Daily Current Affairs For Competitive Exam - 2nd November

INDIAN AFFAIRS

Modi launched Haryana’s year-long golden jubilee celebrations of Haryana

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Haryana’s year-long golden jubilee celebrations of Haryana in Gurugram. PM Modi kicked-off Haryana’s ‘Swarna Jayanti’ celebrations from Gurugram’s Tau Devi Lal stadium on November 1, 2016.

ii. The Haryana Government has decided to set up Gurugram Development Authority(GDA) to avoid overlap in its functional and operational responsibilities and provide functional empowerment in administrative and financial structures at the local level

iii. 7 states celebrates state formation Day on November 1 2016 – Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan

Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 to curb black money comes into effect from Nov 1, 2016

i. The Income Tax department announced that the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 (BTP Amendment Act), came into force from 1st November 2016 in order to give more teeth to the authorities to curb benami transactions.

ii. The BTP Amendment Act, the existing Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988, shall be renamed as Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 (PBPT Act).

iii. The Act defines benami transactions and also provides imprisonment upto seven years and fine for violation of the Act. The official notification says, ‘The PBPT Act prohibits recovery of the property held benami from benamidar by the real owner.Properties held benami are liable for confiscation by the government without payment of compensation.’

Centre notifies rules for Real Estate Act for five UTs

i. Centre notified the rules for Real Estate Act, that seeks to regulate the housing sector besides bringing transparency and ensuring timely completion of projects.

ii. The rules will be applicable to five Union Territories namely Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, and Lakshadweep.

iii. This rules also require builders to deposit 70 per cent of unused amounts collected for ongoing projects in a separate bank account to ensure timely completion of the projects.

iv. The Ministry of Urban Development will come out with such rules for the National Capital Region of Delhi while the other states and UTs will come out with their own rules.

Government fixed minimum wage of farm worker Rs 350 per day

i. Government has decided to fix the minimum wage at Rs 350 per day for unskilled agricultural labour in C-class towns in central sphere. It was announced by Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya. It will effective from November 1, 2016.

ii. Now agriculture workers gets Rs 160 per day in the central sphere are paid as per the rates prescribed under the national floor level minimum wage.

iii. The states governments are free to fix wages for various category of workers as there is no benchmark minimum wage

Govt formulating national policy to reduce alcohol dependency

i. The Centre is working on formulation of a national policy to speak about the emerging challenge of alcohol dependency in the country, especially among youth.

ii. In a first-of-its-kind lead, the policy would follow the same approach as it is being used in cases of drug de-addiction. It was specifically to manage the problem of alcohol dependence, a psychiatric disorder in which an individual is physically or psychologically dependent upon drinking alcohol.

iii. The aim is to organize communities to adopt effective approaches to prevent and reduce harmful use of alcohol, reduce the harm to public health and social consequences from alcohol intoxication, and consumption of illegalliquor. Alcohol is one of the largest risk factor for various disease, accounting for close to three million deaths.

iv. NGOs and public health activists have recommended that alcohol availability should be regulated, its marketing, especially fostered advertisements, which tempt adolescents and the young people be reduced.

International Forum on Adopting an ICT Perspective to Education and Learning held in New Delhi

i. The International Forum on Adopting an ICT Perspective to Education and Learning is being held in New Delhi from 31st October- 4th November 2016.

ii. Aim : To implementing the UNESCO developed General Education Quality Analysis Framework (GEQAF).

iii. It was organised by International Bureau of Education (IBE), International Institute of Technology for Education (IITE), National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) and Ministry of Human Resource Development(MHRD)

iv. Participants from Azerbaijan, Botswana, Egypt, Gabon, India, Lithuania, Oman, Seychelles, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Swaziland, Brazil, Mauritius and the United State are participated in this forum.
v. The sessions of the forum are designed to be interactive and to build on concrete cases of ICT integration and inclusion thought practical hands-on activities.

Kerala becomes 3rd open defecation free state

i. Southern state of Kerala became the third state overall and the largest state so far to be declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM- Gramin).

ii. 14 districts, 152 blocks, 940 Gram Panchayats and 2117 villages of Kerala have been declared free from open defecation.
iii. Kerala, with a rural population of approximately 3.5 crores, is also the largest state so far to have achieved the ODF Status, after Sikkim (6 lakhs) and Himachal Pradesh (70 lakhs).

Kerala also declared as drought-hit state

♦ All the 14 districts of Kerala have been declared drought-hit by the government. This was announced by Minister for Revenue, E. Chandrasekharan.

♦ From June 1 this year to September 30, Kerala received only  1352.3 mm rain against the normal rainfall of 2039.7 mm.

Committee to review fire safety measures of Govt hospitals

i. The government has established a committee to review fire safety measures at various Central government hospitals and directed it to submit a report within 15 days.

ii. Union Health Minister J P Nadda held a meeting to review the fire safety rules which are being followed in all Central government hospitals all over the country.

iii. It can be recalled that more than 20 patients were killed and over 20 others injured in a fire that started suddenly at Sum private hospital in Odisha recently, in one of the worst such incidents involving a medical facility in the state.
iv. The blaze was suspected to have been triggered by an electric short circuit in the dialysis ward on the first floor of the private hospital which spread to the nearby Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

BANKING & FINANCE

RBI Opened Second Banking Ombudsman Office In New Delhi

i. The RBI has opened a second office of the Banking Ombudsman in New Delhi, taking into account the significant increase of the banking network.

ii. The first office of the banking ombudsman at RBI, New Delhi, would have jurisdiction over Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir. The second office would have jurisdiction over Haryana(except Panchkula, Yamuna Nagar and Ambala districts) and Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar districts of Uttar Pradesh.

iii. Banking Ombudsman  is a quasi-judicial authority functioning under India’s Banking Ombudsman Scheme 2006, and the authority was created pursuant to a decision made by the Government of India to enable resolution of complaints of customers of banks relating to certain services rendered by the banks.

iv. The Banking Ombudsman Scheme was first introduced in India in 1995, and was revised in 2002. The current scheme became operative from 1 January 2006, and replaced and superseded the banking Ombudsman Scheme 2002. From 2002 until 2006, around 36,000 complaints have been dealt by the Banking Ombudsmen.

Banks to report frauds of Rs 1 crore and above to CVC

i. With high level frauds involving industrialists such as Vijay Mallya loan default case revealed, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has now made it compulsory for the public sector banks to report to it all such matters involving funds over Rs.1 crore.

ii. Vigilance Commissioner TM Bhasin announced that CVC has now made it mandatory for the public sector banks to share their reports relating to all loan frauds involving funds over Rs.1 crore. Till now this report was shared with the RBI only.

iii. The banks will also now have to report the procedure of all the alleged frauds to the CVC which will share these details with other banks to prevent such cases being repeated.

iv. The Commission will also call regular monthly meetings of senior officials of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), CBI and banks to observe probe in suspected bank frauds of 50 crore rupees and above.

v. According to CBI data, in 2015, the agency had probed 171 cases of bank frauds involving funds of 20,646 crore rupees. In addition, CBI is also investigating the Ponzi schemes involving funds of over 1.20 lakh crore rupees.

BUSINESS

NHPC commissioned 50 MW wind power project in Rajasthan

i. NHPC, India’s largest hydropower generation company announced that it has approved its 50 Megawatt (MW) wind power project (WPP) in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.

ii. The project consists of 25 Wind Turbine Generators each of 2 MW capacity, which has been successively linked with grid in the month of October, 2016.

NHPC :

NHPC Limited (National Hydroelectric Power Corporation) is an Indian Hydropower generation company that was incorporated in the year 1975 with an authorized capital of Rs.2000 million and with an objective to plan, promote and organize an integrated and efficient development of hydroelectric power in all aspects.

♦ Founded: 1975

♦ Headquarters: Faridabad, India

♦ Chairman: K.M.Singh.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

S Nihal Singh To Get 2016 Raja Ram Mohan Roy Award

i. Veteran journalist S Nihal Singh has been awarded with ‘Raja Ram Mohan Roy Award’for his outstanding contribution to journalism which is presented by the Press Council of India.The award will be presented on November 16 to Nihal Singh and carries a cash component of Rs 1 lakh

ii. The other winners of the National Journalism Awards 2016, as per which Renjith Jonh of Deepika Daily has been chosen for his work for the award on Rural journalism and Developmental reporting.

iii. In the same category a special mention certificate will be jointly given to freelancer Arvind Kumar Singh and X Xavier Selvakumar of Dinamilar, Coimbatore, the statement added.
iv. T P Dhanesh (Malayala Manorama) and Pritam Bandopadhyay (The Asian Age) were chosen in the Single news picture category while Vijay Verma of PTI was selected for a special mention certificate.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

Twitter India head Rishi Jaitly quits after 4-year stint

i. India head of Social media Twitter, Rishi Jaitly decided to quit his job at the end of November 2016. He joined the twitter in 2013.

ii. He was co-founder and CEO of Michigan Corps.

iii. Prior to this he has worked in the Knight Foundation, where he led investments in technology, media, and digital tools.

Twitter :

♦ CEO: Jack Dorsey

♦ Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States

Saptarshi Roy takes charge as Human Resource Director of NTPC

i. Saptarshi Roy(56) has taken over as Director of New Delhi based NTPC Limited on November 1,2016

ii. Roy (56 years) was working as Regional Executive Director (North)  and ER-I Regions as well as Executive Director (Corporate Planning).
iii. He has worked as HR of the Company since 2008.

NTPC :

♦ National Thermal Power Corporation Limited(NTPC) is an Indian PSU Public Sector Undertaking company  under the Ministry of Power.

♦ Headquarters: New Delhi

♦ CEO: Gurdeep Singh

Bindheswar Pathak appointed as Brand Ambassador Of Swachh Rail Mission

i. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu is appointed Sulabh International founder Bindeshwar Pathak as Brand Ambassador of Swachh Rail Mission on October 1, 2016.

ii. Indian Railways has joined hands with Sulabh International to clean some important railway stations across the country as part of the Swachh Bharat mission.

iii. Sulabh has started cleaning and maintenance of five important railway stations Gorakhpur, Old Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Gwalior from September

iv. Railways cleanliness drive in specific areas are Swachh Stations (Clean Stations), Swachh Rail Gaadi (Clean Train), Swachh Neer (Clean Water), Swachh Parisar (Clean Complex), Swachh Sahyog (Cleanliness Participation), Swachh Samvad (Cleanliness Dialogue), Swachh Samarpan (Dedication for ensuring Cleanliness), Swachh Aahar (Clean Food).

Lieutenant General J S Sandhu takes charge as GoC of Chinar Corps

i. Lieutenant General J S Sandhu has taken charge as the General officer Commanding of the Army’s strategic Chinar Corps which is responsible for guarding the Line of Control in Kashmir Valley

ii. Sandhu, who became the 46th Corps Commander of Chinar Corps, took over from Lt Gen Satish Dua.
iii. He has also represented the country in the Indian Embassy at Kathmandu, Nepal.

SPORTS

Lewis Hamilton won Mexican Grand Prix

i. Lewis Hamilton kept his title hopes alive with a comfortable victory from Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in the Mexican Grand Prix.

ii. The three-times world champion Nico Rosberg admitted that to an extent the final result would be uncontrollable and he  did everything to battle on against his Mercedes team-mate.
iii. Hamilton’s win at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez cuts Rosberg’s lead in the Championship to 19 points but the German can still take the title with a win at the next round in Brazil.

iv. Having already fought back in the championship after suffering mechanical issues this season, Hamilton was pleased with his run here and following his win at the last round in Austin, in his attempt to make ground on Rosberg.

World Cup top-scorer Klose retired at 38

i. The German soccer federation declared that the striker and the top scorer in World Cup history Miroslav Klose was ending his playing career and will train as a coach.

ii.  The 38-year-old Klose retired from international soccer after winning the World Cup with Germany in 2014, scoring twice to bring his total goal tally from four tournaments to 16. With a career total of 71 goals, Klose is also the highest-scoring player for Germany.

iii.Klose hit a record 16th goal in World Cup finals during the 7-1 semi-final defeating of hosts Brazil two years ago, which saw him overtake former Brazil star Ronaldo. Germany continued to win the title.

iv. He now plans to join die Mannschaft’s coaching staff after an invitation from head coach Joachim Loew. The 38-year-old Klose played for Serie A outfit Lazio until the end of last season but has since been without a club

India won all five bilateral ODI series against New Zealand

i. India have won all five bilateral ODI series against New Zealand in India. They have won all five series in 1988-89, 1995-96, 1999-2000, 2010-11 and  2016-17

ii. Kohli’s aggregate is his highest in any series in ODIs in India as well as the highest by an Indian batsman in a bilateral series vs New Zealand, He breaks Gautam Gambhir’s tally of 329 (ave.109.66) in five innings in 2010-11.

India, R Ashwin retained top spots in ICC Test rankings

i. India kept its position of most important spot in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test team rankings while top-ranking off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also continued to top the bowlers’ list. R Ashwin maintained his top position with 900 points

ii. India led the team’s table with 115 points ahead of chief-rivals Pakistan (111) and Australia (108). England were at fourth place followed by South Africa, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, West Indies with Bangladesh and Zimbabwe completing the list.

iii. Ashwin’s spin partner Ravindra Jadeja was at seventh place with 805 points. Going through a good luck, Ashwin was also leading the all-rounders’ table with 451 points, with Jadeja occupying the fifth position with 292 points.

ICC :

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.
♦ Chairman: Shashank Manohar.

♦  Headquarters: Dubai.

♦  Founded: June 15, 1909.

OBITUARY

Broadway Star Tammy Grimes Died

i. Tammy Grimes, a scratchy-voiced actress who was one of Broadway’s brightest stars of the 1960s, winning Tony awards as the title character in the musical “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” and for a revival of Noel Coward’s comedy “Private Lives,” died at a hospital in Englewood, N.J. She was 82.

ii. The award-winning actress would go on to star in a mass of Broadway productions, such as “Rattle of a Simple Man,” “High Spirits” and “The Only Game in Town.” Grimes won her second Tony Award for 1969’s revival of Noël Coward’s “Private Lives.”

iii. The Broadway star was born in Lynn, Mass  to Luther Nichols and Eola Willard in 1934. She attended Stephens College in Columbia, a short period of time before making her stage debut in “Jonah and the Whale” with the Neighborhood Playhouse in 1955.

iv. She would go on to win her first Tony award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1961 as the titular character in Meredith Wilson’s musical “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.

Noted Hindi Writer Hridyesh Mehrotra Passes Away

i. Noted Hindi writer Hridyesh Mehrotra was passed away at Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh on November 1, 2016. He was 86.

ii. He had penned 13 novels, including ‘Safed Ghoda Kala Sawar‘, and 26 collections of short stories.

iii. He has recieved Sahitya Bhushan and Pahal Sanman awards from UP government.

IMPORTANT DAYS

November 1 declared No Tobacco Day in Punjab

i. The Punjab government observed November 1 as ‘No Tobacco Day’ in an effort to discourage tobacco use in the State.

ii. Aim: To reduce prevalence of tobacco or nicotine use in Punjab in order to reduce prevalence of non-communicable diseases.

iii. The sale of loose cigarettes, tobacco and e-cigarettes are banned in Punjab.

World Vegan Day – November 1 2016

i. World Vegan Day is celebrated every year all around the world on 1st November to raises awareness about animal rights and advocates the widespread adoption of a vegan lifestyle.

ii. It was first observed on November 1st, 1994