Weekly Current Affairs (08 October - 15th October 2017)

Banking and Financial Awareness

• Market regulator SEBI has announced to impose a penalty if a company violates the minimum public shareholding (MPS) norms.
• PNB MetLife India Insurance has appointed Ashish Srivastava as its new MD and CEO.
• The Reserve Bank of India is to launch a Financial Literacy Drive to educate people on financial awareness like e-transactions, in 9 states.
• The Central Board of Direct Taxes has signed two more advance pricing agreements (APAs) with taxpayers, related to automobile and healthcare consulting sectors.
• Tata AIA Life launched Eazy Connect chatbot, a servicing tool for social media.
• The Government of Odisha and the State Bank of India have signed an MOU for integration of SBI e-Pay with the cyber treasury of the state.
• SBI has launched a new product called SME Assist ,to provide a short-term working capital loan to its MSME clients.
• Mastercard has announced the launch of its global research and development arm Mastercard Labs in Pune, India.
• State Bank of India is prepared to set Up Country's Largest Innovation Centre at Mumbai.
• In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF lowered India’s growth forecast for 2017 to 6.7% from its earlier estimate of 7.2 percent.

New Appointments

• Nisha Desai Biswal has been appointed the president of the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC).
• Anupam Kher has been appointed as the new chief of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).
• MobiKwik announced the appointment of Rukaiya Rangwala as the Business Head of 'MobiKwik Payment Gateway'.
• Gautam Bambawale , IFS Officer is appointed as India's new Ambassador to China.

Obituaries

• Veteran Indian historian Satish Chandra passed away on October 13, 2017.
• Eminent Indian filmmaker Kundan Shah passed away
• M. V. S. Haranatha Rao, an Indian playwright and actor, passed away on October 9, 2017.

Honour and Awards

• M K Sanu, famous Malayalam writer has been chosen for the Mathrubhumi Literary Award for 2016.
• Actor and Film-maker Prakash Raj received the Kota Shivaram Karanth Huttura Prashasti award.
• Famous Novelist T D Radhakrishnan has been selected for Vayalar award 2017.

Important Days

• World Post Day is celebrated across the globe on 9 October annually.
• World Mental Health Day is observed on 10 October annually.
• International Day of Girl Child is celebrated across the world on 11 October annually.
• International Day for Disaster Reduction was observed across the world on 13 October

Index and Ranking:

• The Economist has released the Safe City Index 2017 in which 60 cities were accessed. India's Delhi is at 43rd rank while Mumbai secured 45th rank in the index.
• India is ranked 100th among 119 developing countries on the Global Hunger Index 2017.
• In the latest list of Valuable Nation Brand List India has slipped to 8th place from the 7th place last year.

MoUs and Partnerships:

• IIT-Kharagpur has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Samsung India for Digital Academy in the campus of IIT-K.
• Ministry of Railways and Germany have signed a Joint Declaration of Intent to carry out feasibility study on existing Chennai-Kazipet corridor of Indian Railways.
• The Union Cabinet Modi has given its approval for signing "Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC)" between India and Japan on the "Technical Intern Training Program (TITP)".

Important News- World

• HPCL is the first Indian Oil Marketing company to start marketing lubricants in Myanmar.
• The fifth series of Mitra Shakti, the joint military exercise between India and Sri Lanka commenced in Pune yesterday conducted at the Aundh Military Camp.
• The Central Government of India has imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of certain steel wire rods from China for five years.
• India-Australia Joint Steering Committee's first Meeting was held in New Delhi.
• The Union Minister for Finance Arun Jaitley participated in the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) Meeting in Washington D.C.

Important News- India

• The Department of Post launched Sampoorna Bima Gram Yojana and expanded the coverage of Postal Life Insurance to professionals.
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved two new World Bank supported schemes: Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) and Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE).
• The Ministry of Women and Child Development is celebrating the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Week from 09th to 14th October 2017.
• The government has changed the status of global marine body IALA to inter-government organisation from non-governmental organisation.
• The 5th edition of India Water Week-2017 was inaugurated in New Delhi by President Ram Nath Kovind on October 10, 2017
• The government of India has launched the next series of sovereign gold bond (SGB) scheme, the second in 2017-18.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an Immunisation Drive from Gujarat's Vadnagar called Intensified Mission Indradhanush.
• Archaeological Survey of India, Ministry of Culture and National Geographic jointly organise the 4th Dialogue of Civilizations from 8th to 15th October 2017.

Science and Technology:

• Japan has launched fourth Michibiki satellite for a new high-precision global positioning system (GPS).
• SpaceX launched Falcon 9 rocket which carried 10 satellites to bolster the global data communications network for Virginia-based company Iridium.
• World’s Largest Combustion Research Centre was inaugurated at IIT Madras, 
• to research in ‘Alternative Energy and Environmental Protection’.
• The Indian Air Force (IAF) launched an innovative health mobile App named `MedWatch' on the occasion of its 85th anniversary
• Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft have partnered to launch an open-source and deep learning interface 'Gluon' .

Important News- States

• Kolkata is to host the six day International Puppet Festival from 26 October 2017.
• Haryana's Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced ration cards for nomadic tribes.
• The Chhattisgarh government has banned the use of chlorinated plastic and short-life Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) used in carry bags.
• Jivamritam filtration system project of Mata Amritanandamayi Math,Kerala which aims to provide clean water to rural India was launched by the President of India.
• Gujarat Government has announced the Garments and Apparel Policy-2017, with the aim of creating more opportunities in the garment sector of Gujarat.
• Himachal Pradesh government implemented the Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS) to provide easy access to curative health care services by way of additional cover.
• Visa has joined hands with the Andhra Pradesh government for Digital Dhan Sankalp project, an initiative to transform Visakhapatnam into India’s first ‘less cash’ city.
• Uttarakhand State Government and a charitable funding agency launched ‘Solar Briefcase’ in Kedarnath Dham, to provide electricity to far-flung areas in the hill areas.
• Rajasthan became first state in the country to incorporate skill development programme in higher education, in collaboration with Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA), a digital literacy programme at Gandhinagar in Gujarat. 

Sports News

• Former boxing coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu was conferred with the National awards to senior citizens, Vayoshreshtha Samman.
• Iceland has become the smallest country ever to qualify for the World Cup after beating Kosovo
• Chandigarh golfer Ajeetesh Sandhu won his maiden title on the Asian Tour at Taipei.
• The country’s first portal dedicated to para-sports, "thenationspride.com", was launched in Mumbai.
• Tennis star Rafael Nadal has won his 75th singles title in the China Open Tournament.
• Switzerland's Esther Staubli has become the first female referee to officiate a match at the FIFA U-17 World Cup
• Indian football team has qualified for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup ,to be held at the UAE after a win over Macau
• FIFA has decided to suspend the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) on account of undue third-party interference.
• Jemson Ningthoujam and Ankita Bhakat clinched the gold medal in the World Archery Youth Championship in Rosario, Argentina.