Current Affairs Updates - 17 November 2017

Current Affairs Updates - 17 November 2017

Important Days

National Press Day is commemorated every year on November 16.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted media on National Press Day, which is commemorated every year on November 16, and appreciated their contribution to make India a democratic country. PM Narendra Modi also assured his government is committed to upholding freedom of press and expression in all forms. India celebrated the National Press Day on November 16 as the Press Council of India started functioning as a responsible body overlooking the works of the press as a whole body on this day.

New Appointments: National

Eminent chartered accountant Sethurathnam Ravi has been appointed as the chairman of the leading stock exchange Bombay Stock Exchange. He replaced Dhirendra Swarup.

• In a regulatory filing, BSE said that Sebi has "approved the appointment of Ravi, public interest director as the chairman of the board of directors of the company with effect from November 13, 2017". 
• He has experience of holding a number of positions on the board of banks, financial institutions and asset management companies in the financial sector. 

Banking/Economic Affairs

Reserve Bank of India rejects HDFC Bank's request to declassify HDFC as Financial Institution Investor.

• India’s largest lender by market capitalisation, HDFC Bank had requested the government to declassify HDFC, and the government, in turn, wrote to RBI seeking its opinion on the matter, CNBC-TV18 reported.

Rankings

According to Asia's 50 Richest Families compiled by Forbes, India's Mukesh Ambani family is the richest in Asia as its net worth rose 19 billion dollar to 44.8 billion dollar, toppling the Lees of the Samsung empire, to claim the numero uno position 

• Hong Kong's Kwok family, Asia's richest real estate household that controls Sun Hung Kai Properties, ranked third this year with a net wealth of 40.4 billion dollar. Thailand's Chearavanont family of the Charoen Pokphand Group took the fourth spot on the list, with a net worth of 36.6 billion dollar. 

National Affairs

The GOI has announced the launch of BHARAT 22 ETF managed by ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, mirrored on the S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index. The Bharat-22 ETF will comprise of 22 blue-chip stocks that are mostly profit-making, dividend paying public sector enterprises with Maharatna and Navratna status. The ETF will also include some of the government’s holdings in SUUTI (Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India).

• Among the other leading companies NTPC, ONGC, Indian Oil Corp, BPCL, NALCO, Coal India, Power Grid and others will comprise the ETF.
• The portfolio will be dominated by large-cap stocks with over 90 percent weightage in the index, the ETF will also have flavour of mid-cap stocks, with 20 percent cap on each sector, and 15 percent cap on each stock.
• The ETF will host one of the most diversified portfolio, with companies from six varied sectors including basic materials, energy, finance, FMCG, industrials and utilities. This will diversify the portfolio and reduce risk of concentration, enhancing risk adjusted returns over the long term.

The Araku valley near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh is all set to host the first edition of its Hot Air Balloon Festival. Starting on Tuesday, the three-day-long event will see participation from the US, Switzerland, Japan, Malaysia and Taiwan, among the 13 participating countries.

• The Hot Air Balloon festival is being organsied to promote tourism. Known for its coffee plantations, rich cultural heritage and stunning waterfalls, Araku valley is a known destination on the country's tourist map. 
• But a number of people are concerned about the safety issues, mostly about the possibility of accidents. 

A report by Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BofA-ML) has said that in the next decade, India will overtake Japan to become the third largest economy.

• The factors that will enable this are reduced dependency on other nations, financial maturity, and higher income and affordability.
• The report also adds that India is likely to become the world’s fifth largest economy by 2019.
• As per data available in the report, India is likely to cross Germany and Japan in nominal GDP by 2028, assuming that the nation witnesses a 10% growth every year for the next 10 years. There are three factors that will enable India to achieve this goal.

Bharat Stage VI (BS-VI) fuel will now be available with effect from 1 April 2018 in Delhi, the petroleum ministry said, and added that it is examining the possibility of introducing BS-VI fuel across the national capital region by 1 April 2019.

• The world’s cleanest fuel will be introduced in the national capital two years earlier than planned, the Union government said on Wednesday as it seeks to reduce vehicular pollution.
• Not only has the petroleum ministry committed to state-of-the-art technology, it is also making a political statement on tackling pollution—especially given that the Delhi government has come up short on solutions to tackle the problem.

The US Consulate General, Calcutta, in collaboration with social enterprise Contact Base on Thursday launched a youth entrepreneurship initiative called Y4BIZ (Youth for Business). The four-city initiative has already been launched in Guwahati, Ranchi, Calcutta and Patna.

• The Y4BIZ programme aims to support a group of 50 young entrepreneurs and help transform their ideas into sustainable business models.
• The entrepreneurs will be selected by a screening process after the launch events in all the four cities.
• "The US government is committed to promoting entrepreneurship internationally as a means to stimulate local economic growth, open new markets for US companies and increase global prosperity," said Jay Treloar, deputy director of the American Center and assistant public affairs officer at the US Consulate General, Calcutta.

Bihar government to set up 'State Ayush Society' to boost alternative medicine

• A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
• The Society will be set up as part of the Centre's "National Ayush Mission" and registered under the Society Registration Act, Principal Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat Department, Brajesh Mehrotra told reporters.

International Affairs

Canada will announce a series of initiatives on Wednesday aimed at delivering a "more coherent" approach by the United Nations for the involvement of women in peacekeeping operations and the resolution of conflicts in troubled nations.

• The package will be unveiled at an international meeting of defence ministers in Vancouver and is meant to address shortcoming in the UN's long-stated desire to see female soldiers, police officers and community leaders at the forefront.
• The announcement could overshadow the absence of a firm commitment by Canada, in the near term, to a specific peacekeeping mission, as the Liberal government intends to pledge only what it can offer in terms of military hardware.

Syria signs Paris climate agreement on climate change and leaves US isolated

• Syria has decided to sign the Paris agreement on climate change, the world’s final functioning state to do so. The surprise decision, taken amid a brutal civil war in the country, will leave the US as the only country outside the agreement if it follows through on President Donald Trump’s vow to leave.
• Syria’s decision brings to 197 the number of nations signed up to the landmark 2015 pact on global warming, the first in more than 20 years of UN negotiations to bind both developed and developing countries to a clear limit on temperature rises.

Science & Technologies

The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first drug Abilify MyCite in the United States with a digital ingestion tracking system, in an unprecedented move to ensure that patients with mental illness take the medicine prescribed for them.

• The FDA said in a statement on Monday that the digitally enhanced medication “works by sending a message from the pill’s sensor to a wearable patch.” “Being able to track ingestion of medications prescribed for illness may be useful for some patients,” said Dr. Mitchell Mathis, director of the division of Psychiatry Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

Defence & Railway

Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee & Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba released ‘Joint Training Doctrine Indian Armed Forces – 2017’

• The aim of the Doctrine is to promote ‘Synergy’ and ‘Integration’ amongst the three Services and other stake-holders leading to an enhanced efficiency and optimum utilisation of resources. Besides numerous advantages of the Doctrines, this document will also go a long way in ‘fostering initiative’ and ‘stimulating creativity’ for promoting ‘Integration’ between the three Services in times to come. 

Application / Portal 

Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana - 'Saubhagya' web portal, a platform for monitoring household electrification progress was launched by R.K. Singh, Minister of State for Power and New and Renewable Energy .

• The Saubhagya Dashboard is a platform which would disseminate information on household electrification status (state, district, village-wise), household progress on live basis, state-wise target as compared to achievement and monthly electrification progress.
• Achieving electrification of four crore households is a big challenge, but the government is committed to achieve this target by December 2018, with the cooperation of all the states, Singh said at the launch event.

Summit /Conference / Events / Host

Ministry of Minority Affairs organises Hunar Haat under “USTTAD” scheme at Pragati Maidan from 14-27 November where exquisite pieces of Handicraft & Handloom prepared by inmates of Tihar Jail and master artisans from across the country are displayed.

• Ministry of Minority Affairs is organising “Hunar Haat” under “USTTAD” scheme at different parts of the country and “Hunar Haat” have become a successful mission to provide employment and employment opportunities and national as well international markets for thousands of master artisans, craftsmen and culinary experts.
• The Minister said that while on one hand “Hunar Haat” have provided a platform to master artisans and craftsmen to display their rich heritage and skill, on the other hand these exhibitions are providing domestic and international markets to these artisans and craftsmen.

Awards & Honours

Indonesia's Kevin Lilliana was crowned Miss International 2017 on Tuesday at an event held at the Tokyo Dome City Hall.

• This year, a total of 71 women participated in the beauty pageant that was won by Kylie Verzosa of the Philippines in 2016, reports Efe news.
• "It's like a dream come true. Indonesia, we made it," said the 21-year old Lilliana, adding she would use her win to promote world peace and cultural exchanges."

The Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) has bagged ADI PEC (Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference) Excellence in Energy Awards 2017 had adjudged the APMDC as the winner for the second position in the category of “social contribution in country value.

• The Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) here has bagged a prestigious international award given by Abu Dhabi, according to a press release issued by Managing Director Ch. Venkaiah Chowdhary.
• He said in the release that the ADI PEC (Abu Dhabi Intl Petroleum Exhibition and Conference) Excellency in Energy Awards 2017 had adjudged the APMDC as the winner for the second position in the category of "social contribution in country value." Four organisations including APMDC were short-listed out of 485 applications from 38 countries and APMDC was adjudged as the runner-up after OMV.
• The MD said APMDC was given the award for setting new benchmarks in the particular area which would further boost the performance of the corporation.

Obituary 

Renowned Hindustani vocalist of Kirana Gharana, Jagdish Mohan, is no more.

• He passed away on Wednesday morning at the age of 87 at his Delhi residence. The veteran vocalist was from Haridwar and was born on 4 March, 1930.