Weekly Current Affairs November 2017: Week II

Banking and Financial Awareness

23rd GST Council meeting was held in Guwahati, Assam in which the council decided to slash tax rate on a wide range of mass use items.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has simplified the Foreign Exchange Management Regulations, to encourage investments.
Bank of China has formally started its operations in Pakistan. The first branch was opened at Karachi.
The government has doubled the import duty on wheat to 20 percent.
The government of India has formed a panel of experts, led by M Vinod Kumar to review the laws governing goods and services tax.
HDFC bank has announced to make online transactions through RTGS and NEFT free of cost from November 1, 2017.
After 7th Pay Commission, the Home Loan limit for central government employees has been raised from Rs.7.5 Lakh to Rs.25 Lakh.
RBI released new outsourcing norms for NBFCs that they cannot outsource Core management functions.
Federal Bank got a grant from RBI to open branches in Kuwait and Singapore.
IDFC Bank has partnered with mobile wallet Mobikwik for launching a prepaid card.
Digital Payment company PayPal launched domestic operations in India.
ICICI launched India’s first Voice based International Remittance Service by partnering with Tech Giant Apple.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has appointed Sanjeev Kaushik a whole-time member of the board.
Hasmukh Adhia, Revenue Secretary has been named as the new Finance Secretary.

Thumri Queen late Girija Devi will be honoured with the prestigious Sumitra Charat Ram Award for Lifetime Achievement, posthumously.
CMC Skills’ Founder Ms. Maya Swaminathan Sinha was conferred with the 'Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2017' by ASSOCHAM.
Veteran actor Mohan Joshi was conferred with the prestigious Vishnudas Bhave award 2017.
UNHCR, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is to be conferred with Mother Teresa Memorial Award 2017.
Apollo Munich Health Insurance wins “General Insurance company of the year” 2017.

India ranks 7th in the Business Optimism Index, which is released by International Business Report.

National Education Day of India is celebrated on 11 November every year since 2008
World Science Day for Peace and Development is celebrated every year on 10th November.
Legal Services Day is celebrated every year in all states authorities of India on 9th of November.
World Tsunami Awareness Day is observed on 5th November.
International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict is observed on 6 November.

Eric Vuillard's book "L'ordre du jour" has won the Prix Goncourt Prize, a prestigious French award.

The joint military exercise India and Bangladesh, 'Sampriti-7' has commenced in Meghalaya and Mizoram.
Adani Power (Jharkand) has inked power agreement with Bangladesh Power Development Board.
Government of Kerala signed an MoU with Intel and UST Global

Guinea becomes a new member of India - initiated International Solar Alliance.
World Youth Forum is organized in Egypt, which was attended by Rajya Vardhan Singh Rathore, Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad-al Hariri resigned from his post.

The Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) organized the National Entrepreneurship Awards 2017 to mark the completion of three years of its establishment.
Ministry of Environment formed a seven-member committee to formulate measures to solve the problem of air pollution in the Delhi-NCR region.
India has been re-elected as a member of the executive board of the UN educational, scientific and cultural organization (UNESCO)
India Disaster Response Summit was jointly organised by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Facebook.
The government reconstituted a Multi-Agency Group, led by Sushil Chandra to investigate cases relating to the ‘Paradise Papers’ data disclosure.
Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, the Minister of Women & Child Development has launched an online complaint management system titled Sexual Harassment electronic–Box (SHe-Box)
The Indian Railways has achieved a milestone by launching the main arch of the world’s highest bridge on Chenab.
Ministry of Coal has launched “Grahak Sadak Koyla Vitara” App to benefit the customers of Coal India Limited.

Haryana has become the first state in the country to treat Hepatitis-C patients through oral medicine
The state government of Kerala has launched ‘She Pad’ scheme for 300 government schools, to provide free sanitary napkins.
Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam of Tamil Nadu has won the UNESCO Asia Pacific Award of Merit 2017 for cultural heritage conservation.
Goa is set to host the Nobel Prize Series-India 2018 which is scheduled from February 1 to 28 2018.
The famous Banaganapalle mangoes of Andhra Pradesh and Tulaipanji rice of West Bengal have been granted Geographical Indication (GI) by the Indian patent office.
The government of Telangana declared Urdu as Second Official language.

India boxer Mary Kom won the gold medal for the fifth time at the Asian Boxing Championship
Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal defeated PV Sindhu in the final match of Senior National Badminton Championship.
Indian shuttler H S Prannoy defeated Kidambi Srikanth in the final match of Senior National Badminton Championship.
India defeated China to win the women’s Asia Cup Hockey Title 2017.