09 November 2017 Current Affairs
Government doubles import duty on wheat to 20%
The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) under Union Finance Ministry has doubled import duty on wheat to 20% from 10% to curb cheap shipments and give positive price signal to farmers in ongoing Rabi season. It also imposed import duty of 50% on peas to check cheaper shipments from countries like Canada to boost domestic prices. The import duty on peas has been imposed to curb shipments and boost domestic prices.
Bank of China begins operations in Pakistan
Bank of China formally launched its operations in Pakistan, with its first branch inaugurated in Karachi. The bank would strengthen the “brotherly relations” between the two countries in the financial sector.
In a first, Kerala launched ‘She Pad’ scheme for School Girls
Kerala government launched “She Pad”, a scheme to distribute free sanitary napkins to girl students from classes VI to XII in government and aided private schools affiliated to the state school board. This is the first time that a state government is distributing sanitary napkins to school students. In this academic year, the scheme will be implemented in 300 schools in 114 panchayats by the Kerala Women Development Corporation with the support of local self-governing bodies.
India-Bangladesh inaugurated Train service between Kolkata and Khulna
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina jointly inaugurated the long-awaited direct train-service between Kolkata and Khulna through video-conferencing. The new train service is called Bandhan Express. It is the second cross-border train between the two neighboring countries. The train will run in either direction twice a week and cover the 177 km distance between Kolkata and Khulna within 4 1/2 hours.
Morocco launches earth observation satellite
Morocco has successfully launched an earth observation satellite called ‘Mohammed VI-A’. The satellite was launched by European consortium Arianespace’s Vega rocket from French Guyana Space Centre. The satellite will be used for mapping and land surveying activities along with regional development and agricultural monitoring.
EU launches election observation mission for Nepal Polls
The European Union Election Observation Mission was officially launched to monitor the general and provincial polls in Nepal which are scheduled for November 26 and December 7. Around 100 election observers from member countries of the European Union (EU) have been deployed to oversee the polls in the Himalayan nation. The EU has allocated 3.5 million euro for the entire election observation process.
Hong Kong is World’s Top City for International Visits
Hong Kong remains the world’s most visited city by international travelers in spite of strained relations with neighboring China. In a report on the top 100 city destinations that highlights the growth in Asian tourism market research firm Euromonitor International approved 25.7 million arrivals are expected in Hong Kong in 2017.