IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF NOVEMBER 28^th , 2018

              IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF NOVEMBER 28^th, 2018

1.     Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for Argentina to attend the G20 summit on November 28. 

a.      He will return on December 02. 

b.      Modi will be speaking on Digital Revolution in India, Ayushman Bharat programme, Soil Health Card and other Central government schemes besides Risk posed by volatility in oil prices and terrorism at the summit.

c.      PM will also hold bilateral meetings with several leaders like Chinese President Xi Jinping, US President Donald Trump, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on the margins of the G-20. He will be holding a bilateral meeting with .

d.      The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) head of states will also meet in the margins of G20.

e.      Note : PM Modi, his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe and US President Donald Trump will participate in a Trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentina later this week. 

i)      This will be the 1st trilateral meeting between India, Japan and the US at the leaders' level.

2.     The 1st Sustainable Blue Economy Conference was held in Nairobi (Kenya). 

a.      This conference was organized by Kenya and cohosted by Japan and Canada. 

b.      Theme of Sustainable Blue Economy Conference 2018 : ‘The Blue Economy and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.’

3.     Voting for 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly and 40-member Mizoram Assembly began today. 

4.     The International Gita Festival 2018 will be organised in Kurukshetra in Haryana from December 7 to 23, 2018. 

a.      The objective behind this event is to spread the message of Gita to world.

5.     Tamil Nadu Police has banned officials below the rank of sub-inspector from using mobile phones while on an important duty. 

6.     To boost Intellectual Property Right (IPR) culture in indigenous defence industry, the Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched ‘Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti’ in New Delhi.

a.      It was instituted by Department of Defence Production as part of the ongoing initiatives to enhance self-reliance in defence. 

b.      Aim of Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti : To provide a boost to IPR culture in indigenous defence industry. 

7.     India's largest bank State Bank of India (SBI) has increased Fixed Deposit (FD) interest rates for select maturity periods with effect from today. 

a.      FDs below ₹1 crore with maturity period of one to two years will fetch 6.8% as compared to 6.7% earlier. 

b.      The interest rate on FDs with maturity period of two to three years has been hiked from 6.75% to 6.8%.

c.      Check updated Interest Rates of SBI from HERE

8.     The government is planning to combine two state-run power sector lenders, Rural Electrification Corporation and Power Finance Corporation. 

a.      In the first phase of the deal, REC will acquire a majority stake in Power Finance valued at $2.5 billion by the end of this fiscal. 

b.      Note : The government has a 65.6% holding in Power Finance Corporation.

9.     A ministerial panel led by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has decided to sell 100% of Air India's ground handling arm Air India Air Transport Services (AIATSL). 

a.      The proceeds will be used to retire a part of Air India's debt.

10.American business and financial services company Moody's has downgraded Yes Bank's ratings to non-investment grade and changed outlook to negative citing corporate governance concerns. 

a.      Note : Three Yes Bank directors, including Chairman Ashok Chawla, have resigned in the last two weeks.  

11.The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs today launched a centralised electronic platform titled 'PaiSA', for processing interest subvention on bank loans to beneficiaries under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM).

a.      It has been designed and developed by Allahabad Bank.

b.      PAISA – Portal for Affordable Credit and Interest Subvention Access

12.LG Electronics has replaced the President of its mobile business Hwang Jeong-hwan with Brian Kwon.

a.      It comes after LG's mobile business posted a loss of $410 million this year, including a $130.5 million net loss in the last quarter.

13.Hospitality startup OYO has appointed Max Healthcare Executive Director Rohit Kapoor as the CEO of its new real estate business. 

14.Indian Government has inked $75 million loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) for Karnataka Integrated Urban Water Management Investment Program. 

a.      Under this programme, 24 x7 water supply will be provided in Karnataka’s four coastal towns of Kundapura, Mangalore Puttur and Udupi and improve sanitation infrastructure for Mangalore town. 

15.Animator  Stephen Hillenburg (57), who created the cartoon series Sponge Bob SquarePants, has passed away.

a.      The animator was suffering with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neurone disease (MND).

b.      Earlier this year, he was honoured with a special Emmy "for his contribution and impact made in the animation field and within the broadcast industry".

16.Wipro Chairman Azim Premji received the highest French civilian honour, Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) from French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler.

a.      The award was bestowed on Premji for his economic outreach in France, his contribution to developing the IT industry in India, and contribution to society as a philanthropist.

17.Legendary screenwriter Salim Khan was honoured with IFFI Special Award at the closing ceremony of the 49th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) for his contribution to Indian cinema.

a.      His son and actor Arbaaz khan received the award on behalf of him.

b.      The award carries a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh, a certificate, and a shawl.

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF NOVEMBER 27^th , 2018

              IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF NOVEMBER 27^th, 2018

1.     Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu is on an official visit to India. 

a.      During this visit, he held delegation level talks with Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi. 

b.      They discussed diversifying the historical relations and boosting cooperation in the fields of agriculture, ICT, health and pharma, education, tourism, and culture.

c.      About Romania :

i)      President : Klaus Iohannis

ii)    Prime Minister : Viorica Dancila

iii) Capital : Bucharest

iv)  Official Language : Romanian

v)    Curency : Romanian Leu

2.     Pakistan is going to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit, as per local media reports quoting Pakistan's Foreign Affairs Ministry. 

a.      India had boycotted the summit which was to be held in Pakistan in 2016 following the terror attack in Uri. 

b.      The Summit was eventually cancelled after Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan also pulled out.

3.     1980-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, Sunil Arora, has been appointed as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).

a.      He will replace O P Rawat on 2nd December 2018.

b.      With this, Arora will be the 23rd CEC of India.

c.      He will have nearly two-and-a-half-year tenure as CEC and  General Election 2019 will be conducted under his stewardship.

4.     Akhilesh Ranjan, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) member has been appointed as the Convenor of Task Force that is drafting New Direct Tax Legislation (Law). 

a.      He will replace Arbind Modi who retired in September 2018. 

b.      Note : The task force was constituted in November 2017 in order to review Income-tax Act, 1961 and to draft new direct tax law in consonance with the economic needs of the country.

5.     Ahead of the official release of the second-quarter GDP figures, State Bank of India (SBI) estimated India’s economy to expand by 7.5-7.6 percent, slower than the prior quarter, mainly on account of a slowdown in rural demand. 

6.     NASA's InSight spacecraft landed on Mars after nearly a seven-month, 458-million-kilometre journey.

a.      The 360-kg lander also shared its first photo from Mars, showing an area called Elysium Planitia, where it will dig five metres below the surface. 

b.      The $993-million mission will measure the Mars' internal heat and study quakes.

7.     The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a $200 million loan agreement to finance widening and upgrading of about 230 Kilometers State Highways in Bihar to all-weather standards with road safety features.

8.     India and China today signed a protocol to amend the existing Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between the two countries.

a.      This protocol among, other things, updates the existing provisions for the exchange of information to the latest international standards.

b.      It also incorporates changes required to implement a treaty-related minimum standards under the action reports of Base Erosion & Profit shifting (BEPS) Project, in which India had participated on an equal footing.

9.     Veteran Bollywood playback singer Mohammad Aziz (64) passed away.

a.      The singer has lent his voice to over 2000 songs in Hindi, Bengali and Odia films.

b.      Aziz, who was known for his love for Mohammad Rafi, started his musical career in Kolkata and then moved to Mumbai.

10.The Netherlands women’s hockey team won its 7th Women’s Hockey Champions Trophy at the Wujin Hockey Stadium in Changzhou, China by defeating Australia. 

11.Haryana's Manu Bhaker has won a double Gold in junior sport pistol while Ravi Kumar and Rahi Sarnobat were crowned national champions in the men and women’s events respectively in Thiruvananthapuram. 

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF NOVEMBER 26^th , 2018

              IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF NOVEMBER 26^th, 2018

1.     The 1st-ever India Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue was held at St. Petersburg in Russia. 

a.      Aim of this Dialogue : To bring together key business figures from both countries.  

b.      India was represented by by Rajiv Kumar (NITI Aayog Vice Chairman)

c.      Russia was represented by Maxim Oreshkin (Economic Development Minister).

d.      The 2-day forum provided participants platform to discuss development of bilateral ties in trade, investment, technology and industry.

e.      Transport, agriculture and agro-processing, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), digital transformation and frontier technologies and industrial cooperation were some of the key areas of focus of the forum.

2.     India observes its 'Constitution Day' today.

a.      Aim : To spread the importance of the Indian Constitution and to remember the architect of constitution Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.

b.      It was on this day in 1949 that the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution. 

c.      The Constitution, however, came into force on January 26, 1950, which is celebrated as the country's Republic Day. 

3.     Today is National Milk Day.

a.      We observe this day to mark 96th birth anniversary of Dr.Verghese Kurien.

b.      Kurien is fondly known as the Father of White Revolution in India.

c.      He is the founder of dairy firm Amul.

d.      Important Note : India is the world's largest milk producing country, with 16 percent of total global production, followed by America, China, Pakistan and Brazil.

4.     10th anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks observed today.

a.      On this day in 2008, ten Pakistani terrorists had arrived by sea route and opened fire indiscriminately at people killing 166, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others, besides damaging property worth crores of rupees. 

b.      The attack had begun on 26 November and lasted until 29 November.

c.      The then Maharashtra ATS Chief Hemant Karkare, army Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Mumbai's Additional Police Commissioner Ashok Kamteand Senior Police Inspector Vijay Salaskar were among those killed.

d.      Ajmal Kasab was the only terrorist who was captured alive, he was hanged four years later on November 21, 2012.

5.     Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today unveiled a 70-foot-tall statue of Lord Buddhain Bihar's Rajgir. 

a.      The statue has been installed above a 16-metre radius pedestal in the middle of the lake Ghora Katora.

b.      It has been made from 45,000 cubic foot pink sand stone. 

c.      Ghora Katora is natural lake surrounded by five hills.

d.      The area around lake and statue has been developed into beautiful park from eco-tourism point of view, so no petrol and diesel vehicles will be allowed to ply in this area and only electronic vehicles will be allowed.

6.     The HRD Ministry instructed all states and Union Territories the maximum weight of school bags for Class 1 and 2 students can't exceed 1.5 kg. 

a.      For Classes 3 to 5, the limit is 2-3 kg and it's 4 kg for Classes 6 and 7. 

b.      For Classes 8 and 9, the limit is 4.5 kg, and 5 kg for Class 10. 

7.     State-run Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has won the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)-Exim Bank Business Excellence Award. 

a.      BEL Chairman and Managing Director M.V. Gowtama received the award at the Quality Summit, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here on Friday.

8.     Senior artis A. N. Patil will be honored with the Kuncha Kala Tapasvi Award 2018, in the category of Lifetime Achievement.

9.     The Chairman of InterGlobe Aviation, which operates the country's largest airline IndiGo, Devadas Mallya Mangalore passed away today. 

a.      Mallya had previously served as Chairman and Managing Director of Bank of Baroda and Bank of Maharashtra.

10.Ohio will become the 1st US state to accept payment of taxes by businesses in Bitcoin, beginning this week. 

a.      Businesses can pay 23 different taxes with Bitcoin, from employee withholding tax to fuel and sales tax, through an online cryptocurrency portal. Businesses that operate and pay taxes in the state will be eligible to register on the portal.

11.Tyre maker, Apollo Tyres has appointed cricketer Sachin Tendulkar as its new brand ambassador. 

a.      He was the former brand ambassador of MRF Tyres.

b.      Note : Apart from Apollo Tyres, he is also the brand Ambassador for BMW in India.

12.Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton has won the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix today.

13.India’s Sameer Verma has won Syed Modi India Grand Prix Gold badminton title 2018 in men’s singles category.

a.      Women’s singles title was won by Han Yue (China) after defeating India’s Saina Nehwal.

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF NOVEMBER 25^th, 2018

              IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF NOVEMBER 25^th, 2018

1.      (25th November) is International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

a.      Aim of this Day : to raise awareness of the fact that women around the world are subject to rape, domestic violence and other forms of violence

b.      Theme of the year 2018 : "Orange the World: #HearMeToo"

2.     The United Kingdom's withdrawal agreement from the European Union (EU) has been approved by the bloc's 27 heads of state.

a.      The deal now needs to be approved by the UK Parliament, which is expected to vote in early December. 

b.      Note : Britain is scheduled to leave the EU in March 2019.

c.      President of the European Council : Donald Tusk

3.     Taiwan voters have rejected same-sex marriages. 

a.      They backed the definition of marriage as the union of a man and woman.

4.     National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held the 21st round of border talks and resolved to intensify efforts to achieve a mutually acceptable solution to the India-China boundary question. 

a.      They reviewed developments in bilateral relations following the Wuhan Summit between PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

5.     Tomorrow (26th November) is Constitution Day. 

a.      Our Constitution was adopted on this day in the year 1949. 

b.      The Constituent Assembly took 2 years 11 months and 17 days to accomplish this stupendous task of drafting Constitution.

6.     The Uttarakhand government has approved a proposal to rename capital Dehradun's Jolly Grant Airport after late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

7.     The Uttar Pradesh government has cleared the plans to build a 221-metre-tall bronze statue of Lord Ram in Ayodhya, which will be the world's tallest statue. 

a.      The Lord Ram statue would consist of a 151-metre statue, a 20-metre umbrella overhead, and a 50-metre pedestal; the total being 221 metre.

b.      A museum would also be housed at the pedestal.

8.     The 7th edition of the ‘International Tourism Mart’ is being held in Agartala (Tripura). 

a.      It is organised by Union Ministry of Tourism in association with Department of Tourism, Government of Tripura and North Eastern States.

b.      Theme of 7th International Tourism Mart 2018 : “Adventure Tourism”.

9.     The Andhra Pradesh government today launched a web portal which makes land records available to people with unique identification numbers just like Aadhar number. 

a.      The “Bhudaar’’ is an 11-digit unique identification code assigned to each agriculture land holding and rural and urban properties in the state. 

10.The government has announced that it will give a subsidy of 5% for Non-basmati Rice exports for the four months to March 25, 2019. 

a.      The rice exports of India, which is the world's largest rice exporter, fell 9.6% to 5.8 million tonnes in the first six months this fiscal. 

b.      Bangladesh, a leading buyer, cut purchases due to a bumper harvest.

11.The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has approved the sale of Quadricycles for personal use. 

a.      A quadricycle is a 4-wheel motor vehicle of the size of a three-wheeler but with less power and a lower maximum speed than a conventional small car. 

b.      Note : Bajaj Auto is the only Indian automaker that makes a quadricycle, which it exports to other countries.

12.The UK government has announced plans to launch its 1st Driverless public transport services by 2021. T

a.      he £25 million ($33 million) project would include autonomous buses in Scotland and self-driving taxis in several London boroughs. 

13.The cabinet has approved continuation of 9 sub-schemes of umbrella scheme “Atmosphere & Climate Research-Modelling Observing Systems & Services (ACROSS)” during 2017-2020. 

a.      The scheme aims at improving skill of weather and climate forecast through sustained observations, intensive Research & Development.

b.      Objective : To provide reliable weather and climate forecast for betterment of society. 

14.World number one singles tennis player Simona Halep has been awarded an honorary doctorate in her homeland Romania. 

a.      She won her 1st Grand Slam by beating Sloane Stephens in the final of the French Open earlier this year.

15.Kannada actor and former union minister MH Ambareesh (66) passed away. 

a.      The three-time MP popularly known as "Rebel star",  had acted in around 200 films in a career spanning over four decades.

16.Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister CK Jaffer Sharief (85) passed away.

a.      He served as Union Railway Minister from 1991 to 1995.

b.      Sharief, who has been out of public life was preparing an Urdu translation of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s book ‘India Wins Freedom’. 

c.      The book was due to be launched on Wednesday by former President Pranab Mukherjee.

17.Playing in her first AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship, India's 21-year-old boxer Sonia Chahal won Silver medal after losing to Germany's OG Wahner in the 57-kg category. 

a.      It is India's seventh silver medal and overall 30th medal in the history of the tournament.