Current Affairs Daily Digest – November 04 2019
1. Manoj Pande appointed as Member Staff, Railway Board
Shri Manoj Pande, Indian Railways Personnel Service (IRPS) has taken over as Member Staff, Railway Board and ex-officio Secretary on 2 November 2019. Previously he was working as Director General, Personnel, Railway Board.
Shri Manoj Pande:
Pande is a Post Graduate in Economics from Delhi School of Economics, MBA, L.L.B. and holds a Diploma in Russian language from JNU. He has written several articles on Railway Heritage and History.
2. JCB Prize for Literature for 2019: Madhuri Vijay
The 27-year-old, Madhuri Vijay has won the JCB Prize for Literature 2019 for her debut novel ‘The Far Field’. She has been selected from a shortlist featuring novels from five accomplished writers. She is also a recipient of Henfield Prize and the Pushcart Prize.
3. ‘Red Atlas Action Plan Map’ unveiled for flood mitigation in Chennai
Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu unveiled the ‘Red Atlas Action Plan Map’ atlas and the ‘Coastal Flood Warning System App (CFLOWS-Chennai)’ for flood mitigation in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Both the atlas and the CFLOWS-Chennai are intended as decision support systems covering aspects, including preparedness and prevention. Such initiatives to effectively tackle urban flooding are likely to be replicated in other Indian cities including Mumbai, Maharashtra.
4. National Research Institute of Unani Medicine inaugurated in Sikkim
On November 3, 2019, the Union Minister of State (independent charge) for AYUSH inaugurated the National Research Institute of Unani Medicine for Skin Disorders. The institute was upgraded from Central Research Institute of Unani Medicine.
5. Vigyanika-International Science Literature Festival held at Kolkata
Vigyanika is the International Science Literature Festival that is organised as a part of fifth India International Science Festival (IISF) at Kolkata. It also features a Science Book Fair where more than 30 publishers are to display their scientific publications.
Highlights of the event
- Vigyanika is an annual event organised by Ministry of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences
- It is coordinated by the CSIR-NISCAIR (National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources), Vigyan Bharati and Vigyan Prasar
6. PM Modi meets Indonesian President and Thailand PM
PM Modi on the sidelines of 353th ASEAN summit and 14th East Asia Summit, met the President of Indinesia H.E. Joko Widodo and the Thailand PM Prayut Chan-o-Cha (Gen (retd)).
Highlights of the meetings: Indonesia President
- The leaders discussed the threat to extremism and terrorism and agreed to work closely. The meeting on terrorism is important for India’s interests in the Indo-Pacific region.
- Also, they discussed on trade, investment and connectivity and Indo-Pacific
7. Saudi Arabia officially approves Aramco oil IPO
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s financial regulator officially gave the green light to the initial public offering (IPO) of its state-run oil company Saudi Aramco, a move that had been promised by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman since 2016. It is one of the largest companies in the world and could result in the largest-ever IPO.
The listing announcement was made by the Capital Market Authority, the government’s financial regulatory agency.
8. UPI transactions cross 1 billion mark in October
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on November 1 said the number of transactions of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has crossed the landmark figure of 1 billion in October. “The total transactions of UPI jumped to 1.15 billion in October 2019 from 0.96 billion in September 2019,” NPCI said in a release.
Total transaction value of UPI stood at Rs 1.91 lakh crore during the month, up from Rs 1.61 lakh crore in the previous month.
9. Manipur most violent NE state: Report
Manipur has emerged as the most violent north-eastern state in 2018. According to a union home ministry report, it accounted for 50 per cent of the total incidents reported across the region last year.
Manipur witnessed a decline in insurgency-related incidents by 24 per cent compared to 167 in 2017, and civilian deaths went down from 23 in 2017 to eight in 2018. A total of 127 violent incidents were reported in Manipur in 2018.
In comparision, 252 similar incidents were reported from entire north-eastern region. In 2018, counter insurgency operations led to the neutralization of 10 militants, arrest of 404 militants and recovery of 99 weapons in Manipur.
10. IFFCO introduces India’s first Nanotechnology based products for On-Field trials
The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), world’s largest fertiliser cooperative today announced the introduction of its ‘Nano-technology’ based product range by introducing Nano Nitrogen, Nano Zinc, Nano Copper for on-field trials at an event held at its mother unit in Kalol, Gujarat.
