DAILY CURRENT
AFFAIRS: 19 NOV 2017
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN
1. 24TH MEETING OF THE ASIA PACIFIC REGIONAL SPACE AGENCY FORUM
HELD IN BENGALURU
i. The 24th Session of the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency
Forum was held in Bengaluru. The theme for the 24th Session of the Asia-Pacific
Regional Space Agency Forum was ‘Space Technology for Enhanced Governance and
Development’.
ii. The event was co-organised by India’s Department of Space,
Indian Space Research Organisation and Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
iii. The General Co-chairs were Mr. A. S. Kiran Kumar, Secretary
of DOS & Chairman of ISRO and Ms. Mami Oyama, Deputy Director General,
Research and Development Bureau, Japan.
2. RBL BANK OPENS ALL WOMEN BRANCH IN CHENNAI
i. Private sector RBL Bank inaugurated an all women branch in
Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The all-women branch in Chennai will be managed by eight
women and will offer all products and services across liability and assets.
ii. This initiative is RBL Bank’s efforts in encouraging gender
equality. Currently, RBL Bank has 246 branches and 389 ATM across India. It
serves 3.54 million customers.
3. RELIANCE GENERAL INSURANCE INKS BANCASSURANCE PACT WITH YES BANK
i. Reliance General Insurance, a subsidiary of Reliance Capital,
has signed a comprehensive bancassurance-corporate agency agreement with YES
Bank.
ii. YES Bank with its network of 1,040 branches across all 29 States
and seven Union Territories will enable Reliance General Insurance to reach a
large base of retail and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises clients.
iii. This is the first partnership signed by YES Bank since the
open-architecture norms under the corporate agency regulations were introduced
by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority in April 2016.
4. SARTTAC STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING HELD IN NEW DELHI
i. An interim meeting of the Steering Committee of the
International Monetary Fund’s South Asia Regional Training and Technical
Assistance Center was held in New Delhi.
ii. The SARTTAC Steering Committee meeting was held to assess the
Center’s activities and to review the Fiscal Year 2018 Work Plan. Officials
from all 6 member countries attended, together with the Development Partner
representatives (the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, and USAID),
and IMF staff.
iii. The next Steering Committee meeting will take place in Sri
Lanka in May, 2018. It also approved a new work area in Government Finance and
Public Debt Statistics, where members have expressed strong demand, and work is
underway to plan future technical assistance and training.
5. FORMER PM MANMOHAN SINGH TO GET INDIRA GANDHI PEACE PRIZE
i. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh will receive the Indira
Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development this year for his
leadership of the country between 2004 and 2014 and for enhancing India's
stature globally.
ii. The award, comprising a cash prize of Rs.25 lakh and a
citation, was instituted by the Indira Gandhi Memorial trust in 1986 and
previous recipients include the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, former
U.S. President Jimmy Carter, former President of the Czech Republic Vaclav
Havel, and organisations such as the United Nation’s Human High Commissioner
for Refugees and ISRO.
6. 12TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM
GEOPHYSICISTS, JAIPUR
i. 12th Biennial International Conference & Exposition of
Society of Petroleum Geophysicists -India started in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The
conference was inaugurated by Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and
Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan.
ii. Theme of the conference was “Energy trough Synergy”. Mr. Pradhan
also released a special issue of SPG’s half yearly journal, ‘GEOHORIZON’.
iii. Several experts from the petroleum sector addressed the
session on the first day of the conference.
7. CENTRE HIKES IMPORT DUTY ON EDIBLE OILS TO HELP FARMERS
i. The Centre has raised import duty on crude palm oil to 30
percent from 15 percent and on refined oil to 40% from 20 percent in a bid to
curb cheaper shipments and boost local prices for supporting farmers and
refiners, according to a notification.
ii. Import duty on soyabean oil, sunflower oils, canola/mustard
oils -- both crude and refined format -- has been raised, the notification
released by the Central Board of Excise and Customs. Import duty on Soyabean
has also been increased.
8. ANAND RAJESHWAR BAIWAR TAKES CHARGE AS SEBI EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
i. Markets regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India said
that, Anand Rajeshwar Baiwar has taken charge as an executive director.
ii. Anand Rajeshwar Baiwar is an Indian Revenue Service officer of
the 1990 batch. Prior to this assignment, he was working as an income tax
commissioner in Kolkata. He is a graduate in engineering as well as law.
iii. He holds Post Graduate Diploma in Management from IIM,
Bangalore and is also a chartered financial analyst from ICFAI, Hyderabad. SEBI
had also promoted two senior employees – Amarjeet Singh and Nagendraa Parakh as
executive directors in July 2017.
9. SUSHIL KUMAR, GEETA PHOGAT WIN GOLD IN 62ND NATIONAL WRESTLING
CHAMPIONSHIP
i. Sushil Kumar and Geeta Phogat bagged gold medal at the 62nd
National Wrestling championship in Indore. Two-time Olympic medallist Sushil
Kumar won a gold medal in men’s 74 kilogram freestyle competition.
ii. Geeta Phogat won a gold medal in the 59 kg category of women’s
wrestling. India’s single woman Olympic medal winner Sakshi Malik won gold
medal in the 62kg category of women’s wrestling.
iii. Geeta’s husband Pawan Kumar also finished on top in 86kg
category. This is the first time Indore has hosted the National Wrestling
Championship.
10. INDIA'S MANUSHI CHHILLAR CROWNED MISS WORLD 2017
i. India's Manushi Chhillar has won the coveted Miss World 2017
crown at a grand event in China, bringing to an end the country's dry spell of
17 years at the top pageant contest. The first and the second runners-up were
Miss Mexico, Andrea Meza and Miss England Stephanie Hill, respectively.
ii. The 20-year-old from Haryana, who is a medical student, edged
out top five contestants from England, France, Kenya and Mexico. Chhillar was
presented the crown by Stephanie Del Valle, the last year's Miss World winner
from Puerto Rico at the event in Sanya City Arena in China which was televised
live globally.
11. NATION PAYS HOMAGE TO FORMER PM INDIRA GANDHI ON HER 100TH BIRTH
ANNIVERSARY
i. A grateful nation is paying homage to former Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi on her 100th birth anniversary. A commemorative programme to mark
the anniversary of Gandhi held at Shakti Sthal, New Delhi.
ii. Indira Gandhi was the only female Prime Minister of the
country. She served as Prime Minister from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980 until her
assassination in 1984.
12. YUKI BHAMBRI BEATS RAMKUMAR RAMANATHAN TO WIN ATP CHALLENGER
i. India's tennis star Yuki Bhambri clinched his first title of
the 2017 season on the ATP Challenger Tour following a come-from-behind win
over compatriot Ramkumar Ramanathan in the final of the KPIT-MSLTA Challenger
in Pune.
ii. Yuki, country's top singles player, overcame Ramanathan 4-6,
6-3, 6-4 in a little over two hours at Balewadi Sports Complex.
13. ETHIOPIANS BIRHANU LEGESE, ALMAZ AYANA WIN DELHI HALF MARATHON
i. Ethiopians Birhanu Legese and Almaz Ayana won the Delhi Half
Marathon, 2017. In the Men's section, Legese clocked 59 minutes 46 seconds to
claim the first spot, while his countryman Andahmlak Belihu finished second and
Kenyan-American Leonard Korir came third. India's Nitendra Rawat finished 10th.
ii. In the Women's section, it was a clean sweep for Ethiopia,
with world recorded holder Almaz Ayana finishing at the top of the podium. She
clocked one hour, seven minutes and 11 seconds. Ababel Yeshaneh claimed the
second spot, with Netsamet Gudeta coming third.
OBJECTIVE
QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS
Q1. IN WHICH INDIAN STATE, THE IMF’S SOUTH ASIA REGIONAL
TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER WAS HELD AT?
a) Gujarat
b) New Delhi
c) Sikkim
d) Odisha
Q2. IN WHICH CITY OF TAMIL NADU, THE PRIVATE SECTOR RBL BANK
INAUGURATED AN ALL WOMEN BRANCH?
a) Tanjore
b) Trichy
c) Madurai
d) Chennai
Q3. WHO IS THE NEWLY APPOINTED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF SEBI?
a) AV Chandran
b) Azim Hasham
c) Anand Rajeshwar Baiwar
d) Premji Nadal
Q4. IN WHICH INDIAN CITY, THE 24TH SESSION OF THE ASIA-PACIFIC
REGIONAL SPACE AGENCY FORUM WAS HELD AT?
a) Bengaluru
b) Mumbai
c) Trivandrum
d) Kolkata
Q5. WHO BAGGED GOLD MEDAL AT THE 62ND NATIONAL WRESTLING
CHAMPIONSHIP (WOMEN) IN INDORE?
a) Bobby Shaksha
b) Dipa Karmakar
c) Sakshi Malik
d) Geeta Phogat
ANSWERS:
1 - B 2 -D 3 - C 4
- A 5 - D
