Daily Current affairs - November 16th 2017 for all competitive exams
National Press Day is celebrated on November 16 to commemorate the establishment of the Press Council of India.
- This was the day on which the Press Council of India started functioning as a moral watchdog to ensure that not only did the press maintain the high standards expected from this powerful medium but also that it was not fettered by the influence or threats of any extraneous factors.
Background: Recommending the establishment of Press Council in 1956 the Ist Press Commission had concluded that the best way of maintaining professional ethics in journalism would be to bring into existence a body with statutory authority, of people principally connected with industry whose duty it would be to arbitrate. To this end the Press Council of India was established and the body that was evolved since November 16, 1966 has not belied the objective.
Present Press council chairman - Chandramauli Kumar Prasad
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The International Day for Tolerance is an annual observance declared by UNESCO in 1995 to generate public awareness of the dangers of intolerance.
- Theme: Respect, Safety and dignity for all
- The objective of the day is to educate people about the need for tolerance in society and to help them understand the negative effects of intolerance.
- In 1996, the UN General Assembly (by resolution 51/95) invited UN Member States to observe the International Day for Tolerance on 16 November.
- The Day aims at educating masses about the need for tolerance in society and helping them understand the negative effects of intolerance.
In 1995, to mark the United Nations Year for Tolerance and the 125th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, UNESCO created a prize for the promotion of tolerance and non-violence. The UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence rewards significant activities in the scientific, artistic, cultural or communication fields aimed at the promotion of a spirit of tolerance and non-violence.
The prize is awarded every two years on the International Day for Tolerance, 16 November. The Prize may be awarded to institutions, organizations or persons, who have contributed in a particularly meritorious and effective manner to tolerance and non-violence.
The 2016 winner was the Federal Research and Methodological Center for Tolerance Psychology and Education (Tolerance Center) of Russia.
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World Philosophy Day was proclaimed by UNESCO to be celebrated every 3rd Thursday of November.
- It was first celebrated on 21 November 2002. The Day encourages academic exchange and highlights the contribution of philosophical knowledge in addressing global issues.
By celebrating World Philosophy Day each year, on the third Thursday of November, UNESCO underlines the enduring value of philosophy for the development of human thought, for each culture and for each individual.
In 2005 the UNESCO General Conference proclaimed that World Philosophy Day would be celebrated every third Thursday of November.
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Taking into account the serious pollution levels in Delhi and adjoining areas, Petroleum Ministry in consultation with Public Oil Marketing Companies has decided for preponement of BS-VI grade auto fuels in NCT of Delhi w.e.f 01.04.2018 instead of 01.04.2020.
- This measure is expected to help mitigate the problem of air pollution in NCT of Delhi and surrounding areas.
Bharat Stage norms Introduced in the year 2000, the Bharat norms are emission control standards put in place by the government to keep a check on air pollution. Based on the European regulations (Euro norms), these standards set specifications/limits for the release of air pollutants from equipment using internal combustion engines, including vehicles. Typically, the higher the stage, the more stringent the norms.
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India is organising a global conference on Cyberspace. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the conference on 23rd November.
- The main objective of the conference is to have mutual understanding of latest practices in cyberspace, more coordination and security measures.
- IT ministers from 33 countries will participate in this conference. 10,000 people will participate in the conference through technology. 20 Exhibitions will also be organised during the event.
The government has given the go-ahead for setting up India’s first mega coastal economic zone (CEZ) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Maharashtra as part of a plan to develop 14 such industrial clusters to spur manufacturing and generate jobs.
- The plan envisages a total investment of Rs 15,000 crore in the first phase and creation of more than 1.5 lakh jobs.
- The idea is to attract large firms interested in serving the export markets as they would bring with them technology, capital, good management and links to the world markets.
The Union Cabinet had last year approved setting up of 14 mega CEZs under the National Perspective Plan of the Sagarmala Programme, with an aim to promote development of industrial clusters around ports, encourage portled development, reduce logistics cost and time for movement of cargo, enhance global competitiveness of India’s manufacturing sector and create hubs of job creation.
CEZs are spatial economic regions comprising a group of coastal districts or districts with a strong linkage to ports in that region to tap into synergies with the planned industrial corridor projects.
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The Indian Railways will introduce Asia’s largest Solid State Interlocking (SSI) system in Kharagpur, which will aid in setting 800 train routes and ruling out collisions caused by cross movements.
- The Rs.39-crore project will replace the Route Relay Interlocking (RRI) system, through which operators were able to set only 423 routes.
- The South Eastern Railway (SER) will start installing a cutting-edge solid state interlocking system (SSI) at Kharagpur that will enable workers to set 800 different routes for trains in a matter of minutes.
The government has decided to provide job quota for the economically backward among the Forward Communities (FCs) in the State. The reservation process will be rolled out in the recruitment to Devaswoms.
- The govt said 10% of the seats in Devaswom recruitment would be reserved for the new category.
- The decision to begin with Devaswoms was taken since it would not require a constitutional amendment.
- The Cabinet also decided to enhance the reservation for SC/ST communities from 10% to 12%, Ezhava community from 14% to 17% and other backward communities from 3% to 6%.
The Religious Freedom Bill passed by the Rajasthan Assembly in 2008, aimed at banning forcible religious conversions, was returned by the Union government as it deviated from the national policy. According to the Union Home Ministry, the Bill was sent back for “further clarifications.”
- The Rajasthan Dharma Swatantraya Vidheyak was passed by the Assembly in 2008.
- The legislation seeks to stop conversions through use of “force or allurement or by fraudulent means”.
- An offence under the Act is cognizable and non-bailable. The punishment for violation of the provisions of the Act can be a minimum two years simple imprisonment, which may be extended up to five years and a fine of up to Rs.50000.
Haryana government has raised the dearness allowance given to its pensioners and family pensioners from 4 per cent to 5 per cent with effect from July 1, 2017.
- The financial burden on account of enhanced rate of pension was estimated at Rs 5.60 crore approximately per month.
- The state government has also raised the rate of DA admissible to its employees, who continue to draw their pay according to pre-revised pay scale of 5th Pay Commission, from 264 per cent to 268 per cent with effect from July 1, 2017.
Celebrations swept across Australia on Wednesday as voters emphatically endorsed same-sex marriage after more than a decade of divisive debate, and political leaders immediately began moves to enshrine the historic shift in law by Christmas.
- Thousands of marriage equality supporters took to parks and squares across the vast country, hugging, dancing and singing under clouds of glitter when the results of the two-month-long postal survey were announced.
- Almost 62% of the 12.7 million people who participated voted “yes” to the question: “Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?” Just 38.4% voted “no”, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which carried out the poll. Nearly 80% of eligible voters took part in the poll, with the “yes” vote winning a majority in all of Australia’s States and territories.
Capital
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Canberra
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Currency
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Australian dollar
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Prime Minister
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Malcolm Turnbull
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According to the UN report, Syria has officially signed up to the Paris Agreement, leaving the United States as the only country to reject the global climate-rescue pact.
- Syria became the 169th of 196 countries that are members of the UN climate convention to take the legal step of ratification. After Nicaragua signed up in October 2017, Syria and USA were the only countries not to have adopted the pact.
- United States- The only country to reject the global climate-rescue pact.
- Syria Capital- Damascus, Currency- Syrian pound, Syrian President- Bashar al-Assad.
- UN Secretary-General- Antonio Guterres.
Capital
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Damascas
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Currency
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Syrian Pound
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President
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Bashar al-Assad
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Hundreds of Christians in an impoverished county in rural China have swapped posters of Jesus Christ for portraits of President Xi Jinping as part of a local government poverty-relief programme.
- As the local government in Yugan county, Jiangxi Province, redoubles its efforts to alleviate poverty, many believers have been told to take down the images of Jesus, and hang portraits of Mr. Xi instead, Hong-Kong based South China Morning Post reported. About 10% of the county’s population is Christian.
- Christian population in China is estimated to be around 90 million.
The military in Zimbabwe has launched a ‘coup’ on November 15, 2017, calling it a “bloodless correction” to target “criminals” surrounding long-time leader Robert Mugabe.
- Robert Mugabe is the only leader Zimbabwe had since it won freedom from British colonial rule in 1980. At 93, Mr. Mugabe is the world’s oldest head of state. His poor health has fueled a bitter succession battle as potential replacements jockey for position.
- The current crisis stems from a political shake-up earlier this month, but the roots of it go back much further. On Nov. 6, Mugabe decided to fire Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa. The move caused unrest in the president’s ruling ZANU-PF party and the army. Mnangagwa has support among the military and was seen as a potential successor to Mugabe.
Canada has been named the ‘2017 Destination of the Year’ by the Travel + Leisure magazine.
- The magazine stated that Canada has welcomed refugees and immigrants, while hosting special events for its 150th-anniversary celebrations.
- Further, Travel + Leisure named Quebec City as the ‘Top City in Canada’, followed by Vancouver, Victoria, Montreal, and Halifax.
Capital
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Ottawa
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Currency
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Canadian dollar
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President
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Justin Trudeau
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RBI Governor Urjit Patel has been appointed to the Financial Stability Institute Advisory Board or the Bank of International Settlement (BIS).
- Bank for International Settlements is an international financial organisation owned by 60 member central banks across the world.
- The Financial Stability Institute (FSI) of the BIS assists financial sector authorities worldwide in strengthening their financial systems.
- Since the beginning of 2017, the FSI has been implementing a new strategy that includes achieving closer interaction with central banks and financial supervisory agencies.
- The FSI was jointly created in 1998 by the BIS and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. Among other mandates, the FSI seeks to promote cross- sectoral and cross-border supervisory contacts and cooperation.
- The FSI Advisory Board was originally created in 1998. The Advisory Board will provide strategic advice to help the FSI continue to meet its mandate in a way that is responsive to the changing needs of its key stakeholders around the world.
- The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is the world’s oldest international financial organization. It was established in May 1930.
- It is based in Basel, Switzerland, with representative offices in Hong Kong and Mexico City.
- It has 60 member central banks, representing countries from around the world that together make up about 95% of world GDP.
HQ
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Basel, Switzerland
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CEO
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Jaime Caruana
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Digital payments platform Paytm has introduced ‘buy now-pay later’ option which allows users to pay after 45 days of making the purchase.
- The option will offer the “loan” ranging from Rs.3000 to Rs.10,000 without charging any interest.
- Paytm has partnered with ICICI Bank for the loan which depends on a user’s Paytm transaction history, credit history and the bank’s policies.
PayTM Founder – Vijay Shekar Sharma
CEO - Vijay Shekar Sharma
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Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2018 has been released by environmental organisation German watch. The report was made public on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change negotiations (COP23) in Bonn.
- The Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) is an instrument covering 58 countries and supposed to enhance transparency in international climate politics. Its aim is to encourage political and social pressure on those countries which have, up to now, failed to take ambitious actions on climate protection as well as to highlight countries with best-practice climate policies.
- India is ranked 14th, an improvement from its 20th position last year. China, with its high emissions and growing energy use over the past five years, still ranks 41st.
- The bottom three of the index is formed by Korea (58), Iran (59) and Saudi Arabia (rank 60), all of which are showing hardly any progress or ambition in reducing its emissions and energy use.
- As per the report, fifty-six countries and the EU are together responsible for about 90% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Indonesia’s Kevin Lilliana was crowned Miss International 2017 in Tokyo.
This is the first Miss International title for Indonesia.
- Lilliana also won the award for being the best-dressed contestant. A total of 71 women participated in the beauty pageant this year.
Miss International 2017
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Kevin Lilliana, Indonesia
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India’s Ambani family has topped the Forbes list of Asia’s Richest Families for the first time with a net worth of $44.8 billion, up $19 billion from the previous year. The collective wealth of Asia’s 50 richest families on the list is a record $699 billion, according to the Forbes.
Top 3 Families in Asia-
1. India's Ambani Family- $44.8 billion.
2. Korea’s Lee family- $40.8 billion.
3. Hong Kong’s Kwok family- ($40.4 billion).
Renowned Hindustani vocalist of Kirana Gharana, Jagdish Mohan has passed away. He aged 87. He was from Haridwar.
- Mohan was honored with the Sangeet Sartaj award by Pracheen Kala Kendra, Chandigarh for his vast contribution to Indian classical music.
Eminent environmental activist A. Latha passed away
Eminent environmental activist and leader of the anti-Athirappilly project agitation Dr. A. Latha passed away at her residence at Ollur, Kerala.
- She was 51 and was suffering from cancer for some time. Director of the Chalakudy River Research Centre, Dr. Latha had been on a crusade against the proposed Athirappilly hydro-electric project for more than 25 years.
- She fought for the protection of the Chalakudy river system and the settlements of Kadar Tribes.
Gian Piero Ventura was sacked as Italy coach after the four-time champion failed to reach the World Cup finals.
- The veteran coach’s fate was sealed after a crisis meeting of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) in Rome.
France will host the 2023 Rugby World Cup in a huge surprise after the Council of the sport’s governing body went against the recommendations of an extensive evaluation report in a secret ballot.
- South Africa had been recommended by World Rugby’s Board but the Council members went to France, which also held the tournament in 2007.
- Ireland, which has never hosted the World Cup on its own, was eliminated after the first round when it secured eight of the 39 available votes to the 13 of South Africa and 18 of France.
- In the second round, France secured 24 votes to South Africa’s 15.
Capital
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Paris
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Currency
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Euro, CFP franc
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President
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Emmanuel Macron
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