DAILY CURRENT
AFFAIRS: 17 NOV 2017
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN
1. PRESIDENT RAM NATH KOVIND LAUNCHES SCHEMES WORTH RS 3,455 CRORE
IN JHARKHAND
i. President Ram Nath Kovind launched various schemes and laid the
foundation stones of infrastructure projects in Jharkhand. These schemes and
projects are to be carried out at an expenditure of Rs 3455 cr.
ii.nFirstly, he launched Rs 290-crore ‘108 Ambulance’ service in
the state. This service will have 329 life support system equipped ambulances
which will provide free round the clock service across the state.
ii. Thereafter, President Kovind launched Jharkhand State
Government’s JOHAR (Jharkhand’s Opportunities for Harnessing Rural Development)
scheme.
2. VENKAIAH NAIDU INAUGURATES AP AGTECH SUMMIT 2017 IN
VISAKHAPATNAM
i. Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the 3-day Andhra
Pradesh AgTech Summit 2017 in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
ii. The summit will discuss on innovative ideas, technologies and
global best practices to push agricultural transformation in Andhra Pradesh.
More than 50 stalls have been set up to showcase latest agriculture
technologies and products of companies.
iii. Chief Guest for the Valedictory session on 17 November will
be Bill Gates. This summit is organised by the Andhra Pradesh Government in
association with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Confederation of Indian
Industry and Dalberg Advisors.
iv. More than 1,500 global leaders from 61 countries including
business heads, start-up founders, leading policymakers, progressive farmers,
non-governmental organisation, agriculture and technology experts attended the
summit.
3. 5TH BIENNIAL HOTELIVATE STATE RANKING SURVEY FOR TOURISM – DELHI
TOPS THE LIST
i. According to the 5th biennial Hotelivate State Ranking Survey
for Tourism, Delhi is the top tourist destination of India. This survey was
conducted by hospitality consulting firm, Hotelivate in association with World
Travel & Tourism Council-India Initiative.
ii. States were assessed on eleven parameters, which included
state expenditure on tourism, number of branded hotel rooms, aircraft movement,
road and rail network and other intangible aspects. As per the finding of the
survey, Delhi, Goa, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are the top five
tourism destination states.
iii. Being a capital city, Delhi scored extremely high on
parameters of aircraft movement and hotel rooms, which contributed to its
overall top rank.
iv. Survey findings revealed that none of the Indian states spent
more than 1% of Gross State Domestic Product on tourism.
4. 12TH NORTH EAST BUSINESS SUMMIT INAUGURATED IN NEW DELHI
i. 12th North East Business Summit, a two day event, was
inaugurated in New Delhi. The summit aims to explore the scope for business
opportunities in the North-Eastern region of India. Focus areas are
Infrastructure and Connectivity with Public Private Partnerships, Skill
Development, Financial Inclusion, Services Sector Development- Particularly in
Tourism, Hospitality & Food Processing.
ii. The Summit is being organised by the Indian Chamber of
Commerce. Manipur is the state partner for this event. The conference includes
technical sessions on development of infrastructure and connectivity in North
East: Focus on Regional Air Connectivity, Skill development in NE &
Financing the services sector, Roads & Highways, Development of Food
Processing Industry in NE with focus on Natural Organic and Super Foods from NE
and Promotion of Tourism & Hospitality Sector in NE.
5. NAGALAND BECOMES FIRST NORTH EAST STATE TO LAUNCH POS FOR
ELECTRICITY BILL PAYMENTS
i. Nagaland became the first among the North Eastern states to
launch Point of Sale for electricity bill payment. The PoS facility was
formally launched by State Chief Secretary, Pankaj Kumar, at Kohima Electrical
Sub-division-1 in Kohima.
ii. He said that, the department has been losing around Rs 150 cr
annually due to non-payment of bills by consumers and asked the citizens to pay
sincerely. Through the PoS, a consumer can make cashless payment of the
electricity bills, which is in line with India’s digitisation. Chief Engineer
of Power Department, Khose Sale said that, PoS services will be extended to
other major cities and districts of Nagaland.
6. MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI INAUGURATES “HUNAR HAAT” IN NEW DELHI
i. Union Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
inaugurated the 4th edition of ‘Hunar Haat’ at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
ii. ‘Hunar (skill) Haat’ is a platform created by the Minority
Affairs Ministry to offer employment and market opportunities to artisans and
craftsmen from minority communities. At the 4th edition of Hunar Haat works of
artisans belonging to minority communities and Tihar Jail inmates are kept on
display. This will continue till 27 November 2017.
7. CLIMATE CHANGE PERFORMANCE INDEX 2018 – INDIA RANKS 14TH, SWEDEN
RANKS HIGHEST
i. India has ranked 14th out of 56 nations and European Union on
Climate Change Performance Index 2018 released by environmental organisation
Germanwatch. This marks an improvement
from its 20th rank in CCPI 2017
ii. China, which is one of the highest GHG emitting country, ranks
41st. Similar to last year’s rankings, top three rankings are still
unoccupied as no country has adhered to
commitments made in 2015 Paris Climate Accord that aims to keep the average
global temperature rise below two degrees Celsius and as close as possible to
1.5 degrees Celsius.
iii. The bottom three countries in the index are Korea (58), Iran
(59) and Saudi Arabia (60).
8. 4TH GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINED ERADICATION OF CHILD LABOUR,
ARGENTINA
i. Plenary session of 4th Global Conference on Sustained
Eradication of Child Labour was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This
Conference was jointly organised by Government of Argentina and International Labour
Organization.
ii. While delivering the country statement at this conference,
Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Maneka Gandhi stated that Indian
Government is fully committed to continue working to eliminate child labour.
iii. Ms. Gandhi highlighted the specific provisions of amendment
in the Child Labour Act of 1986, provisions of Juvenile Justice (Care and
Protection of Children) Act, 2015, National Food Security Act 2013 and Mahatama
Gandhi National Rural Employment Guaranty Act 2005 which are direct and
indirect steps taken by Indian Government in this direction.
9. RBI GOVERNOR URJIT PATEL APPOINTED TO BIS ADVISORY BOARD
i. RBI Governor Urjit Patel was appointed to the Financial
Stability Institute Advisory Board of the Bank of International Settlement.
ii. Bank of International Settlement is a global financial
organisation owned by major central banks from across the world. The Financial
Stability Institute of the BIS assists financial sector authorities worldwide
in strengthening their financial systems.
iii. The Advisory Board will provide strategic advice to help the
FSI continue to meet its mandate in a way that is responsive to the changing
needs of its key stakeholders around the world. Members of the FSI Advisory
Board would include Urjit Patel, William Dudley, President of the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York, central bank governors in Brazil, South Africa,
Japan, and other top bankers from across the world.
