IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF NOVEMBER 8th, 2017

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF NOVEMBER 8th, 2017

1.The United States (US) has become the only nation not in the Paris climate agreement after Syria announced its plan to join the deal. 

a.Important Points to Note : 

i.The US had signed the agreement during former President Barack Obama's tenure, but President Donald Trump announced the country's withdrawal from the deal earlier this year saying it disadvantaged US businesses. 

ii.The 2015 pact now has 197 signatories.

2.Delhi was the world's 21st most visited city of 2016 with 7.4 million international travellers, according to market research firm Euromonitor International. 

a.Further, Mumbai was the 22nd most visited city of 2016 with 7.19 million international travellers. 

b.Top 10 in the List :

i.Hong Kong

ii.Bangkok

iii.London

iv.Singapore

v.Macau

vi.Dubai

vii.Paris

viii.New York City

ix.Shenzhen, China

x.Kuala Lumpur

3.Union textiles and information & broadcasting minister Smriti Irani On 8th, November  flagged off a Digital Rath as part of an initiative to accelerate adoption of cashless paymentsamong merchants in various cities.

a.Under the initiative, by December 31 global payments solutions providerMastercard aims to reach out to around 10 lakh merchants in cities, including Lucknow, Kolkata, Pondicherry, Navi Mumbai and Bhopal, to inform them about benefits of electronic payments and how to leverage the tool in expanding their business.

4.Himachal Pradesh will be the first state to use EVMs with VVPAT machines on all booths during assembly elections.

5.For the first time, Mumbai University is going to introduce on-screen marking system to assess answer sheets of semester-end examinations.

6.PM Narendra Modi-led government's Demonetisation move On 8th, November  marked itsFirst Anniversary.

a.The BJP led government is celebrating this day as Anti-Black Money Day. 

b.With demonetization move, the government banned ₹500 and ₹1,000 currency notes and released new ₹500 and ₹2,000 currency notes in the economy. 

c.It later launched BHIM App for digital transactions in a bid to promote cashless economy.

7.Online news and social networking service Twitter has officially increased the character limit from 140 to 280 for tweets in all languages.

a.Note : This is the first time Twitter changed its character limit since it was launched in 2006.

8.An Indian-American, Ravinder Bhalla, who was labelled as a terrorist in flyers last week has become the first-ever Sikh mayor of US' Hoboken city. 

9.Former astronaut Richard Gordon (88), one of the twelve men who flew around the Moon but didn't land, has died On 8th, November .

a.During the 1969 Apollo 12 mission, Gordon controlled the Moon-orbiting command module while astronauts Alan Bean and Charles Conrad walked on the Moon. 

10.Chennai was recently designated as UNESCO Creative City for its contributions to music.

a.Note : With this, Chennai became the 3rd Indian city on the list after Jaipurand Varanasi. 

11.Indian Olympic medal-winning boxer and five-time world champion Mary Komwon her 5th Gold medal at the Asian Women's Boxing Championships after defeating North Korea's Kim Hyang Mi On 8th, November . 

a.Note : This was her first medal since 2014 and first gold at the tournament in the 48-kg category.

12.Strike bowler Mitchell Starc became the first man to take two hat-tricks in the same first-class game in Australia On 8th, November  as he hit ominous form ahead of the Ashes Test series against England.

a.The left-arm pacer became only the eighth player in first-class cricket history -- and the first in 39 years -- to achieve the feat as he spearheaded New South Wales to victory over Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield.