VINTAGE: Important Current affairs of 18th November 2015

The Board of Directors of ICICI Bank on 16 November 2015 approved sale of 6% of bank’s stake in its subsidiary ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company. This stake is being sold to – Premji Invest and Compass vale Investments Pvt Ltd.
Marriott International Inc a global hotel group will acquire Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. for $12.2 billion to create the world’s largest hotel chain, as disclosed on 16 November 2015.
‘The Magic of the Lost Temple’, which is the name of a newly released children’s book, is the 25^th book of noted author Sudha Murty
Senior VHP leader Ashok Singhal passed away on 17 November 2015 at the age of 89. He had organized a mammoth ‘Dharma Sansad’ in Delhi in year 1984, in which the movement for reclaiming the Ram Temple at Ayodhya was born?
The Asia Leader’s Meeting towards Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in Asia was held in in New Delhi from November 14-17, 2015.

Asia Leaders’ Meeting will be followed by 2^nd ISDR Asia Partnership (IAP) meeting of 2015 from November 17-19, 2015.

Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal laid foundation stone of the first Mega Food Park in Lakkampally village in Nizamabad district of Telanganawhich will give a boost to agro-processing.
The National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 implemented in 14 of the 30 districts of Odisha that would benefit 93.35 lakh people.
To tackle the problem of water logging, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha andMizoram propose to invest Rs 242 crore in construction of storm water drains for discharging flood waters in 25 cities in these states.
Andhra Pradesh government decided to waive loans taken by over 25,000 weaversamounting to a total of more than Rs 110 crore. The loan waiver will benefit 25,567 weavers in the state.
In “Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI)” released by Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)-India, GAIL India Limited has topped the PSUs and third overall.

ICICI Bank’s head of corporate banking division Zarine Daruwala has quit the Mumbai based lender to join UK base Standard Chartered as its India CEO.She will be replaced by Vishakha Mulye.

Former Indian Premier League Chief Operating Officer Sundar Raman will join theReliance Industries Limited (RIL) as its Chief Operating Officer – Sports.
Five Indian tech startups have been bestowed by the 3rd edition of the Next Big Idea Contest. It was jointly hosted by the Government of Ontario, Canada, Zone Start-ups India, Bombay Stock Exchange Institute and Amazon Web Services.Winners

Apollo Tyres has acquired German tyre distribution major Reifencom GmbH for 45.6 million euros (around Rs 301 crore) announced by vice-chairman and MD Neeraj Kanwar.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh will be on a 5-day visit to China on 19th November 2015. During this visit, India and China will discuss ways to boost security ties especially on fighting cross border terror and smuggling of Chinese arms to militants in the northeast.

Important Note : This will be the first visit by an Indian Home Minister to China in a decade.

India and China On 17th november 2015 decided to deepen bilateral defence ties and maintain peace and tranquillity at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) besides strengthening cooperation against terror, including at the international level. The decisions came after the meeting between a visiting 26 -member delegation led by General Fan Changlong, Vice-Chairman of China's powerful Central Military Commission (CMC) and the Indian side, which was headed by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

Note : This is the highest-level Chinese defence delegation to visit India in recent years.

France and Russia bombed Islamic State targets in Syria On 17^th November 2015, punishing the group for attacks in Paris and against a Russian airliner that together killed 353 people, and made the first tentative steps toward a possible military alliance.
Odisha government implements National Food Security Act in 14 of the 30 districts of the state in first phase covering 26 lakh families.
A Three-member committee constituted by the Delhi Government has recommended the BCCI to suspend Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) over the allegations of financial irregularities within the capital’s cricket administration.

Note : This committee was headed by Chetan Sanghi, Principal Secretary of Vigilance Department.

Government has approved AMRUT Action Plans for 81 cities with total project outlay of Rs 5,748 crore. AMRUT - Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation.
Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson announced that he will retire from all forms of international cricket at the end of the ongoing second Test against New Zealand that concludes On 17th november 2015.
Young Indian shuttler Siril Verma clinched a silver medal at the BWF World Junior Championships after suffering a narrow defeat against Chinese Taipei's Chia Hung Lu. The 2015 BWF World Junior Championships was held in Lima, Peru from 4 – 15 November 2015 as the 17th tournament of the BWF World Junior Championships.
FIFA, the governing body of football, has banned Nepal's football chief Ganesh Thapa for 10 years for corruption.

Note: The body also banned the president of the Laos federation Viphet Sihachakr for two years for bribery.

Pages