Current Affairs - October 17, 2017 Current Affairs

17 October was declared as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Theme: "Answering the Call of October 17 to end poverty: A path toward peaceful and inclusive societies". United Nations in 1992 officially recognized it under resolution 47/196 with the motive of promoting awareness among the people about need to eradicate poverty from all the countries, mainly in developing countries.

The 6th annual LNG Producers Consumer Conference will be held in Tokyo, Japan from Oct 16-18, 2017. From India, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan will participate in the conference to enhance the bilateral engagements in the Oil and Gas sectors within the overall framework of India-Japan Energy Dialogue. The visit also aims to enhance cooperation in establishing a transparent, efficient, truly global and balanced Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) market. The conference is a global annual dialogue to promote active dialogue among LNG producers, consumers and other stakeholders with a view to deepening shared understandings of market trends and to develop a global LNG market.

Footwear Design & Development Institute (FDDI) declared an 'Institute of National Importance' under Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. The FDDI bill was passed by the Parliament in July 2017. The Provisions of FDDI Act 2017 have come into force. Presently FDDI is imparting skill based graduate and postgraduate courses in the fields of footwear, leather goods, retail, and management to around 2,500 students across eight campuses spread over India.

Punjab police launched foot patrolling i.e. an initiative whereby police personnel will patrol designated areas on foot to keep a watch on anti-social elements. Objective of foot patrolling is to reduce incidence of crime by increasing the presence of police in vulnerable locations. All foot patrol officers will be wearing jungle boots, specially designed arm-band and will carry weapons, baton, handcuffs and wireless sets.

Private sector Yes Bank said it has committed Rs 156 crore to fund first Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) to be constructed at Varanasi under Hybrid Annuity-PPP Model. The bank has signed a deal with Essel Infraprojects for the financial closure of Rs 156 crore that will fund the STP under Namami Gange Project.

Young Indian paddler Selena Selvakumar has won triple gold medal at the Egypt Junior and Cadet Open Table Tennis Championship 2017. In the junior girls' team event, she won singles and doubles gold medal apart from the team championship gold. Selvakumar remained unbeaten throughout the 2017 ITTF World Junior Circuit event.

An iGTB (Intellect Global Transaction Banking) a specialist firm of Intellect Design Arena Ltd. has been selected by Bangkok Bank, as a technology partner to implement a comprehensive cash management platform and corporate portal. The digital portal which will be developed by iGTB for Bangkok Bank will integrate a number of previously separate platforms, thereby enabling a consistent and consolidated view of clients' working capital and payments activities, irrespective of the country they operate in.

International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) announced the launch of IBM Blockchain, a new blockchain banking solution, that will help financial institutions for cross-border payments. IBM has partnered with regional financial services company KlickEx Group and Stellar.org, a nonprofit organization that supports an open source blockchain network for financial services.

Auto manufacturer Mahindra and Mahindra celebrated 'Mahila Kisan Diwas' and launched a programme, 'Prerna' to empower women working in the agriculture sector. Prerna' project is aimed at promoting the use of efficient and ergonomic farm tools and equipment by women who work long hours in the fields. It is first launched in Odisha, with an aim to positively impact the lives of over 1,500 families across 30-plus villages.

Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan's wax statue is to be displayed in Madame Tussauds wax museum in Hong Kong. Varun Dhawan's wax statue is the fourth from India to be displayed in Madame Tussauds, Hong Kong. Already wax statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Narendra Modi and Amitabh Bachchan are on display.

BNP Paribas Securities Services has teamed up with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to deliver an innovative blockchain based platform, Corporate Event Connect. This will provide fast, accurate and secure corporate event announcements to clients around the world. By using TCS' Quartz blockchain technology, BNP Paribas will not only be able to capture and store corporate action information in a structured format but will be able to disseminate the same to its clients in a speedy way without compromising on the accuracy.

Mohun Bagan has won the 37th All India Governor's Gold Cup football tournament-2017 for the 10th time by defeating Partha Chakra by a narrow 1-0 margin in the final match played at Paljor Stadium in Gangtok on October 15, 2017. Mohun Bagan's striker GA Kramah scored the lone goal in the seventh minute to win the match.

E-commerce major Myntra has tied up with the Union Textile Ministry, to work directly with weavers and improve their economic status. This has been done in a move to support to the Government's plan to improve demand for arts and handloom products in India. These products will retail on Myntra through a dedicated online store. This would create a one-stop shop for all handloom products. This would provide the weavers, access to new customers and opportunities.