Current Affairs 1st November 2017

Current Affairs 1st November 2017 - Important Points

• Girish Karnad to be honoured with Tata Literature Lifetime Achievement Award 2017 on - 19th November 2017
• World Bank releases Doing Business Report 2018 on - 31st October 2017
• Indian Air Force to participate in air exercise ‘Blue Flag-17’ in Israel from - 2nd November 2017
• Google Doodle paid commemorates 87th birthday of Abdul Qavi Desnavi  on - 1st November 2017
• Haryana government announces lifetime pensions for 'Hindi Satyagrahis' on - 31st October 2017
• 6 MoUs signed between India and  Italy on - 30th October 2017
• Neelamani N Raju appointed as DG-IGP of Karnataka on - 31st October 2017

Current Affairs 1st November 2017 - Details

Girish Karnad to be honoured with Tata Literature Lifetime Achievement Award 2017 on - 19th November 2017

The all-rounder actor and playwright Girish Karnad will be respected with Tata Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award 2017 on 19th November 2017. The award will be given to the veteran actor at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Nariman Point Mumbai. The actor will take the award as a playwright.
Important Highllights

• Girish Raghunath Karnad is an Indian actor, writer playwright and film director.
• He is predominantly involved with South Indian cinema and has worked in various Hindi Cinema.
• Many of his plays of the 1960s such as 'Yayati' (1961), the historical 'Tughlaq' (1964), 'Hayavadana' (1971), 'Naga-mandala' (1988) and 'Taledanda' (1990) entitled him with international appreciations.
• He writes in Kannada which is translated to English and other Indian languages.
• He also is a proud recipient of Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards.
• The other recipients of the Tata Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award are notable writers VS Naipaul in 2012, Khushwant Singh in 2013, MT Vasudevan Nair in 2014, Kiran Nagarkar in 2015 and Amitav Ghosh in 2016.
• Tata Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award which honors different writers in India will be held from 16-19th November 2017 in Mumbai.

World Bank releases Doing Business Report 2018 on - 31st October 2017

The World Bank on 31st October 2017 issued the Doing Business Report 2018 named 'Doing Business 2018: Reforming to produce Jobs'. According to the report, India placed 100 out of 190 countries, assessed by the completing Business Team.
The Doing Business Report evaluates 190 economies and covers 10 indicators which determine the lifecycle of a business.

Important Highlights

• India's Improved Rank in Doing Business Report
• India pushed over 30 ranks this year to retain 100th spot in terms of doing business list. It was ranked 130 in the 2017 Doing Business Report.
• India is the only nation in South Asia and BRICS economies to feature between most upgraded economies of the DB Report current year.
• It noticed the improvement in 6 out of total 10 indicators. These 6 indicators are Protecting Minority Investors, Paying Taxes, Enforcing Contracts, Getting Credit, Resolving Insolvency and Construction Permits.
• India rated 103 positions in Resolving Insolvency indicator, 29 in Getting Credit, 119 in Paying Taxes, 164 in Enforcing Contracts, 181st in Construction Permits and 4th in Protecting Minority Investors.
  Highlights of the Doing Business Report 2018
• In between June 2016 to June 2017, the detail registered 264 business reforms.
• The ordinary reforms were in the areas of reducing the complexity and cost of regulatory operations in a start-up, getting credit and commerce across borders.
• Brunei Darussalam, Malawi, Thailand, Kosovo, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, Zambia, India, Djibouti and El Salvador were the most upgraded economies in 2016/17.
• These top 10 improvers executed 53 regulatory reforms making it comfortable for them to do business.
• Europe and Central Asia continue to be the areas with the highest share of economies executing at least one reform as 76% of economies in the area executed at least one business regulatory betterment.
• In the South Asia, India was the top refiner; however, it placed below Bhutan, which was positioned at 75. Apart from this, Nepal was placed at 105, Sri Lanka at 111, Maldives placed at 136, Pakistan at 147, Bangladesh placed at 177 and Afghanistan at 183.
• Nations in Sub-Saharan Africa area delivered better positions this year. Rwanda achieved 41 rank, Kenya was ranked 80, Botswana 81 and Zambia 85.

Indian Air Force to participate in air exercise ‘Blue Flag-17’ in Israel from - 2nd November 2017

The Indian Air Force would be taking part in a 2-week-long multilateral air exercise- 'Blue Flag-17'- in Israel starting from 2nd November 2017.
As per an official release by the Defense Ministry, a 45-member contingent of the air force headed to take part in the exercise on 31st October 2017. The team headed by Group leader Captain Maluk Singh VSM consists of personnel from different combat elements of the IAF.
This is the very first time that the Indian Air Force would be operating with its parallel in Israel in a multilateral exercise setting after diplomatic relations were established between the two nations in 1990
More about Blue Flag

• It is a bi-yearly multilateral exercise that focuses to strengthen military cooperation amongst participating countries.
• Indian Air Force would be taking part with the C-130J special operations airplane along with Guard commandos.
• The exercise would supply an important platform for the interchange of knowledge and fighting experience and in improving operational ability of the participating countries.
• It would give a chance to the IAF to share and learn best rehearsal with some of the best officers from other Air Forces.
• It would be organized at the Uvda Air Force station in Israel from 2nd to16th November 2017.

Google Doodle paid commemorates 87th birthday of Abdul Qavi Desnavi  on - 1st November 2017

Search engine Google on 1st November 2017 devoted its doodle to commemorate the 87th birth anniversary of Urdu poet Abdul Qavi Desnavi. Desnavi was famous for mentoring several India’s finest Urdu poets and writers such as Javed Akhtar and Iqbal Masood.
More about Abdul Qavi Desnavi

• Abdul Qavi Desnavi was born in Desna village in the Nalanda district Bihar on 1st November 1930.
• Few of his major works include Hayat-e-Abul Kalam Azad, a book on freedom fighter Maulana Abul Kalam Azad; Sat Tahriren, Talash-E-Azad and Motala-E-Khotoot Ghalib.
• Throughout his career, Desnavi played an important role in the development of Urdu literature and academic thought India.
• He was the Head of the Urdu Department Bhopal’s Saifia College and a member of various regional and national literary organizations.
• He wrote more than 50 books on Urdu literature.
• He passed away in July 2011.

Haryana government announces lifetime pensions for 'Hindi Satyagrahis' on - 31st October 2017

The state government Haryana on 31st October 2017 declared lifetime monthly pension of Rs 10,000 for 'Hindi Satyagrahis' and those from the state who were imprisoned during the Emergency.
The state government also declared that it would be providing strength to the financial assistance to World War-II veterans and their widows. Apart from this, Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar declared 10 hours electricity supply to farmers starting from 1st November 2017.
The statements were released during the closing ceremony of the year-long 'Swarna Jayanti' celebrations of the state Mahabir Stadium in Hisar, Haryana. Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu was the Chief Guest for this occasion.
Key Highlights

• The state government has agreed to provide lifetime monthly pension of Rs 10,000 to the 'Hindi Satyagrahis’ to remunerate for all the past years when their contribution.
• The lifetime pension would continue to be provided to their widows after they passed away.
• There are 194 satyagrahis marked by the Haryana government  who were  sent to jail during the 'Hindi Satyagraha' launched by the Punjab Arya Pratinidhi Sabha back in 1957 to encourage the language.
• The government has also marked the people, who were jailed during the emergency and given them provisions including free medical facilities and free travel on state buses under 'Shubrajyotsana' programme.
  • The government has also announced monetary assistance ranging from Rs 4,500 to Rs 10,000 as monthly assistance to the state’s soldiers who took part in the World War-II and to their widows.
  Furthermore, the Haryana government has also issued government jobs to 156 members of martyrs from the state who lost their lives in post-Independence wars and internal security jobs

6 MoUs signed between India and Italy on - 30th October 2017

India and Italy on 30th October 2017 agreed on 6 MoU to enhance cooperation in different important sectors including energy, trade and railways. The agreements were signed after in-detailed high-level talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni. The talks mainly emphasized on ways to strengthen ties and countering terrorism.
A combined statement released after the meeting read that both the Prime Ministers called upon all the nations to work towards throwing out terrorist safe havens, their main structure and networks and pour-out cross-border terrorists movements.
The visit is important for both India and Italy, as the two countries will be celebrating the 70 anniversary of the formations of their diplomatic relations in 2018.
Following are the 6 MoUs signed by the these two nations:
1.Joint announcement of Intent of Cooperation for Safety in the Railway sector between India and Italy.
2.MoU on 70 years of diplomatic associations between Indian Council of Cultural Relations and Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation of Italy.
3.MoU on collaboration in the field of Energy between India and Italy.
4.Administrative Protocol on Cultural Cooperation between India and Italy.
5.MoU for encouraging mutual investments between Italian Trade Agency and Invest India
6.MoU between the Training component of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Government of Italy and Foreign Service Institute of the Ministry of External Affairs, India.

Neelamani N Raju appointed as DG-IGP of Karnataka on - 31st October 2017

Neelamani N Raju was on 31st October 2017 appointed as the first woman DG and IG of Police of Karnataka.
She was appointed after R K Dutta, who retired from the service after his superannuation. She will complete her job in January 2020 and will serve as the Karnataka's police chief for more than 2 years.
More about Neelamani N Raju

• Neelamani is a 1983-batch Indian Police Services officer.
• She was earlier serving as the DGP - Internal Security.
• After her endorsement in 1985, she worked as the SP of Bengaluru Rural district before being assigned for central deputation in 1993.
• She also worked as the DGP of Fire and Emergency Services, Civil Defence, Chief of Home Guards and the State Disaster Response force in Karnataka.
• She also served in the Intelligence Bureau as the Joint Director before coming to Karnataka in 2016.
• She worked as Secretary in the Indian embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal.
• She has worked for more than 23 years in various central deputations.