Current Affairs - October 28, 2017 Current Affairs

The World Day for Audiovisual Heritage (WDAH) is observed every year on October 27 to raise general awareness of the need to preserve and safeguard important audiovisual material for future generations, and for urgent measures to be taken to conserve this heritage and ensure it remains accessible to the public now, and to future generations. The 2017 theme is "Discover, remember and share".

The Infantry Day is celebrated every year in India on October 27 to commemorate the first Infantry action post independence. On this day 70 years ago, in response to the threat posed to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation, the leading elements of the Indian Army from the 1st Battalion of the SIKH Regiment, air landed at Srinagar. This bold action by Indian Army and resolute fighting by the Infantrymen reversed the tide of events and thwarted the nefarious designs of Pakistani Raiders aided by Pakistan Army.

India and the United States have agreed to implement the programme for Helicopter Operations from Ships other Than Aircraft Carriers (HOSTAC). This decision was taken during a meeting between Indian Defense Minister, Ms. Nirmala Sitharama and US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis. Besides taking a decision on HOSTAC, range of other initiatives to strengthen US-India defense cooperation and enhance India s leadership role in the Indo-Pacific were also discussed during this meeting.

India overtake the US to become the world s second-largest smartphone market, trailing only China, according to a new report by analyst firm Canalys. In the second quarter of 2017, India s smartphone market recovered quickly with shipments growing 23% year-on-year in the third quarter to reach just over 40 million units. Low smartphone penetration and the explosion of LTE (long-term evolution, or 4G) are the main drivers behind this.

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) became the first Indian company to cross Rs 6 trillion market capitalization after its shares surged over 75% so far this year and hit a fresh lifetime high. Currently, its market cap is at Rs 6.02 trillion. The recent rally in the stock was due to tariff hike by its telecom arm Reliance Jio which, analysts expect, will improve the company s profitability. Jio increased its tariff by 15% for its popular 84-day plan at Rs 459, under which subscribers get 1GB 4G data at high speed per day.

Karnataka state cabinet approved a policy which seeks to provide legal protection to transgender community and thereby safeguard them from social and sexual exploitation. The objective of this policy is to remove the stigma attached to the transgender community and integrate them into mainstream of the society. Reservation will be provided to transgender individuals in all levels of education.

The 4th ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM)-Plus was held in Clark, Philippines. It was hosted by the Philippine Department of National Defence. The meeting was chaired by Secretary of National Defence of the Philippines Delfin Lorenzana. Defence department leaders from 10 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) nations and 8 dialog partners participated. They delivered speeches on regional security situations and issues of common concern.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated two-day International Conference on Consumer Protection for east, south and Southeast Asian countries in New Delhi. This conference is being hosted by the Department of Consumer Affairs under Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Theme of this conference is Empowering Consumers in New Markets .

African country Burundi has withdrawn from International Criminal Court (ICC) with effect has thus become the first nation. International Criminal Court is an international tribunal (located in Hague, Netherlands) having authority to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri Kiren Rijiju inaugurated the Special Centre for Disaster Research at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi. The centre will offer Masters and Doctorate programmes in Disaster Risk Management (DRM). For the first year, the centre will focus on disaster research in North Eastern states of India.

Veteran writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar has been honoured with the 2017 Hridaynath Mangeshkar Award at an event in Mumbai which marked the 28th anniversary of Hridayesh Arts and the 80th birthday of veteran music composer Hridaynath Mangeshkar.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a $65.5 million loan agreement in New Delhi to continue interventions to check coastal erosion on the Western Coast in Karnataka. The loan is the Second Tranche of a $250 million financing facility under the Sustainable Coastal Protection and Management Investment Program. The financing will be used to address the immediate coastal protection needs and for strengthening institutional capacity of Karnataka s Public Works, Ports and Inland Water Transport Department.

The 14th South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation in Law (SAARCLAW) Conference has started in Colombo, Sri Lanka along with the 11th SAARC Chief Justices Conference on October 27, 2017. The three-day conference was inaugurated by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and will see participation from South Asia s top Judges, legal practitioners and academics. The conference provides a platform for legal professionals to meet and discuss issues of mutual interests and emerging legal trends in the South Asian countries. The conference will deal with issues like artificial intelligence, human trafficking, FDIs and environmental protection concerns.

Indian software company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has signed a pact with the National University in the Philippines to launch a comprehensive training programme aimed at enhancing the skills of university graduates for the job market. Under this scheme, 5000 students of National University, Philippines will have access to digital courses, updated curriculum, faculty training, workshops and internships which will train them to acquire skills required in Information Technology (IT) and ITeS (IT Enabled Services) sector.

According to Forbes magazine, Jeff Bezos surpassed Bill Gates as the richest person in the world. The fortune of Amazon's founder reached some $90.6 billion, compared with the $90.1 billion that the online edition of the magazine attributes to Gates.