Daily Current affairs - October 26th, 2017 for all competitive exams
Cabinet approved 5.35 lakh crore to build 34,800 km of roads nationwide, including in border and coastal areas.
- The Centre had announced road construction, called BharatMala Pariyojana, in a bid to encourage the economy as private investment remains moribund.
- Bharatmala is a name given to road and highways project of Government of India.
- The total investment for the Bharatmala plan is estimated at Rs10 trillion, which is the largest ever outlay for a government road construction scheme.
Polling for Gujarat Assembly Elections to be Held on 9th and 14 December
Gujarat will go to polls in two phases on December 9th and 14th for 182 assembly seats.
- The Chief Election Commissioner of India Mr. A K Joti made this announcement.
- The 89 seats will go to polls in the first phase and the rest 93 in the second phase.
- Counting will be held on 18th December along with Himachal Pradesh, which goes to poll on 9th of November.
PM Modi Inaugurates Global Conference on Consumer Protection
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a global conference on consumer protection in New Delhi.
- This is the first time that an international conference on consumer protection is being organized by India for countries of the region.
- Twenty-two countries from East, South and South-East Asia are participating in the international conference. These include China, South Korea, Singapore, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Centre to aid offshore e-commerce play
The Union government is working on a new policy to expand the footprint of the Indian e-commerce sector to tap potential markets outside the country, including Africa and Southeast Asia.
- The e-commerce economy is currently pegged at $30 billion, and the government expects it to grow at $150 billion by 2024-25. It targets to make India a trillion-dollar digital economy in the next seven years.
- To expand the e-commerce economy in two aspects — one will focus on expansion within India, and the other on global expansion.
DoT further simplifies the process for linking of Aadhaar with mobile number
In a bid to expedite compliance of telecom service providers with the Hon. Supreme Court's order dated 6th February regarding linking of Aadhaar card with mobile number and reverification process of mobile users, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) issued a comprehensive instruction on Wednesday.
- As per the new rules, the DoT has introduced three new methods to link the registered mobile number with Aadhaar i.e. OTP (One Time Password) based, App based and the IVRS facility.
- These new methods will help subscribers to get their mobile number linked to Aadhaar without visiting the stores of the telcos.
‘Linking of Aadhaar, bank account must’
The government has proposed extending the deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts and mobile phones from December 31, 2017 to March 31, 2018, but only for those who are “willing to enrol for Aadhaar.”
- The proposal was contained in a one-page note that was passed on to a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Wednesday.
- The note, however, insisted that those who already have Aadhaar will be “required” to sync their numbers with SIM cards, bank accounts, PAN and “other schemes where Section 7 (Aadhaar Act) notifications have been issued.”
Vigilance Awareness Week to be observed from 30th October to 4th November
The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has decided that this year the Vigilance Awareness Week would be observed from 30th October to 4th November, 2017.
The theme of the week would be “My Vision-Corruption Free India”.
- The Vice President of India Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu will be the Chief Guest at the Inaugural Function to be held on 30th October 2017.
- The observance of the Vigilance Awareness Week would commence with the Integrity Pledge by public servants in the Ministries/Departments/Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs)/Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and all other Organisations on 30th October, 2017 at 11.00 a.m.
- Observance of Vigilance Awareness Week every year is part of a multi-pronged approach of the Commission wherein one of the strategies is to encourage all stakeholders to collectively participate in the prevention of and the fight against corruption and to raise public awareness regarding the existence, causes and gravity of and the threat posed by corruption.
Judges cannot decide on troop deployment: Centre
Judges cannot decide on deployment of troops. It is the fundamental job of the government of the day, and not the judiciary, to decide on the placement of police and armed forces to secure the nation’s borders and maintain law and order internally, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
- The government’s sharp attack was directed at a recent Calcutta High Court order directing the Centre to retain all 15 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces, deployed in the restive districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong in West Bengal, till October 27 or until further orders.
Adityanath visits Taj Mahal days after BJP leaders’ controversial remarks
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited Taj Mahal on October 26, days after some BJP leaders made provocative statements against the 17th century Mughal era monument.
- Mr. Adityanath, the first BJP Chief Minister of the State to visit the monument.
BIMSTEC Forum provides an ideal platform for fostering of Traditional Medicine
Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India hosted First Meeting of BIMSTEC Task Force on Traditional Medicine on 24-25 October, 2017 at Parvasi Bhartiya Kendra, New Delhi.
- The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an International Organisation involving a group of countries in the South Asia and South East Asia namely, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.
- India being a major stake holder in the field of Traditional Medicine plays an important role in influencing the policies and strategies related to the Traditional Medicine in the BIMSTEC Forum.
U.S. makes H-1B visa renewals tougher
Fresh changes in rules notified by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services(USCIS) for renewal of non-immigrant visas will severely impact H-1B visa holders.
- As per new norms, the burden of proof will be on the petitioner to substantiate his application even when nothing has changed since the previous petition.
- The new rules are in line with the Donald Trump administration’s Buy American, Hire American policy.
- Primarily, an H-1B worker goes to the USCIS for three types of changes to his status — amendment, transfer and renewal. Amendments are sought when an H-1B employee changes the location within the same company; transfer is sought when he moves from one company to another; and a renewal is sought at the expiry of the visa, which is usually issued for three years at the beginning.
New tool to improve monsoon forecast
Scientists have developed a new tool for objectively defining the onset and demise of the summer monsoon — a colossal weather system that affects millions of people annually.
- The researchers from Florida State University in the U.S. developed a method that uses rainfall rates to mark the span of the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) at any given location throughout the affected region.
Ichthyosaur fossil discovered for first time in India
Scientists in India have discovered a 152 million-year-old fossil of an Ichthyosaur – an extinct marine reptile – in the western state of Gujarat.
- The fossil (5.5 m) was found inside rocks from the Mesozoic Era, which ran between 252 and 66 million years ago, in the Kutch desert.
- Specimen can be identified with Ophthalmosauridae, a family of ichthyosaurs that lived in the oceans between 165 and 90 million years ago.
Credit, GDP growth to rise: report
The government’s decision to infuse Rs. 2.1 trillion of capital in public sector banks could improve credit growth by up to 10 percentage points (pp) and also boost GDP growth by up to five pp.
- A Goldman Sachs research report said, every incremental Rs. 100 billion of capital infusion has the potential to increase credit and GDP growth by 1 pp and 0.5 pp respectively.
SBI Slashed IMPS Service Charges up to 80%
The State Bank of India has slashed Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) charges up to 80 percent.
- After the implementation of the revised charges, online transactions will certainly become cheaper. After the revision, no IMPS service charge will be imposed on online transactions under Rs 1000.
- For the transactions between Rs 1000 and Rs 10,000, the users will have to pay Re 1 while for an amount between Rs 10,001 and Rs 1,00,000, the users will be charged Rs 2.
Legal steps to guard digital payments
The Home Ministry has asked banks and e-wallet firms to furnish details of the extent of financial fraud reported in the past one year
- Digital transactions picked up after the Union government implemented demonetisation from November 8, 2016 and scrapped old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes.
- The use of mobile wallets and online transactions has spiked since then.
- As many as 1,44,496 cybersecurity attacks were observed in the past three years. Information reported to, and tracked by, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) shows 44,679 cybersecurity incidents in 2014, 49,455 in 2015 and 50,362 in 2016.
US secretary of state Rex Tillerson visits India
US secretary of state Rex Tillerson was on a national visit to India.
- Tillerson speech distinguished between India, which adhered to international rules, and China, which is seen as undermining the international rules-based order. There is seen as an invitation to India to increase its role in the Indo-Pacific.
Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani Visits India
Afghani President Ashraf Ghani was on a national visit to India. During his visit, he met with the president Ram Nath Kovind and PM Modi.
- India and Afghanistan have agreed to work closely with the regional and international partners to further the objective of seeing Afghanistan emerge as a stable, peaceful, united and prosperous nation.
- The Indian leadership reiterated its support for a negotiated political reconciliation in Afghanistan that is Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled.
Indian Origin Activist Gina Miller Named UK’s Most Influential Black Person of the Year
Indian origin campaigner Gina Miller was named UK’s most influential black person of the year. Gina won a legal challenge seeking Parliamentary approval for triggering Brexit.
- 52-year-old Miller, ranked on top in the 2018 'Powerlist' of 100 people of African and African Caribbean inheritance published in London by Powerful Media.
Indian-Origin Couple Gets US Award For AIDS Research
Indian-origin South African researchers were honored with a prestigious award for their exceptional contributions in the field of HIV/AIDS.
- Professors Salim Abdool Karim and Quarraisha Abdool Karim received the award from the Institute for Human Virology (IHV) in Baltimore, US.
- The award was presented to them by Robert Gallo, who discovered HIV as the cause of AIDS‚ at the 19th international meeting of the IHV.
Virat Kohli Overtakes Lionel Messi in Forbes List by $1 Million
According to the list released by Forbes, Virat Kohli ranks ahead of Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi when it comes to brand value.
- 1st Rank - Roger Federer $37.2m 7th- Virat Kohli $14.5m
- 9thRank - Lionel Messi $13.5m
