Current Affairs Updates - 27th October 2017

Current Affairs Updates - 27th October 2017

Important Days

Disarmament week is an annual event that is observed from 24 october to 30th october in UN

• It calls for abandoning the use of force in international relations and seeking security in disarmament. States were invited to highlight the danger of the arms race, propagate the need for its cessation and increase public understanding of the urgent tasks of disarmament.

New Appointments: International

Jacinda Ardern becomes New Zealand's youngest PM in 150 years

• New Zealand on Thursday swore in Jacinda Ardern as the country's third woman and the youngest Prime Minister in 150 years. The 37-year-old who will lead a three-party government has pledged to tackle climate change and eradicate child poverty. Ardern was elected as the leader of the Labour Party less than three months before the polls.

Rankings

Virat Kohli trumps Lionel Messi in Forbes’ top 10 valuable brands among athletes

• According to Forbes, Kohli is ranked seventh in the list released by Forbes ahead of Messi, who is at ninth. Between Kohli and Messi is the Irish golfer Rory McIlroy. Kohli is placed at seventh with a brand value of 14.5 million dollar, compared to Messi’s 13.5 million dollar.
• Roger Federer tops the list with a brand value of 37.2 million dollar, followed by basketball star LeBron James with 33.4 million dollar and Usain Bolt with 27 million dollar.

Estonian capital city Tallinn named 2018's best destination for value for money by Lonely Planet in its 'Best in Travel 2018' list

• Estonian capital city Tallinn has been named the best destination to visit for value for money by Lonely Planet in its 'Best in Travel 2018' list. Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands administered by Spain, and United States' Arizona have been ranked second and third respectively. Meanwhile, Bolivia's La Paz and Poland have completed the top five.

India stands at the 28th position out of the 30 among the reviewed countries in the Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index 2017

• While India stands at the 28th position out of the 30 among the reviewed countries in the Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index 2017, its pension system is found to be more sustainable than that of Poland, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, Austria, Brazil, China and Argentina.
• The Melbourne Mercer global Pension Index is published by the Australian Centre for Financial Studies (ACFS), in collaboration with Mercer and the State Government of Victoria who provides most of the funding.

National Affairs

Shri Arun Jaitley Presents Letters of Intent to Seven Shortlisted Companies Under ‘Adopt A Heritage Scheme’ At Closing Ceremony of Paryatan Parv 

• Shri Arun Jaitley, Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister presented the ‘Letters of Intent’ to Seven shortlisted companies under ‘Adopt a Heritage Scheme’ of Ministry of Tourism at the closing ceremony of ‘Paryatan Parv’ at Rajpath Lawns, New Delhi today. 
• He also presented Certificates to the ‘Best Participating Central Government Ministry and Best Participating State Government’. Shri K.J. Alphons, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism presided over the function. The Paryatan Parv was organized by Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with other Central Ministries, State Governments and Stakeholders across the from 5th to 25th October 2017.

Rajasthan CM launches Rajiv Mehrishi's 'India 2017 Yearbook'

• Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje launched an e-book titled 'India 2017 Yearbook', compiled by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) and former Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi here.
• At the event yesterday she said, "This is a must-have book for all. The book does not just serve civil services aspirants but also people from different walks of life such as bureaucrats, corporate, business or journalists. It is simple yet highly informative."
• Mehrishi said the e-book includes a plethora of information on important dignitaries, state policy, public schemes and important data about demographics, trade, economy and many other topics.

Odisha To Participate In World Food India(WFI)-2017 event As Focus State

• Odisha will be the Focus State in the World Food India (WFI)-2017 event being held in the national capital next month, according to MSME Minister Prafulla Samal.
• Samal said this while chairing the preparatory meeting for the event.
• The World Food India-2017 is an international mega food event being organised at New Delhi on November 3-5, 2017.

CM K Palaniswami lays foundation for aerospace park in at Vallam-Vadakal SIPCOT Industrial Park premises in Sriperumbudur Taluk, Tamil Nadu

• Chief Minister K Palaniswami laid the foundation stone for the aerospace park at Vallam-Vadakal SIPCOT Industrial Park premises in Sriperumbudur Taluk and gave away land allotment orders to nine companies.

Rajasthan Assembly increases OBC quota to 26%

• The Rajasthan Assembly on Thursday passed a bill increasing Other Backward Classes (OBCs) reservation in the state from 21% to 26%. It now grants 5% reservation to the five "most backward" OBC communities, including the Gujjar community. This brings the reservation in Rajasthan to 54%, crossing the 50% ceiling set by the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court Slaps Rs. 2 Lakh Fine On Environment Ministry for not finalising pollution emission standards for industries 

• The Supreme Court today came down heavily on the Union Environment Ministry for not finalising pollution emission standards for industries using pet coke and furnace oil in the national capital region and slapped a cost of Rs. two lakh on it.
• Terming it as a "completely disgusting state of affairs", the top court asked the Ministry why the standards were not finalised despite its earlier direction that it should be done on or before June 30 this year.

MP govt shelves plan to shift to Jan-Dec fiscal format

• Madhya Pradesh, which was the first state to announce that it would switch to January-December financial year from the existing April-March cycle starting 2018, has put the plan on the back burner.
• The BJP government in the state now holds that it will follow suit once the Centre shifts to the January-December fiscal cycle.

International Affairs

ISL and I-League would be merged next season: AFC Gen Secy

• Asian football's governing body, Asian Football Confederation's General Secretary Dato' Windsor John said that the Indian Super League and the I-League, would be merged from the next season. "It's not a question of what we are favouring or not. It's in the AFC Constitution that one country should have one league," he said.

China to get first Tesla factory outside US

• Electric carmaker Tesla has reached an agreement with China, instead of India, to set up its first electric car factory outside the US. The announcement came after months of speculations that Tesla would make its cars in India. This deal will allow Tesla to avoid 25% duty China imposes on imported cars and have a larger customer base than India.

Saudi Arabia becomes 1st nation to give citizenship to robot

• Saudi Arabia has become the world's first country to grant citizenship to a robot. "I'm very honoured and proud for this unique distinction...this is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognised with a citizenship," the humanoid named Sophia said. "I want to use my artificial intelligence to help humans live a better life," Sophia added.

World's first track-less train begins operating in Chinese city Zhuzhou

• The world's first track-less train has started operating on a trial basis in Chinese city Zhuzhou. Billed as the world's first smart train, the vehicle operates on virtual rail lines represented by white dotted lines. The train, which can carry 300 passengers and travel at speeds of 70 km/h, is being called a hybrid between a bus and a tram.

Application / Portal 

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

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

Summit /Conference / Events / Host

PM to open global meet on consumer protection in the South, South-East and East Asian Nations

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Thursday inaugurate a two-day international conference on consumer protection in the South, South-East and East Asian Nations.
• “This is the first time an international conference on consumer protection is being organised by India for countries of the region which account for a majority of the global consumers and share common challenges and experiences,’ said an official release, adding that 22 countries from East, South and South-East Asia are expected to participate in the conference, being hosted by the Department of Consumer Affairs and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Awards & Honours

L&T Technology Services Conferred with CII Industrial Innovation Award, 2017

• L&T Technology Services Ltd (LTTS), a leading global pure play engineering services company, was conferred with the CII Industrial Innovation Award, 2017 that recognized it as one of the most innovative Indian companies in the services category at the CII Industrial Innovation Awards ceremony in New Delhi on Tuesday.
• The Confederation of Indian Industry lauded LTTS’ efforts to create a collaborative ecosystem comprising of global technology firms and internationally reputed institutes such as the Indian Institute of Science, IITs, Germany’s Fraunhofer and US-based Purdue University to make advances in R&D, creating best in class engineering solutions that can benefit the nation. CII also praised LTTS’ breakthrough research being conducted across 30 laboratories that seek to address the future needs of its global customers. Its innovation culture has led to the creation of 223 customer owned patents and 65 filed exclusively by LTTS engineers.

Indian-origin South African couple rof. Quarraisha Abdool Karim and Prof. Salim Abdool Karim receives top US award for AIDS research

• A South African couple of Indian origin who are both resaerchers -- Prof. Quarraisha Abdool Karim and Prof. Salim Abdool Karim -- received a prominent lifetime achievement award from Institute of Human Virology, US, in recognition of their exceptional contributions to the field of HIV/AIDS.
• Both the renowned infectious disease epidemiologists were felicitated by the Institute of Human Virology (IHV) in Baltimore in the US during the 19th annual international meeting of top medical virus researchers.  The honourable Lifetime Achievement Award for Public Service was presented to them by Robert Gallo -- the man who discovered HIV as the cause of AIDS.

Hiroshima survivor Setsuko Thurlow to jointly receive Nobel prize with ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons )

• Setsuko Thurlow, a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, will jointly accept the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize with this year's laureate, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). "Thurlow has been a leading figure in ICAN since its launch in 2007," the nuclear disarmament group said on Thursday. Thurlow has campaigned for seven decades against nuclear weapons.

Obituary 

Cross-Country Woman Biker Sana Iqbal Dies In Car Crash In Hyderabad

• Cross-country woman motorcycle rider Sana Iqbal, who undertook a solo expedition to raise awareness about suicide and depression, died in a car crash near here early this morning, police said. 

Girija Devi, queen of Thumri, passes away at 88

• Girija Devi, one of the foundational figures of Banaras and Senia gharana, who brought thumri from the courts and kothas onto the proscenium stage, died on Tuesday after a cardiac arrest.