monthly gk and current affairs capsule )oct 2017 gk and current affairs capsule ± (1 st-15 th) oct...

Monthly GK and Current Affairs Capsule–(1st -15th) Oct 2017

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Monthly GK and Current Affairs Capsule – (1st-15th)Oct 2017

CONTENTS

S. No Topics Page No.

1. Important Days 2

2. Important State Wise National News 2

3. Important Ministry Affairs 8

4. Important Banking News 10

Important Financial & Economy Affairs 14

5. Important International News 19

6. Important Appointments 25

7. Important Awards and Honors 26

9. Important MoU and Agreements 30

10. Important Summit & Conference 34

11. Important Mobile App and Web Portal 35

12 Important Defence News 36

14. Important Ranking and Indexes 37

16. Important Sports News 37

17. Important Obituaries 43

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IMPORTANT DAYS

1st October - International Day of Older Persons

1st October - World Vegetarian Day

2nd October - World Habitat Day

2nd October - International Day of Non-Violence

4th October - World Animal Day

5th October - World Teachers' Day

5th October - World Ballet Day

8th October - Indian Air Force Day

9th October - World Post Day

10th October - World Mental Health Day

10th October - World Day Against the Death Penalty

11th October - International Day of Girl Child

12th October - World Sight Day

14th October - World Standards Day

15th October - World Students' day

15th October - International Day of Rural Women

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STATE WISE NEWS

Andhra Pradesh

Capital – Amaravati; CM – Chandrababu Naidu; Governor - Ekkadu Srinivasan Lakshmi Narasimhan

Chandrababu Naidu Launches 'Swachh Andhra Mission'

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu launched Swachh Andhra Mission on the occasion of

Gandhi Jayanti. Ace shuttler PV Sindhu has been chosen as the brand ambassador of Swachh Andhra.

Assam

Capital – Dispur; CM – Sarbananda Sonowal; Governor - Prof. Jagdish Mukhi

Country’s First ITI for Divyangans in Assam

Foundation stone for the first ever Industrial Training Institute for the Divyangans exclusively was laid at

Dibrugarh ITI Complex at Borboruah, Dibrugarh by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. As per the

guidelines of National Council for Vocational Training, the ITI will have sixty seats for three different trades

with 20 seats per trade. The three different trades included in the curriculum are Computer Operator and

Programming Assistant, Cutting and Sewing Technology and Hair & Skin Care.

ISRO to Set up Research Centre in Guwahati

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will set up a research centre in Guwahati, Assam for start

ups, academicians, environmentalists and entrepreneurs. ISRO would set up the exclusive research facility in






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Assam to explore the possibility of using geospatial technology, which include data generated through global

positioning system (GPS), geographical information systems (GIS) and satellite remote sensing for expediting

the development of Assam.

Useful Info

ISRO headquarters - Bengaluru, Karnataka

Chairman of ISRO - A. S. Kiran Kumar

Bihar

Capital – Patna; CM – Nitish Kumar; Governor – Satya Pal Malik

Bihar Cabinet Approves Reservation for ‘Divyangs’ in Govt Jobs

The Bihar Cabinet has approved reservations for persons with disabilities in government jobs and educational

institutions. The cabinet gave its approval during a meeting presided by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The

provision has been brought in accordance with the Persons With Disabilities Act, 2016. The cabinet also

approved establishment of a state advisory board for the empowerment of ‘Divyangjan’ as envisaged in the

Act.

PM lays Foundation Stone for Infrastructure Projects in Bihar

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone for four sewerage projects under the Namami

Gange programme; and four National Highway projects, at Mokama in Bihar. The total outlay of these projects

is over Rs. 3700 crore. The four sewerage projects include Sewage Treatment Plant at Beur, Sewerage

System with Sewer Network at Beur, Sewage Treatment Plant at Karmalichak and STP and Sewer Network at

Saidpur. These projects together will create new STP capacity of 120 MLD and upgrade the existing 20 MLD

for Beur.

Gujarat

Capital – Gandhi Nagar; CM – Vijay Rupani; Governor – Om Prakash Kohli

PM Modi Lays Foundation Stone for Bridge in Dwarka, Gujarat

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of a four-lane cable-stayed bridge between Okha and

Beyt Dwarka. The bridge is a link between old and new Dwarka. The 2.32 km bridge, including 900 metres of

central double span cable-stayed portion, will be constructed at a cost of Rs. 962.43 crore. The four-lane

27.20-metre wide bridge will have 2.50 metre wide footpaths on each side. Solar panels installed on the roof

of footpath will produce 1 MW power for street lights on the bridge.

Useful Info

Present Prime Minister of India – Narendra Modi

1st Prime Minister of India – Jawaharlal Nehru

PM Modi lays foundation stone for Bhadbhut Barrage over Narmada River






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Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for Bhadbhut Barrage to be built over Narmada River

in Bharuch Gujarat. Mr Modi also flagged off the Antyodaya Express between Udhna in Surat and Jaynagar in

Bihar. Prime Minister is now addressing a public meeting at Bharuch.

Prime Minister Launched Intensified Mission Indradhanush

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has launched the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) at Vadnagar in

Gujarat. Through this programme, Government of India aims to reach each and every child under two years of

age and all those pregnant women who have been left uncovered under the routine immunisation program.

IMI is supported by 11 other ministries and departments.

Gujarat Government Announces Garments & Apparel Policy 2017

Gujarat Government has announced the Garments and Apparel Policy-2017, with the aim of creating more

opportunities in the garment sector of Gujarat and to create huge employment opportunities for women

through the apparel industry. This Policy is prepared with an aim to make Gujarat number 1 in textile which

produces more of cotton. The State government will also provide incentives for garment unit owners for

generating employment by providing subsidy in wages. The women workers will get Rs 4,000 subsidy, while

their male counterparts will get Rs 3,500.

Himachal Pradesh

Capital – Shimla; CM – Virbhadra Singh; Governor - Acharya Dev Vrat

Himachal Pradesh Implements Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme

Himachal Pradesh government implemented the Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS) to provide

easy access to curative geriatric health care services by way of additional cover. The scheme would provide

top-up coverage of Rs 30,000 per senior citizen to all existing Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) smart

card holders. This would be in addition to the basic coverage of Rs 30,000 in Trust and Society mode.

Karnataka

Capital – Bengaluru; CM – Siddaramaiah; Governor - Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala

Karnataka Launches mid-day Meals Scheme for Pregnant Women

The Karnataka government launched the Rs. 302-crore Mathru Poorna scheme, aimed at providing free mid-

day meals to pregnant and lactating women in rural areas. The meals, which will be provided in Anganwadi

centres, will include an egg, rice, pulses, vegetables, and milk. This is aimed at reducing child malnutrition and

in turn curb infant mortality.

Kerala

Capital – Tiruvananthapuram; CM – Pinarayi Vijayan; Governor - P Sathasivam

President launches Mata Amritanandamayi Math Project Jeevamritham in Kerala






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President Ram Nath Kovind has said, the Nation requires more people who use their knowledge for the

betterment of the nation and society. He was speaking at an event in Amrithapuri in Kollam in Kerala.

President 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.

President launches Mata Amritanandamayi Math Project Jeevamritham in Kerala

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. The President also distributed the certificates to three village out of 12 villages in the States

of Bihar, UP, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Chatisgarh, Uttarakand, Maharashtra and kerala, which were

adopted by the Math, verified as Open Defecation Free by Swatch Bharat Abhiyan.

Maharashtra

Capital – Mumbai; CM – Devendra Fadnavis; Governor – Vidyasagar Rao

President Ramnath Kovind inaugurates Shirdi airport in Maharashtra

President Ramnath Kovind inaugurated the Shirdi airport in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. The

President also flagged off the inaugural flight of Alliance Air from Shirdi to Mumbai. The flight will take around

45 minutes. Besides Alliance Air, two other Airlines will be operating flights between Mumbai and Shirdi. The

airport will initially have four flights to Mumbai and one each from Delhi and Hyderabad. After inauguration, the

President said, this infrastructure development will create new employment opportunities. President also

inaugurated the Centenary Celebrations of Samadhi of Shri Saibaba at the famous Sai Mandir at Shirdi. The

President also attended a function in Mumbai where Urban Maharashtra was declared as open defecation

free.

Maharashtra Launched Web Portal with Information on New Government Schemes

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis launched ‘MahaLabharthi‘ web portal that will help people get information

about all the government schemes that they are eligible for. The government is now working to connect the

web portal with other websites, to allow people to apply for the welfare schemes. The web portal,

https://www.mahalabharthi.in, works on the basis of personal, educational and professional information

provided by a person while registering on it.

Rajasthan

Capital – Jaipur; CM – Vasundhara Raje Scindia; Governor - Kalyan Singh

Rajasthan Assembly First in India to Call Motions Online

Going digital, the Rajasthan assembly has become the first in India to call attention and adjournment motions

and proposals online from legislators to send them to the state government. Speaker Kailash Meghwal has

inaugurated the new system by sending a call for an attention motion to the state government with a click of

the mouse. The system is expected to save time, labour and use of paper in the functioning of the assembly,

and also help legislators in bringing attention to urgent public issues.






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Tamil Nadu

Capital – Chennai; CM – Edappadi K. Palaniswami; Governor - Banwarilal Purohit

Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple has been adjudged best ‘Swachh Iconic Place’ in India

The Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple has been adjudged best ‘Swachh Iconic Place’ in India. Madurai

District Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao and Corporation Commissioner S. Aneesh Sekhar will receive the

award from Uma Bharati, the Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation. A total of 63 compact bins have been

placed and four compactor trucks do the rounds around the temple premises. There are 25 e-toilets and 15

water ATMs for tourists to use. There are two road sweepers and battery operated vehicles specifically

purchased to clean this stretch.

Banwarilal Purohit Sworn-in as Governor of Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit was sworn-in by Madras High Court Chief Justice Indira Banerjee at

the Raj Bhavan in Chennai. He entered the Maharashtra Assembly for the first time in 1978 from the Nagpur

east seat. Mr. Purohit was appointed as Governor of Assam State by the President of India on August 17,

2016.

World’s Largest Combustion Research Centre Inaugurated at IIT Madras

The world’s largest combustion research center was inaugurated at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

(IIT-M) in Tamil Nadu. The National Centre for Combustion Research and Development (NCCRD) was

inaugurated by NITI Aayog member VK Saraswat. The establishment of the center will give a major boost to

the Indian scientific community and will provide an impetus to research in ‘Alternative Energy and

Environmental Protection’ by focusing on effective utilization of combustion as a means of thermochemical

energy conversion.

Useful Info

IIT-M was established in 1959.

Chairman of IIT-M - Pawan Kumar Goenka

Telangana

Capital – Hyderabad; CM – K. Chandrashekar Rao;

Governor – Ekkadu Srinivasan Lakshmi Narasimhan

Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2017 to be Held in Hyderabad

A high-level delegation from the Government of India and the United States met NITI Aayog to plan the 2017

Global Entrepreneurship Summit. The summit will be held on November 28-30 at the Hyderabad International

Convention Centre in Hyderabad, India. This year’s theme is “Women First, Prosperity for All” to celebrate the

entrepreneurial spirit in all its strengths and diversity. The Summit will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister

Shri Narendra Modi and Advisor to the President, Ivanka Trump, who leads the U.S. delegation.






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Uttarakhand

Capital – Dehradun, Nainital (Judiciary); CM – Trivendra Singh Rawat;

Governor - Krishna Kant Paul

Uttarakhand Government Launched 'Solar Briefcase' to Provide Electricity in Remote Areas

Uttarakhand State Government and a charitable funding agency named Swan Cultural Center and Foundation

launched ‘Solar Briefcase’ in Kedarnath Dham. The initiative was taken to provide electricity to far-flung areas

in the hill state.

New Delhi

CM of New Delhi – Arvind Kejriwal; Governor of New Delhi – Anil Baijal

GoM on Composition Scheme holds First Meeting in New Delhi

Within a week of being set up, the group of ministers (GoM) on making the GST composition scheme more

attractive held its first meeting in New Delhi. The 5-member GoM, led by Assam Finance Minister Himanta

Biswa Sarma, has also been tasked to revisit Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates for restaurants. With only

over 15.50 lakh businesses out of 98 lakh registered under the GST regime opting for the composition

scheme, the GST Council decided to set up the GoM to examine ways of making it more attractive.

Useful Info

The GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and consisting of his state counterparts, had on

October 7 constituted the GoM, which will submit its report by the end of November.

Goa

Capital – Panaji; CM – Manohar Parrikar;

Governor - Mridula Sinha

Vice President Inaugurated 3rd International Conference on Yoga

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the third International Conference on Yoga in New Delhi. The

theme of this year’s conference will be ‘Yoga for Wellness’ The two-day conference has six technical sessions

and experts will deliberate on the scope of yoga in integrated medicine, and control of cancer, depression and

gynaecological disorders and pain management. Around 500 delegates, including those from 44 countries, will

attend the conference.

Useful Info

AYUSH – Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy

Minister for AYUSH – Shripad Yasso Naik

Constituency – North Goa






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MINISTRY AFFAIRS NEWS

Ministry of Health Adjudged Best for ‘Swachhta Pakhwada’

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has been adjudged as the best department for its contribution

during Swachhta Pakhwada, an inter-Ministry initiative of Swachh Bharat Mission of Ministry of Drinking Water

and Sanitation. The Health Ministry observed the Swachhta Pakhwada in February 2017. The award was

presented to the Ministry on 2nd October, the third anniversary of Swachh Bharat Mission. Shri C K Mishra,

Secretary (HFW) received the award on behalf of the Ministry.

Useful Info

Union Minister for Health & Family welfare – Jagat Prakash Nadda

Constituency – Himachal Pradesh, Rajya Sabha

First ASEAN-India Music Festival Begins in New Delhi

The first ever ASEAN-India music festival began at Purana Quila in New Delhi. The 3-day festival is being

organised by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India in collaboration with Culture Ministry to

celebrate the 25th year anniversary of ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations. It will conclude on 8 October 2017.

The theme for this commemorative year is ‘Shared Values, Common Destiny’.

Useful Info

CM of New Delhi – Arvind Kejriwal

Governor – Anil Baijal

Government Sets up High-Level Committee for Water Management

Centre has set up a high-level committee for proper management of water resources in the North-Eastern

region. The Committee will be headed by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar. It will facilitate optimising

benefits of appropriate water management in the form of hydro-electric power, agriculture, biodiversity

conservation, reduced flood damage erosion, inland water transport, forestry, fishery and eco-tourism. The

committee is also tasked with spelling out actionable steps for optimizing water resources in the region and

chalking out an action plan for the dovetailing of Central schemes.

Useful Info

NITI Aayog Chairman – Narendra Modi

NITI Aayog Vice Chairman – Rajiv Kumar

President Appoints Commission to Examine Sub-Categorisation of OBCs

President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed a five-member Committee. The Committee will be headed by Delhi

High Court's former Chief Justice G Rohini to examine sub-categorization of Other Backward Classes (OBCs)

under Article 340 of the Constitution. The commission will examine the extent of inequitable distribution of






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benefits of reservation among the castes or communities included in the broad category of OBCs with

reference to such classes included in the central list.

Useful Info

Present President of India – Ram Nath Kovind

Present Vice President of India – Venkaiah Naidu

1st President of India – Dr. Rajendra Prasad

Haj Committee Recommends Abolishing of Subsidy

The government was appointed Committee on Haj Policy has recommended phasing out of subsidy for Haj

pilgrims and allowing women devotees above 45 years of age to travel in a group of at least four without a

male. The Committee presented its report on New Haj policy 2018-22 to Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar

Abbas Naqvi in Mumbai. In view of the Supreme Court direction, the Ministry had set up the Panel under the

Chairmanship of former Secretary Afzal Amanullah to review the existing Haj Policy and to suggest a

framework for new Haj policy 2018-22.

Useful Info

Union Minister of Minority Affairs - Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

Constituency – Uttar Pradesh, Rajya Sabha

Group of ministers (GoM) Set Up to Review Composition Scheme

A group of ministers (GoM) has been set up under Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to make

the composition scheme more attractive and also revisit GST rates on restaurants. The GST Council, chaired

by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had constituted the GoM. With only 15.50 lakh businesses out of the total 98

lakh registered under the goods and services tax (GST) regime opting for the composition scheme, the GST

Council has decided to set up the GoM to examine measures to make it more attractive.

Useful Info

State – Assam

Capital – Dispur

CM – Sarbananda Sonowal

Governor - Jagdish Mukhi

Aadhaar Made Mandatory For Small Saving Schemes as Post Office Deposits, PPF, KVP

The government has made biometric identification Aadhaar mandatory for all post office deposits, PPF, the

National Savings Certificate scheme and Kisan Vikas Patra. According to the provision, which is already in

effect, all depositors have been given time till December 31, 2017 to provide the 12-digit unique identification

number and link it with their accounts.

Useful Info






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Unique Identification Authority of India has its Headquarters (HQ) in New Delhi.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UIDAI is Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey.

Union Home Minister Inaugurated First BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise

The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurated the four-day First ‘BIMSTEC Disaster Management

Exercise- 2017’ (BIMSTEC DMEx-2017) in New Delhi. The Exercise will be conducted by the National

Disaster Response Force (NDRF) as the lead agency in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). The

BIMSTEC DMEx-2017 is being conducted in two phases in Delhi and NCR. The main exercise will comprise

of Table Top Exercise (TTX), Field Training Exercise (FTX) and After Action Review (AAR). The main focus of

the BIMSTEC DMEx-2017 will be on testing the region’s preparedness and resilience towards effective

activation of inter-Governmental interaction for immediate deployment of regional resources for disaster

response.

Useful Info

BIMSTEC stands for ‘Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation’,

includes namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Smriti Irani Opens World Largest B2B Handicraft & Gifts Fair

The 44th edition of world largest B2B handicraft and gifts fair entitled IHGF-Delhi Fair (Autumn) 2017 was

inaugurated by Smriti Zubin Irani, Union Minister of Textiles in a ceremony at India Expo Centre & Mart,

Greater Noida. It is the 4 Day long fair at state-of-the-art India Expo Centre, Greater Noida. This initiative will

give opportunities to overseas buyers to bring technical know-how investment and marketing network to form

joint ventures for promoting Indian Handicrafts in the world market.

Useful Info

Union Minister for Textiles - Smriti Zubin Irani

Constituency – Gujarat, Rajya Sabha

BANKING NEWS

Reserve Bank of India

Reserve Bank of India Opens Branch in Dehradun

The Reserve Bank of India opened a branch in the Dehradun city to make transactions of the Uttarakhand

State government more convenient. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat inaugurated the RBI's

Branch. Earlier, the state government had to do financial transactions through the Kanpur branch of the RBI.

Useful Info

RBI – Reserve Bank of India

Headquarters of RBI – Mumbai

Present Governor of RBI – Urjit Patel






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RBI to soon Launch Financial Literacy Drive in 9 States

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is to launch a financial literacy drive in 80 blocks in nine states on the pilot

basis to educate people on e-transactions, formal sector borrowings and insurance purchases. The pilot

project, according to RBI will be commissioned in the 9 states of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Odisha,

Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh by the 6 NGOs in collaboration with the

sponsor Banks. The aim of this drive is to inculcate the habit of making a household budget and recording

financial transactions, encourage transactions in savings accounts, and active saving by depositing in banks

through fixed deposits and recurring deposits.

Useful Info


Headquarters of RBI – Mumbai

Governor of RBI – Urjit Patel

Fourth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement Released by RBI

On the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation at its meeting, the

Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility

(LAF) unchanged at 6.0 per cent. Consequently, the Reverse Repo Rate (RRR) under the LAF remains at

5.75 per cent, and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.25 per cent. The

projection of real Gross Value Added (GVA) growth for 2017-18 has been revised down to 6.7 per cent from

the August 2017 projection of 7.3 per cent, with risks evenly balanced.

Useful Info


Headquarters – Mumbai

Present Governor of RBI – Urjit Patel

SBI

SBI to Set Up Country's Largest Innovation Centre at Mumbai

The nation's largest lender State Bank of India is creating a 15,000-sqft innovation center in Navi Mumbai

investing around Rs 100 crore. The center, to be built at its Global IT Centre in Belapur in Navi Mumbai, will

be the largest innovation center by any financial services company in the country. The innovation center is

part of a Rs 200-crore allocation that the bank has earmarked for innovation 2016.

Useful Info

SBI Headquarters – Mumbai

Present Chairman of SBI - Rajnish Kumar

SBI Launched SME Assist for MSME Clients






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The State Bank of India has launched a new product to provide a short-term working capital demand loan to

its MSME clients. The new initiative, called SME Assist, would offer loans to MSME customers on the basis of

their input credit claims under Goods and Services Tax (GST). The loan processing fee under the scheme is

Rs 2,000. The companies applying for a loan under the product have to provide a certificate from their

chartered accountant confirming the input credit claims. Under the scheme, the SME borrowers would have a

moratorium period for the first three months.

Useful Info

SBI – State Bank of India

Headquarters of SBI – Mumbai

Chairman of SBI - Rajnish Kumar

HSBC

HSBC Launches App to Track Trade Transactions

HSBC (Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) announced the launch of a mobile app - Trade

Transaction Tracker - to help customers track the status of their trade transactions on a real-time basis. This

feature has been built into the existing HSBCnet mobile application and has been launched in selected

countries in which HSBC operates, including India. It will provide a global view of import and export

documentary credit and collections transactions, across markets in one single app.

Useful Info

HSBC Headquarters - London, United Kingdom

US central bank fines HSBC $175 mn for Lax Forex Oversight

The US central bank has fined global banking giant HSBC $175 million for failing to oversee foreign exchange

traders who misused confidential client information and colluded with traders at competing banks. Between

2008 and 2013, the bank failed to detect misconduct by senior traders, including its global head of foreign

exchange cash trading, according to the Federal Reserve. The enforcement action comes two months after

the Fed also fined BNP Paribas USD 246 million over similar violations. HSBC was one of six major US and

European banks fined a total of $4.2 billion by global regulators in a November 2014 crackdown for attempted

manipulation of the foreign exchange market.

Useful Info

Country – United States of America

Capital – Washington D.C

Currency – US Dollar

President – Donald Trump

The Federal Reserve System is the privately owned central banking system of the United States.






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HDFC

HDFC Life Launched Neo, a Bot for Twitter

HDFC Life Insurance Company has launched 'Neo', a servicing bot for Twitter that uses artificial intelligence

for customer service. This is the second bot put in operation by HDFC Life, after the launch of SPOK, which

was an email bot to answer customer queries. The Neo bot will be available 24/7 and has the capability to

authenticate customers and give frequently sought details, like fund value, sum assured and premium amount.

Useful Info

HDFC Bank Headquarters – Mumbai

CEO of HDFC Bank - Aditya Puri

ICICI Bank

ICICI Bank committed financial assistance to Armed Forces

ICICI Bank, the country's largest private sector bank by consolidated assets, committed financial assistance of

Rs. 10 crore to the Indian Armed Forces. This contribution by ICICI Bank would be made in two equal

tranches. This fund will be used for two programs. The first will support post-graduation education of the

widows of the soldiers and education for their wards. The second program will provide financial assistance for

marriages of the daughters of ex-servicemen.

Useful Info

ICICI Bank Headquarters – Mumbai

MD & CEO of ICICI Bank - Chanda Kochhar

Union Defence Minister – Nirmala Sitharaman

Constituency – Karnataka, Rajya Sabha

NABARD

NABARD Buys Additional 7% stake in SIDBI from IDBI Bank

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has bought an additional 7% stake in

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for Rs 900 crore from public sector lender IDBI Bank Ltd.

This is the largest investment made by the apex rural financial institution so far, and raises its total

shareholding in Sidbi to 10%. According to data shared by Sidbi, existing shareholders bought most of these

shares - 6.99% by Nabard, 2.04% by Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC), 0.5% by Vijaya Bank and 0.5% by

Canara Bank. With this, LIC holds 14.25% in SIDBI, Vijaya Bank 0.8% and Canara Bank 3.64%.

Useful Info






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NABARD Headquarters – Mumbai

Present Chairman of NABARD – Harsh Kumar Bhanwala

SIDBI Headquarters – Lucknow

CMD of SIDBI – Shri Mohammad Mustafa

IDBI Bank Headquarters – Mumbai

Managing Director & CEO of IDBI Bank - Mahesh Kumar Jain

FINANCIAL AND ECONOMY

GDP to Hit $6 trillion by 2027 on Digital Leap: Morgan Stanley Report

India is likely to be the world’s fastest-growing large economy in the next 10 years, driven by digitisation,

favourable demographics, globalisation and reforms, according to the Morgan Stanley report. According to the

global financial services major, the trend line in India’s annual GDP growth has been accelerating to 6.9

percent in 2000s, from 5.8 percent in the 1990s, and this momentum is likely to continue in the next decade as

well.

GST Council Reduces Tax Rates on 27 Items, Approves Quarterly Return Filing

In a major relief to common man, small traders and exporters, the GST Council has reduced tax rates on 27

items and allowed the filing of returns on the quarterly basis. The GST Council meeting held under the

Chairmanship of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi. The council has decided to reduce the

GST rates on dried mangoes, Khakhra, plain chapatis, unbranded Namkeen, unbranded ayurvedic medicines

and paper wastes to 5 percent from 12 percent. Arun Jaitley stated that Food packets used in ICDS scheme,

plastic and rubber wastes will now be taxed at 5 percent instead of 18 percent. The GST Council also

approved the quarterly filing of returns for businesses with turnover up to 1.5 crore rupees besides raising the

threshold for composition scheme from 75 lakh rupees to one crore rupees.

Useful Info

Union Finance Minister of India – Arun Jaitley


Arun Jaitley Attends G-20 Finance Ministers Meeting

The Union Minister for Finance Arun Jaitley participated in the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank

Governors (FMCBG) Meeting in Washington D.C. The discussion focused on the agenda items pertaining to

Global Economy and Framework for Growth, Compact with Africa and International Financial Architecture. As

co-chairs of G20 Framework Working Group (FWG), India made the lead intervention during the Second






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Round of the Session on ‘Global Economy and Framework for Growth’, which discussed the IMF’s G-20

Report on ‘Strong, Sustainable, and Balanced Growth(SSBG)’.

Useful Info

Union Minister for Defence – Arun Jaitley


The Coalition Years 1996-2012: Pranab Mukherjee’s Political Autobiography

Former President Pranab Mukherjee has released the third part of his memoir ‘The Coalition Years: 1996-

2012’, speaking candidly about believing he could have been the Congress choice for the Prime Minister’s

post. Mukherjee’s memoir is the third in the series. The other two are -- The Dramatic Decade: The Indira

Gandhi Years and The Turbulent Years: 1980-1996.

Useful Info

Pranab Kumar Mukherjee is served as the 13th President of India from 2012 until 2017.

Pranab Mukherjee's first stint as the Finance minister of India was during the Indira Gandhi government in

1982.

New Guiness Record at IISF Chennai 2017

Day two of the India International Science Festival (IISF) in Anna University campus at Chennai saw the

making of a new Guinness World Record for the Largest Biology Lesson. One thousand forty nine (1049)

students participated in the record breaking session. Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth

Science, Dr. Harsh Vardhan stated that PM Narendra Modi to encourage and promote science and the Govt.

of India has launched many Flagship Programmes in this regard. World Record attempts have been a key part

of India International Science Festival since 2015, which leads to encouragement and popularizing of Science

through public participation. In IISF 2015, students took a successful shot at the Guinness World record for the

world’s largest science Lesson at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi.

Useful Info

India International Science Festival has inaugurated by Dr Harsh Vardhan.

The 1st IISF was held at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) New Delhi in December, 2015.

Y Sujana Chowdary is present Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences.

GDP May Grow at 7% in Financial Year 2017-18: NITI Aayog

According to NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar, the economic slowdown that began in 2013-14 has

bottomed out and the GDP is likely to grow at 6.9-7 % this fiscal (2017-18) and 7.5% in 2018-19. The

economic growth slowed to 7.1% in 2016-17, the year in which 87% of the currency was demonetised, despite

a very good show by the agricultural sector. On a quarterly basis also, the growth in the first quarter of the

current fiscal had slipped to 5.7%. In the next fiscal year, the growth would be about 7.5%.






16

Useful Info

NITI Aayog Chairman – Narendra Modi

NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman - Rajiv Kumar

The Government of India, in keeping with its reform agenda, constituted the NITI Aayog to replace the

Planning Commission instituted in 1950.

Vanuatu Becomes First Nation to Accept Bitcoin in Exchange for Citizenship

The South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu has become host to the world’s first government to accept bitcoin

in exchange for citizenship. Vanuatu’s citizenship program costs $200,000 USD, meaning that at current

prices the residency program costs less than 41.5 bitcoins. The Chairman of the Vanuatu Information Center

(VIC)– which oversees Vanuatu citizenship applications - Geoffrey Bond, had sent an official request earlier

this month seeking permission to accept bitcoin as a form of payment.

Useful Info

Country – Vanuatu

Capital – Port Vila

Currency - Vanuatu vatu

Vanuatu is a South Pacific Ocean nation made up of roughly 80 islands that stretch 1,300 kilometres

Direct Tax Collections in First Half of Current Financial Year rise 15.8 percent

The Direct Tax Collections in the first half (April-September) of the current fiscal (2017-18) shows growth of

15.8 percent. According to the Finance Ministry, the provisional figures of Direct Tax collections up to

September 2017 show that net collections are at 3.86 lakh crore rupees which is higher than the

corresponding period of last year. Net Direct Tax collections represent 39.4 percent of the total budget

estimates of Direct Taxes for the financial year 2017-18. An amount of 1.77 lakh crore rupees has been

received as Advance Tax up to 30th of September this year, reflecting a growth of 11.5 percent over the

corresponding period of last year.

First US Crude Oil Shipment Arrives in Paradip

The first US crude oil cargo of 1(point)6 million barrels bought by Indian Oil Corporation from the US reached

Paradip Port, Odisha. Indian Oil will process the crude at its East-Coast base refineries, located at Paradip,

Haldia, Barauni and Bongaigaon. Indian Oil, which became the first Indian public sector refiner to source US

crude has placed a cumulative order 3.9 million barrel from the US.

Useful Info






17

Paradip Port – Odisha

State – Odisha

Capital – Bhubaneshwar

CM – Naveen Patnaik

Governor – Senayangba Chubatoshi Jamir

Airtel Gets Approval for Tigo Merger

Bharti Airtel has received Ghana’s National Communications Authority’s approval for the merger between

Bharti Ghana (Airtel) and Millicom Ghana (Tigo), subject to certain conditions. This merger will result in an

entity which will be the second largest mobile network operations in the country. Based on agreements, which

have been accepted by the merging entities and the payment of relevant fees, a supplementary agreement to

the licences of the merging entities will be signed between the NCA and the merging entities.

Useful Info

Country – Ghana

Capital – Accra

Currency - Ghanaian cedi

Private insurer Tata AIA Life announced the launch of ‘Eazy Connect’

Private insurer Tata AIA Life announced the launch of ‘Eazy Connect’, that will extend online customer service

to social media platforms. The chatbot will be available through social media platforms and is developed to

respond to the most frequently asked queries.

Useful Info

CEO and MD of Tata AIA Life - Naveen Tahilyani

J Sagar Associates (JSA) Becomes First Law Firm in GIFT City

J Sagar Associates (JSA) is the first law firm to have opened an office at Gujarat International Finance Tec-

City (GIFT). Setting up this office would help JSA consolidate their Financial Services Practice. The office was

inaugurated by Sudhir Mankad - Chairman of GIFT IFSC. Several banks, brokers and stock exchanges

including the BSE and the National Stock Exchange have set-up their operations in GIFT, which will operate

like a tax haven.

Useful Info

Managing Director & Group CEO of GIFT City - Ajay Pandey

Magicbricks Launches India's First Online Property Bidding Platform

Magicbricks 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






18

bid for ready-to-move-in residential properties in Gurugram. Magicbricks has been recently awarded the

Standardisation, Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) by the Ministry of Communications and Information

Technology, making it the country's only real estate portal eligible for a bidding platform for properties.

Useful Info

CEO of Magicbricks - Sudhir Pai

Director of M3M Group - Pankaj Bansal

India's Coffee Output Pegged at Record 3.5 lakh Tons in 2017-18

Coffee output in India is pegged to be a record 3.50 lakh tonnes in the 2017-18 marketing year started this

month on higher acreage. According to the Coffee Board, the final output stood lower by 10.34 percent at 3.12

lakh tonnes in 2016-17 marketing year from 3.48 lakh tonnes in the previous year. Coffee Board stated that

the crop's forecast for 2017-18 is placed at 3.50 lakh tonnes, comprising 1.03 lakh tonnes of Arabica and 2.47

lakh tonnes of Robusta varieties. Higher output is mainly attributed to the additional bearing area of about

13,500 hectares in traditional growing areas of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Useful Info

Karnataka is the largest producer of coffee in India.

Govt Okays Rs 2,000 crore to Set up Aadhaar Units in Post Offices

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved Rs 2,000 crore specifically for setting up Aadhaar centres in post

offices, a move that will see private contractors phased out from the data collection process. The centres will

have machines approved by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and trained personnel who will

be responsible for the operations. Aadhaar enrolment and updation facilities will be available in around 15,000

post offices by March 31, 2018.

Useful Info

Unique Identification Authority of India has its Headquarters in New Delhi.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UIDAI is Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey.

Shri Ananta Narayan Nanda Secretary is the Director General Postal Services.

GIC Re Launched India’s Third Largest IPO

General Insurance Corp of India (GIC Re) kicked off its mega Rs 11,370 crore initial public offer (IPO). This is

India's third biggest IPO ever after Coal India's Rs 15,200 crore and Reliance Power's Rs 11,700 crore issues.

General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) is the largest reinsurance company in India in terms of gross

premiums accepted in fiscal 2017.

Useful Info

GIC Re headquartered – Mumbai






19

CMD of GIC Re - Alice Vaidyan

Mastercard Launched its First Innovation Centre in India

US-based fintech company Mastercard has announced the launch of its global research and development arm

Mastercard Labs in Pune, India. After Singapore, this will be the second Mastercard Labs in Asia-Pacific, and

ninth in the world. The initiative aims to bring and harness new commerce, payment and technology ideas at a

fast pace in the country.

Useful Info

CEO of Mastercard - Ajay Banga

INTERNATIONAL

Austria’s law banning face veils such as burkhas or niqabs has come into effect

Austria’s law banning face veils such as burkhas or niqabs has come into effect from now. according to the

government, acceptance and respect of Austrian values are basic conditions for successful cohabitation

between the majority Austrian population and people from third countries living in Austria. Exemptions under

certain conditions include items like clown disguises at cultural events, work wear such as medical masks, and

scarves in cold weather. There are around 7 lakh Muslims in Austria.

Useful Info

Country – Austria

Capital – Vienna

Currency – Euro

India opens two border crossing points with Myanmar, Bangladesh

India has opened two immigration check posts along the borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh. In a gazette

notification, the Home Ministry said, the Central government has designated Zorinpui land check post in

Lawngtlai district of Mizoram as an authorised immigration check post for entry into or exit from India with valid

travel documents for all classes of passengers to or from Myanmar. The Central government has also

designated Kawrpuichhuah land check post in Lunglei district of Mizoram as an authorised immigration check

post for entry into or exit from India with valid travel documents for all classes of passengers to or from

Bangladesh. Zorinpui was selected for a new land custom station along the Indo-Myanmar border in Mizoram

for the Kaladan multi-modal project. Kawarpuchiah is situated in Mizoram along a riverine border with

Bangladesh.

Useful Info

Country – Myanmar, Naypyidaw, Burmese kyat






20

Country – Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladeshi Taka

China marks 68th National Day

China marked the 68th anniversary of the founding of People's Republic of China. More than 115,000 people

from across China gathered at the Tiananmen Square at the heart of Beijing to watch the raising of the

National Flag. At the backdrop was a 17-meter-tall giant display in the shape of a floral basket, which

symbolizes a thriving and prosperous country. The National Day is celebrated with a week-long holiday.

Useful Info

Country – China

Capital – Beijing

Currency – Renminbi (Yuan)

GIFT City's IFSC Bags 10th Place in Global Financial Centres Index

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. GIFT IFSC is

ranked tenth, ahead of Luxembourg, Seoul, Abu Dhabi, Toronto and Beijing in the list of the GFCI report,

which has 15 centres that are likely to become more significant in the next few years. Including GIFT City's

IFSC, six of the top ten emerging centres are in Asia.

Useful Info

Country – United Kingdom

Capital – London

Currency – Pound Sterling

India, Nepal to Conduct First Joint Tiger Count

For the first time, Nepal and India will undertake a joint tiger census in their national parks, forests and

protected areas adjoining the two countries using a globally-recognised method. The counting of tigers will

begin from the second week of November. Tiger is an endangered animal listed in the Convention on

International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The last tiger count conducted by Nepal in 2013 puts the

number of adult tigers around 200 in the Himalayan country.

Useful Info

Country – Nepal

Capital – Kathmandu

Currency – Nepalese Rupee

Sikh man becomes first minority politician to lead major party in Canada

A 38-year-old Sikh lawyer was on Sunday elected the leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, becoming

the first non-white politician to head a major political party in the country. Jagmeet Singh, the Ontario






21

provincial lawmaker, was elected on the first ballot to lead the party into the 2019 election against Prime

Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals.

Useful Info

Country – Canada

Capital – Ottawa

Currency - Canadian dollar

Russia Launches ‘World’s Biggest & Most Powerful’ Nuclear Icebreaker

Russia has launched the world's largest nuclear-powered icebreaker ship in a bid to expand its strategic

presence in the resource-rich, terrain of the Arctic. The massive vessel, named Sibir (Siberia), was developed

as part of a huge push by the Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation to open up crucial shipping lanes in

the icy Northern Sea Route.

Useful Info

Country – Russia

Capital – Moscow

Currency – Russian Ruble

President of Russia - Vladimir Putin

8th SAARC Speaker, Parliamentarians Conference Started in Sri Lanka

The 8th conference of the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians (ASSP) will take place from

October 4 to 6 at the Hotel Hilton in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Association of SAARC Speakers and

Parliamentarians was set up in 1992 with the vision to promote friendship and understanding amongst the

peoples of South Asia. The first conference of the ASSP was held in India in 1995 and the last one in

Maldives in 2013. The conference was inaugurated by President Maithripala Sirisena Prime Minister Ranil

Wickremesinghe. This year’s Conference will emphasis on Sustainable Development Goals, as the main

theme is ‘Association of the SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians’: a platform for the Parliamentarians of

South Asia to work together to reach the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development.

Useful Info

Country – Sri Lanka

Capital – Colombo, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte

Currency – Sri Lankan Rupee

President of Sri Lanka – Maithripala Sirisena

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka - Ranil Wickremesinghe

Headquarters of SAARC - Kathmandu, Nepal

India to be Guest Country at the World Government Summit






22

The World Government Summit announced that India is a guest country in its upcoming gathering. The

Annual Gathering is scheduled from February 11 to 13, 2018. Honorary guests from India will join the notable

list of speakers synonymous with the World Government Summit to showcase the country’s emerging

economic growth, highlight valuable knowledge, skills, and capabilities and elaborate on the country’s unique

culture.

Rio Olympic Committee Chairman Arrested on Corruption Charges

Brazilian police arrested the chairman of the country’s Olympic Committee Carlos Arthur Nuzman as part of a

probe into alleged vote-buying to secure Rio’s hosting of the 2016 Games. Twenty federal police agents swept

into Rio de Janeiro’s upscale Leblon neighbourhood to arrest 75-year-old Carlos Nuzman.

Useful Info

Country – Brazil

Capital – Brasília

Currency – Brazilian real

Donald Trump is Most Followed World Leader on Twitter, PM Modi Third

Donald Trump is now the world’s most followed leader on Twitter, while Narendra Modi is the third, according

to the latest report by Twiplomacy, a Burson Marsteller research project that tracks the use of Twitter by

governments and international organisations. Trump overtook Pope Francis by a few thousand followers to

occupy the first place in Twiplomacy’s October report. India’s prime minister Narendra Modi has kept his third

place consistently since 2016. Modi’s own account, @narendramodi, has more than 34 million followers, while

the official @PMOIndia account is at the fourth position with a following of more than 21 million.

Useful Info

Top Three in the List

1st – Donald Trump (US President)

2nd – Pope Francis (Vatican)

3rd – Narendra Modi (Indian Prime Minister)

Hurricane Nate moves Toward second Landfall on Gulf Coast in USA

In the United States, hurricane Nate has made landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana.

According to the US National Hurricane Center, the storm with maximum sustained winds of 137 kilometres

per hour is moving north and a second landfall is expected on the Mississippi coast later. A state of

emergency has been declared in four southern US states with Hurricane Nate gathering strength. Louisiana,

Mississippi, Alabama and parts of Florida have issued hurricane warnings and evacuation orders. The

measures apply to parts of the city of New Orleans, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina 12 years ago.

Useful Info






23

Country – United States of America

Capital – Washington D.C

Currency – US Dollar

President – Donald Trump

India Slips to 8th Rank in Valuable Nation Brand List

India is ranked the eighth most valuable nation brand while the United States retained its top position and

China took the second spot in the league of nations according to Brand Finance’s Nation Brands 2017. India

went down one spot over the previous year because the economy grew at its slowest pace. India switched

places with Canada and its brand value dropped by one percentage point while that of Canada’s rose 14

percent. China, the fastest growing nation brand in 2017, saw valuation grow 44 percent.

Useful Info

The Top 10 Valuable Nation brands are:

1. United States (Washington D.C, US Dollar)

2. China (Beijing, Renminbi (Yuan))

3. Germany (Berlin, Euro)

4. Japan (Tokyo, Yen)

5. United Kingdom (London, Pound Sterling)

6. France (Paris, Euro)

7. Canada (Ottawa, Canadian Dollar)

8. India (New Delhi, Indian Rupee)

9. Italy (Rome, Euro)

10. South Korea (Seoul, South Korean Won)

India is Second Largest Market for Pharma: LinkedIn Report

With 13.7 percent contribution to the global pharmaceuticals and biotechnology workforce, India has emerged

as the second largest market for the industry, a report by professional networking giant LinkedIn has revealed.

The report, detailed in the newly released e-book "The Indian Pharma and Biotech Industry", showed that

while New Delhi, Kolkata, and Chandigarh are thriving grounds for talent in this sector in India, talent migration

is highest to the US. Talent migrating to other countries mainly comprises of researchers, scientists, quality

assurance professionals, statistics programmers and data analysts.

Useful Info

CEO of LinkedIn - Jeff Weiner

Safe Cities Index 2017: Tokyo Safest, Delhi 43rd






24

Japanese capital city Tokyo has topped The Economist Intelligence Unit's Safe Cities Index 2017, which

ranked 60 cities on parameters including personal and health security. Singapore and Japanese city Osaka

have ranked second and third, while Indian cities Delhi and Mumbai have ranked 43rd and 45th respectively.

Useful Info

Country – Japan

Capital –Tokyo

Currency – Japanese Yen

Pakistani city Karachi has been ranked the least safe city in the list.

Global Hunger Index: India Ranks 100 among 119 Countries

India, which has more than a fifth (21 percent) of its children wasted (weigh too little for their height), slipped

three places to 100th in the 2017 Global Hunger Index (GHI). The ranking of India in the list was 97th in 2016.

The 2017 GHI released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) termed India's hunger

levels ‘serious’ problem at hand. The data from the report showed that India ranked lower than all its

neighboring countries - Nepal (72), Myanmar (77), Bangladesh (88), Sri Lanka (84) and China (29) - except

Pakistan, which has been placed at 106th in the global hunger list.

Useful Info

The hunger report index of 119 countries also showed that in three years’ time India has seen a fall of 45

ranks from 55th in 2014.

US and Israel announced their withdrawal from the UN’s cultural agency UNESCO

The US and Israel announced their withdrawal from the UN’s cultural agency UNESCO after Washington

accused it of anti-Israeli bias. The withdrawal of the United States, which is meant to provide a fifth of

Unesco’s funding, is a major blow for the Paris-based organization. UNESCO is best known for designating

World Heritage Sites such as the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria and the Grand Canyon National Park.

Useful Info

United States of America – Washington D.C, US Dollar

Israel – Jerusalem, Israeli new shekel

Present Director-General of UNESCO - Irina Bokova

HPCL, First Indian OMC to Launch Lubricants in Myanmar

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) has become the first Oil Marketing Company (OMC) from

India to mark its presence in the lubricant market in Myanmar and to lend more visibility and awareness to the

brand. Having achieved the number one position in the domestic market, HP Lubricants sought to prove itself

in foreign shore by venturing into Myanmar.

Useful Info






25

Country – Myanmar (Burma)

Capital – Naypyidaw

Currency – Burmese kyat

Chairman & Managing Director of HPCL - M K Surana

National Appointments in OCT 2017 (1st to 15th)

Designation Person

New chairman of State Bank of India Rajnish Kumar (previously the managing director and CEO of SBI

Capital Markets, the merchant banking arm of the bank)

New MD & CEO PNB MetLife India

Insurance Company Ltd

Ashish Srivastava

Ambassador of India to the Principality

of Monaco

Shri Vinay Mohan Kwatra

New president of US India Business

Council (USIBC)

Nisha Desai Biswal

New CEO of Freecharge Sangram Singh (Previously served as the head of cards and payments

business at Axis Bank)

New chairman of Film and Television

Institute of India (FTII)

Actor Anupam Kher

Laureus' first Brand Ambassador Indian Cricketer Yuvraj Singh

The Business Head of 'MobiKwik

Payment Gateway

Rukaiya Rangwala

India's new Ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale

New Railway Board Members MK Gupta, DK Gayen

International Appointments in OCT 2017 (1st to 15th)

Designation Person

First Female President of UK's Supreme Court Brenda Hale

New Deputy Director General at WHO Soumya Swaminathan

Headquarters of WHO - Geneva, Switzerland

Director General of WHO - Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus






26

FICCI UK Director Param Shah

Mongolia New Prime Minister Ukhnaa Khurelsukh

Pakistan's New Navy Chief Zafar Mahmood Abbasi

UNESCO Chief Audrey Azoulay

RESIGNATION

D Shivakumar Resigns PepsiCo India Chairman and CEO

Umang Bedi Resigns Facebook MD of India

Awards and Honors OCT 2017 (1st to 15th )

Awards Winners

The ‘Cross of the Order of Merit’, the highest civilian

honour awarded to individuals for their services to

Germany

Rajesh Nath (Managing Director of VDMA India) The

award, also known as Bundesverdienstkreuz or Federal

Cross of Merit.

Useful Info

Country – Germany

Capital – Berlin

Currency – Euro

Best FMCG in the food sector at the 5th

International Advertising Associations (IAA)

Leadership Awards in Mumbai

The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation

(GCMMF), which manages brand AMUL

Useful Info

Headquarters of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing

Federation (GCMMF) is in Anand, Gujarat.

Chairman of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing

Federation (GCMMF) - Jethabhai P Patel

National award for senior citizens Indian boxing coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu

National Award for Excellence in Public

Administration, Academics and Management for

2017

Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak

Useful Info

Present President of India – Ram Nath Kovind

Vice President of India – Venkaiah Naidu

Mathrubhumi Literary Award for 2016 M K Sanu (Eminent critic, biographer and orator),

recognition of his rich contribution to the Malayalam

literature






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Complete list of Nobel Prize Winners 2017:

The 2017 Nobel Prize were announced recently in 6 different fields viz. Physiology or

Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences. We have compiled all the winners

under one complete table that will make you remember all the winners in a go.

Brief History of the Nobel Prize-

On 27 November 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, giving the largest share of his fortune to a

series of prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace - the Nobel Prizes. The

Nobel Prize distribution was first done on 1901. In 1968, Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden's central bank) established

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.

Here is the Complete list of Winners of Nobel Prize 2017-

S. No. Field Description Winner

1. Physiology or Medicine

for the discoveries of molecular mechanisms

controlling the circadian rhythm

Jeffrey C. Hall (USA),

Michael Rosbash (USA) and

Michael W. Young (USA)

2. Physics

for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and

the observation of gravitational waves

Rainer Weiss (Germany),

Barry C. Barish (USA) and

Kip S. Thorne (USA)

3. Chemistry

for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the

high-resolution structure determination of

biomolecules in solution

Jacques Dubochet

(Switzerland), Joachim

Frank (Germany) and

Richard Henderson

(Scotland)

4.

Literature

in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered

the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection

with the world

Kazuo Ishiguro (Japan)

5. Peace

for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic

International Campaign to

Abolish Nuclear Weapons

(ICAN) (founded in Australia)






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humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear

weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to

achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such

weapons

6. Economic Sciences

for contributions to behavioural economics Richard H. Thaler (USA)

Here are some Static and Interesting Facts about the Nobel Prize-

The Nobel Prize in Physics-

1. The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden.

2. 111 Nobel Prizes in Physics have been awarded between 1901-2017.

3. 2 women have been awarded the Physics Prize so far.

4. 25 years was the age of the youngest Physics Laureate ever, Lawrence Bragg, when he was awarded the

1915 Physics Prize together with his father.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry-

1. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm,

Sweden.

2. 109 Nobel Prizes in Chemistry have been awarded between 1901 and 2017.

3. 4 women have been awarded the Chemistry Prize so far.

4. 1 person, Frederick Sanger, has been awarded the Chemistry Prize twice, in 1958 and in 1980.

5. 35 years was the age of the youngest Chemistry Laureate ever, Frédéric Joliot, who was awarded the

Nobel Prize in 1935.

6. 85 years was the age of the oldest Chemistry Laureate, John B. Fenn, when he was awarded the

Chemistry Prize in 2002.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine-

1. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded by the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet,

Stockholm, Sweden.

2. 108 Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine have been awarded between 1901 and 2017.

3. 12 women have been awarded the Medicine Prize so far.






29

4. 32 years was the age of the youngest Medicine Laureate ever, Frederick G. Banting, who was awarded

the 1923 Medicine Prize for the discovery of insulin.

5. 87 years was the age of the oldest Medicine Laureate ever, Peyton Rous, when he was awarded the

Medicine Prize in 1966 for his discovery of tumour-inducing viruses.

The Nobel Prize in Literature-

1. The Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded by the Swedish Academy, Stockholm, Sweden.

2. 110 Nobel Prizes in Literature have been awarded 1901-2017.

3. 14 women have been awarded the Literature Prize so far.

4. 41 years was the age of the youngest Literature Laureate ever, Rudyard Kipling, best known for The

Jungle Book.

5. 88 years was the age of the oldest Literature Laureate ever, Doris Lessing, when she was awarded the

Prize in 2007.

The Nobel Peace Prize-

1. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by a committee of five persons who are chosen by the Norwegian

Storting (Parliament of Norway).

2. 98 Nobel Peace Prizes have been awarded 1901-2017.

3. 16 women have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize so far.

4. 1 Peace Prize Laureate, Le Duc Tho, has declined the Nobel Peace Prize.

5. Malala Yousafzai (17) is the youngest to win Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel-

1. The Prize in Economic Sciences is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm,

Sweden.

2. 49 Prizes in Economic Sciences have been awarded since 1969.

3. 1 woman have been awarded the Prize in Economic Sciences so far, Elinor Ostrom, in 2009.

4. 51 years was the age of the youngest Laureate in Economic Sciences ever, Kenneth J. Arrow, who was

awarded in 1972.

5. 90 years was Leonid Hurwicz when he was awarded the Prize - the oldest Laureate in Economic Sciences

ever.






30

Useful Info

Winners of 2016 Nobel Prize in respective fields are as follows-

1. Physiology or Medicine- Yoshinori Ohsumi,

2. Physics- J. Michael Kosterlitz, Duncan Haldane, David J. Thouless,

3. Chemistry- Fraser Stoddart, Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Ben Feringa,

4. Literature- Bob Dylan,

5. Peace- Juan Manuel Santos,

6. Economic Sciences- Oliver Hart, Bengt Holmstrom.

MoUs & AGREEMENT

Yatra Partners OYO to Expand Hotel Inventory

Yatra Online Inc has tied up with OYO to bring the hospitality firm's inventory on its platform. The partnership

brings OYO's inventory onto an online travel agent platform and with this Yatra's total hotel inventory will

expand to over 70,000 hotels in India.

Useful Info

Co-founder and CEO of Yatra.com - Dhruv Shringi

Founder and CEO of OYO - Ritesh Agarwal

MobiKwik, IRCTC Rail Connect Partner for Ticket Bookings

Digital payments firm MobiKwik announced its partnership with IRCTC Rail connect app, which will allow

customers book railway tickets using the former’s payment gateway. Mobikwik’s Payment Gateway currently

powers payments for more than 3,000 e-commerce websites and apps. The tie-up is aimed at simplifying

payment systems by introducing MobiKwik’s easy-to-use interface for all, which supports payment solution

through channels like debit card, credit card, net Banking, ATM Cards and Wallets.

Useful Info

Union Minister for Railways – Piyush Goyal

Constituency – Maharashtra, Rajya Sabha

Chairman & Managing Director of IRCTC - M. P. Mall

Bangladesh Signs $4.5-bn Loan Deal With India

Bangladesh signed a $4.5 billion third line of credit (LoC) agreement with India for its infrastructure and social

sector development. The agreement was signed in the presence of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and his

Bangladeshi counterpart A M A Muhith. Economic Relations Division Secretary Kazi Shofiqul Azam signed the

deal on behalf of Bangladesh while Managing Director of the Export-Import Bank of India (Exim) David

Rasquinha signed for India. Under the agreement, Bangladesh would have to purchase 65 to 75 percent of






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the services, goods or works from the Indian market with the money to be provided under the third LoC

following the precedence of the previous two nearly identical agreements.

Useful Info

Country – Bangladesh

Capital – Dhaka

Currency - Bangladeshi taka

HDFC Life, Apollo Munich Team up for Dual Cover

HDFC Life Insurance and Apollo Munich Health have come together to launch ‘Click2Protect Health plan’,

which provides both life and health cover under a single plan. This plan combines the benefits of HDFC Life’s

‘Click2Protect 3D Plus (term) protection plan’ and Apollo Munich’s ‘Optima Restore health indemnity plan’.

The features of the product include waiver of future premiums on account of accidental total permanent

disability or on diagnosis of critical illness; and special premium rates for women and non-tobacco users.

Useful Info

HDFC Bank Headquarters – Mumbai

CEO of HDFC Bank - Aditya Puri

Vijaya Bank Inks MoU with HPCL for Digital Payments

Vijaya Bank has entered into an MoU with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) for enabling all HPCL

retail outlets with BHIM/UPI merchant solutions. This rollout will empower all petrol pump attendants and LPG

delivery personnel to accept digital payments. Customers can make payments by scanning a payment QR

code, using BHIM Vijaya or any BHIM app that supports payments via UPI. Both Vijaya Bank and HPCL have

inked the pact in line with the GOI initiative to encourage digital payments, especially BHIM/UPI.

Useful Info

Vijaya Bank Headquarters – Bengaluru

MD and CEO of Vijaya Bank - R A Sankaranarayanan

India, EIB Ink Pact for Financing Bangalore Metro Rail Project

India and European Investment Bank (EIB) signed the finance contract for lending of 300 million euros (about

Rs 2,293 crore) for Bangalore Metro Rail Project phase-II. Bangalore Metro Rail Project Phase II is to be

jointly financed by the EIB (500 million euros) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (300 million euros).

The project relates to extension of East-West and North-South lines for Bangalore Metro Rail which includes a

total length of 72.095 km (13.79 km underground) and 61 stations with 12 underground stations. The project

implementation period is 5 years from date of commencement.

Useful Info

EIB - European Investment Bank






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Headquarters of EIB – Luxembourg

President of European Investment Bank - Werner Hoyer

Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and UP Sign MoU to Boost Culture and Tourism

An MoU was signed by Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya under the ‘Ek Bharat, Shrestha

Bharat’ program, to boost cultural ties. Under the program, the states will connect with each other to know

more about the culture, heritage and traditions of each other. The programme aims at actively enhancing

interaction between people of diverse cultures living in different states and union territories, with the objective

of promoting greater mutual understanding among them.

Useful Info

Arunachal Pradesh – Itanagar, CM - Pema Khandu, Governor - Brigadier BD Mishra (Retd)

Meghalaya – Shillong, CM - Mukul Sangma, Governor - Ganga Prasad

Uttar Pradesh – Lucknow, CM – Yogi Adityanath, Governor – Ram Naik

India and Ethiopia has signed agreements on trade, communication and media

India and Ethiopia has signed agreements on trade, communication and media to boost bilateral ties. The

agreements were signed after wide-ranging talks between President Ram Nath Kovind and his Ethiopian

counterpart Mulatu Teshome at Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. The two leaders discussed economic relations

between the two countries and also support to Ethiopia in the power healthcare, and education sectors. The

President also thanked Ethiopia for its participation in the International Solar Alliance (ISA), established in

2015.

Useful Info

Country – Ethiopia

Capital – Addis Ababa

Currency - Ethiopian Birr

Reliance Commercial Finance Inks Agreement with IREDA for Rs 300 cr Loan

Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd has signed an agreement with Indian Renewable Energy Development

Agency Ltd (IREDA) for Rs.300 crore loan, in Mumbai. RCFL finances wind and solar energy projects besides

providing assistance for developing infrastructure and projects in renewable energy space backed by the

government.

Useful Info

Executive Director and CEO of Reliance Commercial Finance - Devang Mody

Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of IREDA - KS Popli

IIT Kharagpur Signs MoU with Samsung for Digital Academy






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IIT-Kharagpur has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Samsung India for the setting up of a

digital academy on the institute’s campus. The Department of Computer Science and Engineering in the

institute will host the Samsung Innovation Lab and train students on the Internet of Things (IoT) through Tizen-

based operating systems, commonly used by the company for its mobile phones and home appliances.

Useful Info

Samsung is an electronics company based in South Korea.

Vice Chairman & CEO of Samsung Electronics - Dr Oh-Hyun Kwon

Visa has tied up with the Andhra Pradesh government for Digital Dhan Sankalp project

Visa has tied up with the Andhra Pradesh government for Digital Dhan Sankalp project. It is an initiative to

develop Visakhapatnam into India’s first ‘less cash’ city. The e-transformation of large state-owned service

providers of the state into digital payments mode under the Vizag Digital Dhan Sankalp (VDDS) project is now

accessible to over 90 percent of the city’s two million-strong population.

Useful Info

State – Andhra Pradesh

Capital – Amaravati

CM – Chandrababu Naidu

Governor - E.S Lakshmi Narasimhan

LG India Ties up with Bajaj Finserv

Consumer Electronics major LG Electronics India announced the launch of an exclusive OEM co-branded

card in partnership with Bajaj Finserv. As per the company, the co-branded card will enable customers to buy

all LG products at no-cost EMI option across all LG formats. It will be available to customers buying LG

products on a minimum invoice amount of Rs 7,000 and maximum of up to Rs 2 lakh.

Useful Info

LG - South Korean Electronics Company

MD of LG Electronics India - Kim Ki Wan

Amazon, Microsoft Ties up to Launch Deep Learning Platform

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft have teamed up to launch an open-source and deep learning

interface 'Gluon' that will help developers to deploy machine learning models across several platforms. The

interface would give developers a place where they can prototype, build, train and deploy machine learning

models.

Useful Info

CEO of Microsoft - Satya Nadella

Odisha Government Department Signs MOU with SBI






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The Odisha government's Directorate of Treasuries and Inspection and the State Bank of India have signed

an MOU for integration of SBI e-Pay with the cyber treasury. The MoU is a landmark initiative by the state

government to facilitate revenue collection from citizens through digital banking platform. The SBI e-Pay is the

payment aggregator service wing of the bank which will facilitate on line payment of government dues by the

customers of any public/ private sector banks by using the payment gateway of SBI.

Useful Info

State – Odisha

Capital – Bhubaneswar

CM – Naveen Patnaik

Governor – Senayangba Chubatoshi Jamir

SBI headquarters - Mumbai, Maharashtra

Present Chairman of SBI - Rajnish Kumar

SUMMIT AND CONFERENCE

India, EU to Hold 14th Summit Talks in New Delhi

President of European Council, Donald Franciszek Tusk and President of the European Commission, Jean-

Claude Juncker will be on a three-day visit to India to hold the 14th India-EU Summit on 6th of next month in

New Delhi. The summit aims at deepening the India-EU Strategic Partnership and advance collaboration in

priority areas for India’s growth and development. During their visit starting from 5th of October, they will also

attend India-EU Business event on the sidelines of the summit.

Useful Info

CM of New Delhi – Arvind Kejriwal

Governor – Anil Baijal

International Conference on Dialogue of Civilizations – IV

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Ministry of Culture is hosting an international conference on

“Dialogue of Civilizations – IV” from 8th to 15th October 2017 at Delhi, Gandhinagar and Dholavira. This

conference is fourth in this series of ‘dialogues’ initiated by National Geographic Society in 2013. The

objective of the conference is to encourage scholarly and public discourse about the five ancient, literate

civilizations of the world, i.e. Egypt, Mesopotamia, South Asia, China and Mesoamerica.

Useful Info

The first conference of this series was inaugurated in Guatemala in 2013 followed by Turkey in 2014 and

China in 2015.






35

Prof. B.B. Lal is a Padma Bhushan awardee on ‘Harappan Civilization’, which introduced the earliest

civilization of South Asia to the scholars working on other ancient civilizations.

First Meeting of India-Australia Joint Steering Committee Held

The First Meeting of India-Australia Joint Steering Committee was held in New Delhi. Shri TVSN Prasad,

Additional Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs and Mr. Stephen Bouwhuis, First Assistant Secretary,

International and Auscheck Division, Criminal Justice Group, Attorney-General's Department led the

respective delegations. This meeting was a follow-up to the MoU on Cooperation in Combating International

Terrorism and Transnational Organized Crime exchanged between the two sides during the visit of Australian

Prime Minister Mr. Malcolm Turnbull to New Delhi in April 2016.

PM Modi’s Economic Advisory Council Holds its First Meeting

The recently constituted Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) held its first meeting in

New Delhi to deliberate upon and lay out a roadmap to give a leg up to the Indian economy in the short term

after GDP growth for the first quarter fell to a three-year low of 5.7%. The EAC-PM is chaired by Dr. Bibey

Debroy. Key issues for the discussion include ways to boost consumer demand, attract private investments

and measures to incentivize job creation in the country, people familiar with the agenda said.

Useful Info

Present PM of India – Narendra Modi

Union Minister for Finance – Arun Jaitley

Mobile App and Web Portal

Prasar Bharati launches Online Application System for AIR Auditions

Prasar Bharati Chairman A Surya Prakash has launched an online application system for music auditions

across all genres for the All India Radio. The initiative was launched on the occasion of 64th Akashvani

Sangeet Sammelan in New Delhi. It is believed that with the introduction of this facility, the aspirants who want

to apply and get themselves graded will have a better experience in terms of accessibility and availability.

Chairman NHAI Launches New Website and PMIS Mobile App

The Chairman of National Highways Authority of India Shri Deepak Kumar launched a world-class, new

multilingual website of the organization. He also launched a Project Monitoring Information System (PMIS)

Moblie App that will facilitate close, in-house monitoring of NHAI projects on a mobile phone. To ensure timely

delivery of its projects, the NHAI is now digitally monitoring them through a state-of-the-art Project Monitoring

Information System (PMIS), which has been developed in-house along with The Boston Consulting Group.






36

Useful Info

Chairman of National Highways Authority of India - Shri Deepak Kumar

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways - Nitin Gadkari

Constituency – Nagpur (Maharashtra)

Flipkart Launched Private Label MarQ for Large Appliances Category

Flipkart announced the launch of MarQ, an in-house brand in the large appliances category. MarQ is an in-

house brand of Flipkart, that sells large appliances. This has been done in a move expands Flipkart’s self-

branded offerings on its marketplace.

Useful Info

Flipkart Headquarters – Bengaluru

Group CEO of Flipkart is Binny Bansal

CEO of Flipkart is Kalyan Krishnamurthy

DEFENCE

Integrated Defence Staff celebrates 17th Raising Day

Integrated Defence Staff Headquarters celebrated its 17th Raising Day today. To commemorate the occasion,

Chief of the IDS to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) Lt General Satish Dua paid homage to the

valiant martyrs of the Armed Forces by laying a wreath at ‘Amar Jawan Jyoti’, India Gate in New Delhi. Senior

officers of the Army, Navy and Air Force of the IDS were present on the occasion. A Tri Services guard was in

accompaniment. IDS Headquarters was created in October 2001 in the aftermath of ‘Operation Vijay’ in Kargil

war. The main objective was to promote synergy among the three Services and to integrate them with the

Ministry of Defence.

Useful Info

Union Minister for Defence – Nirmala Sitharaman

Constituency – Rajya Sabha, Karnataka

Defence Minister to commission INS Kiltan into Indian Navy in Visakhapatnam

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has commissioned an indigenously-built anti-submarine warfare stealth

corvette INS Kiltan into the Indian Navy at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam. According to Defence

Minister, INS Kiltan strengthens India's defence system and will be a shining armour in 'Make in India'

programme as it is totally built indigenously.

Useful Info

Union Minister for Defence - Nirmala Sitharaman

Constituency – Karnataka, Rajya Sabha






37

Kiltan is the latest indigenous warship after Shivalik class, Kolkata class and sister ships.

Admiral Sunil Lanba is present Navy chief.

Naval Dockyard Visakhapatnam, is situated in Andhra Pradesh.

RANKING and INDEX

Forbes India Rich List 2017: Mukesh Ambani Richest With $38 Billion

Forbes Magazine has released its India Rich List for 2017, with Reliance Industries Limited chairman Mukesh

Ambani topping the charts for the 10th consecutive year with a net worth of $38 billion. Mr Ambani is followed

by tech czar Azim Premji who jumped two places with the net worth of $19 billion. Ranked third are the

Hinduja brothers who added $3.2 billion to their net worth. According to Forbes, the combined net worth of

the 100 richest Indians stood at $479 billion, a jump of 26% from $374 billion in 2016. Acharya Balkrishna,

CEO of Patanjali Ayurved, figures at No. 19 with net worth of $6.55 billion.

Useful Info

The Top 10 Indian in the List are as follows-

Rank Name Net Worth ($ Billion) Company

1 Mukesh Ambani 38 Reliance Industries

2 Azim Premji 19 Wipro

3 Hinduja brothers 18.4 Ashok Leyland

4 Lakshmi Mittal 16.5 Arcelormittal

5 Pallonji Mistry 16 Shapoorji Pallonji Group

6 Godrej family 14.2 Godrej Group

7 Shiv Nadar 13.6 HCL Technologies

8 Kumar Birla 12.6 Aditya Birla Group

9 Dilip Shanghvi 12.1 Sun Pharmaceutical Industries

10 Gautam Adani 11 Adani Ports & SEZ

SPORTS NEWS

Cricket

John Hastings Retires From Test and ODI Cricket

Australian fast bowler John Hastings has called it quits from Test Match and ODIs, citing recurring injuries as

the reason. The 31-year-old wants to solely focus on T20 cricket. He has represented Australia in one test, 29

ODIs and 9 T20Is. In 2016 Hastings was the world's leading ODI fast bowler after picking up 29 wickets in 15






38

matches, the equal second-most dismissals alongside South Africa's Imran Tahir and behind teammate Adam

Zampa.

Useful Info

Country – Australia

Capital – Canberra

Currency – Australian Dollar

New Test Championship, ODI League Gets ICC’s Nod

The International Cricket Council Board has given an in-principle nod to the proposed nine-team Test

Championship and a 13-team One-Day International league at the end of the meeting in Auckland. The Test

competition will begin after the 2019 World Cup and the 50-over event sometime in 2020. The Test

Championship will have nine teams play six series over two years – three at home and three away.

Useful Info

ICC Headquarters – Dubai

Chief executive officer of ICC - Dave Richardson

Shakib first from Bangladesh in MCC World Cricket Committee

Premier all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan became the first cricketer from Bangladesh to be inducted in the MCC

World Cricket Committee under the chairmanship of Mike Gatting. Also added to the committee are Suzie

Bates, Ian Bishop and Kumar Dharmasena. Shakib Al Hasan is regarded as one of Bangladesh's finest

players since they were awarded the Test status in 2000, with the all-rounder having played 51 Test matches

and 177 one-day internationals.

Useful Info

Michael Gatting is an English former Cricketer.

Suzie Bates is a New Zealand woman Cricketer.

Kumar Dharmasena is a Sri Lankan cricket umpire and former international cricketer, who played Tests

and ODIs for Sri Lanka.

Indian Pacer Ashish Nehra has Announced Retirement

Indian pacer Ashish Nehra has confirmed his retirement from International Cricket. He will play his last match

against New Zealand on November 1, 2017. The 38-year-old has represented India for 18 years. He has

played 17 Tests, 120 ODIs and 26 T20Is for India, taking 235 international wickets.

Useful Info

Ashish Nehra has picked up 235 wickets across all three international formats so far

Tennis

Roger Federer Cruises to Shanghai Masters Title






39

Roger Federer has brushed aside world number one Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-3 to win the Shanghai Masters and

register his fourth victory of the year over his Spanish rival. The Swiss world number two beat Nadal in the

finals of the Australian Open and Miami Masters and in the last 16 at Indian Wells earlier this year, and never

looked like losing to his long-time rival in Shanghai, firing 10 aces as he cruised to victory. Federer, the only

man who can still stop Nadal ending the year as number one, took an hour and 12 minutes to claim his sixth

title of the year and his second Shanghai crown with a clinical performance.

Useful Info

Rafael Nadal is a Spanish professional tennis player, currently ranked World Number 1 in men's singles

Roger Federer has also won a record eighth Wimbledon title & became the tournament’s oldest champion with

a straight-sets victory over Marin Cilic. Federer claimed his 19th Grand Slam title in Wimbledon title 2017.

Snooker

Anupama Clinches World Open Under-16 Snooker Championship Title

India’s Anupama Ramachandran has clinched the World Open Under-16 Snooker Championship title at St.

Petersburg in Russia. In the girls category, second seed Anupama Ramachandran of India knocked out her

compatriot and top seed Keerthana Pandian 3-1 to become World Open Under-16 champion.

Rafael Nadal Wins China Open Title

World number one Rafael Nadal (Spain) won his sixth title of this year. He defeated Nick Kyrgios

(Australia) at the China Open 2017. Nadal, a 16-time Grand Slam winner, came to the Chinese capital Beijing

on the back of winning his third US Open.

Useful Info

Country – China

Capital – Beijing

Currency – Renminbi (Yuan)

Rafael Nadal – Spanish Professional Tennis Player

Racing

Jagan Wins Sixth Title in a Row at National Motorcycle Racing

TVS Racing’s mascot Jagan Kumar notched his sixth straight title in the premier Super Sport Indian class on a

rain-affected day to bring down the curtain on the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing

Championship in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The event was organised by Madras Motorsports Club. It was

sponsored by MRF Tyres.






40

Food Ball

FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 Started

The much-awaited FIFA U-17 World Cup started with four opening day matches to be played in Delhi and

Mumbai. The opening matches would be played by teams in Group A and B. In Delhi, the inaugural match

would be played between Group A teams Colombia and Ghana at Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium, followed by

hosts India who would take on Team USA in the second match. In Mumbai, Group B team New Zealand

would be taking on Turkey in the first game at DY Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai.

Useful Info

The Official Mascot of the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 is a clouded leopard called Kheleo.

This is the first FIFA tournament hosted by India.

The final will be held at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on 28 October 2017.

Iceland, Smallest Country to Qualify for Football World Cup 2018

Iceland created history by qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. This is the first time that Iceland qualified for the

World Cup. Gylfi Sigurdsson and Johann Berg Gudmundsson scored 2-0 against Kosovo to bag a spot in

Group I of UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) World Cup Qualifying. Iceland became the

smallest country to clinch a position at the 21st FIFA World Cup. The previous smallest country to have

reached the World Cup was Trinidad & Tobago.

Useful Info

Country – Iceland

Capital – Reykjavík

Currency – Icelandic króna

21st FIFA World Cup will be held in 2018 in Russia.

This is the first time when Iceland and Panama will be participants.

FIFA Suspends Pakistan Football Federation

FIFA has decided to suspend the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) with immediate effect in accordance with

the decision of the Bureau of the FIFA Council on account of undue third-party interference. The national and

club teams will not be allowed to take part in international competitions till the suspension is lifted. FIFA

suspended PFF since its accounts were in control of a court-appointed administrator, which is against FIFA

rules. The suspension will be lifted when the body becomes independent.

Useful Info

FIFA – Fédération Internationale de Football Association

Headquarters of FIFA – ‎Zürich, Switzerland






41

President of FIFA - Gianni Infantino

Arjen Robben Retires from International Football

Netherlands captain Arjen Robben announced the end of his international career after his country failed to

reach the 2018 World Cup finals despite a 2-0 win over Sweden. The 33-year-old Robben scored 37 times in

96 appearances for The Netherlands and helped them reach the 2010 World Cup final where they lost 1-0 to

Spain after extra-time.

Useful Info

Country – Netherland

Capital – Amsterdam

Currency – Euro

India Beat Macau to Qualify for 2019 AFC Asian Cup

Indian football team has qualified for the 2019 Asian Cup after they had a convincing 4-1 win over Macau with

two matches still to go in the qualifying round. This is the third time the country has qualified for the continental

showpiece. India has qualified for the AFC Asian Cup finals only twice in the past 37 years. The last time it

happened was in 2011 and their only appearance before that was way back in 1984.

Useful Info

The 2019 FC Asian Cup will be held in the United Arab Emirates.

Mohun Bagan Lift Governor's Gold Cup for 10th Time

Maidan heavyweights Mohun Bagan has won the 37th All India Governor's Gold Cup football tournament for

the 10th time by defeating Partha Chakra by a narrow 1-0 margin. In the final match played at Paljor Stadium

(Gangtok), Mohun Bagan's striker GA Kramah scored the lone goal in the seventh minute. Chief Minister of

Sikkim Pawan Kumar Chamling attended the final and gave away trophies and cash prize to winners and the

runner-up.

Useful Info

Paljor Stadium, also known as Palzor Stadium is an association football stadium located in Gangtok, Sikkim.

Mohun Bagan is a football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal.

Others

India wins its First Ever Wushu World Championship Gold

Pooja Kadian became the first ever Indian sportsperson to win a gold medal at the Wushu World

Championship in Kazan, Russia. Kadian, who competed in the women's 75kg Sanda category, defeated






42

Russia's Evgeniya Stepanova in the final. Pooja, a head constable in the CRPF, had earlier won gold in the

South Asian Games and silver in the 2013 World Championship.

Useful Info

Wushu World Championship 2017 – Russia

Country – Russia

Capital – Moscow

Currency – Russian Ruble

India's First Portal Dedicated to Para-Sports Launched

In a bid to create awareness about para-sports and provide a platform to para sportspersons to narrate their

stories of triumph and adversity, "thenationspride.com", the country's first portal dedicated to para-sports was

launched. thenationspride.com is a non-profit initiative, helmed by 17-year-old Mumbai student and sports

enthusiast, Saachi Munot.

Useful Info

Union minister of Youth Affairs and Sports - Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore

Constituency – Jaipur, Rajasthan

Gurusaidutt Wins Bulgarian International Tournament

Commonwealth Games bronze medallist RMV Gurusaidutt clinched the men's singles title at the Bulgarian

International Future Series tournament. Gurusaidutt has defeated Muhammed Ali Kurt (Turkey) in a 35-

minute match. Gurusaidutt will also participate in Senior Nationals Championship in November 2017.

Useful Info

Country – Bulgaria

Capital – Sofia

Currency – Bulgarian lev

Indian Pair Win Gold at World Archery Youth Championship 2017

Mixed pair of Jemson Ningthoujam and Ankita Bhakat clinched the gold medal as India returned with three

medals from the World Archery Youth Championship in Rosario, Argentina. This is India’s first world title at the

youth championships since Deepika Kumari’s victories in 2009 and 2011. India also bagged one silver and

one bronze in a promising show by the youngsters.

Useful Info

Country – Argentina

Capital – Buenos Aires

Currency - Argentine Peso






43

OBITUARY

Former Union Minister Purushottam Lal Kaushik Passes Away

Former Union minister and socialist leader Purushottam Lal Kaushik died due to age-related ailments at

his home in Chhattisgarh's Mahasamund district. He was 87. He had served as tourism and civil aviation

minister in the then Prime Minister Morarji Desai's cabinet during 1977- 1979. He headed the Information

and Broadcasting Ministry in the then Prime Minister Charan Singh's cabinet during July 1979-January

1980.

Filmmaker Kundan Shah Passes Away

Veteran director Kundan Shah, best known for the dark comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, passed away at his

home, family sources said. He was 69. Shah passed away after suffering a heart attack. He made his

directorial debut on television in 1986 with the popular series Nukkad.

Historian Satish Chandra Passes Away

Veteran and one of India’s eminent historian Satish Chandra passed away the age of 95. Satish’s important

works include Mughal Empire and its downfall. He was also the author of NCERT’s leading history book

‘History of Medieval India’. Chandra has founded JNU’s Centre for Historical Studies. He was also the

chairman and vice chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India during the 1970s.




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