Current Affairs Updates - 27 November 2017

Current Affairs Updates - 27 November 2017

New Appointments: National

Sambasiva Rao appointed full-time DGP of Andhra Pradesh

• Chief Secretary Dinesh Kumar, in an order issued on Friday, stated that Mr. Rao, IPS officer of 1984 batch, has been transferred and posted as DGP (HoPF) of the State in the existing vacancy with immediate effect. He was serving as DGP (Coordination) till now.

Justice Satrughana Pujahari has been sworn in as a judge of the Madras High Court.

• Chief Justice Indira Banerjee administered the oath of office to Justice Pujahari, who has been transferred from the Orissa High Court, at a simple function held on the court premises yesterday.

Banking/Economic Affairs

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country increased by 17% to 25.35 billion dollar during April-September this fiscal.

• FDI equity during the current FY 2017-18 (up to September) surged by 17% to 25.35 billion dollar from 21.62 billion dollar in the year-ago period," the DIPP said on its 'Make in India' twitter handle.
• The department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), under the commerce and industry ministry, deals with FDI related issues.
• It said that the total FDI into India including equity inflows, reinvested earnings and other capital stood at 518.10 billion dollar during April 2000 to September this year.

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) kept its sovereign rating for India unchanged at 'BBB-', while keeping its outlook for the nation stable .

• The move is likely to disappoint investors, who pushed the BSE barometer Sensex for the seventh consecutive trading session on Friday on hopes of another rating upgrade 

National Affairs

According to the Central Electricity Authority, Maharashtra stands as the single largest consumer of electricity in India, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Telangana.

• With the increasing demand, there was an increase of 8.6% over the demand for 69,216 MU in the year ago. Among the larger states, Uttar Pradesh showed a growth of 15.37% year-on-year to 65,284 MU. Rajasthan and Telangana too showed good growth of 54.8% and 15.34%, respectively. Tripura with a consumption of around 1,000 MU saw its demand grow at a whopping 94.39%.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh chaired the 12th meeting of the Standing Committee of Inter-State Council (ISC) which will lend speed and purpose to the process of harmonizing Center-State relations.

• He mentioned that a number of important State-to-State and Centre-State issues that are raised at these meetings find resolution. In 2015, 82 such issues were resolved while in 2016, 140 issues were resolved.

The Assam government would celebrate 'Lachit Divas' at various state capitals in the country from next year to promote the ideals of Lachit Borphukan - the legendary general of Assam's history.

• Taking part in the Lachit Divas celebration at the statue of the General at Brahmaputra riverfront here, Sonowal said Borphukan is one of the best examples of heroism and patriotism in world history.

The Government of India will assist Mauritius to develop and set up digital locker services.

• With Mauritius showing keen interest in India’s DigiLocker service, we will be helping them to set up the service,” said Ajay Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of electronics and IT, on the sidelines of Global Conference on Cyber Space 2017.

Defence & Railway

US, South Korea To Hold Vigilant Ace drill to simulate wartime defenses from Dec. 4 to 8.

• The exercise comes as North Korea continues to press forward with developing its nuclear and missile program, in defiance of global condemnation and sanctions, though it has not held tests for two months.

Application / Portal 

Private sector lender Axis Bank has launched an instant international payment services using Ripple’s enterprise blockchain technology solution for retail and corporate customers.

• Though an international offer, the bank is offering the facility only to its retail customers in the country to receive payments from the UAE-based Rak Bank and for its corporate customers to receive payments from Standard Chartered, Singapore, the bank said in a statement today.

Agreements (MoU)

India and Finland joined hands to boost mutual ties in the areas of trade and investment, renewable energy and science and technology.

• External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said Swaraj and Soini agreed to deepen cooperation in trade and investment, IT, new and renewable energy, science and technology, culture and people-to-people contact.

Sports: Awards & Honours

India wrestler Ritu Phogat (48kg) clinched the silver medal in the Under-23 Senior World Wrestling Championship at Poland. 

The 23-year-old, who had won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championship last year, lost against Turkish Wrestler Demirhan in the gold medal bout to settle for a silver.