07 November 2019 - Daily Current Affairs
1. PM Narendra Modi inaugurates Global Investors’ Meet at ‘Dharamshala’
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated two-day mega global investors meet ‘Rising Himachal 2019’ at Dharamshala.
- The event has been graced by the presence of top heads of Indian industry and business besides foreign delegations and Union minister and senior government officials.
- A large business delegation from UAE and Ambassadors of at least 16 countries are also participating in the meet.
- The State government has set a target of signing pacts worth 85,000 crores rupees during the meet.
- The Himachal Pradesh government is organizing this summit in order to tap the vast potential of the State in attracting investment in different sectors.
2. The two-day ‘BIMSTEC Conclave’ begins in Visakhapatnam
- Union Minister of State for Shipping Mansukh L. Mandaviya has inaugurated the two-day BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal initiative multi-sector technical and economic cooperation) Conclave at Visakhapatnam.
- Vizag port trust is hosting the conclave first time ever since the formation of BIMSTECH in 1997.
- Seven-member countries that include Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan are participating in the conference.
- The thrust would be to discuss and share experiences in increasing productivity, availing investment opportunities, development of free trade zones, development of tourism and measures required for safety and security.
- Ease of doing business, sharing of expertise, and emulation of best practices would be few among the deliberations.
3. Govt allocates unique HS code for Khadi
- The Union government has allocated a separate Harmonized System (HS) code for Khadi to give impetus to the export of this fabric.
- Allocation of HS code to the khadi will help the government to plan the export strategies effectively.
- Earlier, Khadi did not have exclusive HS code and all the export data regarding this fabric used to come under the normal fabric head.
- Khadi is being promoted in India by Khadi and Village Industries Commission, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
- Khadi is handspun, hand-woven natural fibre cloth from the Indian Subcontinent, mainly made from cotton.
4. MoS Sanjay Dhotre launches ‘Shala Darpan portal’ for Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti
- Sanjay Dhotre (Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development) has launched the Shala Darpan Portal of Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti.
- Shala Darpan provides an integrated platform to meet the educational and administrative needs of all stakeholders-students, teachers and parents.
- This will integrate all Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas with a common standard which includes around 636 schools and 2.67 million students.
- This single integrated platform has been developed for information sharing and knowledge dissemination for the 22,000 employees and over 2 lakh students across schools and offices of Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti.
- The major components include integrated content management portal which consists of 636 websites of Navodaya schools across the country.
- It will contain information relating to the service record, transfer/posting, disciplinary action, ACR tracking and the portal will improve mess management and hostel conditions.
- The Navodaya Vidyalayas are co-educational residential schools established by the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti which is an autonomous organization under MHRD to provide quality modern education.
5. Lucknow Railway Station installs 'Health ATMs'
- The Indian Railways has installed two ‘Health ATMs’ at the Charbagh railway station in Lucknow.
- The kiosks, promoted by YOLO Health ATM, provide 16 health check-ups for Rs 50-100.
- There are two types of check-ups a 9-minute one that costs Rs 100, and a 6-minute one that costs Rs 50.
- The report is delivered instantly to the email or smartphone of the user.
- The check-ups include body mass index, blood pressure, body fat, haemoglobin, metabolic age, muscle mass, weight, height, temperature, muscle mass, basal metabolic rating, visceral fat, oxygen saturation, pulse rate, blood glucose, and bone mass.
Banking & Finance
6. Govt sets up fund to revive stalled housing projects
- The Union Cabinet has decided to set up 25 thousand crore rupees fund to revive stalled housing projects.
- According to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the government will put in 10 thousand crore rupees in the Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) while State Bank of India (SBI) and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) will provide 15 thousand crore rupees taking the total size to 25 thousand crore rupees.
- It will finance over 1,600 stalled housing projects comprising about 4.58 lakh housing units across the country.
- The fund will provide relief to developers that require funding to complete a set of unfinished projects and consequently ensure delivery of homes to the home buyers.
7. Ujjivan Small Finance Bank launches Instant Digital Savings and Instant FD Account
- The Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (SFB) has launched an instant digital savings account (SA) along with Fixed Deposit (FD) and Privilege Savings Account to offer distinctive banking and digital services to its customers.
- Instant Digital SA account: This account has the restriction of Rs 1 lakh deposit. It has unlimited free transactions on the bank’s own ATM (automated teller machine) and 6 free transactions for other bank ATMs per month.
- Privilege SA: This account comes with the eligibility for a monthly salary of Rs. 30,000 or above /on maintaining a Monthly Average Balance of Rs 25,000 / opening a Fixed Deposit of Rs. 10 Lakh.
- Instant Fixed Deposit (FD): With interest rate ranging from 5.5% (7days to 29 days) & up to 8.3% (799 days), the customers can invest in this account up to a maximum of Rs. 1 Lakh without a Savings Account.
Books & Authors
8. Three books on Guru Nanak Dev Ji launched at Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Khalsa College
- The Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (Human Resource Development) and Harsimrat Kaur Badal (Food Processing Industries) have launched three books on Guru Nanak Dev Ji (the occasion of 550th Birth Anniversary) at Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Khalsa College in Delhi.
- The National Book Trust has published three titles - Guru Nanak Bani, Nanak Bani, and Sakhian Guru Nanak Dev-to spread the message of Guru Nanak Dev’s writings among readers of Indian sub-continent.
- These books, published originally in Punjabi, shall be translated into 15 major Indian languages.
Art & Culture
9. Italian movie ‘Despite the Fog’ to open at 50th IFFI this year
- Italian movie ‘Despite the Fog’ will be the opening movie at the 50th edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2019.
- The 100-minute film directed by Goran Paskaljevic narrates the tale of a child whose parents drown while trying to migrate to Italy in a rubber boat.
- The 50th edition of IFFI witnessed the screening of over 200 best films from 76 countries.
- The 2019 Golden Jubilee edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is to be held from the 20th of November till the 28th at Panjim, Goa.
Appointment
10. PS Sreedharan Pillai takes oath as Governor of Mizoram
- P.S Sreedharan Pillai (65-years) took oath as the Governor of Mizoram (15th).
- The Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court ‘Ajai Lamba’ administered the oath of Office and Secrecy at Raj Bhawan in Aizawl.
- P.S Sreedharan Pillai replaced Governor of Assam Jagdish Mukhi (additional charge- Mizoram).
- On the 25th of October, President Ram Nath Kovind had appointed P.S Sreedharan Pillai as the new Governor of Mizoram.
- Pillai was born in 'Venmony panchayat' in Alappuzha district, Kerala, India.
- The governors (exist in the states) and lieutenant-governors/administrators (union territories and in the NCT of Delhi) of the states and union territories of India have similar powers and functions at the state level as that of the President of India at Union level.
- The governor acts as the nominal head whereas the real power lies with the Chief ministers of the states and his/her councils of ministers.
International Affairs
11. Ministry of Tourism participates in three-day-long WTM in London
- The Ministry of Tourism has participated in the three-day-long World Travel Market (WTM) in London, UK.
- The theme for India Pavilion at WTM 2019 is ‘Incredible India - Find Incredible India’.
- This year, the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and the Statue of Unity are also being promoted and publicized in the India Pavilion at WTM 2019.
Honour & Awards
12. Serbia’s Sara Damnjanovic wins “Miss Asia Global title 2019”
- Serbia’s Sara Damnjanovic has been crowned ‘Miss Asia Global 2019’ (5th Edition) at Gokulam Convention centre in Kochi, Kerala.
- Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Yen Trang was crowned 'Miss Asia', while Samiksha Singh (India) won the sub-title of 'Miss Beautiful Face'.
- Miss Asia Global aims to find the most beautiful and talented women from all over the globe.
- Asia Global is one of the three beauty pageant contests in India which doesn't have a bikini and other similar rounds.
- The ‘Miss Asia Global Title 2020’ will be held in Malaysia.
Obituaries
13. Former Maharashtra minister Babasaheb Dhabekar passes away
- Senior Congress party leader & former Maharashtra minister Babasaheb Dhabekar (89-years) passed away in Mumbai.
- Mr. Dhabekar was water resources minister when the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance government came to power for the first time in the 1990s.
Science & Defence
14. China launches Sudan’s first-ever satellite “SRSS-1”
- Sudan’s first-ever satellite for conducting research in military, economic and space technology has been launched by China.
- The satellite (Sudan’s remote-sensing satellite – ‘SRSS-1’) was launched aboard China’s Long March-4B rocket along with other Chinese satellites including Gaofen 7, Xiaoxiang-1 08, Whampoa 1 from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern China.
- Sudan’s remote-sensing satellite (SRSS-1), was developed by the Shenzhen Aerospace Oriental Red Sea Satellite Co.
- The Sudanese satellite has been mainly designed for civil and military remote sensing over Sudan.
- The remote-sensing satellite aims to advance research in space technology. Its main objective is to acquire the required data as well as discover natural resources for the country’s military needs.
- The satellite aims to generate a comprehensive, cost-effective and reliable database on the topographic, mapping and natural resources of Sudan.
Sports
15. Manu Bhaker bags gold medal in Asian Shooting Championships 2019
- India’s Manu Bhaker has won a gold medal in women’s 10m air pistol event at Lusail Shooting Complex, Doha, Qatar.
- She put up a dominant showing, shooting 584 in qualification and 244.3 in the final to take gold.
- Vivaan Kapoor & Manisha Keer also won the Gold medal in junior trap mixed event at the Asian Shooting Championships 2019.
