Daily Current Affairs 30th October, 2017

Daily Current Affairs 30 October 2017 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Phase 1 of Bharat Net project to be completed by December

The first phase of the national optic fibre network, christened Bharat Net project — which aims to deploy high-speed optical fibre cables across rural areas — will be completed by December, 2017, thus providing internet access to 100,000 gram panchayats.

• This was announced by Aruna Sundararajan, secretary, department of telecommunications at the fourth edition of the ‘i-Bharat 2017’ conference held in the capital, based on the theme of ‘ICT Elucidations for Unserved and Unsolved’, organised by industry body FICCI in association with the ministry of electronics and information technology.

Shri Giriraj Singh launches MSME Delayed Payment Portal – MSME Samadhaan

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Shri Giriraj Singh launched MSME Delayed Payment Portal – MSME Samadhaan (http://msefc.msme.gov.in), empowering micro and small entrepreneurs across the country to directly register their cases relating to delayed payments by Central Ministries/Departments/CPSEs/State Governments.

TBP gets communication satellite to monitor Chinese border

After the Doklam standoff with the Chinese army, the government has armed the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) with ISRO’s geostationary communication satellite, GSAT-6, to supervise the nearly 3,500-km-long Sino-Indian border. The satellite will enable the force to track activities along the border and alert the government and other security agencies if it notices something suspicious.

Railways Bidar-Kalaburgi line inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the Indian Railways’ 110km Bidar-Kalaburgi railway track in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region that is aimed at reducing the distance between Bengaluru and New Delhi by 380km and travel time by six to eight hours

Panel appointed to begin probe into Jayalalithaa’s death

A Commission constituted by Tamil Nadu government and headed by former Madras High Court judge A. Arumughaswamy, has began a probe for the circumstances  leading to the death of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

• Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami had constituted the Commission of Inquiry following multiple representations over the hospitalisation of Jayalalithaa on September 22 last year and her death on December 5.

India sends first wheat shipment to Afghanistan via Chabahar port

Iran’s key strategic port of Chabahar became operational with the maiden shipment of wheat from India to Afghanistan flagged off by the foreign ministers of the three countries through video-conferencing.

• This is a major push for India’s Afghan outreach bypassing Pakistan — for the first time under the 2016 Indo-Afghan-Iran trilateral pact.
• External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Salahuddin Rabbani and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, through a joint video conference, flagged off the shipment from India to Afghanistan that would be transhipped through the Chabahar port in Iran.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

India-UAE Partnership summit begins in Dubai

The two-day India-UAE Partnership Summit began in Dubai to further accelerate bilateral trade and investment between the two countries. The Summit, with a theme of Investment Implementation, is to deliberate at how key projects in India can be executed with the support of the UAE based businesses and investors.

UN conference on nuclear energy begins in UAE

The United Nations conference on nuclear energy started at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 30th October. The objective of the conference is to engage in dialogue on the role of nuclear power in meeting future energy demand, contributing to sustainable development and mitigating climate change. The meeting is also discussing key issues related to the development and deployment of nuclear power.

• Also, Iran has boycotted the conference, as Yukiya Amano, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, avoided speaking about the nuclear deal at all in his address at the venue. 

Worlds fastest, shortest laser pulse created

Scientists at Geneva, Switzerland have successfully created the worlds shortest X-ray laser pulse with a duration of just 43 attoseconds, an advance that will allow us to observe electrons in slow motion.

BANKING & FINANCE

Government sets up Arun Jaitley-led panel on PSU bank mergers

Moving ahead with reforms in the public sector banking space, the government has constituted a ministerial panel headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley that will oversee merger proposals of state-owned banks.

• The other members of the panel include Railway and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
• The constitution of Alternative Mechanism (AM) is a movement in that direction. The Union Cabinet in August had decided to set up an Alternative Mechanism to fast track consolidation among public sector banks to create strong lenders.

Government of India and World Bank sign $200 Million Loan Agreement

The Government of India and the World Bank have signed a $200 million Loan Agreement for the Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project.

• The Project will support the Government of Assam to facilitate agri-business investments, increase agriculture productivity and market access, and enable small farm holders produce crops that are resilient to recurrent floods or droughts in the state.

BUSINESS

IDFC, Shriram Group call off merger talks

The IDFC Group and Shriram Group have decided to call off their merger proposal as they were not able to reach a mutually acceptable swap ratio.

SIDBI Revamps Portal for Easy Credit Access

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has 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).

• The portal is mobile-enabled and provides a self-assessment module (auto assisting in categorization). It sends various information on registered MSMEs from time to time. It also allows loan applications to be perused and picked up by multiple lenders.

L&T hands over offshore patrol vessel to Coast Guard

An offshore patrol vessel (OPV), entirely developed in-house by Larsen and Toubro and the country’s first-ever such defence craft to be built in a private shipyard, was handed over to the Coast Guard.

• The vessel named “Vikram”, built at Larsen and Toubro’s Kattupalli shipyard, was handed over to the Coast Guard ahead of the March 2018 delivery schedule.

ECONOMY

Centre releases Rs 8,698 cr as GST compensation to states

The centre has released Rs 8,698 crore to states to compensate them for revenue loss following Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation.

• All states barring Rajasthan and Arunachal Pradesh, have been given compensation for the first two months (July-August) after GST rollout.

Govt fixes Sovereign Gold Bond rate at Rs 2,945 per gram

The Reserve Bank has announced that the purchase price for the Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) 2017 -18 Series-VI opening on 30th october has been fixed at Rs 2,945 per gram.

• The government, in consultation with the RBI, has also decided to offer a discount of Rs 50 per gram to investors applying online and making the payment digitally.
• The issue price for Series-V was Rs 2,971 for every gram.
• The subscription for bonds runs from Monday to Wednesday every week.

SPORTS

Virat Kohli, Mithali Raj top ICC ODI rankings

On October 29, as the ICC Rankings were updated, both the Indian captains Virat Kohli and Mithali Raj came out on top.

• While Kohli reclaimed the top spot with a career-best 889 points, Mithali moved up one place to occupy the first position with 753 points.
• Kohli overtook South Africa’s AB de Villiers in the rankings and Mithali Raj has regained top spot among batters after Australia’s Meg Lanning missed the recent series against England due to injury in the latest ICC ODI Player rankings.

Bopanna wins Erste Open, Myneni-Prashanth clinch Vietnam Open trophy

In a memorable day for Indian tennis , Rohan Bopanna won the Erste Open title in Vienna, Austria with Pablo Cuevas while the team of Saketh Myneni and Vijay Sundar Prashanth clinched the Vietnam Open trophy at the Ho Chi Minh City.

Lewis Hamilton secures 2017 F1 title, Max Verstappen wins Mexico Grand Prix

Britain’s Lewis Hamilton has been crowned Formula One world champion after he finished ninth in a dramatic Mexican Grand Prix.

• The race was won by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen but Mercedes’ Hamilton clinched his fourth drivers’ championship after Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was unable to win the race following collisions between the trio on the first lap.

APPOINTMENTS

Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar takes charge as new vice chief of Navy

Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar has assumed charge as the Vice Chief of Naval Staff. He succeeds Vice Admiral Karambir Singh who will take charge as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command.

AWARDS

Anupam Kher receive Parmod Mahajan Smriti Award

Veteran Bollywood actor Anupam Kher has received Parmod Mahajan Smriti Award in Pune. Along with him, Saira Banu was also awarded the  Pramod Mahjan Smriti Award.

OBITUARY

Former Director of Doordarshan passes away

Former Director of Doordarshan K S Achyutan has passed away.

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