions League winner Park Ji-sung will be first South Korean to carry flame for 2018 winter Olympics.
- 20th Asia Masters Athletics Championship held in Rugao (China) -
- India finished second with 146 medals, including 37 golds, 43 silvers and 66 bronze. China was at top of list.
- Australian fast bowler John Hastings retired from Test and ODI Cricket.
- BCCI mandated every cricketer to pass a yo-yo test, like applied by various sports including hockey and football.
- In a yo-yo test, players have to pace themselves to and fro between two rows of cones kept 20 metres apart. For every round the player has to sync his sprint with the beeps that are played.
- Badminton Player RMV Gurusaidutt won men’s singles title at Bulgarian International Future Series tournament, defeating Muhammed Ali Kurt (Turkey).
- China Open Tennis 2017 -
- Men's Singles - Rafael Nadal (Spain)
- Women's Singles - Caroline Garcia (France)
- Men's Doubles - Henri Kontinen (Finland) AND John Peers (Australia)
- Women's Doubles - Chan Yung-jan (Chinese Taipei) AND Martina Hingis (Switzerland)
- Cricket Association of Puducherry (CAP) chosen as an associate member of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Now, Puducherry will be allowed to play Ranji Trophy in 2018.
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) won 2017 Fifa Men's Player award and Lieke Martens (Netherlands) won Fifa Women's Player of the year award in London (UK).
- Delhi State Olympic Association will organise Delhi Olympic Games in December 2017. Aim is to promote Olympics and spirit of sports in Delhi. 9 day sporting events will include hockey, boxing, wrestling, weightlifting, swimming, karate, wushu and 28 other disciplines. Olympic wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt will be brand ambassador of Delhi Olympic Games 2017.
- Denmark Open Badminton 2017 -
- Men's Singles - Srikanth Kidambi (India), He Defeated Lee Hyun-il (South Korea)
- Women's Singles - Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand)
- Men's Doubles Chinese Pair of Liu Cheng AND Zhang Nan
- Women's Doubles South Korean pair of Lee So-hee AND Shin Seung-chan
- Mixed Doubles - Hong Kong's Tang Chun Man AND Tse Ying Suet
- FIFA suspended Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) due to being included in corruption and malpractices.
- Football club Mohun Bagan won 37th All India Governor’s Gold Cup football tournament, defeating Partha Chakra in Gangtok (Sikkim).
- Forbes richest sportsmen 2017 List -
- Portugese Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo leads the list, followed by LeBron James (American basketball player) and Lionel Messi (Argentinian Footballer).
- Virat Kohli is only cricketer to feature in Top 100 list.
- ICC approved 9 team Test Championship and a 13-team One-Day International league.
- Test competition will begin after 2019 World Cup and will have 9 teams play six series over two years.
- 50-over event will be held in 2020.
- IPL Franchise Kochi Tuskers won arbitration case against Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over wrongful termination from Indian Premier League (IPL) and demanded 850 crore compensation from BCCI.
- Kochi Tuskers' IPL contract was terminated by BCCI in 2011, citing breach of franchise agreement. Kochi Tuskers appealed against this decision.
- ISSF World Cup Final 2017 Held in New Delhi -
- Hosts India finished 7th overall with 1 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze.
- Gold - Jitu Rai/Heena Sidhu (mixed team 10m air pistol)
- Silver - Sangram Dahiya (men's double trap)
- Bronze - Amanpreet Singh (50m pistol).
- Medal Tally -
- Italy Remained at top in ISSF World Cup Finals Delhi 2017, followed by China
- China's Rio 2016 10m air pistol women's champion, Mengxue Zhang and Gengcheng Sui, were crowned Champion of Champions in pistol and rifle respectively.
- In Overall ISSF World Cup 2017 (1st Leg in Delhi in Feb, 2nd Leg in Munich (Germany) in May, 3rd Leg in Gabala (Azerbaijan) in June and Finals in Delhi) -
- India stayed at 6th with 9 Medals (3 G, 3 S, 3 B).
- China at top with 37 Medals, Followed by Italy (15) and USA (10).
- Iceland becomes smallest country ever (3.3 Million Population) to qualify for FIFA World Cup, after topping its qualifying group. FIFA World cup 2018 is to be held in Russia.
- India Cricket Coach Ravi Shastri emerged as world’s highest earning cricket coach with salary of 1.17 million dollars per year, according to ESPNCricinfo. It is higher than Australian Coach Darren Lehman ($0.55 million) and England Coach Trevor Bayliss ($0.52 million).
- India captain Mithali Raj occupied number one spot in latest ICC ODI rankings for batswomen, followed by Ellyse Perry of Australia and Amy Satterthwaite of New Zealand. Mithali has 753 points. Indian captain Virat Kohli also returned to top of ICC ODI rankings for batsmen with 889 points, best ever by an India batsman.
- Meanwhile, Indian bowler Jasprit Bumrah also ranked at 1st spot in ICC T20 rankings.
- India won 2017 Asia Cup hockey title by defeating Malaysia in final. Tournament was layed in Bangladesh. It was India’s 3rd Asia Cup title, after 2003 and 2007.
- India's Table Tennis Player Selena Selvakumar won Junior girls' singles and doubles titles in ITTF World Junior Circuit event 2017 in Egypt.
- Indian Badminton Player Samiya Imad Farooqui won gold medal at Under-15 women’s singles competition at Asian Junior Championship in Yangon (Myanmar).
- Indian Chess Player and Five time World Champion Viswanathan Anand finished second at Isle of Man Chess Championship at Douglas. Magnus Carlsen (Norway) won title.
- Isle of Man (Mann) is a self-governing Crown dependency in Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland.
- Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli Became Fastest Batsman to score 9000 ODI runs, achieving this in Just 194 Innings. He is also biggest scorer in 200 ODI Innings.
- Indian Cricketer Yuvraj Singh appointed as Laureus Ambassador, joining legendry cricketers such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Kapil Dev.
- Indian Golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar won his eighth Asian Tour title as he won Macau Open 2017. It is his first Asian Tour trophy of the year.
- Indian Player Amjyot Singh and Indian Origin Player Gokul Natesan Entered USA's Prestigious National Basketball Association (NBA) league.
- They made it to NBA's minor league - the G-League. Amjyot Singh was picked by Oklahoma City Blue and Gokul Natesan picked by Canton Charge.
- Indian football team qualified for 2019 Asian Cup after winning over Macau in qualifying round. AFC Asisn Cup will be held in Jan - Feb 2019 in UAE.
- Indian golfer 28-year-old Ajeetesh Sandhu won Asian Tour title at Yeangder Tournament Players Championship (TPC) at Taipei.
- India’s Anupama Ramachandran won World Open Under-16 Snooker Championship title at St. Petersburg in Russia.
- India’s junior women boxers won 8 medals (with 4 gold) in 3rd Youth International Championships Balkan Open 2017 at Sofia (Bulgaria).
- International Cricket Council (ICC) announced New Zealand Cricketer Corey Anderson as event ambassador for ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup 2018 to be held in New Zealand.
- International Cricket Council (ICC) approved four-day Tests on a trial basis between South Africa and Zimbabwe from 26-29 December, 2017.
- International Hockey Federation (FIH) declared that China have qualified for the Hockey World Cup for the first time.
- 2018 Hockey world cup (14th Hockey WC) will be held in Bhubaneswar (India).
- International Weightlifting Federation banned Russia & China and 7 other countries from weightlifting for a year in an attempt to combat doping. It was decided after re-testing anti-doping samples from 2008 & 2012 Olympics and Countries with at least 3 doping offenses were suspended.
- Mahaveer Raghunathan became first Indian to win a European racing championship, after he won Boss GP Championship (Formula Class) title at Imola, Italy.
- Manav Thakkar became first Indian to occupy top spot (3,455 points) on ITTF World Junior Circuit standings. He reached top position after finishing runner-up at 2017 Serbian Junior and Cadet Open in Belgrade (Serbia).
- Mercedes Racer Lewis Hamilton (Britain) won Japanese Grand Prix -
- 2017 Formula 1 Season -
Round Grand Prix Winner Date 1 Australian Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 26 March 2 Chinese Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 9 April 3 Bahrain Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 16 April 4 Russian Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas (Finland) 30 April 5 Spanish Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 14 May 6 Monaco Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 28 May 7 Canadian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 11 June 8 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) 25 June 9 Austrian Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas (Finland) 9 July 10 British Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 16 July 11 Hungarian Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 30 July 12 Belgian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 27 August 13 Italian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 3 September 14 Singapore Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 17 September 15 Malaysian Grand Prix Max Verstappen (Belgian - Dutch) 1 October 16 Japanese Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 8 October 17 United States Grand Prix 22 October 18 Mexican Grand Prix 29 October 19 Brazilian Grand Prix 12 November 20 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 26 November
- Mercedes Racer Lewis Hamilton (Britain) won USA Grand Prix -
- 2017 Formula 1 Season -
Round Grand Prix Winner Date 1 Australian Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 26 March 2 Chinese Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 9 April 3 Bahrain Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 16 April 4 Russian Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas (Finland) 30 April 5 Spanish Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 14 May 6 Monaco Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 28 May 7 Canadian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 11 June 8 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) 25 June 9 Austrian Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas (Finland) 9 July 10 British Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 16 July 11 Hungarian Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 30 July 12 Belgian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 27 August 13 Italian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 3 September 14 Singapore Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 17 September 15 Malaysian Grand Prix Max Verstappen (Belgian - Dutch) 1 October 16 Japanese Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 8 October 17 United States Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 22 October 18 Mexican Grand Prix 29 October 19 Brazilian Grand Prix 12 November 20 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 26 November
- Netherlands’s Noted Football Player Arjen Robben retireed from international football.
- Noted Indian pacer Ashish Nehra retired from all forms of cricket. He played His last Match as a T20 against New Zealand.
- Patna Pirates won 5th Season of Pro Kabaddi title (Their third consecutive), defeating Gujarat Fortunegiants.
- Pooja Kadian won India’s first ever gold medal at Wushu World Championships 2017 held in Russia.
- Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka) became first left-arm spinner to take 400 wickets in Test Cricket. He is 14th overall and second sri lankan after Muttiah Muralitharan to pick 400 test wickets.
- Red Bull Racer Max Verstappen (Born in Belgium and competes under Dutch flag) won Malaysian Grand Prix -
- 2017 Formula 1 Season -
Round Grand Prix Winner Date 1 Australian Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 26 March 2 Chinese Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 9 April 3 Bahrain Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 16 April 4 Russian Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas (Finland) 30 April 5 Spanish Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 14 May 6 Monaco Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 28 May 7 Canadian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 11 June 8 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) 25 June 9 Austrian Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas (Finland) 9 July 10 British Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 16 July 11 Hungarian Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 30 July 12 Belgian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 27 August 13 Italian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 3 September 14 Singapore Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 17 September 15 Malaysian Grand Prix Max Verstappen (Belgian - Dutch) 1 October 16 Japanese Grand Prix 8 October 17 United States Grand Prix 22 October 18 Mexican Grand Prix 29 October 19 Brazilian Grand Prix 12 November 20 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 26 November
- Red Bull Racer Max Verstappen (Born in Belgium and competes under Dutch flag) won Mexican Grand Prix -
- Britain’s Lewis Hamilton has been crowned Formula One world champion 2017, fourth world Formula One title for Hamilton.
- 2017 Formula 1 Season -
Round Grand Prix Winner Date 1 Australian Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 26 March 2 Chinese Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 9 April 3 Bahrain Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 16 April 4 Russian Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas (Finland) 30 April 5 Spanish Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 14 May 6 Monaco Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 28 May 7 Canadian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 11 June 8 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) 25 June 9 Austrian Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas (Finland) 9 July 10 British Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 16 July 11 Hungarian Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 30 July 12 Belgian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 27 August 13 Italian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 3 September 14 Singapore Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 17 September 15 Malaysian Grand Prix Max Verstappen (Belgian - Dutch) 1 October 16 Japanese Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 8 October 17 United States Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 22 October 18 Mexican Grand Prix Max Verstappen (Belgian - Dutch) 29 October 19 Brazilian Grand Prix 12 November 20 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 26 November
- Shakib Al Hasan became first Bangladesh Cricketer to be inducted in the MCC World Cricket Committee under chairmanship of Mike Gatting. Also added to the committee are Suzie Bates, Ian Bishop and Kumar Dharmasena.
- Spoterperson Brand List 2017 by Forbes -
- Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli ranks ahead of Argentinian Football Star Lionel Messi, with brand value of $14.5 million and ranks 7th in list.
- Tennis legend Roger Federer leads the list with a brand value of $37.2m.
- Brand value is an athlete’s earnings (excluding salary and bonus from their sport and all investment income), minus average income of top 10 athletes in same sport.
- TVS Racer Jagan Kumar won his sixth straight title in MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship in Chennai (Tamil Nadu).
- Tyrrell Hatton (UK) became first Golfer to retain the Alfred Dunhill Links Golf Championship title (Scotland).
- Veda Krishnamurthy became 3rd Indian Female cricketer to be signed for Australia's Fanous T-20 Cricket Legaue Big Bash. She will play for Hobart Hurricanes. Note that Harmanpreet Kaur was first Indian women cricketer to be signed for Big Bash League.
- Yonex French Open Badminton 2017 -
- Men's Singles - Kidambi Srikanth (India), by defeating Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto.
- Women's Doubles - Tai Tzu-ying (Chinese Taipei)
- Men's Doubles - Lee Jhe-huei AND Taipei Lee Yang (Chinese Taipei)
- Women's Doubles - Greysia Polii AND Apriyani Rahayu (Indonesia)
- Youth World Archery Championship in Rosario (Argentina) -
- Medal table -
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 United States 4 4 3 11 2 South Korea 4 3 1 8 3 Mexico 3 1 3 7 4 Chinese Taipei 2 2 1 5 Great Britain 2 2 1 5 6 Turkey 1 1 2 4 7 India 1 1 1 3
- India - Ankita Bhakat and Jemson Singh Ningthoujam won gold in Recurve Event. India also won a silver and a bronze.
- After this appointment, Supreme Court adjourned hearing of plea (filed by Delhi-based NGO in 2014) challenging Article 35A of Constitution by 3 months.
- Article 35A of empowers J&K legislature to define permanent residents (PR) of state. It was added through Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954 issued under Article 370 of Constitution.
- J&K Constitution adopted on November 17, 1956 defines Permanent Resident as person who has been resident of state for 10 years and has acquired immovable property in state. Provision of Permanent Resident bars Indian citizens of other states to settle in J&K and do any personal or professional activities. Therefore, Plea was filed to remove Article 35A of constitution.
- Vinay Mohan Kwatra - Principality of Monaco
- Sibi George - Switzerland.
- Pooja Kapur - Macedonia.
- Manika Jain - Cambodia
- N.J.Gangte - Zambia
- C.K. Mishra - Secretary in Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change.
- Injeti Srinivas - Secretary in Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
- Gopal Krishna - Secretary in Ministry of Shipping
- Preeti Sudan - Secretary in Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
- Mahesh Kumar Gupta - Member (Engineering) in Railway Board.
- D.K.Gayen - Member (Staff) in Railway Board
- Kalakar Puraskar honors Konkani artistes from fields of folk arts, theatre, music and dance. Award carries a cash award of Rs 25,000 and a citation.
- The award consists of a citation and a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh and is bestowed on Oct 31.
- Since 1987, World Food Prize is awarded annually by World Food Prize Foundation to recognize contributions in any field related to world food supply.
- It is given by Man Group (UK) with £50,000 as Prize Money. Man Booker Prize begun in 2005. It is 8th edition of these awards.
- Physics - Rainer Weiss (USA), Barry C. Barish (USA) and Kip Throne (USA) for decisive contributions to LIGO detector and observation of gravitational waves.
- Chemistry - Jacques Dubochet (Switzerland), Joachim Frank (Germany) and Richard Henderson (Scotland) for developing a technique to produce detailed images of life’s complex molecular machinery.
- Physiology / Medicine - American trio of Jeffrey C. Hall (USA), Michael Rosbash (USA) and Michael W. Young (USA) for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm.
- Literature - Kazuo Ishiguro (Japan).
- Peace - International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) for its work to draw attention to catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.
- Economic Sciences - Richard H. Thaler (USA) for his contributions to behavioral economics. It is also called Sveriges Riksbank Prize (Sveriges Riksbank is Sweden’s central bank).
- About Nobel Prize -
- Established in 1895, in memory of Swedish inventor Alfred Bernhard Nobel.
- Prize ceremonies take place annually in Stockholm (Sweden), except peace prize which is held in Oslo (Norway)
- Each recipient received US$1.1 Million.
- Among total 835 recipients so far, 12 are Indians (5 Indian citizens and 7 of Indian origin or residency). Rabindranath Tagore was first Indian citizen to be awarded (1913) and Mother Teresa is the only woman in list (1979).
- Vayalar Award was instituted in 1977 by Vayalar Ramavarma Memorial Trust in memory of Malayalam poet and lyricist Vayalar.
- Separation of roles - Roles of chairman and managing director at listed firms should be separated and chairmanship should be limited to only non-executive directors.
- Minimum board strength - Should be increased to 6 members and at least one woman should be appointed as independent director.
- Independent Directors - At least half of board members to be independent directors at listed companies.
- Shareholder meeting and cash flow statement - Top 100 firms by market capitalisation should webcast shareholder meeting and all listed firms should have cash flow statement every six months.
- Credit ratings - Updated list of all credit ratings obtained by the listed entity must be made available at one place, which would be very helpful for investors and other stakeholders.
- Minimum remuneration - Independent directors must get minimum remuneration of Rs 5 lakh per annum and sitting fee of Rs 20,000-50,000 for each board meet.
- Risk management and IT committee - Top-500 listed companies should have risk management committee of boards for cyber security.
- Section 66A of the IT Act deals with arrests of people for posting content deemed to be allegedly objectionable on Internet.
- Committee will look to make GST Composition Scheme more attractive as only 15.50 lakh businesses out of total 98 lakh GST registered ones opted for composition scheme.
- GoM will also revisit tax structure of different categories of restaurants in order to rationalise rates which is Currently 12% on non-AC restaurants and 18% on air-conditioned ones.
- GST Composition scheme -
- It is an alternative method of levy of tax designed for small taxpayers whose turnover is up to Rs 75 lakh (Rs 50 lakh in case of 8 north-eastern states and hilly state of Himachal Pradesh). Its aims to bring simplicity for small taxpayers as manufacturers have to pay 2% tax on their annual turnover and file returns quarterly. The tax rate is 5% for restaurant services and 1% for traders.
- IAF on this occasion launched mobile health App named MedWatch. It has features that will provide authentic health information to all IAF personnel.
- Andhra Pradesh Government launched Swachh Andhra Mission on this occasion, with Badminton Player PV Sindhu as brand ambassador.
- On this occasion, Nepali version of MK Gandhi’s autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth released in Kathmandu, translated by Shekhar Giri.
- On This occasion, Bihar government launched drive against child marriage and dowry.
- On This occasion, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG) was conferred with Swachh Bharat Inter-Ministerial Award.
- On This Occasion, Uttar Pradesh Government announced to double ex-gratia amount for police officials martyred on duty. Now this amount becomes INR 40 lakh, compared to INR 20 lakh earlier.
- It is India’s first major warship to have a superstructure of carbon fibre composite material resulting in improved stealth features, lower top weight and maintenance costs.
- Defence Cyber Agency will work in close coordination with National Cyber Security Advisor and It will focus on non-civilian cyber issues, including safeguarding critical infrastructure. It will be have over 1,000 personnel.
- Defence Space Agency will work closely with ISRO and DRDO for better utilisation and integration of space resources. It will have over 200 personnel.
- Special Operations Division will have components of Special Forces of Army, Navy and IAF and will be trained together for various external contingencies.
- India will surpass China as the fastest-growing product market in Asia for petroleum consumption, growing at 6 % in 2018, as compared to 2.5-3 % Growth rate for China.
- In absolute terms, China will still account for nearly half of demand in region.
- China and India will be key growth engines within Asia Pacific region, representing over 80 % of sector’s expected growth in 2018.
- AU Financiers was initially a non-banking finance company (NBFC) and got licence of Small Finance bank from RBI in Dec 2016.
- Additionally, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) left past Bajaj Auto to become 2nd biggest bike seller in India during first half of ongoing fiscal. While Hero MotoCorp continues to top the list.
- India will maintain its place as top remittances receiving nation with overseas Indians sending in USD 65 billion in 2017, compared to 62.7 Billion USD in 2016.
- Other top 5 remittances receiving countries after India - China (USD 61 billion), Philippines (USD 33 billion), Mexico (USD 31 billion), and Nigeria (USD 22 billion).
- CVC will observe vigilance awareness week from 30 October to 4 November 2017 with theme My Vision Corruption Free India.
- Rukaiya Rangwala is recently Appointed as MobiKwik's Payment Gateway Business Head.
- CCP is a corporate entity which guarantees the terms of a trade even if a buyer or seller defaults on the agreement.
- As per Basel III framework, entities are subjected to lower capital requirement/charges while participating in capital markets through qualified central counterparty (CCP).
- This certification will now enable European entities to have lower capital requirements to participate in Indian Capital Markets.
- Now banks will sell National Savings Time Deposit Scheme 1981, National Savings (Monthly Income Account) Scheme 1987, National Savings Recurring Deposit Scheme 1981 and NSC VIII issue.
- So far, these banks were allowed to receive subscription only under Public Provident Fund (PPF), Kisan Vikas Patra-2014, Sukanya Samriddhi Account, Senior Citizen Savings Scheme-2004.
- Japanese financial services company Nomura stated that India’s GDP growth will be around 7.1 % in 2017-18.
- Asian Development Bank (ADB) predicted 7 % for India in 2017 - 18 and 7.4 % in 2018 - 19.
- OECD (Paris based think tank) announced that Indian economy will grow at 6.7 % in 2017-2018.
- International Monetary Fund (IMF) trimmed India’s growth forecast for 2017-18 to 6.7% from 7.2 earlier. Forecast for 2018-19 is 7.4 %.
- World Bank reduced India’s GDP growth forecast to 7% for 2017-18 from 7.2% estimated earlier.
- NITI Aayog expects GDP to grow at 6.9-7 % in 2017-18 and 7.5% in 2018-19.
- Capital infusion will be done to check widening losses of PSB Banks due to Rise in NPAs. NPAs of banks had more than doubled to Rs. 7.33 lakh crore in June 2017 from Rs. 2.75 lakh crore in March 2015.
- Under this plan, PSBs will get Rs 1.35 lakh crore from Recapitalisation Bonds, 18,000 crore from Budgetary and 58,000 through sale of share of banks.
- Government also constituted Alternative Mechanism Panel headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to oversee merger proposals of public sector banks (PSBs).
- It was announced as part of INR 9 lakh crore package to Boost economy, that also includes 2.11 lakh crore for bank recapitalisation.
- Bharatmala -
- It will include economic corridors (9,000 km), inter-corridor and feeder route (6,000 km), national corridors efficiency improvement (5,000 km), border roads and international connectivity (2,000 km), coastal roads and port connectivity (2,000 km) and greenfield expressways (800 km).
- BharatMala project will be funded in three-pronged manner – market, private investment and asset recycling of NHAI’s toll assets. Of total INR 5,35,000 crore, 2.09 lakh crore will be raised as debt from market, 1.06 lakh crore will be mobilised through public-private partnership (PPP) mode and 2.19 lakh crore will flow from accruals of Central Road Funds and toll collections.
- Sovereign Gold Bonds were launched under sovereign gold bond scheme in November 2015, to reduce demand for physical gold and shift part of domestic savings, used for purchase of gold, into financial savings.
- Features of Sovereign Gold Bonds -
- Denomination in units of one gram of gold and multiples thereof. Minimum investment in bonds is one gram. Maximum limit will be of 4 kg for individual and HUF (Hindu Undivided Family) and 20 kg for trusts and similar entities.
- Issue price will be fixed in Rupees on basis of simple average of closing price of gold of 999 purity published by the India Bullion and Jewellers Association.
- Interest rate will be 2.50% per annum payable semi-annually on nominal value.
- Tenor will be 8 years with exit option from 5th year, that can exercised on the interest payment dates.
- Bonds can be used as collateral for loans and will be also tradable on stock exchanges.
- Capital gains tax on it has been exempted.
- Government already made mandatory to link Aadhaar to PAN by December 31, 2017 and SIM connections by February 2018.
- Some 135 welfare schemes are to be linked to Aadhaar by March 31, 2018.
- Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) also launched new online facility for its members to Aadhaar number with their Universal Account Number (UAN) to ensure speedy EPFO services.
- HSBC recently appointed John Flint as its next CEO.
- Addressing banking and corporate sector weaknesses
- Continued fiscal consolidation through revenue measure
- Improving efficiency of labour and product markets.
- Kotak Mahindra Bank also tied up with Samsung Pay to enable its credit and debit cardholders to tap and pay using Samsung smart phones at merchants. It uses the Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) that enables consumers to make in-store payments without need for a physical card.
- It aims to help in ease of doing business, enhance ‘Make In India’ campaign and ensure availability of quality products and services to consumers.
- BIS Act 2016 establishes BIS as the National Standards Body of India for the purpose of standardization, marking and certification of articles and processes. It has broaden BIS’s ambit and allows central government to make it mandatory for certain notified goods, articles, processes, etc to carry standard mark.
- Repo Rate - 6.00 %
- Reverse Repo - 5.75 %
- Bank Rate - 6.25 %
- Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate - 6.25 %
- CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) - 4 %
- SLR(Statutory Liquidity ratio) - 19.5 % (Changed from 20 %)
- Options are an instrument that gives buyer right to buy or sell an underlined at present price on a future date. They are of two types: puts (right to sell) and calls (right to buy).
- NABARD also sanctioned amount INR 273 crore to Andhra Pradesh Government for Rural Water supply, Road and Bridge projects. These funds have been sanctioned under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF).
- Odisha government also launched porta for Open State Government Data Platform at odisha.data.gov.in, to share data with people.
- Recently RBI notified that peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms would be treated as non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).
- RBI has now stated that aggregate exposure of a lender to all borrowers and Aggregate loans taken by a Borrower shall not exceed 10 lakh, across all P2P Platforms.
- Exposure of a single lender to the same borrower is capped at Rs. 50,000. Tenure of the loan should not exceed 36 months.
- Yes Bank - 6 crore penalty for misreporting data on non-performing assets. Yes Bank reported Its NPAs to be INR 748.9 Crores as of March 2016 while RBI stats tell that its is 5.5 Times more than this figure. Yes Bank has also been penalized for failing to report a security incident involving its ATMs on time.
- IDFC Bank - 2 crore penalty for breaching regulations on giving loans. RBI said That IDFC Bank failed to comply with regulations pertainting to sanction/renewal of loans and advances.
- LEI number will help banks in monitoring the aggregate exposure of corporate borrowers. Firms can obtain their LEI code from Legal Entity Identifier India Ltd. (LEIL).
- LEI is a global reference number that uniquely identifies every legal entity or structure that is party to a financial transaction. It is a unique 20 digit alphanumeric code that is assigned to a legal entity.
- LEI system has been set up Global authorities to enable identification and linking of parties to financial transactions in order to manage counterparty risk.
- Bad loans of NBFCs amount to around Rs.74,230 crores. However, compared to banks, NBFCs reported a fairly higher Return on Assets.
- Capital to Risk-weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) of NBFCs has declined in recent years. Still, it was higher than the prescribed regulatory level of 15 %.
- Capital to Risk-Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) OR Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) is ratio of a bank's capital to its risk. It marks bank's ability to absorb a reasonable amount of loss.
- RBI also announced fresh KYC guidelines for PPIs (Prepaid Payment Instruments). With these guidelines to complete full KYC formalities, mobile wallet user can now send-receive money between wallets of different companies and banks seamlessly through Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
- E-Wallet firms have been instructed to ensure KYC compliance of existing users by December 31, 2017.
- Users who do not have stipulated KYC in place, will be allowed to keep only up to Rs 10,000 in wallets post deadline.
- No credit facility will be provided to such users, if KYC is not completed within next 12 months.
- As per MPS Norms, Any listed company must have at least 25 % as public shareholders and 75 % can be held by promoters.
- Earlier, a trade with a minimum quantity of 5 lakh shares or minimum value of Rs. 5 crore, executed through a single transaction was referred to as ‘Block Deal’. Buyers and seller were allowed to enter Block Deal Orders only during first 35 minutes of continuous trading session i.e. from 9:15 am to 9:50 am.
- India aims to raise renewable energy capacity to 175 gigawatts (GW) by 2022, from 57 GW currently. Solar Energy accounts for 100 GW in that target.
- No charges for transactions under Rs 1000.
- INR 1 - Between 1000 - 10,000
- INR 2 - Between 10001 - 100000
- English version of GST Rate Finder was launched in July 2017 and now telugu version is first regional language version of this app.
- India has ranked 28th out of 30 countries. India’s overall index value in 2017 is 44.9, which marks an improvement over index value of 43.4 in 2016.
- Denmark has retained the top spot in this index for sixth consecutive year.
- In recent years, 3 African Nations South Africa, Gambia and Burundi expressed their intent to leave ICC citing reason that it focuses too much on African nations.
- Indian consumers regard Google as most authentic brand, followed by Microsoft, Amazon, Maruti Suzuki and Apple.
- Amazon tops list globally, followed by Apple.
- India has 108 publicly-listed family owned businesses, 3rd highest in world. With average market capitalization of USD 6.5 billion, India ranks 5th in Asia Pacific and 22nd globally, in terms of average m-cap.
- Top 5 countries in terms of number of family-owned companies - China, USA, India, France AND Hong Kong
- USA Prez Donald Trump is most followed leader on Twitter, followed by Pope Francis and Indian PM Narendra Modi.
- India is among 5 countries (including Pakistan, Nigeria, Congo and Ethiopia) that are responsible for half of all new-born deaths in world, with approx 5 Million children diying before reaching age of 5 in 2016.
- Also, With 2.51 million deaths in 2015, India is at top in pollution related deaths, according to a report by The Lancet Commission on pollution and health. China follows India with 1.8 Million Pollution Victims.
- Indian carriage depicts elephants and yoga.
- Chinese carriage is red and displays icons such as the Great Wall and Tian’anmen Square.
- Brazilian carriage is green and decorated with images of footballs and football stars.
- Russian carriage shows country’s ballet and matryoshka dolls.
- South African carriage displays pictures of diamonds.
- Sixth carriage combines cultural elements from all the five BRICS countries.
- India ranked 8th most valuable nation brand while USA retained its top position and China took second spot.
- In terms of valuation, India’s National Brand Value in 2017 is $2.04 trillion, down by 1% from last year’s $2.06 trillion. However, India’s brand rating has improved from ‘AA-‘ to ‘AA’.
- MOU with Switzerland for technical co-operation in Rail sector.
- Approval of Extradition Treaty wirth Lithuania, to provide a legal framework for seeking extradition of terrorists, economic offenders and other criminals from and to Lithuania.
- MoU for upgradation of Women’s Police Training Centre at Yamethin (Myanmar).
- Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with Japan on Technical Intern Training Program (TITP). Under this, India will send 3-lakh youth to Japan for on-job training for 3-5 years.
- MOC with Japan on establishing a Liquid, Flexible and Global LNG Market.
- MoU between Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Financial Services Commission (Gibraltar) for mutual co-operation and technical assistance.
- MOU between Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Capital Markets Authority (Kuwait).
- MoU with Morocco on cooperation in water resources.
- Government approed updating status of International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) from Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) to Inter-Governmental Organization (IGO). It will bring IALA at par with International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO) and will enable more safe, economic and efficient movement of vessels.
- Extradition Treaty with Lithuania to provide legal framework for seeking extradition of economic offenders, terrorists and other criminals from and to Lithuania.
- Japanese capital Tokyo topped the list of 60 cities. Singapore and Japanese city Osaka ranked second and third.
- Indian cities Delhi and Mumbai have been ranked 43rd and 45th respectively.
- India ranked 100th position among 119 countries, slipping 3 positions as compared to 97th rank in 2016 GHI.
- Neighbours - Nepal (72), Bangladesh (88), Sri Lanka (84) and China (29), Pakistan (106).
- BRICS - Brazil (18), Russia (22), India (100), China (29), South Africa (55)
- Top 5 - Belarus (1), Bosnia & Herzegovina (2), Chile (3), Croatia (4), Cuba (4)
- Bottom 5 - Zambia (115), Madagascar (116), Sierra Leone (117), Chad (118), Central African Republic (119)
- India tops list of seven nations, accounting for 64 % of the 10.4 million new tuberculosis (TB) cases worldwide in 2016.
- India is followed by Indonesia, China, Philippines, Pakistan, Nigeria and South Africa.
- Estimated 1.7 million people died from TB in 2016.
- As per NPT, those countries that have built and tested a nuclear explosive device before January 1, 1967 are nuclear-weapon states. Note that Pokhran I (Codenamed Smiling Buddha) was India's first successful nuclear test that was held on 18 May, 1974.
- India advocates maintaining a credible minimum deterrence based on a No-First Use policy. India also committed to not using nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states.
- Its a major push for India’s Afghan outreach as it completely bypasses Pakistan, under 2016 Indo-Afghan-Iran trilateral pact.
- Chabahar port is strategically located in Sistan-Balochistan province on energy-rich Iran’s southern coast and can be easily accessed from India’s western coast.
- Political crisis gripped Lebanon since the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in 2005, thereby preventing successive government from passing the budget.
- Myanmar is currently using MyanmarSat-1 on lease system, whereas MyanmarSat-2, will be used on joint ownership system with an undisclosed partner.
- Singapore’s passport become most powerful in world with Visa-Free Score of 159.
- India secured 75th rank in index with Visa-Free Score of 51.
- Afghanistan stayed at bottom position (94th) while Pakistan sexcond worst (93rd).
- Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) emerged as top-ranked Indian institute in List with rank 34th. Note that IIT Bombay was ranked 179th in QS World University Rankings. Other top 4 Indian Institutes in List are IIT Delhi (41st rank), IIT Madras (48th rank), Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore (51st rank).
- Singapore’s Nanyang Technology University has topped QS Asia University Rankings 2018.
- India overtook USA to become world’s second-largest smartphone market, trailing only China.
- In the second quarter of 2017, India’s smartphone market recovered quickly with shipments growing 23% year-on-year in third quarter to reach over 40 million units.
- India is second largest market for global pharmaceuticals and biotechnology workforce industry, with 13.7 % contribution.
- Also, Britain-based shipwreck hunter found maritime astrolabe, a navigation tool that guided Portuguese explorers on perilous voyage to India in 16th century. It has been confirmed as world’s oldest astrolabe.
- In 2016 Saudi Aramco established its formal business in India through its subsidiary ARAMCO Asia India (AAI). It will focus on crude oil and LPG marketing, engineering & technical services, and other business development activities.
- Hambantota port is located right in middle of vital energy supply lines in Indian Ocean, connecting Middle East and East Asia. Hambantota gained significance recently after Sri Lanka decided to build deep-sea port and airport with huge Chinese loans.
- India also provided equipment and vehicles worth USD 585,000 to University of Jaffna in Sri Lanka.
- All six members of Gulf Cooperation Council have agreed to begin collecting so-called VAT taxes. GCC includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE.
- Anti-dumping measures are taken to ensure fair trade and provide a level-playing field to domestic industry.
- India - India Improved 30 positions to rank 100th amongst 190 countries, Rankng India among top 10 improvers in 2017.
- Top 5 - New Zealand (1), Singapore (2), Denmark (3), South Korea (4), Hong Kong (5)
- Bottom 5 - Somalia (190th), Eritrea (189th), Venezuela (188th), South Sudan (187th), Yemen (186th)
- Neighbours - Bangladesh (177), Nepal (105), Pakistan (147), Sri Lanka (111)
- BRICS - Brazil (125), Russia (35), China (78), South Africa (82)
- China is ahead of India in digital payments space with 38 Billion Transactions in 2015, as compared to 4.5 Billion Digital Transactions in India in 2015. India had 25 billion non-cash transactions for 2017-18..
- China will have growth of 36 % in digital transactions during 2016-20 while India will grow at average 26.2 % during the period.
- Globally, Debit cards account for 46 percent of non-cash transactions followed by credit cards with 19.5 percent in 2015.
- Indian team consisting of 28 competitors won 2 medals and 9 Medallions of Excellence in key skills. Mohit Dudeja won a silver for Patisserie and Confectionery and Kiran won a bronze for Prototype Modelling.
- It Holds 23 % of world’s unfrozen fresh water. It is as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and includes over 3,600 plant and animal species.
- Since past few years, it has been crippled by a series of damaging phenomena such as disappearance of the omul fish, rapid growth of putrid algae and death of endemic species of sponges across its vast 3.2 million-hectare area.
- Implementing Arrangement for Indian Researchers hosted by European Research Council grantees in Europe
- Finance Contract of Bangalore Metro Rail Project Phase-2-Line R6 for Euro 300 million out of total loan of Euro 500 million
- Joint Declaration between International Solar Alliance and the European Investment Bank
- 34 species of vultures including 4 from India on their migratory routes were awarded highest protection by Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) 2017 held in Manila.
- During this, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) unveiled 3rd National Wildlife Action Plan for 2017-2031, aimed at improving wildlife conservation. First action plan was released in 1983 to 2001 and 2nd from 2002 to 2016.
- Each country will contribute US $1 million annually to this fund which is managed by UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) Special Unit for South-South Cooperation.
- Meeting was attended by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on India'a behalf.
- During IISF 2017, New Guinness World Record for Largest Biology Lesson has been created with 1049 students participating.
- Kerala Government will organise an international seminar and Global Ayurveda meet in Kochi in February 2018.
- Madhya Pradesh emerged as top state in terms of digital initiatives with score of 100.1, followed by Maharashtra (99.9) and Andhra Pradesh (99.8).
- Assam government also recently announced Majuli as first carbon neutral district in India.
- State government of Assam has also launched a new Tourism policy, to increase tourist inflow in state, effective from January 2018 to December 2022.
- Assam Government also launched a new Information Technology (IT) Policy under which IT Startups will be provided financial support ranging 1.2 Lakh to 2.5 Lakh Per employee depending on type of operations and headcount.
- SANKALP is INR 4455 crores central scheme (with 3300 crore loan from World Bank). SANKALP envisages setting up of over 50 Trainers and Assessors academies with self-sustainable models. It will leverage institutions for training the trainers in both long & short term VET thereby bringing about convergence. It will develop a skilling ecosystem that will support the country's rise in the Ease of Doing Business index.
- STRIVE is a INR 2200 crore central scheme with half of outlay as World bank loan assistance. STRIVE will develop mechanism for delivering quality skill development training by strengthening institutions - State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs), National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), Sector Skill Councils, ITIs and National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) etc.
- Both these schemes are being implemented to meet need for a national architecture for promoting convergence, ensuring effective governance and regulation of skill training and catalysing industry efforts in vocational training space.
- Visiting Advanced Joint Research (VAJRA) Faculty scheme is a project by Department of Science and Technology and intends to select 1,000 scientists every year at Public funded academic institutions and national laboratories.
- Selected scientists will co-guide and mentor students as well as will help in developing collaborative programmes.
- Scientists selected under VAJRA will be paid US $15,000 in first month and US $10,000 per month for next 2 months. They will work in India for a minimum of a month and a maximum of three months.
- BharatNet is Government’s ambitious rural internet connectivity programme which is implemented by Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL). It is world’s largest rural broadband connectivity programme using Optical fibre.
- FDDI can now award degrees and will now have autonomy to design its courses as per the requirement of the industry.
- Presently, FDDI imparts skill based graduate and post graduate courses in footwear, leather goods, retail and management to around 2500 students across eight campuses over India.
- Mukesh Ambani - $38 billion. Reliance Industries Chairman Mr Ambani topped the list for 10th Consecutive year.
- Azim Premji - $19 billion.
- Hinduja brothers - $18.4 Billion
- Lakshmi Mittal - $16.5 Billion
- Pallonji Mistry - $16 Billion
- Godrej family - $14.2 Billion
- Shiv Nadar - $13.6 Billion
- Kumar Birla - $12.6 Billion
- Dilip Shanghvi - $12.1 Billion
- Gautam Adani - $11 Billion
- It will be last opportunity for such teachers who have not done teacher training courses. Parliament earlier extended deadline to December 2019 for untrained teachers to get qualified.
- Under SBG Yojana, at least one village (min 100 households) will be identified in each of revenue districts of country to cover all households of identified village with minimum of one RPLI (Rural Postal Life Insurance) policy each. Coverage of all households in identified Sampoorna Bima Gram village is primary objective of this scheme.
- Expansion of PLI will no more be confined to government and semi-government employees only, but will also be available to other professionals.Postal Life Insurance (PLI) was introduced in 1884 and is one of oldest life insurance schemes.
- Now, petrol and Diesel will get cheaper by Approx INR 3 / Litre across Gujarat.
- Note that recently central government has cut central excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs. 2 and also asked state governments to cut VAT on the fuel products by 5 % to bring down fuel prices.
- An International Blockchain Business Conference hekd in Vishakapatnam (Andhra Pradesh).
- Amin village is believed as site on which Kauravas had resorted to ‘Chakravyuh’ formation as a part of war strategy. Abhimanyu was trapped in ‘Chakravyuh’, but fought bravely till his last breath.
- Paiks were traditional landed militia under Gajapati rulers of Odisha. Bakshi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar, military chief of King of Khurda led army of Paikas forcing East India Company (British) forces to retreat in 1817.
- GMR Hyderabad International Airport also recently signed MOU with Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) and Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) to promote tourism.
- Bangalore Metro Phase II is to be jointly financed by European Investment Bank (€500 million) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (€300 million). Project includes total length of 72.095 km and 61 stations (12 underground).
- It is a step towads realizing dream of Nirmal Ganga as first ever Hybrid Annuity-based model being applied in sewerage sector under Public Private Partnership (PPP) Mode.
- Under this, concessionaire responsible for maintenance of project will be paid based on performance in phased manner. It will ensure continued performance of sewage infrastructure assets created due to better ownership, accountability and optimal performance.
- Hybrid Annuity Model was approved in January 2016 with 100% central sector funding. Under this - development, operation and maintenance of STPs will be undertaken by Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) created by winning bidder at local level.
- Yes Bank committed Rs 156 crore to fund first Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) to be constructed at Varanasi under Hybrid Annuity-PPP Model. YES Bank signed deal with Essel Infraprojects in this regard.
- Thus project aims to irrigate 7,38,851 hectares of land in upland areas of former undivided districts of Adilabad, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Warangal, Medak, Nalgonda and Rangareddy Its estimated cost is over Rs 80,500 Cr.
- BCAS is responsible for forming policies related to security of all commercial flights. Security agencies at airports, including Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), local police and Intelligence Bureau (IB) are bound by regulations passed by BCAS.
- After BCAS is taken over by MHA, CISF will assume larger role in airport security. It will help in better coordination and monitoring, since CISF, IB and state intelligence all report to MHA.
- VEP aims to ensure that roads or bridges and other assets get constructed much faster, are structurally stronger and more durable.
- MoRTH also reconstituted nine-member National Panel of Experts (NPE) for approving proposals for use of new technologies, material and equipment in highway sector. It will be chaired by SR Tambe.
- Tourism Ministry gave Letters of Intent (LoI) to seven shortlisted companies for adopting 14 monuments under Adopt a Heritage Scheme at closing ceremony of ‘Paryatan Parv’ held in New Delhi.
- NCCRD is supported by Science and Engineering Research Board (SERN) and has been established at cost of INR 90 crores.
- It will provide impetus to research in ‘Alternative Energy and Environmental Protection’ by focusing on effective utilisation of combustion as means of thermo-chemical energy conversion.
- NHAI also launched its new website AND Project Monitoring Information System (PMIS) Moblie App for better monitoring of NHAI projects.
- Such projects are currently approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and are often delayed.
- Bharatmala programme envisions 44 economic corridors across country at cost of at least Rs 5 lakh crore. It involves constructing 24,000km of fresh highways.
- Posco (South Korea based world’s fourth-largest steelmaker) signed agreement with Odisha government to set up a 12-million-tonne-capacity steel project in Jagatsinghpur district. It was biggest FDI in India at that point with worth $12 billion. However, POSCO surrendered the land due to its inability to start work on the project, amid land acquisition issues.
- PM also announced setting up of India’s first marine police training institute at Gujarat’s Devbhumi Dwarka district.
- He inaugurated first phase of Ghogha-Dahej Roll-on Roll-off ferry service at Ghogha in Bhavnagar district. It will cut down distance between Saurashtra and South Gujarat by 10 times.
- PMGDISHA is expected to make 6 crore rural households digitally literate by March 2019 as it aims at imparting digital literacy to citizens in rural areas free of cost.
- He also laid foundation stone for Bhadbhut Barrage to be built over Narmada River in Bharuch (Gujarat).
- Under this scheme, people can get breakfast for Rs 5 and lunch and dinner for Rs 8 each. The total estimated cost of implementation of the scheme would be around Rs 400 Cr.
- Supreme Court also fined 2 lakh on Environment Ministry for not fixing pollution emission standards of Sulphur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxide for 34 categories of industries as per as Previous SC Order.
- Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana was launched by PM Narendra Modi to make high-quality medicines available to all at affordable prices, especially to poor and underprivileged, through exclusive outlets such as Jan Aushadhi Medical store.
- Now, No meat and liquor shops will be allowed in these towns anymore. Aim is to honour sentiments of devotees that who are hurt by opeartions of liquor and meat shops.
- Navy Chief Sunil Lanba visited Vietnam.
- Science & Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan visited South Africa to mark 20 years of Science & Technology cooperation between India and South Africa.
- Minister of Commerce & Industry Suresh Prabhu visited Sweden to attend Make in India: Sweden 2017organized by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in Stockholm.
- Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visited Philippines to attend Southeast Asian Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM).
- On sidelines of this meet, Mrs. Nirmala Met US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis. India and USA agreed to implement programme for Helicopter Operations from Ships other Than Aircraft Carriers (HOSTAC).
- Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Arun Jaitley visited Bangladesh.
- Bangladesh signed USD 4.5 billion third line of credit (LoC) agreement with India for its social sector development and infrastructure. The agreement was announced during PM Sheikh Hasina's visit to India in April 2017.
- External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Visited Bangladesh. Bangladesh Petroleum Corp and Numaligarh Refinery Ltd signed long-term sales and purchase agreement . BPC will take up to 250,000 tonnes of gas oil each year from NRL for first 3 years. She inaugurated India’s new chancery complex in Dhaka.
- Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan visited Japan to participate in 6th annual LNG Producers Consumer Conference.
- Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh visited South Africa. He inaugurated Gandhi museum on a small piece of land once owned by Mahatma Gandhi in Durban.
- Minister for Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu visited USA for attending 11th India-United States Trade Policy Forum (TPF) Meeting held in Washington DC.
- Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari Visited UAE for India-United Arab Emirates (UAE) Partnership Summit in Dubai. It was organized under Business Leaders Forum (BLF), an organisation of business leaders in UAE that was set up by UAE Ministry of Economy, Embassy of India and Consulate General of India.
- US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited India. Ashraf Ghani, President of Afghanistan also visited India and trilateral discussion of India-USA-Afghnaistan held in New Delhi.
- French Defence Minister Florence Parly visited India.
- India - France joint Naval exercise VARUNA will be held in early 2018.
- Prime Minister of Italy Paolo Gentiloni visited India. It marks 70 years of Diplomatic ties between India and Italy. MOUs Signed are -
- Cooperation for Safety in Railway sector, Energy, Cultural Cooperation.
- Promoting mutual investments between Italian Trade Agency and Invest India.
- Tunisian Foreign Affairs Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui Visited India for 12th Session of India-Tunisia Joint Commission Meet in Delhi.
- Till now, kilogram is only unit of measures pegged to a real object. But cylinder’s weight in kilogram fluctuates due to surface contamination with time, making it tricky to define its exact mass.
- It might be lingering on icy outer edges of solar system hiding in dark, but stretching out orbits of distant bodies.
- It is very distant and is 10 times mass of Earth and 20 times farther from sun than Neptune.
- Bacteria contain small DNA molecules known as plasmids that are separate from bacteria's actual DNA and can pick up and exchange genes between bacteria. Thus, these plasmids in bacterias are responsible for antibiotic resistance in soil also.
- Its significance lies in fact that to fully understand dynamics during a chemical reaction, scientists must be able to study all movements of atoms and molecules on their basic time scale.
- Molecules rotate in range of picoseconds, their atoms vibrate in the range of femtoseconds, and electrons move in the range of attoseconds.
- This laser pulse is shortest controlled event that has ever been created by humans. Researchers can now observe in high detail how electrons move within a molecule or how chemical bonds are formed.
- REPAIR can tweak individual RNA ‘letters’ in human cells without making changes to entire genome and can have profound potential as a tool for both research and disease treatment.
- REPAIR is based on gene editing tool CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) that can be used to modify DNA in cells.
- Its Significance lies in fact that Currently available inorganic filters are expensive and brittle whereas organic filters are easy to process and flexible too. The filter can be used for night vision glasses, night photography. It will also have applications in security and forensics such as identifying blood stains on dark fabric which are invisible to naked eyes.
- During this extension, Dawn will descend to lower altitudes than ever before at dwarf planet. Priority of second extension mission is to collect data with Dawn’s gamma ray and neutron spectrometer, which measures number and energy of gamma rays and neutrons.
- It can can run for 40 kilometers at a maximum speed of 70 kilometers per hour after being refilled with 12 kilograms of hydrogen.
- In CarbFix Project, CO2 is captured from ambient air, bound to water, and sent 700 meters underground. There, CO2 reacts with basaltic bedrock using enhanced weathering process and forms solid minerals, creating a permanent storage solution.
- Singles - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France)
- Doubles - Scott Lipsky (USA) AND Divij Sharan (India)
- England won the Title with Spain as Runners-up. England won the finals by 5-2 Goals.
- Brazil Stayed Third. Final match was played in Kolkata. Tournament had total 24 Participant Teams.
- Other Honours -
- Phil Foden of England adjudged tournament’s best player and has been awarded ‘Golden Ball’.
- Rhian Brewster from England scored most goals (8 goals) and has been awarded, 'Golden Boot'.
- Gabriel Brazao (goalkeeper of Brazil) won ‘Golden Glove’ and Brazil won Fair Play Award.
- Other Facts -
- Nigeria is most successful team in U17 FIFA World Cups, with 5 titles so far.
- FIFA U17 World cup does not has provision of Giving prize money to winners.
- It was First FIFA Tournament hosted by India. Matches were played in six stadiums in six host cities - Kolkata, Kochi, New Delhi, Mumbai, Guwahati, Margao.
- Jackson Singh Thounaojam Became India's first goal Scorer in FIFA Tournaments as he scored a Header Goal in FIFA U-17 World Cup match against Colombia. India could not win a match though.
- Hyundai India were official transportation partner for Tournament.
- Adidas launched campaign #HereToCreate to inspire young football talent in India and to kick start a football revolution.
- Switzerland’s Esther Staubli became first female referee to officiate at a FIFA U-17 World Cup Match, when Japan and New Caledonia met in Kolkata.
- Official Mascot was clouded leopard named ‘Kheleo’ ad official ball is called ‘Krasava’.
- USA-Based Namit Deshpande became First NRI to Play for India’s U17 World Cup Team.
- Singles - Roger Federer (Switzerland)
- Doubles - John Peers (Australia) AND Henri Kontinen (Finland)
- Australia won their 2nd title by winning over Great Britain in Final.
- India defeated Malaysia to grab 3rd Place in Tournament.
- Singles - Roger Federer (Switzerland)
- Doubles - Ivan Dodig (Croatia) AND Marcel Granollers (Spain)
- Singles - Maria Sharapova (Russia). Its her first title since returning from a 15-month doping ban, defeating Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
- Doubles - Irina-Camelia Begu (Romania) AND Sara Errani (Italy)
- Medal table
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 China 3 1 2 6 2 Japan 3 0 1 4 3 Russia 1 3 2 6 4 United States 1 3 1 5 5 Germany 1 0 1 2 Great Britain 1 0 1 2 - India could not win a medal in the event.
- Medal table
- India finished second with 146 medals, including 37 golds, 43 silvers and 66 bronze. China was at top of list.
- In a yo-yo test, players have to pace themselves to and fro between two rows of cones kept 20 metres apart. For every round the player has to sync his sprint with the beeps that are played.
- Men's Singles - Rafael Nadal (Spain)
- Women's Singles - Caroline Garcia (France)
- Men's Doubles - Henri Kontinen (Finland) AND John Peers (Australia)
- Women's Doubles - Chan Yung-jan (Chinese Taipei) AND Martina Hingis (Switzerland)
- Men's Singles - Srikanth Kidambi (India), He Defeated Lee Hyun-il (South Korea)
- Women's Singles - Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand)
- Men's Doubles Chinese Pair of Liu Cheng AND Zhang Nan
- Women's Doubles South Korean pair of Lee So-hee AND Shin Seung-chan
- Mixed Doubles - Hong Kong's Tang Chun Man AND Tse Ying Suet
- Portugese Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo leads the list, followed by LeBron James (American basketball player) and Lionel Messi (Argentinian Footballer).
- Virat Kohli is only cricketer to feature in Top 100 list.
- Test competition will begin after 2019 World Cup and will have 9 teams play six series over two years.
- 50-over event will be held in 2020.
- Kochi Tuskers' IPL contract was terminated by BCCI in 2011, citing breach of franchise agreement. Kochi Tuskers appealed against this decision.
- Hosts India finished 7th overall with 1 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze.
- Gold - Jitu Rai/Heena Sidhu (mixed team 10m air pistol)
- Silver - Sangram Dahiya (men's double trap)
- Bronze - Amanpreet Singh (50m pistol).
- Medal Tally -
- Italy Remained at top in ISSF World Cup Finals Delhi 2017, followed by China
- China's Rio 2016 10m air pistol women's champion, Mengxue Zhang and Gengcheng Sui, were crowned Champion of Champions in pistol and rifle respectively.
- In Overall ISSF World Cup 2017 (1st Leg in Delhi in Feb, 2nd Leg in Munich (Germany) in May, 3rd Leg in Gabala (Azerbaijan) in June and Finals in Delhi) -
- India stayed at 6th with 9 Medals (3 G, 3 S, 3 B).
- China at top with 37 Medals, Followed by Italy (15) and USA (10).
- Hosts India finished 7th overall with 1 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze.
- Meanwhile, Indian bowler Jasprit Bumrah also ranked at 1st spot in ICC T20 rankings.
- Isle of Man (Mann) is a self-governing Crown dependency in Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland.
- They made it to NBA's minor league - the G-League. Amjyot Singh was picked by Oklahoma City Blue and Gokul Natesan picked by Canton Charge.
- 2018 Hockey world cup (14th Hockey WC) will be held in Bhubaneswar (India).
- 2017 Formula 1 Season -
Round Grand Prix Winner Date 1 Australian Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 26 March 2 Chinese Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 9 April 3 Bahrain Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 16 April 4 Russian Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas (Finland) 30 April 5 Spanish Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 14 May 6 Monaco Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 28 May 7 Canadian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 11 June 8 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) 25 June 9 Austrian Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas (Finland) 9 July 10 British Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 16 July 11 Hungarian Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 30 July 12 Belgian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 27 August 13 Italian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 3 September 14 Singapore Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 17 September 15 Malaysian Grand Prix Max Verstappen (Belgian - Dutch) 1 October 16 Japanese Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 8 October 17 United States Grand Prix 22 October 18 Mexican Grand Prix 29 October 19 Brazilian Grand Prix 12 November 20 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 26 November
- 2017 Formula 1 Season -
- 2017 Formula 1 Season -
Round Grand Prix Winner Date 1 Australian Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 26 March 2 Chinese Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 9 April 3 Bahrain Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 16 April 4 Russian Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas (Finland) 30 April 5 Spanish Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 14 May 6 Monaco Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 28 May 7 Canadian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 11 June 8 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) 25 June 9 Austrian Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas (Finland) 9 July 10 British Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 16 July 11 Hungarian Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 30 July 12 Belgian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 27 August 13 Italian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 3 September 14 Singapore Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 17 September 15 Malaysian Grand Prix Max Verstappen (Belgian - Dutch) 1 October 16 Japanese Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 8 October 17 United States Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 22 October 18 Mexican Grand Prix 29 October 19 Brazilian Grand Prix 12 November 20 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 26 November
- 2017 Formula 1 Season -
- 2017 Formula 1 Season -
Round Grand Prix Winner Date 1 Australian Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 26 March 2 Chinese Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 9 April 3 Bahrain Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 16 April 4 Russian Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas (Finland) 30 April 5 Spanish Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 14 May 6 Monaco Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 28 May 7 Canadian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 11 June 8 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) 25 June 9 Austrian Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas (Finland) 9 July 10 British Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 16 July 11 Hungarian Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 30 July 12 Belgian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 27 August 13 Italian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 3 September 14 Singapore Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 17 September 15 Malaysian Grand Prix Max Verstappen (Belgian - Dutch) 1 October 16 Japanese Grand Prix 8 October 17 United States Grand Prix 22 October 18 Mexican Grand Prix 29 October 19 Brazilian Grand Prix 12 November 20 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 26 November
- 2017 Formula 1 Season -
- Britain’s Lewis Hamilton has been crowned Formula One world champion 2017, fourth world Formula One title for Hamilton.
- 2017 Formula 1 Season -
Round Grand Prix Winner Date 1 Australian Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 26 March 2 Chinese Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 9 April 3 Bahrain Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 16 April 4 Russian Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas (Finland) 30 April 5 Spanish Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 14 May 6 Monaco Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 28 May 7 Canadian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (UK) 11 June 8 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) 25 June 9 Austrian Grand Prix Valtteri Bottas (Finland) 9 July 10 British Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 16 July 11 Hungarian Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel (Germany) 30 July 12 Belgian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 27 August 13 Italian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 3 September 14 Singapore Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 17 September 15 Malaysian Grand Prix Max Verstappen (Belgian - Dutch) 1 October 16 Japanese Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 8 October 17 United States Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton (Britain) 22 October 18 Mexican Grand Prix Max Verstappen (Belgian - Dutch) 29 October 19 Brazilian Grand Prix 12 November 20 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 26 November
- Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli ranks ahead of Argentinian Football Star Lionel Messi, with brand value of $14.5 million and ranks 7th in list.
- Tennis legend Roger Federer leads the list with a brand value of $37.2m.
- Brand value is an athlete’s earnings (excluding salary and bonus from their sport and all investment income), minus average income of top 10 athletes in same sport.
- Men's Singles - Kidambi Srikanth (India), by defeating Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto.
- Women's Doubles - Tai Tzu-ying (Chinese Taipei)
- Men's Doubles - Lee Jhe-huei AND Taipei Lee Yang (Chinese Taipei)
- Women's Doubles - Greysia Polii AND Apriyani Rahayu (Indonesia)
- Medal table -
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 United States 4 4 3 11 2 South Korea 4 3 1 8 3 Mexico 3 1 3 7 4 Chinese Taipei 2 2 1 5 Great Britain 2 2 1 5 6 Turkey 1 1 2 4 7 India 1 1 1 3
- India - Ankita Bhakat and Jemson Singh Ningthoujam won gold in Recurve Event. India also won a silver and a bronze.
- Medal table -
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