Daily Current Affairs For Competitive Exam

World

United Kingdom's Prime Minister Theresa May will be on a 3 day visit to India from Sunday.

During this visit, she will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ms May along with Mr Modi will inaugurate the India-UK Tech Summit.

Singapore has launched a 96-hour visa-free transit facility for Indians, wherein passport

holders with valid onward air tickets can spend four days in the country under the VFTF Scheme.

Note : The Indians must have a valid visa or long-term pass to Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, United Kingdom, the United States, Germany or Switzerland.

The Paris Agreement to combat climate change officially entered into force after 55 parties to the convention accounting for at least 55% of total GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions ratified it.

Important Points to Note :

The threshold for entry into force of the Paris Agreement was achieved on 5th October 2016.

At present, 94 parties have ratified the convention. India was 62nd country to ratify it on 2 October 2016.

President Pranab Mukherjee today announced that Nepali students will be allowed to join IITs on a regular basis and that the entrance examinations will be conducted in Nepal's capital Kathmandu starting 2017.

Note :  Mukherjee is currently on a three-day visit to the Himalayan nation.

India

India toady launched Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA).

About the PMSMA Scheme :

The scheme, popular referred to as ‘I pledge for 9’ was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his monthly radio address Mann Ki Baat on June 9.

The main aim of this scheme is to provide free health check-ups to pregnant women at government health centres and hospitals.

It invites the private sector to provide free ante-natal services (ANC) on the 9th of every month on a voluntary basis to pregnant women, especially those living in under-served, semi-urban, poor and rural areas.

The Government of India is hosting the Seventh Session of the Conference of Parties (COP7) to WHO FCTC during 7-12 November, 2016, at India Exposition Mart Ltd., Greater Noida, District Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh.

The Conference shall be inaugurated by Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare.

Delhi today witnessed the worst spell of smog in 17 years, according to the Centre for Science and Environment.

Experts said the situation should be now treated as an emergency and efforts should be made to protect children and the old.

The I&B Ministry today ordered television channel NDTV India to show a blank screen for 24 hours starting from midnight on November 9 for revealing "sensitive information" while covering the Pathankot attacks.

NDTV's coverage had included information about resources at the air base that "could have been readily picked by terrorist handlers", the Ministry said.

Science & Technology

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has completed the construction of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) after more than 20 years of work.

JWST is the largest-ever space telescope and is expected to launch in 2018 following the in-depth testing.

It is bigger and more powerful than NASA’s operational Hubble Space Telescope.

Awards & Appointments

Lebanese President Michel Aoun today named Saad al-Hariri, leader of the Future Movement, as the new Prime Minister after al-Hariri secured the endorsement of 110 members of the 127-seat Parliament.

This comes after Speaker Nabih Berri, who opposed the recent election of President Aoun, announced that he will support the new government that will be led by al-Hariri.

President Pranab Mukherjee, during his ongoing visit to Nepal, was conferred an honorary doctorate by the Kathmandu University at a special convocation ceremony today.

The degree was presented by Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is also the Chancellor of the university.

Note : This is the first visit by an Indian state head to Nepal in 18 years.

Three-time Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep will be presented with Golden Globes' Cecil B. DeMille Award for her outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment in the 40 years of her career.

The 67-year-old actress holds the world record for most number of Oscar nominations, with 19 nominations.

Note : The 2017 Golden Globe Awards will be held on January 8.

Journalist Akshaya Mukul, who won the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award, boycotted the ceremony on Wednesday where he was to receive the award from PM Narendra Modi.

Mukul claimed that he could not "live with the idea of Modi and me in the same frame".

Note : He had won the award for his book examining the ideological roots of Hindutva.

Business & Economy

Private sector lender ICICI Bank has announced a cut in home loan rate by 0.15% for new borrowers effective November 2.

Home loans up to ₹75 lakh for women borrowers will have an interest of 9.15%, while the rate for salaried class was reduced to 9.20%.

This follows SBI reducing home loan rates to 9.1%, the lowest in 6 years.

The Union Home Ministry has derecognised over 11,000 NGOs after they failed to renew their registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act by June-end, thus preventing them from receiving foreign funds.

In the list are about 50 orphanages, hundreds of schools and institutions such as the Indian Statistical Institute and reputed NGOs that work for street children.

The first titanium project of India has started its test production Ganjam district of Odisha.

The project has been established by Saraf Group.

This is first of its kind titanium plant and the only one in the country.

During the test run, one of its four furnaces became functional.