Current Affairs Capsule – October 2017

Business

• Cochin Shipyard Ltd got the Rs 5,400 crore contract for eight vessels for a project of the Indian Navy • Ahmed El Sheikh replaceed D Shivakumar as PepsiCo CEO • Umang Bedi, managing director, India and South Asia, at Facebook resigned; Sandeep Bhushan was appointed as interim MD • India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) appointed Suresh Sethi as its MD and CEO • NABARD bought an additional 7 percent stake in Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for Rs 900 crore from public sector lender IDBI Bank • IndusInd Bank, along with MobiKwik, announced the launch of a co-branded wallet, ‘IndusInd Mobikwik’, that allows its customers to pay at the MobiKwik merchant network using their accounts • Fashion giant Gucci announced plans to being fur-free from 2018 • Bharti Airtel acquired Tata's mobile business on debt-free cash-free basis • The Reserve Bank of India constituted a 10-member ‘High Level Task Force on Public Credit Registry (PCR) for India’, headed by YM Deosthalee, ex-CMD • State Bank of India & Escorts signed MoU for financing tractors • HSBC appointed retail bank head John Flint as new CEO • India imported crude oil from the United States for the first time • Rajnish Kumar was appointed as the new SBI chairman • NS Venkatesh was appointed as chief executive of the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) • India was ranked the eighth most valuable nation brand in Brand Finance’s Nation Brands 2017 which was topped by the US

For more material and tests, visit us on www.learningroots.in

Entertainment

• Anupam Kher was appointed as new chairman of Film and Television Institute of India • Renowned Carnatic musician T M Krishna was awrded the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration • Hollywood star George Clooney was honoured with the AFI Life Achievement Award • Prakash Raj received Kota Shivaram Karanth Huttura Prashasti Award

Government/Legal

• President Ram Nath Kovind presided over 48th Conference of Governors held at Rashtrapati Bhavan with the theme of its opening session being 'New India-2022' • Madhya Pradesh government launched Mukhyamantri Kaushal Samvardhan Yojana • Rakesh Asthana was appointed new CBI special director • Centre approved 83,000-km highway projects worth Rs 7-lakh crore • Ministries of Power & Textiles joined hands under new initiative SAATHI (Sustainable and Accelerated Adoption of efficient Textile technologies to Help small Industries) • Assembly raised OBC Quota from 21 to 26 % • Preeti Sudan was appointed as the new Union Health Secretary • The Government decided to reduce the central excise duty on Petrol and Diesel by Rs 2 per Litre effective from the October 4, 2017 • Centre appointed Shri Dineshwar Sharma as its Representative in J&K • Chandrababu Naidu launched 'Swachh Andhra Mission', and appointed PV Sindhu as the brand ambassador

India

• Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the 3rd International Conference on Yoga

For more material and tests, visit us on www.learningroots.in

• Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas was conferred with Swachh Bharat Inter- Ministerial Award on October 2, 2017 • Satya Pal Malik was sworn in as governor of Bihar • Women and Child Development Ministry celebrated the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Week • Justice N K Gupta was appointed Lokayukta of Madhya Pradesh • The Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri Kiren Rijiju inaugurated the Special Centre for Disaster Research at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) • Shri Rajnath Singh and Shri Nitin Gadkari laid foundation stone for roads and bridges construction projects at Andaman & Nicobar Islands • Ministry of Railways introduces tri- weekly new Special Rajdhani between Delhi – route • Government of India signed $300 million loan deal with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to promote fiscal reforms in West Bengal • India appointed Gautam Bambawale as new ambassador to China • Nirmala Sitharaman commissioned warship INS Kiltan in Indian Navy • PM Modi inaugurated first All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) in • Jagdish Mukhi was sworn in as new Governor of Assam • Ranjit Kumar resigned as Solicitor General of India • Indian Army celebrated 71st Infantry Day on 27 October • Venkaiah Naidu laid foundation stone for National Waterway-4 in Andhra Pradesh • PM Narendra Modi launched roll-on, roll-off 'Ro-Ro' ferry service in Gujarat • Government launched Sampoorna Bima Gram (SBG) Yojana and expanded the coverage of Postal Life Insurance (PLI) • The Indian Air Force celebrated its 85th anniversary on 08 October • India hosted the First Annual BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise • Banwari Lal Purohit was appointed as Tamil Nadu governor • Gauri Lankesh was honoured with Anna Politkovskaya Award • India’s First Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra for skilling in smart cities launched under Skill India Mission in collaboration with NDMC in New Delhi

For more material and tests, visit us on www.learningroots.in

• The President of India presented the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics and Management to Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak • Thumri queen passed away • Legendary filmmaker I V Sasi, known for 'Avalude Ravukal', passed away at 69 • Kundan Shah, veteran director, passed away • Utpal Kumar Singh assumed charge as the new chief secretary of Uttarakhand • India was ranked 100th On Global Hunger Index

International

• International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons was awarded 2017 Nobel Prize in Peace • UN ended peacekeeping mission in Haiti after 13 years • Nisha Desai Biswal was appointed President of the U.S.-India Business Council • India offered $4.5 bn credit in project finance to Bangladesh • Jacinda Ardern was sworn in as New Zealand Prime Minister • U.S. lifted 20-year trade embargo against Sudan • World Habitat Day was observed on the first Monday of October throughout the world • Lakshmi Mittal donated $25 million to Harvard University to establish an endowed fund for the South Asia Institute at the university • Catalonia declared independence from Spain • The United States announced plan to withdraw from the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), accusing the body of anti-Israel bias • Japan's Shinzo Abe was re-elected as Prime Minister • World Mental Health Day was observed on 10 October around the world • Sri Lanka completed 70 years of the first Parliament of independent Sri Lanka • Audrey Azoulay was appointed as Director-General of UNESCO • Dr Soumya Swaminathan was appointed the deputy director general for programmes (DDP) of World Health Organisation (WHO)

For more material and tests, visit us on www.learningroots.in

• Richard Thaler won the Nobel Prize for Economics • World Food Day was celebrated around the world on 16 October in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945 • New Delhi hosted the 14th annual Summit between India and the (EU) • Jagmeet Singh was elected leader of Canada’s leftist New Democratic Party (NDP), becoming the country’s first non-white leader of a major political party • The International Day for Disaster Reduction was observed on 13 October • India signed a host of MoUs with Japan for liquefied natural gas that would enable establishing a liquid, flexible and global LNG market • 8th SAARC Speaker, Parliamentarians conference was held in Sri Lanka • 24 October was celebrated as United Nations Day • Ajay Raju received third American Bazaar Philanthropy Award

Literature

• US author George Saunders became the second American writer to win Britain's renowned Man Booker Prize, which was awarded for his novel "Lincoln in the Bardo" • Eminent poet Prabha Varma was chosen for Padma Prabha Puraskaram • Robert Menasse won the German Book Prize 2017 for his Novel “Die Hauptstadt” • The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2017 was awarded to English author Kazuo Ishiguro

Science/Technology

• Rainer Weiss, Barry C. Barish and Kip S. Thorne won the 2017 Nobel Prize in physics • Japan launched fourth satellite for a new high-precision global positioning system (GPS) • NASA authorized a second extension of the Dawn mission at Ceres • Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson won the 2017 Nobel prize in chemistry

For more material and tests, visit us on www.learningroots.in

Sports

• The International Olympic Committee provisionally suspended Brazil's national Olympic body over the alleged involvement of its head Carlos Nuzman in a vote-buying scandal • finished joint-second in Isle of Man Championship • Manav Thakkar became first Indian to occupy ITTF World Junior Circuit top spot • Cristiano Ronaldo won FIFA player of the year award • Amarjit Singh Kiyam led India in India's first FIFA U-17 World Cup tournament • Yogeshwar Dutt was appointed as Brand Ambassador of The Delhi Olympic Games 2017 • Sunil Chhetri-led Indian football team pumped in four goals against Macau to seal their 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification spot • Iceland qualified for FIFA World Cup for the first time • India finished at the sixth position in the overall medal tally at the 2017 ISSF World Cup governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation • Virat Kohli returned to No 1 in ICC ODI rankings • Kidambi Srikanth won Denmark Open and lifted third Super Series title of the year • Shadia Bseiso became the first Arab woman from the Middle East to sign a developmental contract with the WWE • Anupama Ramachandran won inaugural World Open Under-16 Snooker Tournament • French Tennis player Caroline Garcia won the China Open final in Beijing • India beat Malaysia to clinch Asia Cup Hockey 2017 • Mohun Bagan won the 37th All India Governor's Gold Cup football tournament for the 10th time • Rafael Nadal beat Nick Kyrgios of Australia 6-2, 6-1 in the China Open final to win his sixth ATP title of the year • Ashish Nehra announced retirement from all forms of cricket • South Africa displaced India from top of ODI rankings • Heena Sidhu and Jeetu Rai won Gold in the 10m Mixed Team Air Pistol segment at ISSF World Cup

For more material and tests, visit us on www.learningroots.in