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Current Affairs Updates - 19th October 2017

Current Affairs Updates - 19th October 2017

Current Affairs Updates - 19th October 2017

Important Days
The United Nations International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on 17 October.  Theme — Answering the Call of October 17 to end poverty: A path toward peaceful and inclusive societies
  • This year marks the 25th anniversary of the declaration by the General Assembly, in its resolution 47/196 of 22 December 1992, of 17 October as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the Call to Action by Father Joseph Wresinski — which inspired the observance of October 17 as the World Day for Overcoming Extreme Poverty — and the recognition by the United Nations of the day as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2017 theme — Answering the Call of October 17 to end poverty: A path toward peaceful and inclusive societies.
Banking/Economic Affairs
Multi Commodity Exchange(MCX) launches commodity options trading with gold on Dhanteras 
  • Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday launched an option’s contract in gold on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) on the auspicious occasion of Dhanteras. 
  • Options are an instrument that give the buyer a right to buy or sell an underlined at a present price on a future date. They are of two types: calls (right to buy) and puts (right to sell). According to market experts, options are also a much better hedging instrument as compared to futures for hedgers. 
Rankings
Google Viewed as Most Authentic Brand in India
  • Indian consumers regard Google as the most authentic brand, even though Amazon.com tops the list globally, reveal results of a new survey on Tuesday. In India, Google is followed by Microsoft, Amazon.com, Maruti Suzuki and Apple.
IISc ranked India's best university for engineering in the 2018 Times Higher Education World University Rankings
  • The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has been ranked India's best university for engineering and technology in the 2018 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. While IISc has been ranked 89 globally, IIT Bombay falls in the 126-150 category followed by IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur and IIT Kharagpur in the 201-250 category. The list has been topped by Stanford University.
Donald Trump falls nearly 100 places on Forbes US rich list. Microsoft founder Bill Gates topped the list 
  • US President Donald Trump has dropped from 156th place down to 248th on the Forbes list of richest Americans. Trump's net worth fell by 600 million dollar to 3.1 billion dollar (over 20,000 crore). Microsoft founder Bill Gates topped the list for the 24th consecutive year with an estimated net worth of 89 billion dollar (over 5.5 lakh crore).
National Affairs
Snapdeal's CFO Anup Vikal quits
  • E-commerce platform Snapdeal's Chief Financial Officer Anup Vikal has resigned from his post, the company said on Tuesday. Vikal had joined Snapdeal in 2015 and may be joining Russia-based Rosneft-owned Essar Oil as its new Chief Financial Officer. The move comes after the four-member founding team of Snapdeal's tech solutions arm, Unicommerce, quit in August.
1 mn Maharashtra farmers to get loan waiver benefits today
  • The Maharashtra government will begin disbursement of loan waiver amount to the first set of around 1 million farmers across all districts in Maharashtra today, said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The funds will be directly credited to individual bank accounts of farmers. He further said that 80% of eligible farmers would have received their loan waiver benefits by November 15.
India imposes anti-dumping duty on China, EU steel imports
  • India on Tuesday imposed an anti-dumping duty on the import of some flat steel products from China and the European Union to curb the influx of cheaper imports and help local producers. The duty will be valid for 5 years. India had earlier imposed an additional 18.95% import tax on certain stainless steel products from China.
Centre to come up with Rs 1.2-lakh crore universal social security plan for poorest 
  • The government has drafted an ambitious Rs 1.2 lakh crore plan to provide universal social security coverage for the poorest fifth of the country as part of a bigger scheme that’s being planned for all individuals. 
  • This broader programme envisages three categories — the poorest 20%, who will get a government payout; those who subscribe on their own and formal sector workers who will need to set aside a fixed proportion of income toward the scheme. 



International Affairs
Zimbabwe bans fruit, vegetable imports as forex crunch deepens
  • Zimbabwe banned fruit and vegetable imports on Tuesday to preserve its dwindling reserves of hard currency, drawing immediate warnings of food shortages.
  • The order, which followed a ban on maize imports in June, alarmed retailers and street dealers in the capital Harare who get much of their produce from neighbouring South Africa.
Defence & Railway
Bangladesh Navy ship Somudra Avijan on goodwill visit to Visakhapatnam
  • Bangladesh Naval ship Somudra Avijan arrived Vizag on a four-day goodwill visit to the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) on Monday evening. The ship carried out Passage Exercise which included naval manoeuvres in the Bay of Bengal prior to entering into the port. The Bangladesh Navy ship was accorded a warm reception by officials from the ENC and Eastern Fleet with the Indian Naval Band in attendance on arrival.
Application / Portal 
I-T Dept launches online chat www.incometaxindia.gov.in to answer taxpayers queries
  • The Income Tax Department has launched an 'online chat' service for taxpayers seeking answers to basic queries and doubts relating to direct tax issues. The chat window has been hosted on 'www.incometaxindia.gov.in', the main page of the department's website. Further, an option has also been provided to the taxpayers for emailing entire chats to their ids for future reference.
Schemes / Programme
Ministry of Women and Child Development Launches #IamThatWoman Campaign
  • In an attempt to end Gender bias in women against women, the Ministry of Women and Child Development is undertaking an online campaign #IamThatWoman.
  • Through the campaign, the Ministry seeks to highlight the various aspects of women standing ‘by’ and ‘for’ women. Ministry of WCD has urged people to shun stereotypes associated with women harming other women. Twitter and Facebook users have been encouraged to tag and share stories of women helping women with a photograph and post online with the hashtag #IamThatWoman.
Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana most `profound decision` of my life: Shivraj Singh Chouhan
  • Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday inaugurated the ambitious 'Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojna' in the presence of the farmers at the Krishi Upaj Mandi in Khurai, Sagar.
  • The Chief Minister said that the Yojana is one of the most profound decisions of his life and thus its launch makes this day a historic one for him.
23 LAKH FARMERS REGISTERED UNDER BHAVANTAR BHUGTAN
  • Around 23 lakh farmers have got registered so far in Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana launched today in Madhya Pradesh. The registration process was started from September 1. In the scheme, Soyabean, Peanut, Sesame, Ramtil, Maize, Moong, Urad and Tuar crops have been included.
  • The benefit under Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana will be available only to registered farmers on the sale of agricultural produce produced in Madhya Pradesh only in the notified Mandi premises. The benefit will be given up to production limit on the basis of average production on crop cutting experiments. Under the scheme, the difference amount will be paid to the eligible farmers by State Co-operative Marketing Federation and State Civil Supplies Corporation.
Summit /Conference / Events / Host
India signs pact to send interns to Japan for training 
  • India today signed a memorandum of cooperation with Japan to send youngsters there as technical interns for on-the-job training for a period of three to five years.
  • The MoC on Technical Intern Training Programme (TITP) was signed by Union Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on behalf of the Government of India with Katsunobu Kato, Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan here.
Awards & Honours
Indian-American Attorney Ajay Raju Recognised With Philanthropy Award
  • Noted Indian-American attorney Ajay Raju has been honoured with the third American Bazaar Philanthropy award in recognition of his philanthropic activities in the US.
  • "Raju was honoured for his commitment to revive Philadelphia through the Germination Project," said Asif Ismail, publisher of The American Bazaar, an online ethnic news publication about Indian-Americans.
2017 Booker Prize goes to US author George Saunders for Lincoln in the Bardo
  • American author George Saunders has been handed this year's Man Booker Prize for his first full-length novel.
  • Lincoln in the Bardo, which focuses on the night Abraham Lincoln laid his 11-year-old son to rest in 1862, was hailed as "utterly original" and praised by judges for its "witty, intelligent, and deeply moving narrative".
  • The 58-year-old writer, who had been favourite to win, was presented with the prestigious literary award and £50,000 (84,000 dollar) prize during a ceremony at the Guildhall in central London.
JK Rowling named Europe's highest-paid celebrity of 2017
  • JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, has been named Europe's highest paid celebrity of 2017 by Forbes. Almost half of Rowling's 95 million dollar earnings during a 12-month period came from her co-writing 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'. The second position on the list was taken by footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, who earned 93 million dollar.
Sports: Awards & Honours
India's Selena Selvakumar clinches triple gold at Egypt Junior and Cadet TT
  • India's young paddler Selena Selvakumar completed a golden sweep in the Egypt Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Open, adding the junior girls' singles and doubles titles at Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt late on Sunday evening.
  • The 17-year-old Chennai lass had claimed the Girls' Team gold earlier on Friday to make it three out of three; even more fantastically as she remained unbeaten all through this elite 2017 ITTF World Junior Circuit event.
Obituary 
Roy Dotrice dead aged 94 – Game of Thrones and Amadeus actor dies ‘surrounded by his family’
  • Roy, who received an OBE in 2008, was a Guinness World Record holder, Tony Award winner and played Hallyne the Pyromancer in the hit TV series
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