Daily Current affairs - October 22nd and 23rd, 2017 for all competitive exams
The Prime Minister, inaugurated Phase 1 of the RO RO (Roll on, Roll off) ferry service between Ghogha in Saurashtra, and Dahej in South Gujarat which shall reduce the travel time from eight hours to over an hour.
- At present passenger movement is enabled, vehicle movement is possible once the ferry service is fully operational.
- This ferry service is a first of sorts, will save a lot of time and fuel as many people commute between these two regions frequently.
- Government aims to develop coastal infrastructure, integrate transport sector and improve state-of- the art to augment steps towards blue economy
RBI clarifies why linking of Aadhaar with Bank Account is Mandatory
The Reserve Bank of India has clarified that linking of Aadhaar to the bank account is mandatory under the Prevention of Money-Laundering (Maintenance of Records) Second Amendment Rules, 2017 published in the Official Gazette on 01st June 2017.
- The clarification comes after a section of the media reported while quoting a reply to a Right to Information Act application that linking of bank accounts with Aadhaar is not mandatory.
PMLA: Banks to now Match Original IDs with Photocopies
The Government has made it mandatory for banks and financial institutions to check the original identification documents of individuals dealing in cash above the prescribed threshold, to weed out the use of forged or fake copies.
- The Department of Revenue in the Finance Ministry has issued a gazette notification making an amendment to the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules.
U.P. mulls merger of waqf boards
The Uttar Pradesh government is mulling forming a ‘UP Muslim Waqf Board’ by merging the Sunni and Shia waqf boards to prevent “wastage of money”.
- Quoting the Waqf Act of 1995, Shias or Sunnis should have at least a 15 per cent share in the total waqf units for the constitution of separate boards, which he said was not the case in UP where Shias accounted for only 5,000 units of the total 1,24,000 waqf units.
India gifts war memorabilia to Bangladesh
India gifted to Bangladesh Prime Minister the memorabilia of the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 when an estimated 10 million Bangladesh people took refuge in India and the two neighbours fought together to drive out the Pakistani occupation army.
- The memorabilia,handed over to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina by visiting Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, includes military equipment utilised by the joint forces of India and Bangladesh during the Liberation War as well as large number of artefacts and documents including historical photographs, archival audio and video clippings, maps, battle records, newspaper clippings, documentary films.
- The collection is proposed to be displayed at the Bangladesh National Museum in Shahbagh and the Museum of Independence in Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka.
Mamata to unveil a Blue Plaque in London
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will visit London next month to unveil a Blue Plaque at Scottish-Irish social worker Sister Nivedita’s family home, to commemorate her 150th birth anniversary.
- Sister Nivedita moved to India to do social work in 1898
Novel tech to boost Internet speed
Scientists developed new hardware that consistently provides high-speed broadband connectivity.
- The new technology enables dedicated data rates at more than 10,000 megabits per second (Mb/s) for a truly superfast, yet low-cost, broadband connection.
IIT teams use plant extract, heat to kill skin cancer cells
Two Teams from IIT Hyderabad and IIT Bombay are working on achieving promising results on skin cancer
- Nanoparticle formulation of a chlorophyll-rich biomolecular extract of an Indian medicinal plant Anthocephalus cadamba combined with a near-infrared dye has been found to selectively kill skin cancer cells.
- The plant extract is toxic to cancer cells as there is enhanced generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) while the dye aids in the destruction of cancer cells through photothermal therapy..
- On being irradiated with near-infrared light, the dye gets heated up and facilitates the release of the extract from polymer membrane. After 4-5 minutes of irradiation, about 80% of cancer cells were killed
WhatsApp confirms group voice calls in latest update
WhatsApp has confirmed group voice calls in its latest beta version of Android.
- According to WaBetaInfo, a website that tests new WhatsApp features early, a beta WhatsApp update has confirmed group calls.
Maruti is top passenger car exporter from India
Maruti Suzuki India has become the largest passenger cars exporter from India in the first half of the ongoing fiscal, dethroning Hyundai Motor India Ltd. which has now been pushed to the fourth spot behind Volkswagen and General Motors.
- In the April-September period this fiscal, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) exported 57,300 units of passenger cars, a rise of 6% from the 54,008 units in the year-earlier period, according to the latest data by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
WHO rescinds Mugabe’s appointment
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) reversed his decision to name Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe as a goodwill ambassador, following widespread uproar.
- Head of the UN agency, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had announced the appointment earlier this week during a speech in Uruguay, where he praised Zimbabwe as “a country that places universal health coverage and health promotion at the centre of its policies to provide health care to all”.
IPPB Appoints Suresh Sethi as its MD & CEO
India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has appointed Mr. Suresh Sethi as its Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer. Mr Sethi was the former MD of Vodafone M-Pesa Ltd.
- Mr. Sethi takes over from the dynamic leadership of Mr. A.P. Singh who had been the interim MD & CEO of IPPB since January 2017.
Cristiano Ronaldo Tops the Forbes Rich List of Sport Stars
Cristiano Ronaldo is the richest sports personality in the world, according to the latest Forbes' Rich List.
- The Real Madrid striker has earned an incredible £70million in the last year, along with picking up another Champions League medal and becoming the inaugural winner of The Best FIFA Men's Player award.
The Top 5 Sports Stars in the List are-
1. Cristiano Ronaldo – football
2. LeBron James – basketball
3. Lionel Messi – football
4. Roger Federer – tennis
5. Kevin Durant – basketball
Asia Cup Hockey 2017: India Beat Malaysia To Lift Their 3rd Continental Title
India beats Malaysia 2-1 in the finale to win the 2017 Asia Cup Hockey tournament held in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This was India's third continental title. Ramandeep Singh scored the opening goal in the third minute while Lalit Upadhyay extended India's lead in the 29th minute of the game.
- India had reached the final after defeating Pakistan 4-nil in the semi-finals. Lalit Upadhyay won the goal of the match award while Akashdeep Singh was adjudged the Man of the match.
Kidambi Srikanth Lifts Denmark Open Superseries Trophy 2017
In Badminton, ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth has lifted the Denmark Open Superseries trophy at Odense, Denmark.
- In the title clash, Srikanth, seeded 8th, defeated South Korea’s Lee Hyun-il in straight games, 21-10, 21-5 to bag his third Super Series title of the year and fifth overall.
Amjyot Singh Becomes Third Indian in NBA
The 6-foot-9-inch Chandigarh hoopster Amjyot Singh became the third Indian - after Satnam Singh and Palpreet Singh Brar to walk into the National Basketball Association (NBA) league.
- Amjyot made it to the NBA's minor league - the G-League. The Indian skipper was picked by Oklahoma City Blue. The OKC Blue is NBA development league affiliate of the Oklahoma City Thunder, an American professional basketball team.
