Important Current Affairs 18th November 2017

Important Current Affairs 18th November 2017

Download Daily Gk and Current Affairs PDF (English)

Download Daily Gk and Current Affairs PDF (HINDI)

Current Affairs 18th November 2017: NATIONAL NEWS

Ministry of Health has implemented the daily dose of medicine for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB)

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has recently announced to implement the daily dose of medicine for the tuberculosis sufferers throughout the country under the revised National TB Control Program (RNTCP).
●    The ministry had earlier asked to take the drug supplements three times a week for the treatment of tuberculosis, but now it has been decided to change the treatment for TB patients, and in the weeks of using the prescribed dosage of mixed medicines for treatment Daily dosage has been arranged in place of three bars.
●    This change will change the attitude of fighting against tuberculosis.
●    Due to tuberculosis, 4.2 million people die every year.
●    Tuberculosis-resistant daily mixed drug dose will be provided to doctors, private practitioners and private practitioners so that the doses of drugs can be given to those patients who are treating them according to their convenience in the private sector.
●    The Ministry of Health will extend it to all major hospitals, IMAs, IAPs, and professional medical organizations to make the dose of mixed medicines available daily to all TB patients.
●    The specialty of this method of treatment is that all patients will be given Ethan Booth in constant stages. Medicines will be given daily.
 

India's domestic air travelers created record, 1.04 crore passengers in October

Domestic air travelers of India made new records in the festival season.
●    According to the DGCA, 1.04 crore people used aircraft in the country to travel somewhere in October.
●    This is the largest figure of domestic travelers in a month.
●    This has happened 2 times so far when more than 10 million people made air travel in a month.
●    Earlier in May, 1.5 million people made domestic air travel.
●    In October, the number of domestic air travelers increased by 20.5 percent, last year 86.7 million people had traveled.
●    Between January and October this year, 9.5 million people have traveled in the country, which is 17.3% more than the same period last year.

Moody the public sector of the nine companies rating extended

The foreign currency issuer ratings of Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and Petronet LNG Limited (PLL) was upgraded to Baa2 from Baa3, the same as India’s sovereign rating upgrade. 
●    In step with India rating upgrade, Moody’s Investors Service today upgraded issuer ratings of nine state-owned firms including oil producer ONGC, refiners IOC, BPCL and HPCL, power generator NTPC and gas utility GAIL. 
●    The foreign currency issuer ratings of Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and Petronet LNG Ltd (PLL) was upgraded to Baa2 from Baa3, the same as India’s sovereign rating upgrade. 
●    The outlook on these ratings have been revised to stable from positive, Moody’s said in a statement. For Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), which enjoyed a rating higher than the sovereign, the foreign currency issuer rating has been upgraded to Baa1 from Baa2. 
●    “The outlook is stable,” it said. Simultaneously, ratings of NTPC, hydroelectric producer NHPC, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and GAIL India have also been raised to Baa2 stable.
●    

Jio preparing for entry in e-commerce market

After getting success in the telecom sector, Reliance Jio is preparing to land in the e-commerce field to take advantage of its huge network and crores of customers.
●    The company is trying to make a model with grocery stores, through which people will be able to buy with the help of Geo Money or Text Message.
●    The company is currently running a pilot project for this.
●    This project is currently underway in Mumbai, Chennai and Ahmedabad.
●    It includes many stores and leading brands. Next year, Geo can launch it.
●    The company has created 13.2 million subscribers within a year.
●    Geo is going to enter online from offline, which is a warning to online payment companies like PettyMon and Phonepea.
●    Companies such as PettyM and Phoneme are also doing similar deals with grocery stores.

Government will provide Rs 2,000 crore for computerization of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies

A senior official of the Ministry of Agriculture said today that the government will provide Rs 2,000 crore for computerization of Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Society PACS.
●    This will facilitate the benefits of digital technology to cooperative societies working at grass root level.
●    Ashish Bhutani, senior official of the Ministry of Agriculture, gave this information today.
●    He said in a statement that due to this technology, transparency will be ensured as well as employment generation will be ensured.
●    Therefore adopting digital technology is the only way through which cooperatives can maintain their relevance.
●    Rajiv Siwach, General Manager, National Agricultural and Rural Development Bank, said that PACs should develop a business format so that they can provide many services.
●    He said that cooperative banks should also have an ATM so they can attract customers.
 

Current Affairs 18th November 2017: ECONOMY

Approval of the work plan of Financial Year 2018 of SARTTAAC

Interim meeting of the Steering Committee of the South Asia Regional Training and Technical Support Center (SERTAC) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was held in New Delhi today.
●    After its inauguration in February, 2017, its activities were reviewed and the work plan of the financial year 2018 was reviewed.
●    After the inauguration of SARTTAAC, the meeting was held on February 13, 2017.
●    Officials of all the 6 member countries participated in the meeting with development partner representatives (EU, UK, Australia and USAAD) and IMF Staff.
●    In his inaugural address, Special Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Shri Dinesh Sharma said that to meet the possibilities of SARTTAC, there is a need for right and positive ideas.
●    Members of the Steering Committee welcomed the effective performance of the speed and capacity development of SARTTAC (training and technical support).
●    SARTTAC has completed all the tasks in a short time.
●    The committee appreciated the training given to member countries and various officials of India and training in the country.

Reliance will raise 117 billion to reduce debt costs

Reliance Industries is going to raise $ 1.8 billion from the combustion of offshore bonds and syndicated debt, to reduce its cost of high debt. Reliance wants to take advantage of the low US Treasury rate. 
●    In terms of market capitalization, Reliance, the country’s largest company, can cut its debt costs by almost half.
●    The maturity of these bonds would be of 10 years. 
●    Reliance Dollar is raising $ 800 million via bond issue. 
●    The company will acquire one billion dollars from syndicated commercial loans. 
●    This loan will be taken from a group of international lenders at a lower cost than the existing loan. 
●    This company of Mukesh Ambani, the second richest person in Asia, is working on a big debt refinancing. Earlier, the company had raised the money through the Parabolic Bond in 2013.

Current Affairs 18th November 2017: GLOBAL NEWS

Minister of Commerce and Industry will participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Russia

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Suresh Prabhu is on a trip to Russia from 15 to 17 November 2017 to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting.
●    In this meeting, members of the economic and foreign trade of member countries participate.
●    India became a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in June 2017.
●    This is the first conference of ministers to be held on business after becoming a full member.
●    This is the first Russia visit of Mr. Suresh Prabhu as Minister of Trade and Industry.
●    During his visit, the Minister met Ms. Veronika Nikitina, member of the Trade Council of Eurasian Economic Commission (EAEC) on November 15 and discussed the FTA and Trade Cooperation between India and Eurasian Economic Commission.
●    Mr. Prabhu interacted with the Russian business leaders on November 16 during a Round Table Meeting.
●    In the Round Table meeting, mainly steel, railways, engineering goods, financial services, nuclear power, and agricultural companies took part.
●    The Minister gave information about the ease of doing business in India and the priorities of natural gas, energy sector, railways and agriculture marketing.
 

MOU with South Korea's Miriyang City of Quality Council of India

The Quality Council of India QCI has signed an MoU with Miriyang City of South Korea for the promotion of Yoga Scheme.
●    Under this yoga scheme, schools that provide yoga professionals and yoga will be certified.
●    The AYUSH Ministry has started Yoga Certification Scheme for Yoga Professionals.
●    The Ministry had given the management and operation of this scheme to the Pulitzer Council.
●    The scheme was started at the time of International Yoga Day in June 2015.
●    On MOU, Anil Relia, CEO of NBC, QCI and Mayor Park-Two Ho of Mirayang City of South Korea signed.
●    On this occasion representatives of various organizations of South Korea and many officials from the AYUSH Ministry from India were present.
●    The Mayor of Miryang City said on this occasion, "We have signed MoU and we will encourage Indian Yoga in Korea."
 

Current Affairs 18th November 2017: DEFENCE

Seminar on Cyber Security in New Delhi in the context of Indian Navy

A seminar on cyber security in the context of the Indian Navy was held on November 17, 2017 in New Delhi by Dr. D.S. Kothari .
●    The seminar was organized by the Directorate of Information Welfare, Ministry of Defense (Navy), Integrated Headquarters.
●    Over 350 defense personnel attended the seminar, which included officers of various directors of the Ministry of Defense (Navy), Officers and soldiers of the Naval Units and other naval stations of Delhi area, officers related to it, dignitaries and cyber security professionals. 
●    Director General of Naval Operations Vice Admiral S.N. Ghormam (AVSM, NM) welcomed the delegates present in the seminar and presented the subject matter.
●    Naval Chief Admiral Sunil Lamba (PVSM, AVSM, ADC) gave the keynote address.
●    In his address, he has his views on cybersecurity and challenges related to the Indian Navy.
●    They emphasized the use of social media and smart devices with responsibility. National Cyber Security Coordinator, Dr. Gulshan Rai also gave special speeches.