Current Affairs - October 2, 2017 Current Affairs

The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing and ratification of the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) between the India and Belarus on Investments. The Treaty is supposed toincrease investment flows between the two countries. It is expected to improve the confidence of the investors resulting in an increase in FDI and Overseas Director Investment (ODI) opportunities and this will have a positive impact on employment generation.

Jagan Kumar of TVS Racing won his sixth consecutive title in the premier Super Sport Indian (165cc) class, in the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship, in Chennai. This is the 6th consecutive year, Jagan Kumar has won the title in National Motorcycle Racing Championship.

World Habitat Day was observed all over the world on october 2nd. The theme for World Habitat Day 2017 is 'Housing Policies: Affordable Homes'. This day is celebrated to reflect on the state of our towns and cities, and to emphasize the basic right of all to receive adequate shelter.

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications (RCom) has called off plans to merge its wireless business with rival Aircel. As announced by RCOM, the merger has been called off owing to legal and regulatory uncertainties as well as 'intervention of vested interests to derail the deal'. Post-merger, the entity would have become India's third-largest telecom provider with 175 million subscribers.

FIFA has selected 7 female support referees, for the first time for a men's tournament. They will work along with 70 male referees to officiate the 52 matches in the FIFA U-17 World Cup. The FIFA U-17 World Cup is to be played in six Indian cities from 6th October to 28th October, 2017.

The Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple of Madurai was awarded the best 'Swachh Iconic Place' (Cleanest Iconic Place), in India. This has been honoured with this award for the swift cleaning process carried out. This award was given by the Central Government, as a part of the 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' (Clean India Mission). The project is estimated for Rs.11.65 crores. It is sponsored by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL).

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Mr.Chandrababu Naidu launched 'Swachh Andhra Mission' on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti. Shuttler PV Sindhu has been appointed as the brand ambassador of 'Swachh Andhra Mission'.

The third edition of India International Science Festival will be held from October 13-16 at IIT-Chennai. The festival will have a thematic session on 'Deep Ocean Research'. An attempt to set up a Guinness World Record by holding a "largest biology class" of 1000 students will be made.

India's first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) IFSC has ranked at 10th place in the latest September 2017 edition of Global Financial Centres Index 22 (GFCI) - London. Currently it is operational with approximately 10 leading banks, eight insurance companies and participating brokers, and two international exchanges.

Rajghat, the Samadhi of Mahatam Gandhi in Delhi, has for the first time acquired a statue of Mahatma Gandhi. The statue is 1.80 metre tall and is made of bronze. It has been sculpted by renowned Indian sculptor, Mr. Ram Sutar. The statue has been installed in the Parking Area of Rajghat Samadhi Complex at a cost of Rs.8.73 lakhs.

Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Mr. Hardeep Singh Puri announced that five more States viz., Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Haryana have reached the milestone of making all cities and towns Open Defecation Free. It is to be noted that On October 2, 2017, 'Swacch Bharat Mission' completed three years. As against the target of building about 66 lakh individual household toilets in urban areas, 38 lakh toilets have already been built and construction of another 14 lakh toilets is in progress.