IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF OCTOBER 7th, 2017

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF OCTOBER 7th, 2017

1.     On 7th October is World Day for Decent Work .

a.      This year marks the 10th anniversary of the World Day for Decent Work (WDDW).

b.     Theme of WDDW 2017 : "End Corporate Greed: The World Needs a Pay Rise"

2.     The 1st Meeting of India-Australia Joint Steering Committee (JSC) was held in New Delhi. 

a.      This meeting is a follow-up to the Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation in Combating International

Terrorism and Transnational Organized Crime exchanged between the two sides during the visit of Australian Prime Minister Mr. Malcolm Turnbull to New Delhi in April this year and his talks with the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

3. Addressing the UN General Assembly meeting, India On 7th October sought zero tolerance against criminal acts committed by personnel serving on UN missions globally.

a.      It asserted that such crimes are damaging the image and credibility of the world body. 

b.     India also asked UN to provide data on cases of misconduct where UN refused to waive the immunity of their personnel.

4.     Indian Air Force will celebrate its 85th anniversary with a large parade and air display at the Hindon air base near Delhi tomorrow.

5.     Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced the setting up of India's first marine police training institute at Gujarat's Devbhumi Dwarka district. 

6.     Modi will inaugurate development projects worth ₹5,925 crore during his two-day visit to poll-bound Gujarat. 

a.      He will lay the foundation stone for a greenfield airport located near Rajkot and inaugurate a fully automatic milk processing and packaging plant in Surendranagar. 

b.     He will also lay the foundation stone for widening of Ahmedabad-Rajkot section of NH-47 to six lanes.

7.     Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the national food regulator, has asked all the states and Union Territories to appoint trained 'food safety supervisors' for all food businesses with 25 or more people handling food. 

a.      These supervisors would be responsible for ensuring that food quality is maintained, however, legally the owners would be responsible for lapses.

8.     In wake of regular ceasefire violations by Pakistan, the Union Home Ministry has formed Study group to examine various problems faced by people residing near International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LOC) in Jammu and Kashmir. 

a.      Head of this Study Group : Rina Mitra (Special Secretary in Home Ministry)

9.     Filmmaker Kundan Shah (69), who directed films like 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro' and 'Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa' passed away.

a.      Shah won the National Award in 1984 for Best First Film of a Director for 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro'. 

b.     His last film as a director was the 2015 movie 'P Se PM Tak'.

10. The government has reduced GST rates on 27 products and services and introduced a 0.1% GST rate for merchant exporters, offering relief from the full-applicable GST rates on their procurements. 

a.      GST on products like sliced dried mangos, khakhra, plain chapattis is reduced to 5% from 12%, and services like zari work are down from 12% to 5%.

b.     Tax rate on man-made yarn has been reduced to 12% from the current 18%.

c.      Tax rate on unbranded namkeen, unbranded ayurvedic medicine, e-waste, and sliced dried mango has been reduced to 5%.

11. The Finance Ministry has announced that PAN and Aadhaar details will not be mandatory for jewellery purchases above ₹50,000. 

a.      Any entity dealing with gems and jewellery and with an annual turnover of ₹2 crore or more shall not be covered under the Prevention of money laundering act. 

12.The State Bank of India (SBI)'s first woman Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya retired On 7th October, over 40 years after joining the country's largest lender as a probationary officer.

13.           The US State Department has approved a sale of the THAAD missile defence systemworth over ₹98,000 crore ($15 billion) to Saudi Arabia. 

a.      The deal includes 44 THAAD launchers and 360 missiles along with fire control stations and radars. 

b.     The US had earlier set up the THAAD in South Korea, sparking protests from North Korea and China.

14. The Centre is planning to bring down the number of public-sector banks from 21 to 10-15 in the country by merging some of the banks. 

a.      The government revealed it would take care of bad loan problems before merging the banks. 

b.     It also asserted a weak bank won't be merged with a strong one "as it could pull the latter down".

15. The Andhra Pradesh government has entered into memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mastercard to pave way for digital financial transactions in a secure environment. 

a.      The MoU will help Andhra Pradesh government in adopting and hastening innovations such as digital payments and launch financial inclusion programmes.

16.           Golriz Ghahraman is going to become first immigrant MP of New Zealand.

a.      She's daughter of Iranian political asylum seeker.

17.   The FIFA U-17 World Cup, which is the first-ever FIFA tournament to be hosted in India, has kicked off. 

a.      India, who are participating in their first-ever FIFA tournament, started their campaign against USA in Delhi.

b.     The tournament is in its 17th edition, with defending champions Nigeria not playing since they were unable to qualify.

18. Sania Mirza & her partner Peng Shuai enter semi-finals of China Open championships, in Beijing.