22nd Oct 2017 - Current Affairs Today

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National Current Affairs

PM launches development initiatives in Vadodara

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation, the Vadodara City Command Control Centre; the Waghodiya Regional Water Supply Scheme; and the New Head Office Building of the Bank of Baroda

The Prime Minister handed over keys of houses to beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban, as well as Rural).
He laid the Foundation Stones of several infrastructure and development projects, including an integrated transport hub, regional water supply schemes, housing projects, and a flyover.
He also laid the foundation stone for the capacity expansion of the Mundra-Delhi petroleum product pipeline, and a greenfield marketing terminal project of HPCL, at Vadodara.
He also inaugurated the first phase of the ‘roll-on-roll-off’ (ro-ro) ferry service between Ghogha in Saurashtra and Dahej in south Gujarat. This ferry service reduces the distance between the two towns from 310 km by road to 30 km, which can be covered in one hour. The first phase of the service is meant for passengers. In the second phase, cars can also be carried between the two towns. The second phase will be ready in two months.

Kandla Port gets green nod to develop Rs 1,176 crore smart city

Kandla Port Trust has received environment clearance for setting up a Rs 1,176-crore smart industrial port city in Kutch

The proposal is to develop a smart industrial port city at two separate sites in Gandhidham which would house about 35,700 residential flats, schools and parks, and would generate jobs to more than 60,000 people.
One smart port city will be set up on 580 acres of land whereas the other will be spread across an area of 850 acres.
Kandla Port Trust, recently rechristened as Deendayal Port, is one of the top 12 major ports in the country. Located on the Gulf of Kutch, it is one of major ports on west coast.

Centre de-affiliates 400 ITIs for failing quality norms

The government has de-affiliated around 400 out of the 13,000-odd industrial training institutes (ITIs) after quality inspections administered by it found the institutes lacking the requisite infrastructure and trainers for imparting vocational training to students.

In order to be affiliated as an ITI at the NCVT (National Council for Vocational Training) level, the institutes have to meet certain minimum conditions.
The Skill Development Ministry has begun monitoring the ITIs with a view to maintaining their quality standards and also introduced voluntary self grading by the institutes.
The government’s vocational training programmes are administered by industrial training institutes (ITIs), which cater to about 36% of the 7 million people enrolled in various training programmes in India.

Indian tourism industry holds potential to grow by 2.5%: Study

As per the joint study conducted by Assocham and Yes Bank, Indian travel and tourism industry has a potential to grow by 2.5 percent on the back of higher budgetary allocation and low cost healthcare facility.

The report said that the industry has tremendous potential to rise by 2.5 percent provided the budgetary allocation was enhanced from the current 0.09 percent of the total allocation to at least 0.15 percent in 2018-19.
The study also proposed developmental interventions, including tourism infrastructure development and the emergence of tourism themes to upscale the industry.
According to the World Trade and Tourism Council, the total contribution of travel & tourism to Indian GDP was USD 208.9 billion, 9.6 percent of GDP in 2016, and is forecast to rise by 6.7 percent in 2017 and 10.0 percent of GDP in 2027

International Current Affairs

State of World Population 2017 Report launched

As per the recently released State of World Population 2017 report by the United Nations Population Fund, prevailing inequality between rich and poor has to be tackled on an urgent basis and poorest and most vulnerable women will have to be empowered to make their own decisions about their lives. On failing to do so, countries across the world could face unrest and their development will be hampered.

The report has been titled “Worlds Apart: Reproductive Health and Rights in an Age of Inequality.”
As of 2017, half of 1.6 billion women of reproductive age living in developing regions want to avoid a pregnancy.
Around 59 million women use unreliable traditional methods of pregnancy prevention whereas 155 million use no method of contraception at all.

Sushma Swaraj on 2-day visit to Bangladesh

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will leave on a two-day visit to Bangladesh (22^nd and 23^rd October) during which she will co-chair the 4th Indo-Bangla joint consultative commission meeting to review the bilateral relations and discuss ways to further strengthen the ties.

Swaraj will be visiting Dhaka at the invitation of her Bangladesh counterpart Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali and is expected to meet the leadership there as also interact with the representatives of leading Bangladeshi think tanks, chambers of commerce and industry and cultural organisations.
The visit is expected to afford an opportunity for review of the excellent bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh and further strengthening of these ties.

Business

‘US In UP’: Big American Firms Meet Yogi Adityanath

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will meet representatives of major American companies including Facebook, Adobe, Coca Cola, Mastercard, Monsanto, Uber, Honeywell, P&G, Oracle and GE Health and Cargill, in Lucknow.

Headed by Boeing, 26 US firms are on their way to Uttar Pradesh to explore investment avenues here.
The delegation will visit the state as part of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), which is “committed towards powerful partnership between the US and India”.
The “US in UP” engagement emulates the “Vibrant Gujarat” model and will showcase the state’s investment avenues in chemicals, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, cement, gems, textiles and engineering sectors.

Science & Technology

Sri Lanka Navy commissioned Coast Guard Ship Suraksha provided by India

On October 21, 2017, Sri Lankan Navy commissioned Sri Lanka Coast Guard (SLCGS) Ship Suraksha.Sri Lanka Navy commissioned Coast Guard Ship Suraksha provided by IndiaAbout SLCGS Suraksha:

SLCGS Suraksha is an Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) provided by the Indian Coast Guard to the Sri Lanka Navy.
During its tenure with Indian Coast Guard, this OPV was named ‘Varuna’. It was formally handed over to Sri Lankan Navy in September 2017.
The OPV has a displacement of 1,160 tons, is 74.10m in length and 11.4m in breadth. It can sail at a speed of 22 nautical miles per hour can cover 8,500 nautical miles maintaining a speed of 16 nautical miles per hour.
SLCGS Suraksha will be used by Sri Lankan Coast Guard for patrolling and surveillance in Sri Lanka waters, prevention of maritime pollution, training purposes and for humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations.

Appointments & Resigns

Former AC Milan football star Kakha Kaladze is the new mayor of Tbilisi

On 22nd October 2017, Georgia announced that, former AC Milan football star Kakha Kaladze had been elected as the mayor of its capital Tbilisi.

Kaladze won 51% of the vote in Saturday’s municipal election.
The 39-year-old played for AC Milan between 2001 and 2010, helping the team to twice win the Champions League. He previously played for Dynamo Kiev and Dinamo Tbilisi and also captained Georgia’s national side.
He quit football in 2012 while playing for Genoa in order to devote himself to politics and campaign alongside billionaire tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili to challenge then-president Mikheil Saakashvili.
He became energy minister in October 2012 after Ivanishvili’s coalition scored a shock parliamentary election victory over Saakashvili’s party. In July this year, he resigned to run as mayor of the capital, a city of 1.2 million.

WHO withdraws Mugabe’s goodwill ambassador title

On October 22, 2017, World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that it has withdrawn the appointment of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe as the goodwill ambassador for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Africa.

On October 20, 2017, WHO bestowed the honour of goodwill ambassador on Mugabe in recognition of his government’s efforts in fighting NCDs.
However after concerns were raised against this decision of WHO and consequential consultations with Zimbabwean Government, WHO revoked its decision.
Robert Mugabe has been criticized for corruption and abuse of power. Since early 2000s, European Union and United States have imposed sanctions on Robert Mugabe and his allies for human rights abuses and for causing the erosion of democratic institutions.
From time to time, Director-General of WHO appoints prominent public figures as Goodwill Ambassadors for a term of two years. During their term, the goodwill ambassadors, work closely with UN officials and leverage their popularity to raise awareness of global health issues.

Sports

Lewis Hamilton wins the United States Grand Prix

On 22nd October 2017, Lewis Hamilton won the 2017 United States Grand Prix at Austin, Texas, United States.

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton started from 72nd pole position. He finished in the 1st position in the race. This is his ninth win in 2017 and fifth win in Texas and the 62nd win of his career.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel came 2nd in the race. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen finished in the 3rd position. The United States Grand Prix was the seventeenth round of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship.
Mercedes has won the Formula One constructors’ title for the fourth year. Lewis Hamilton was presented with the winner’s trophy by former U.S. president Bill Clinton.

Virat Kohli Top Run Scorer at 200 ODIs

On October 22, 2017, during the one day international (ODI) match between India and New Zealand at Wankhede stadium, Mumbai, Virat Kohli became the highest run-scorer after 200 ODIs.

During his innings in this match against New Zealand, Virat’s total runs scored in ODIs reached 8888 mark and thereby overtook South Africa captain AB de Villiers, who has 8621 runs after 200 ODIs.
In this match, Virat also accomplished another feat of becoming the second batsman (after AB de Villiers) to score a hundred in his 200th ODI.
8888 runs scored by Virat include 31 centuries and 45 fifties.

Marc Marquez wins Australian MotoGP

Marc Marquez, the Spanish Honda rider took the lead with six laps left before claiming his sixth win of the season to close in on the title with two races to go.

Márquez races for Honda’s factory team since his MotoGP debut in 2013. Nicknamed the “Ant of Cervera” He is one of four riders to have won world championship titles in three different categories, after Mike Hailwood, Phil Readand Valentino Rossi.
Marquez is a five-time World Champion (1 each in the 125cc and Moto2 classes, plus 3 in MotoGP), and was the youngest rider ever to be crowned king of the premier class.
The Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing
From 1997 to the present day, it is run at the scenic Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuitsouth of Melbourne, Victoria.
In 2017, Marc secured the title with 3 rounds remaining and, at the same time, he won more races than anyone else in the season, scoring a total of 5 MotoGP victories.
Movistar Yamaha pair Valentino Rossi and Msverick Vinales finished second and third respectively.
For the past five years in MotoGP, Marc Marquez has been the Phillip Island benchmark

India beat Malaysia to win its 3rd Hockey Asia Cup title

On 22nd October 2017, India beat Malaysia by 2-1 in the finals and won the Asia Cup hockey championship for the third time, in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

India has won the 2017 Men’s Hockey Asia Cup. India’s previous Hockey Asia Cup titles were won in 2003 at Kuala Lumpur and 2007 at Chennai.
At the finals against Malaysia India scored goals through Ramandeep Singh (third minute) and Lalit Upadhyay (29th). Malaysia fought back and scored a goal in the 50th minute through Shahril Saabah.
Malaysia has finished as the runner-up and won the silver. Pakistan has won the bronze, which finished in the 3rd position, after defeating South Korea by 6-3.

Indian boxers win 8 medals, including 4 Gold at Youth International Championships Balkan Open 2017 at Sofia, Bulgaria

On 18th – 22nd October 2017, India’s junior women boxers won eight medals, including four gold, in the third Youth International Championships Balkan Open 2017 at Sofia, Bulgaria.

The Indian junior women boxers have won 4 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals in the third Youth International Championships Balkan Open 2017. Also, the Indian youth team was honoured as the best team in the championship.
India’s Nitu (48kg) defeated Emi-Mari Todorova of Bulgaria by 5-0. Nitu (48kg) won a gold medal. India’s Shashi (57kg) defeated Italy’s Giordana Sorrentino and won a gold medal.
Sakshi (54kg) defeated Biancamaria Tessari of Italy and won a gold medal. Neha Yadav (+81 kg) beat Adrienne Juhasz of Hungary by 3-2 and won a gold medal.
India’s Ankushita (64 kg) won a silver medal. The bronze medals were won by Joy Kumari (51kg), Sapna (75kg) and Anupama (+81kg).

Obituary

Shankaracharya Madhavashram Maharaj passes away at 76

On 20th October 2017, Badrikashram Jyotirpeeth Shankaracharya Swami Madhavashram ji Maharaj passed away in Chandigarh. He was a Sanskrit scholar. His body was brought to Uttarakhand on 21st October 2017 and was given a ceremonious burial (bhoo- samadhi) at an ashram in Rishikesh.

Important Days

International Stuttering Awareness Day – October 22

On 22nd October 2017, International Stuttering Awareness Day was observed all over the world.

The theme for International Stuttering Awareness Day 2017 is ‘A World That Understands Stuttering’.
Since 1998, every year on October 22 International Stuttering Awareness Day is celebrated. This day is intended to raise public awareness of the millions of people (one percent of the world’s population), who have the speech disorder of stuttering, also known as stammering.
The International Stuttering Association has been conducting online conference since 2013.This year’s online conference was conducted from 1st October to 22nd October 2017.
International Stuttering Awareness Day is an excellent model for further future cooperation of the stuttering community together with the professionals.