Current Affairs - October 27, 2017 Current Affairs

Odisha State Government has started the process to prepare the second phase of the State Climate Change Action Plan (SCCAP) for the next five years with an outlay of Rs. 31667 crore. The second phase of SCCAP will follow a two-pronged approach focusing on 'adaptation' and 'mitigation'. Second phase of the State Climate Change Action Plan (SCCAP) will focus on phasing out of old vehicles for reducing emission, promotion of electric vehicles, strengthening enforcement and emission check up system, augmentation of integrated sewerage projects in major urban areas and municipal solid waste management.

China tests its world's first track-less train in Zhuzhou city, China. China's world's first track-less train, that runs on virtual track is promoted as the 'World's First smart train'. This train could travel at the speed of 70 kmph. This train is called Autonomous Rail Transit (ART). This train was created to reduce urban traffic problems. This was developed by CRRC Corporation Limited.

The Cricket Association of Puducherry (CAP) was chosen by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) as an associate member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Puducherry will be allowed to play the Ranji Trophy in 2018.

India has 108 publicly-listed family-owned businesses, third highest in the world, while China tops the tally with 167 such companies followed by the US which has 121, according to the Credit Suisse report. As per the Credit Suisse Research Institute's (CSRI) latest "CS Family 1000" report, with an average market capitalisation of USD 6.5 billion, India ranks 5th in Asia Pacific excluding Japan, and 22nd globally, in terms of average m-cap.

Gokul Natesan is the 97th pick in the NBA draft to became only the second Indian-origin player to be signed by an NBA G-League side. Amjyot Singh recently became the third Indian to walk into the National Basketball Association (NBA) league. The Managing Director for India of NBA is Yannick Colaco.

Lonely Planet, the travel guide company, ranked Chile as the number one country to visit in 2018, in its Best in Travel 2018 list. In the top 10 countries category, Chile was ranked the number one country. It was followed by South Korea and Portugal in the 2nd and 3rd positions.

Biocon, a Banglore based company, is the first Indian company, which was ranked ninth in the Science Careers Top 20 Employers Survey 2017. Biocon has been recognised for 'being an innovative leader in the industry', 'having a clear vision' and 'being socially responsible'.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, EK Palaniswami laid the foundation stone for an aerospace park at Kanchipuram districk. This project will be jointly implemented by Tamil Nadu State Industries Promotion Corporation Ltd and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation. Post completion, the aerospace park will attract investments to the tune of Rs.1000 crore and will create 30000 job opportunities.

Saudi Arabia became the world's first country to grant citizenship to a robot, by granting citizenship to Sophia, an Artificially Intelligent (AI) robot. The robot, Sophia, was awarded citizenship of Saudi Arabia at the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh. Specific details of Sophia's citizenship were not discussed. Sophia was created by Dr. David Hanson, founder of Hanson Robotics. She has been designed to look like late American actress, Audrey Hepburn.

Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley has presented Letters of Intent (LOI) to seven shortlisted entities under the 'Adopt a Heritage Scheme'. LOIs were presented at the closing ceremony of 'Paryatan Parv' in New Delhi on October 25, 2017. Under this scheme, Ministry of Tourism invited private and public sector companies to adopt as many as 116 ASI-protected monuments/sites and to take up the responsibility for its maintenance, conservation and development.

World Day for Audiovisual Heritage is observed globally on 27 October every year across the world. The theme of this year is "Discover, remember and share". The General Conference of UNESCO approved the commemoration of a World Day for Audiovisual Heritage in 2005 as a mechanism to raise general awareness of the need to preserve and safeguard important audiovisual material for future generations.

The tiny Gulf state host of the 2022 football World Cup Qatar committed that it will introduce a minimum wage for workers in the country. The announcement was made by labour and social affairs minister Issa Saad al-Jafali al-Nuaimi. The announcement came a day before a meeting of the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, R. K. Singh addressed the 3rd Global Investors'India Forum in New Delhi. It was organized by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). Theme of this event was 'Ideate, Innovate, Implement and Invest in India'.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal launched the first set of solar plants with a total capacity of 5 megawatt in New Delhi area. The project is part of the government's National Solar Mission in which Indian Railways plans to commission one thousand Megawatt solar plants across its network. The railways are working towards speeding up its electrification and road-map for identifying various solutions to achieve larger goal of transforming Railways as a 100 per cent de-carbonised and most energy efficient.

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) and Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) signed a MoU to promote the growth of tourism traffic. SGK Kishore, CEO, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, Mohd Badlisham Ghazali, MD, MAHB, and Abdul Khani Daud, Deputy Director General (Promotion), MTPB signed, the MoU in the presence of Hidayat Abdul Hamid, High Commissioner of Malaysia. At present, 10 domestic carriers connect Hyderabad with 39 domestic destinations. Also, the airport connects 18 international destinations with 16 foreign and 3 Indian carriers.