IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF NOVEMBER 6th,7th & 8th 2018
IMPORTANT
CURRENT AFFAIRS OF NOVEMBER 6th,7th & 8th 2018
1.
6th November 2018 was observed as International Day for
Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict.
a. This day was
established on 5th November 2001 by the United Nations General
Assembly, during Kofi Atta Annan's tenure as Secretary-General.
b. Aim of this
day : To educate people about the damaging effects of war and
armed conflict on the environment.
2.
South Korea's First Lady Kim Jung-sook is on a
4 day visit to India.
a. During this
visit, she met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj and held bilateral talks.
3.
China and Pakistan launched a bus service
passing through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
a. The bus
service connecting Pakistan's Lahore and Kashgar in China is a part of the
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.
b. Note : India has
protested against the bus service claiming it will violate India's sovereignty
and territorial integrity.
4.
The United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) has
issued special stamps with Diyas lamps (special event sheet) to commemorate
Indian festival of Diwali.
a. These stamps
are available at UN headquarters post office in New York, US and also online.
5.
The 18th Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Council of
Ministers Meeting was held in Durban, South Africa.
a. India was
represented by the Minister of State for External Affairs, V K
Singh.
6.
7th November 2018 was observed as National Cancer
Awareness Day.
a. This day is
observed across the country to spread awareness about the disease.
b. There were
2.9 million cases of cancer in the country with 1.1 million new cases being
reported annually.
c. This day was
announced by then Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on 7th November 2014.
d. Important
Note : World Cancer Day is observed on 4th February every year.
7.
Gujarati New Year, also known as Bestu Varas, which marks the
beginning of the Kartik month of the Hindu calendar, is being observed on 8th
November.
a. Gujarati New
Year also coincides with Govardhan Puja celebrations in North India, which
takes place on the next day of Diwali every year.
8.
Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel today announced the
state government is ready to change the name of Ahmedabad to Karnavati if
it gets the required support of the people to overcome legal hurdles.
9.
American online social media and social networking service Facebook today
announced that the Messenger will soon allow its users
to unsend a message from a chat.
a. Note : WhatsApp
already allows users to delete a sent message in over an hour of sending.
10. China today
unveiled a model of its 'Heavenly Palace' space station, as the
International Space Station (ISS) is set to retire in 2024.
a. The station
has a 17-metre core module along with two other modules for scientific
experiments which will be equipped with solar panels.
b. Three
astronauts will be permanently stationed in the 60-tonne orbiting lab.
11. A United
Nations' study has revealed that the Ozone layer, which shields the
Earth against cancer-causing solar rays, will be completely healed by 2060s.
12. PM Narendra
Modi-led government's Demonetisation move today
marked its Second Anniversary.
a. On this day
in the year 2016, Modi has declared that currency notes of the ₹500, ₹1,000 denominations
will not be valid from the midnight.
i) The govt gave
50 days, till 30th December 2016, for citizens to surrender the notes at banks
and post offices.
ii) Later it
released new ₹500
and ₹2,000
currency notes followed by ₹10,
₹50,
₹200
and ₹100
notes in the economy.
iii) It later
launched BHIM App for digital transactions in a bid to promote
cashless economy.
iv) The BJP led
government is celebrating this day as Anti-Black Money Day.
13. To capture
loan information of individuals and corporate borrowers, the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) has initiated steps to set up wide-based
digital Public Credit Registry (PCR).
a. In this
regard, RBI has invited Expression Of Interest (EOI) for
developing PSC from companies with turnover of over Rs 100 crore in last three
years.
b. What is PCR
? : PCR is digital registry of authenticated granular credit
information. It will work as financial information infrastructure providing
access to various stakeholders and enrich the existing credit information
ecosystem. It seeks to serve as single point of mandatory reporting for all material
events for each loan, notwithstanding any threshold in the loan amount or type
of borrower.
c. Note : Setting up
of PCR assumes significance amidst rising bad loans in financial system.
14. India announced
contributions of $13.36 million (over ₹97.2 crore) for
various United Nations (UN) agencies and development
activities at the 2018 United Nations Pledging Conference for
Development Activities.
a. Around 19
countries pledged a total of $425.69 million at the conference.
15. A World Trade
Organization (WTO) dispute settlement panel upheld Japan's
complaint against safeguard duty imposed by India on imports
of hot-rolled flat steel products for two-and-a-half years.
a. The ruling
said India had violated core global trade rules and urged India to take
corrective action.
16. Eight
countries namely, India, China, Italy, Greece, Japan, South Korea,
Taiwan and Turkey have been granted temporary
waivers from the US' sanctions on Iranian oil.
a. These
countries have been exempted as they significantly reduced their imports of
Iranian oil.
b. After this
waiver, India is going to sign an initial agreement with Iran to
settle all oil trade in rupees through UCO Bank.
17. The rating
agency Crisil has recently announced that the state-owned
banks will need ₹1.2 lakh crore in fresh capital
by March 2019 to meet regulatory requirements.
a. Most of this
would be needed to recapitalise 11 banks that are under RBI's Prompt Corrective
Action (PCA) framework.
b. Note : The
estimated capital requirement is ₹21,000 crore more than the ₹2.11 lakh crore
recapitalisation plan announced by government in October 2017.
18. Bengaluru-based
cab aggregator Ola has officially launched operations
in New Zealand, offering ride services in Auckland, Wellington and
Christchurch.
a. Note : Ola already
launched it's operations in Australia and the UK in
January and August respectively.
19. Union Home
Ministry has released more than Rs. 113 crore to six border
states under Border Area Development Programme (BADP) as part
of its plan to ameliorate the problems of people living in isolated
locations.
a. These six
states are :
v) Assam,
vi) Nagaland,
vii) Sikkim,
viii)
Gujarat,
ix) Rajasthan
and
x) Uttarakhand.
20. Asia Bibi, the
Pakistani Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy, has been released from
prison.
a. She was
convicted of blasphemy by a Pakistani court and was sentenced to death by
hanging in 2010.
b. Meaning of
blasphemy : something that shows disrespect for God or a religion
21. Former
Australia captain Mark Taylor resigned from Cricket
Australia’s (CA) board of directors.
a. Taylor was
the CA board’s longest-serving director.
b. He has
resigned amid the release of findings of Longstaff review that
was commissioned following the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal.
22. Renowned
Bhajan singer Vinod Agarwal (63), who gave over 1,500 live
performances both in India and abroad, passed away.
23. United
Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and Chinese e-commerce
giant Alibaba Group signed an agreement to support
efforts eliminate hunger globally by 2030.
a. Under this
agreement, Alibaba will lend its cutting-edge technology and resources to
support digital transformation of WFP’s operations.
24. India and South
Korea have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for
strengthening cooperation in the field of Tourism.
a. This
agreement was signed during official four-day visit of First Lady of
South Korea Kim Jung-sook (wife of incumbent South Korean President
Moon Jae-in) to India.
25. The Central
and Andhra Pradesh governments and the World Bank have signed the loan
agreement for a $172.20 million project to enhance agricultural
productivity, profitability, and climate resilience of poor and marginalized
farmers in Andhra Pradesh.
26. US
carmaker Tesla has announced Robyn Denholm will
replace Elon Musk as the Chairman of the company's board of
directors with immediate effect.
a. Robyn is
currently working as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the company.
27. Uzbek
businessman and sports administrator Gafur Rakhimov has
been elected as President of International Boxing
Association (AIBA).
28. The 1st
woman Secretary General of the Lok Sabha, Snehlata Shrivastava's
tenure has been extended for one year.
a. The
1982-batch retired IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre was appointed last
year in the rank.
29. The India
Electronics & Semiconductor Association (IESA) has appointed Rajesh
Ram Mishra as its new President.
a. Note : IESA is the
trade body representing the Indian Electronic System Design and Manufacturing
(ESDM) industry.
30. US President
Donald Trump on Wednesday fired the country's Attorney General Jeff
Sessions, a year after he recused himself from an inquiry into the
President's links to Russia.
a. Matthew
Whitaker, a critic of the Russia investigation, has been appointed
the acting Attorney General.
31. Democratic
Congressman Jared Polis has become the 1st
openly gay person to be elected as a Governor in the US.
32. Indian
Foreign Service Officer (IFS) of 1990 batch Gaddam Dharmendra has
been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Islamic Republic
of Iran.
33. Indian
Foreign Service Officer (IFS) of 1988 batch Sanjay Kumar
Verma was appointed as the next Ambassador of India
to Japan.
34. 31-year-old
India opener Rohit Sharma smashed a 58-ball century in
the second T20I against Windies at Lucknow to become the 1st cricketer
in history to reach four hundreds in T20I cricket.
35. A day before
the second T20I between India and Windies, UP government renamedLucknow's
Ekana International Cricket Stadium as 'Bharat Ratan Shri
Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium'.
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