Daily Current Affairs

Current Affairs Today 17th & 18th November 2019 | Current Affairs News

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Daily Current Affairs PDF of 17th & 18th November  2019

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CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS

National Epilepsy Day

  • National Epilepsy Day is observed on 17 November every year to focus on the epilepsy disease, its symptoms and prevention.
  • It can affect people of any age and people in the different age groups have unique concerns and problems.

World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims

  • World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims –  Third Sunday in November every year.
  • 2019 World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims – November 17, 2019
  • Purposeis to remember those killed and injured on the roads, together with their families, friends, and others affected.
  • Theme 2019 – Life is not a car part

International Students’ Day

  • International Students’ Day is an international observance of the student community, held annually on November 17.
  • It is now marked by a number of universities, sometimes on a day other than November 17, as a nonpolitical celebration of the multiculturalism of their international students.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATES

Delhi CM announces free septic tank cleaning service

  • Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a scheme — Mukhyamantri Septic Tank Safai Yojana — which will allow the residents to avail of free septic tank cleaning service.
  • The scheme would entail the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) deploying 80 trucks along with trained staff to ensure the cleaning and maintenance of septic tanks across the city.
  • The scheme to fulfill the three-fold objective of collecting the waste from the septic tanks from the colonies, ensuring safe disposal of the waste in the Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) of the government, and deploy trained staff with all the safety equipment for the cleaning.
  • It will ensure the safety of sanitation workers and proper septic waste management to prevent contamination of the Yamuna.

SAANS campaign launched to curb pneumonia deaths in kids

  • Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan launched ‘SAANS’, a campaign aimed at reducing child mortality due to pneumonia, which contributes to around 15 per cent of deaths annually of children under the age of five.
  • SAANS, short for ‘Social Awareness and Action to Neutralise Pneumonia Successfully’ was launched by the Union Health Ministry to mobilise people to protect children from pneumonia, and train health personnel and other stakeholders to provide prioritised treatment to control the disease.
  • The government aims to achieve a target of reducing pneumonia deaths among children to less than three per 1000 live births by 2025.
  • A mass awareness campaign will also be launched about the effective solutions for pneumonia prevention like breast feeding, age appropriate complementary feeding, immunisation, good quality air etc.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE

ICICI Bank launches ‘Maha Loan Dhamaka’

  • ICICI Bank announced the launch of ‘Maha Loan Dhamaka’, an initiative to provide a bouquet of on-the-spot loan approvals and exclusive manufacturer-led offers including Hyundai Motors India Ltd. in semi urban and rural locations, and at large corporate premises to individuals, including non-customers of the Bank.
  • The Bank will host around 2000 such ‘Maha Loan’ camps across the country by end of March 2020.
  • The Bank provides a comprehensive bouquet of exciting offerings and special packages on two and four wheelers, trucks, farming equipment and tractors, personal loan, gold loan and Kisan Credit Card at the ‘Maha Loan Dhamaka’.
  • These ‘Maha Loan’ camps are one-stop shops for people from the surrounding towns/ villages to access the entire range of the Bank’s tailormade products and services. In large corporate premises, the Bank offers instant approvals for loans—home, personal, two and four wheeler—and credit cards.
ICICI Bank Headquarters Mumbai
Tagline Hum Hain Na!
MD & CEO SandeepBakhshi

NCAER predicts India’s GDP growth at 4.9% in FY20

  • The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has pegged India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2019-20 at 4.9 per cent, the lowest among the recent forecasts by rating agencies, multilateral institutions, research firms, and government institutions.
  • The NCAER’s outlook comes just days after global ratings agency Moody’s cut its calendar year 2019 GDP forecast for India to 5.6 per cent from 6.2 per cent, and State Bank of India (SBI) and CLSA forecast a growth rate of 5 per cent for FY20.

AIIB clears $575 million loan to Mumbai for boosting investment in renewable energy

  • The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has approved $575 million loan to ease congestion in Mumbai and boost private capital investment in renewable energy, power transmission and water infrastructure.
  • The loan includes $500 million for Mumbai’s suburban railway network and $75 million to Tata Cleantech Capital LTD which funds renewable energy projects.
USEFUL INFO
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
President Jin Liqun
Headquarters Beijing, China

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

Vodafone Idea posts India’s biggest ever quarterly loss at Rs 50,921 crore on AGR hit

  • Telecom firm Vodafone Idea reported a record loss of Rs 50,921 crore for the September quarter, as it made a provision for the Supreme Court’s ruling on payment of average gross revenue (AGR) dues, even as ongoing brutal pricing war continued to hurt. The company had posted a loss of Rs 4,947 crore in the year ago period.
  • The loss was reported as the company made a provision for the Supreme Court’s ruling on payment of average gross revenue (AGR) dues. Rs 30,774.5 crore was a one-time loss the company incurred due to the recent Supreme Court verdict.
  • Reliance Communications posted a mega loss of Rs 30,142 crore, registering India’s second biggest quarterly loss after Vodafone Idea. The firm was mainly hit due to provisioning for liabilities after the Supreme Court ruling on the AGR issue. Anil Ambani has submitted his resignation as director of Reliance Communications, even as the firm continues to remain under CIRP (Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process). Four other directors, including Smt. Chhaya Virani, Ryna Karani, Manjari Kacker and Suresh Rangachar have also submitted their resignation
  • Bharti Airtel posted a loss of Rs 23,044 crore for the quarter ended September 30, due to Rs 28,450 crore provisions towards adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SUMMITS AND CONFERENCE

Two-Day Conference On Yoga For Heart Care Begins In Mysuru

  • Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH and Defence, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik inaugurated two days “International Conference on Yoga for Heart care” at Mysuru, Karnataka.
  • The theme of the event was: ‘Yoga for Heart Care’.
  • This conference is fifth in the series to commemorate the unanimous adoption of Resolution by the United Nations General Assembly during its 69th Session for observing 21st June as International Day of Yoga.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

Tobacco Board bags Golden Leaf Award

  • Tobacco Board of India, Guntur, has been awarded the Golden Leaf Award at Tab Expo 2019 event in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Executive Director of Tobacco Board, K. Sunitha, was presented the award. This is the second time that the Tobacco Board had been awarded.
  • In the year 2014, the board bagged the award for its implementation of an electronic auction system, which has made the marketing of flue-cured tobacco in India more transparent and accountable.
  • The award was given in the most impressive public service initiative category for the year 2019, for its efforts to initiate various sustainability (green) initiatives in Flue-Cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco cultivation in India.

GI Tag for Darjeeling Green, White Tea

  • Darjeeling Tea Association mentioned green and white tea of the hills were registered asgeographical indication (GI) merchandise within the nation.
  • These two kinds of Darjeeling tea were registered belowGeographical Indications of Items (Registration and Protection) Act

Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik receives Italian Sand Art Award

  • Renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik received the Italian Golden Sand Art Award 2019 at a ceremony in Rome.
  • Pattnaik represented India at the International Scorrano Sand Nativity event held in Lecce, Italy, earlier this week. At the event, Pattnaik was joined by Pavel Minilkov from Russia as they created an eight-foot-high sand sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary. There were eight sculptors from different countries who participated in this festival.
  • Sudarsan has participated in more than 60 international sand art festivals and championships around the world and won many prizes for India.

Actors Sridevi and Rekha conferred with ANR National Award

  • Veteran actors Sridevi and Rekha were conferred with the ANR National Award for 2018 and 2019 respectively, which was presented by renowned Telugu actor Chiranjeevi.
  • Instituted by the Akkineni International Foundation, the annual award honours those who have made a lasting impact on Indian cinema

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION

Former Sri Lankan defence chief Gotabaya Rajapaksa wins presidential vote

  • Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a former defence official revered by Sri Lanka’s ethnic majority for his role in ending a bloody civil war, registered a comfortable victory in the nation’s presidential election.
  • Elections chief Mahinda Deshapriya announced the official results that Rajapaksa won more than 6.9 million votes in election, 1.3 million votes more than his closest rival, Housing Minister Sajith Premadasa.
  • The 70-year-old Gotabaya Rajapaksha will be sworn in on November 18, 2019. He will succeed Maithripala Sirisena.
USEFUL INFO
Sri Lanka Capital Colombo, JayawardenepuraKotte
Sri Lanka Currency Sri Lankan rupee
Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

Akil Kureshi sworn in as new chief justice of Tripura High Court

  • Justice Akil Abdulhamid Kureshi was sworn in as the new Chief Justice of the High Court of Tripura. He was previously serving with the Gujarat High Court.
  • Governor Ramesh Bais administered the oath of office and secrecy to Kureshi at Old Raj Bhawan in Agartala. He has assumed office as the 5th Chief Justice of Tripura High Court
  • Justice Kureshi has succeeded Chief Justice Sanjoy Karol, who was has been appointed as Chief Justice of the High Court of Patna.
USEFUL INFO
Tripura Capital Agartala
Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb
Tripura Governor Ramesh Bais

Justice Dr Ravi Ranjan takes oath as Chief Justice of Jharkhand HC

  • Justice Dr Ravi Ranjan took oath as the Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court.
  • He was administered the oath of office by Governor Draupadi Murmi in a simple ceremony at Raj Bhawan
  • Justice Dr Ravi Ranjan has been appointed as the 13th Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court.
  • The post was lying vacant since May this year after the former Chief Justice, Anirudh Bose was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court.
USEFUL INFO
Jharkhand Capital Ranchi
Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das
Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu

CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING

BIS study: Mumbai tops ranking for quality of tap water, Delhi lowest

  • According to a Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) study, Mumbai ranks the highest in the quality of water among capital cities in states where samples of tap water were tested.
  • In Mumbai, all 10 samples of tap water passed the BIS test. Second in the list in Hyderabad, where only one sample failed. However, at the bottom of the list is Delhi, where all 11 samples failed the BIS test — thereby reaffirming that the capital city has the poorest water quality, the BIS study put.
USEFUL INFO
Maharashtra Capital Mumbai
Maharashtra CM
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari

Bill Gates just overtook Jeff Bezos to reclaim his spot as world’s richest person

  • Billionairephilanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates regained his status as the world’s richest person for the first time in two years on Friday, topping Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Bloomberg
  • Shares landedGates’ net worth at $110 billion, while Bezos is at $108.7 billion.
  • Bernard Arnault, Europe’s richest person, came third on the list with fortune $102.7 billion.
  • Reliance Industries Limited ChairmanMukesh Ambani is the richest Indian in the list positioned at 14th spot with net worth of $56.7 billion.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

IIT-Guwahati scientists develop paper based sensor to check milk quality at home

  • Indian scientists have developed a paper based sensor to instantaneously check freshness of milk. Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati have developed this simple visual detection technique to detect the quality of milk, without the need for special equipment and instruments.
  • The researchers have used simple filter paper, chemically modified it, and loaded it with a recognition element anti-ALP, which captures the ALP present in the milk.

Surface-to-surface medium-range missile Agni-II trial test conducted successfully

  • India has successfully conducted the first night trial of Agni-II, its versatile surface-to-surface medium-range nuclear-capable missile from Dr Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha coast.
  • Agni-II, an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), has already been inducted into the armed forces.
  • The entire trajectory of the trial was tracked by a battery of sophisticated radars, telemetry observation stations, electro-optic instruments and two naval ships located near the impact point in the down-range area of Bay of Bengal.
  • The test was carried out by the specially formed Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Army with logistic support from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
  • The two-stage ballistic missile can carry a payload of 1000 kg over a distance of 2000 km.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS

IAAF officially changes name to World Athletics

  • The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has changed its name and will now be officially known as World Athletics
  • The name change had been suggested in a bid to make the sport more accessible.
  • The body has also changed the name of its Twitter handle and URL of its official website.
  • The IAAF was founded in 1912 as the International Amateur Athletic Federation, but changed its name to the International Association of Athletics Federations in 2001
USEFUL INFO
World Athletics
President          Sebastian Coe
Headquarters Monaco

Spanish star striker David Villa retires from football

  • Spain’s all-time top scorer David Villa announced retirement from football
  • The 37-year-old is currently playing for Vissel Kobe in Japan after a glittering career at international and club level that has included stints at Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Valencia.
  • Villa played in three World Cups and was a member of the Spanish side that lifted the trophy in 2010, and won the European Championships in 2008. He netted 59 times for Spain, a national record.
  • His silverware also includes a Champions League title with Barcelona, as well as two La Liga wins and a World Club Cup medal.

This post was last modified on April 30, 2021 6:12 pm