Current Affairs Update 3 October 2018

Current Affairs is an important part for many exams. Be prepared for this section with ByScoop which brings all the important Current Affairs in one place. 3 October 2018

India Ranks 28th on Govt e-payment Adoption; Norway Tops

• India has been ranked 28th among 73 global countries when it comes to government e-payment adoption.
• Based on the freshly-published Government e-Payments Adoption Ranking Index (GEAR) by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Norway has topped the list followed by France and Denmark respectively.
• The 73-country survey, which was last conducted in 2011, evaluates a government’s provision of e-payments for consumers and business across the seven central sub-categories: Citizen to Government, Government to Citizen, Business to Government, Government to Business, Infrastructure, Social and Economic context and Policy context.
• India holds the top ranking on B2G and G2B, and comes third on C2G jointly with Argentina.

India’s First Dolphin Research Centre to come up soon in Patna

• India’s first National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC) is soon to be set up on the banks of the Ganga river in the Patna University premises in November 2018.
• The NDRC once established would also be Asia’s first such centre for the endangered Gangetic dolphin.
• NDRC will play an important role in strengthening conservation efforts and research to save the endangered mammal.

India launches ‘Operation Samudra Maitri’ for Tsunami-hit Indonesia

• India has launched ‘Operation Samudra Maitri’ to provide humanitarian assistance to the survivors of earthquake and consequent tsunami in Central Sulawesi province of Indonesia.
• Two IAF aircraft namely a C-130J and a C-17 and three Indian naval ships including INS Tir, INS Sujatha and INS Shardul have been mobilised for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
• The C-130J aircraft is carrying a medical team on board along with tents and equipment to set up a field hospital. The C-17 aircraft is carrying medicines, generators, tents and water to provide immediate assistance.
• Indian naval ships are likely to reach Central Sulawesi on October 6.

BSE Becomes India’s 1st Stock Exchange to Launch Commodity Derivative Contracts

• The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has become India’s first stock exchange to enter into commodity derivatives segment by offering futures trading in gold and silver contracts.
• With this, BSE has become India’s first universal stock exchange with all assets classes including equity, mutual funds, currency and commodity in its portfolio.
• The National Stock Exchange (NSE) will conduct six mock trading sessions in commodity derivatives segment commencing from October 3 to October 10 and will launch its commodity derivatives segment from October 12
• Both BSE and NSE had received the securities market regulator SEBI’s approval to offer platforms for commodity derivatives trade from October 1, 2018.

GSTN Mandates PIN code for E-way Bill

• With the motive to tighten the norms for issuance of e-way bill, the GST Network has made it mandatory for businesses and transporters to mention PIN codes of places of loading and unloading of consignments.
• Quoting of PIN codes will help in calculating the correct distance and determine the validity of the electronic way or e-way bill, which is used by businesses to transport goods worth over Rs 50,000 both within and outside a state.

SIDBI Launches Entrepreneurship Awareness Campaign Udyam Abhilasha in 115 Aspirational Districts

• Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), had launched a National Level Entrepreneurship Awareness Campaign, Udyam Abhilasha in 115 Aspirational Districts identified by NITI Aayog in 28 States.
• The campaign would run from October 3-8, 2018 across India covering around 15,000 youths.
• It would create and strengthen cadre of more than 800 trainers to provide entrepreneurship training to the aspiring youths across these districts thus encouraging them to enter the admired segment of entrepreneurs.
• SIDBI has partnered with Common service centres, e-Governance Services India Limited, a Special Purpose Vehicle, set up by the Ministry of Electronics and IT for implementing the campaign. 

India – ADB Signs Pact for Safe Drinking Water in West Bengal

• India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed $240 million loan agreement to provide safe drinking water in three districts of West Bengal.
• The project aims to provide safe and sustainable drinking water to people in Bankura, North 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur affected by arsenic, fluoride and salinity.
• The West Bengal Drinking Water Sector Improvement Project is supported by a grant of $3 million from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction and a $2 million grant from ADB’s Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund.

India-Russia Joint Military Exercise Indra-2018 to be Held in Uttar Pradesh

• The joint military exercise – Indra-2018 – between Indian and Russian Army will take place from November 18 to 28 at a training ground near the town of Babina in the state of Uttar Pradesh of the Republic of India.
• The exercise will see participation of about 250 servicemen of motorised infantry units of Russia’s Eastern Military District (EMD).

MobiKwik Launches Instant Loan Facility ‘Boost’

• Mobile wallet start-up MobiKwik has launched an instant loan disbursal feature on its platform called “Boost” that will enable the users to get loans of up to Rs 60,000 in their e-wallet within 90 seconds.
• MobiKwik is the first wallet player to disburse the loan amount in the user’s mobile wallet. 
• MobiKwik has partnered with 4 NBFCs to offer this service to its users.
• The mobile wallet loan can be utilised for purchases, marriage expenses, travel plans, hotel bookings, medical emergency, as well as payments to offline and online merchants. 

Mahatma Gandhi to be Honored with US Congressional Gold Medal Posthumously

• The US lawmakers have moved a resolution in the US House of Representatives to posthumously award the prestigious Congressional Gold Medal to Mahatma Gandhi in recognition of his promotion of peace and non-violence.
• The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian honour given by the US Congress and very few foreigners have been recipients of this award. 
• Prominent among those include Mother Teresa (1997), Nelson Mandela (1998), Pope John Paul II (2000), the Dalai Lama (2006), Aung San Suu Kyi (2008), Muhammad Yunus (2010) and Shimon Peres (2014).

Justice Ranjan Gogoi Takes Over as 46th CJI of India

• Justice Ranjan Gogoi has taken over as the 46th Chief Justice of India. He succeeds Justice Dipak Misra who retired on October 1. 
• Gogoi is the first person from the Northeastern India to reach the top position of judiciary

Vikram Limaye Chosen as Chairman of Working Committee of WFE

• NSE’s Managing Director and CEO Vikram Limaye has been appointed as the Chairman of the working group committee of World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) and Director on the board of WFE.
• WFE has also admitted six new members on the board taking the total number of full members to 70.
• The new members are:
  1. Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX), 
  2. London Stock Exchange Group,
  3. Boursa Kuwait,
  4. Tunis Stock Exchange, 
  5. China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation and 
  6. Nairobi Securities Exchange.
• WFE is the global industry association for exchanges and clearing houses based in London which represents nearly 45,000 listed companies.

Iraq Elects Barham Salih as New President

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