Current Affairs Weekly Updates – October Week I

In Current Affairs 2017
October 8, 2017

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AWARDS AND HONOURS

NAME OF THE AWARD	AWARD WINNER	KEY POINTS TO NOTE
2017 Nobel Prize in Medicine	Jeffrey C Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W Young	For their work on internal biological clocks known as the circadian rhythm.
2017 Chemistry Nobel award	Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson	For developing cryo-electron microscopy
2017 Nobel Prize in Physics Award	Rainer Weiss Kip ThorneBarry Barish	For decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves
2017 Nobel Prize in Literature Award	Kazuo Ishiguro (Japan)	In novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world
2017 Nobel Prize in Peace Award	International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) (founded in Australia)	For its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons
2017 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences Award	Richard H. Thaler (USA)	For contributions to behavioural economics
Gauri Lankesh	Anna Politkovskaya Award	The award given in the memory of a slain Russian reporter and political activist

APPOINTMENTS

NAME	DEPT/FIELD
Ramesh Narayan	President of the India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA)
Brenda Hale	First female president of UK’s supreme court
Soumya Swaminathan	Deputy director-general, World Health Organization (WHO)
Param Shah	Director of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)
Rajnish Kumar	Chairman of State Bank of India
Zafar Mahmood Abbasi	Pakistan’s New Navy Chief

INDIAN AFFAIRS

The Centre has given its green light to the combined development of Harohalli industrial zone in Ramnagara district of Karnataka entailing an investment of Rs 1,561 crore.
Ministry of Culture and its 43 organisations observed Swachhta Pakhwada and Swachhta hi Seva Abhiyaan from 16th September to 2nd October, 2017.
The NITI Aayog to plan the 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Summit, which will be held November 28-30 at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre in Hyderabad, India.
The Chairman of National Highways Authority of India Shri Deepak Kumar launched a world class, new multilingual website of the organization.
The Karnataka Chief Minister has launched the Mathru Poorna scheme meant to meet the nutritional needs of pregnant and lactating mothers.
Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City)’s International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) has bagged the 10th spot in the latest edition of Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI), London, September 2017.
The development of a Turtle sanctuary in Allahabad along with a River Biodiversity Park at Sangam has been approved under Namami Gange programme.
The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval to the renaming of Kandla Port as Deendayal Port.
India is expected to retain it position as the top remittances receiving country, with its diaspora set to pump in a whopping USD 65 billion in the year 2017.
A MoU was signed by Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya under the ‘Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat’ programme.
Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India in collaboration with Ministry of Culture and Seher presents the first ever ASEAN-India Music Festival from October 6th-8th 2017 at Purana Quila in New Delhi.
J Sagar Associates (JSA) is the first law firm to have opened an office at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT), which is being promoted like Singapore of India.
President Ram Nath Kovind has launched 100 crore rupees Mata Amritanandamayi Math Project “Jeevamritham “to provide filtration system for cleaning drinking water to 5000 villages across India, in kollam district in kerala.
Prasar Bharati Chairman A Surya Prakash has launched an online application system for music auditions across all genres for the All India Radio (AIR).
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unveiled a plaque to mark the laying of Foundation Stone of Bhadbhut Barrage over the River Narmada.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has launched the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) at Vadnagar in Gujarat.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is celebrating its 85th anniversary , October 8. The celebrations would be marked by a stellar show in the skies by various aircraft at the Hindon Air Force Station in Ghaziabad.

BANKING AND FINANCE

Reserve Bank has opened a banking ombudsman office in Dehradun, taking the total number of such offices to seventeen in the country, following a significant increase in banking network.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept interest rates unchanged because it anticipates upside risks to retail inflation. It also slashed its growth projections for the current fiscal and raised its inflation projections.
The Reserve Bank has raised its inflation projection to 4.2-4.6 per cent for the second half of the current fiscal due to firming global oil prices and uncertainty on kharif farm output.
Vijaya Bank has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) for enabling all HPCL retail outlets with BHIM/UPI merchant solutions.
HDFC Life Insurance Company has launched Neo — a servicing bot for Twitter that uses artificial intelligence for customer service. The insurer hopes to deploy the bot in answering policy —related queries on social media.
Private insurer Tata AIA Life has announced the launch of ‘Eazy Connect’ that will extend online customer service to social media platforms.
Digital payments firm MobiKwik has announced its partnership with IRCTC Rail connect app, which will allow customers book railway tickets using the former’s payment gateway.
Magicbricks has announced the launch of India’s first online bidding platform for residential and commercial properties and tied-up with developer M3M for the inaugural ‘My Bid, My Home’ under which consumers can bid for ready-to-move-in residential properties ranging from 1355sqft-7875sqft in Gurugram on Oct 7.
The Reserve Bank will soon launch a financial literacy drive in 80 blocks in nine states on pilot basis to educate people on e-transactions, formal sector borrowings and insurance purchases.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will set up a research centre here for start ups, academicians, environmentalists and entrepreneurs.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

India and the European Union will hold their 14th summit talks on October 6 during which both sides are expected to discuss a host of key issues including ways to remove hurdles for the long pending free trade agreement.
India will receive its first ever shipment of US crude oil when a very large crude carrier (VLCC) docks at Paradip port in Odisha.
Nepal and India will undertake a joint tiger census next month in their national parks, forests and protected areas adjoining the two countries using a globally-recognized method.
Bharti Ghana (Airtel) and the Ghana’s National Communications Authority has given approval for its merger with Millicom Ghana (Tigo) to proceed, subject to some conditions.
The Union Cabinet has given its approval for the signing and ratification of the Extradition Treaty between India and Lithuania.
The Union Cabinet has been apprised of the MoU between Ministry of Railways, Government of India and the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications of Swiss Confederation on Technical Cooperation in Rail Sector.
The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Myanmar on upgradation of the Women’s Police Training Centre at Yamethin, Myanmar.
Bangladesh has signed USD 4.5 billion third line of credit (LoC) agreement with India for its infrastructure and social sector development.
India and European Investment Bank (EIB) have signed the finance contract for lending of 300 million euros (about Rs 2,293 crore) for Bangalore Metro Rail Project phase-II.
The world’s top oil exporter Saudi Aramco has opened an office in India to boost its crude sales in the world’s third-largest oil consuming nation.
India and Ethiopia have signed agreements on trade, communication and media to boost bilateral ties as President Ram Nath Kovind held talks with his Ethiopian counterpart Mulatu Teshome.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Austria’s controversial ban on the wearing of Islamic face veils in public places came into effect. Those found in breach of the ‘Anti-Face-Veiling Act’ will be subject to fines of €150.
Greece’s defense minister says plans are being drawn up for joint air force drills with Cyprus, Israel, Egypt and other European countries as part of efforts to bolster stability in the eastern Mediterranean.
China has celebrated its 68th national day, with over 1,15,000 citizens gathering at the Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing to take part in celebrations.
The operator of Japan’s stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has been given initial approval to restart reactors at another atomic facility, marking the first step towards the firm’s return to nuclear power generation more than six years after the March 2011 triple meltdown.
The French parliament has approved a new anti-terrorist bill. The new bill, which seeks to increase law enforcement powers in the fight against terrorism, was supported by 415 lawmakers, with 127 voting against it.
A new German law designed to combat hate speech on social media platforms has come into force. The law named “Enforcement on Social Networks” abbreviated as NetzDG will require social media platforms to police and remove hate speech as well as offensive content within 24 hours of notification from the government.

SPORTS

WINNER	TITLE	SPORT/ VENUE
Max Verstappen	Malaysian Gran Prix	─
Pooja Kadian	Wushu World Championship Gold	Held in Russia
Rafael Nadal	China Open title	─
Lewis Hamilton	Japanese Grand Prix

Russia leads the list of seven post-Soviet states suspended from weightlifting competitions for up to 12 months alongside China and Turkey.
Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has announced the launch of National School and College Games in December and January next year respectively to tap talent from every nook and corner of the country.

OBITUARY

NAME OF THE PERSON	FIELD
Jalal Talabani	Iraq’s first non-Arab President
Kundan Shah	Veteran director
Purushottam Lal Kaushik	Former Union minister and socialist leader

IMPORTANT DAYS

DATE OBSERVED	DAY OBSERVED	THEME / PURPOSE
October 01	International Day of Older Persons	Stepping into the Future: Tapping the Talents, Contributions and Participation of Older Persons in Society
October 02	International Day of Non-Violence	148th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi
October 05	World Teacher’s Day	Teaching in Freedom, Empowering Teachers