Current Affairs Update 13 November 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. 13 November 2018
Narendra Singh Tomar, D V Sadanand Gowda given additional charge of Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers respectively
- Following the demise of Union Minister Ananth Kumar the two ministry held by him have been allotted to:
- Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs – Narendra Singh Tomar (He is the Rural Development Minister)
- Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers – D V Sadanand Gowda (He is the Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation)
LEAP and ARPIT initiative launched by HRD Ministry for grooming teachers in higher education institutes
- Dr. Satya Pal Singh, Minister of State, Ministry of Human Resource Development, launched two new initiatives; Leadership for Academicians Programme (LEAP) and Annual Refresher Programme In Teaching (ARPIT).
- Leadership for Academicians Programme (LEAP) is a three weeks Flagship leadership development training programme. The main objective is to prepare second tier academic heads who are potentially likely to assume leadership roles in the future.
- Annual Refresher Programme in Teaching (ARPIT), a major and unique initiative of online professional development of 15 lakh higher education faculty using the MOOCs platform SWAYAM. For implementing ARPIT, 75 discipline-specific institutions have been identified and notified as National Resource Centres (NRCs) in the first phase, which are tasked to prepare online training material with focus on latest developments in the discipline, new & emerging trends, pedagogical improvements and methodologies for transacting revised curriculum. ARPIT will be an ongoing exercise so that every year NRCs will continuously develop new refresher module in their earmarked discipline each year.
10th edition of joint military exercise INDRA 2018 to be held in Uttar Pradesh
- The joint military exercise between Indian and Russia EXERCISE INDRA 2018 (10th) on combating insurgency under the aegis of United Nations (UN) is being conducted at Babina Field Firing Ranges, Babina Military Station in Jhansi Uttar Pradesh from 18 November 2018.
India increases financial contribution to UNRWA from $ 1 mn to $ 5 mn
- India has increased its financial contribution to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) from one million dollars in 2016 to five million dollars in 2018. India is also committed to contribute five million dollars in 2019.
RBI relaxes ECB norms for infrastructure creation
- The Reserve Bank of India has liberalized the norms governing foreign borrowings for infrastructure creation.
- The minimum average maturity requirement for the External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) in the infrastructure space raised by eligible borrowers has been reduced to three years from earlier five years.
China’s largest bank ICBC sets up $200 million fund to invest in Indian MSMEs
- The Indian unit of China’s largest bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has set up $200 million fund for investing in the MSME ventures.
American comic book writer Stan Lee dies at 95
- American comic book writer and former chief of Marvel Comics Stan Lee has died in Los Angeles. He was 95.
- He created titles like Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk.
Eminent Odia Singer Chitta Jena Passes Away
- Eminent Odia singer Chitta Jena passed away at 76,