IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF FEBRUARY 3rd, 2018

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF FEBRUARY 3rd, 2018

1. PM Modi Inaugurates Global Investment Summit in Assam

i. The first two-day Global Investment Summit has been organized in Assam. The summit emphasises on promoting investments in the state and the North East. The conference was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

ii. Businessmen like Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani are taking part in the Summit. Investor's fromBhutan, Bangladesh, Germany and Japan as well as ASEAN countries will attend the summit.

2. EAM Sushma Swaraj Goodwill Visit to Nepal-

Complete Coverage

i. External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj has returned home after successful completion of the goodwill visit to Nepal. This was the first high-level visit from India after completion of historic three-tier elections in Nepal.

ii. In her first meeting, Swaraj held talks with CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda.

ii. EAM also held discussions with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Sanghiya Samajwadi Forum Nepal, Chairman Upendra Yadav.

3. CRISIL, SIDBI Launch India’s First MSE Sentiment Index

i. The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Mr Arun Jaitley launched CriSidEx, India’s first sentiment index for micro and small enterprises ( MSEs) developed jointly by CRISIL & SIDBI.

ii. CriSidEx is a composite index based on a diffusion index of 8 parameters and measures MSE business sentiment on a scale of 0 (extremely negative ) to 200 ( extremely positive).

iii. CriSidEx will have 2 indices, one for the ‘survey quarter’ and another for the ‘next quarter’ once a trend emerges after few rounds of the survey, providing independent time series data.

4. John Hennessy Appointed Alphabet's New Board Chairman

i. Alphabet has appointed John L. Hennessy as the new board chairman of the company. Hennessy has been on the board since 2004 and Lead Independent Director since 2007. He has replaced Eric Schmidt.

ii. Schmidt will remain as a "technical advisor" to Alphabet. Hennessy is a former president of Stanford University and has had an extensive career in the tech industry.

5. Shabnam Asthana Wins Times Power Woman 2017 Award

i. Shabnam Asthana was awarded the 'Times Power Women of the Year 2017'- Pune for Global PR. The Times Group celebrated the invaluable contribution of women by introducing The Times Power Woman 2017 (Pune) awards.

ii. The award was conferred on her by Dilip Kamble, Minister of State for Social Justice and Special Assistance in the Government of Maharashtra.

6. Shyam Benegal Awarded V Shantaram Lifetime Achievement Award

i. Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) committee has decided to bestow V. Shantaram lifetime achievement Award to veteran film producer and director Shyam Benegal. The award will be presented at concluding ceremony of MIFF in Mumbai.

ii. He will be awarded a trophy, cash price of 10 lakh rupees, a certificate and a shawl by Governor of Maharashtra C. Vidyasagar Rao.

7. India Lifts U-19 World Cup 2018

i. India has defeated Australia to lift the Under 19 World cup for the fourth time. The Men in Blue defeated the three-time champions Australia at Bay Oval, New Zealand.

ii. The Australian team had set the target of  217 runs and was chased down easily by India. Manjot Kalra was the Hero of the match with his brilliant century.
SpecialMentions- 

·      Manjot Kalra was declared Man of the Match.

·      Shubman Gill was declared Player of the Tournament.

·      Anukul Roy finished the 2018 edition with joint-highest 14 wickets.

8. Saurav Ghosal Becomes the Highest-Ranked Indian Squash Player

i. India’s leading squash player, Saurav Ghosal jumped five places to No. 14 to become the highest ranked Indian in the latest Professional Squash Association (PSA) rankings.
ii. Ghosal beat Joshna Chinappa who slipped three places to No. 17 while Dipika Pallikal Karthik remained on 20. Former Indian national champion Harinder Pal Sandhu was placed at 49th.