29 September 2017 Current Affairs
India and Norway sign Letter of Intent to bilateral extend health cooperation
India has signed Letter of Intent (LoI) with Norway to extend cooperation within health sector through Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI) for period of three years starting from 2018. Through this LoI, cooperation between both countries will continue to be aligned with development goals of India as outlined in its National Health Policy, 2017 for achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Gujarat to be first big state to use EVMs with VVPAT
Gujarat will become first big state to use Electronic Voting Machine (EVMs) equipped with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in coming Assembly elections to make election process more transparent. It was announced by Election Commission of India. Gujarat will be second state after Goa to use VVPAT system for the Assembly elections in entire state. The VVPATs will cover all 50,128 polling booths during 2017 Gujarat Assembly elections. As many as 70,182 VVPAT machines will be used during election elections. Earlier, VVPATs were used on pilot basis in limited polling booths of state in 2012 elections.
For the First Time, Five Indian Shuttlers in Top-20 of BWF Men’s Rankings
For the first time, Five Indians are in the top-20 of the BWF men’s singles rankings with H S Prannoy being the biggest gainer after his quarterfinal showing at the Japan Open. Prannoy has jumped four places to be world no.15.
The 5 Indian Shuttlers in the top 20 BWF men’s singles rankings are-
Kidambi Srikanth (8th)
HS Prannoy (15th)
B Sai Praneeth (17th)
Sameer Verma (19th)
Ajay Jayaram (20th)
Madhya Pradesh bags ‘Best Tourism State’ Award
Madhya Pradesh has won the ‘Best Tourism State’ national award for the third consecutive year. President Ram Nath Kovind handed over the award, named as ‘Hall of Fame Award’, to Minister of State for Tourism Surendra Patwa at a ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. The state bagged total 10 awards in this programme, organised on the occasion of World Tourism Day (27 September). Madhya Pradesh also received a national award for Film Promotion Policy in the category of Best Film Promotion Friendly State/Union Territory.
Russia destructed its last Chemical Weapons
Russia has liquidated the last arsenals of chemical weapons in the Southwest of the country, 3 years ahead of schedule. In 2010, Moscow set a 2015 target date for eliminating its chemical stockpile and later extended it to 2020. Russia & United States are parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which required them to destroy their stockpiles by 2007 with a potential extension until 2012.
India jumps to 14th rank as best country for expats: HSBC
India leapt up the global rankings by 12 places to take the 14th spot in terms of best country for expats to live and work in, says a HSBC survey. The list, which is topped by Singapore, is part of HSBC’s latest ‘expat explorer survey’ that covered 27,587 expats from 159 countries and territories in March and April this year.
Union Finance Minister releases book on Financial Management
The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Arun Jaitley along with the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Shri N. Chandrababu Naidu released a book on financial management in New Delhi. The book titled “A to Z of Financial Management in Autonomous Institutions” is authored by Dr. Rajat Bhargava and Shri Deenanath Pathak.
Rajiv Sabharwal to take charge as Tata Capital CEO
Tata Capital announced the appointment of Rajiv Sabharwal as Managing Director & CEO designate of the company. Sabharwal will be joining Tata Capital in January 2018 and would be taking over from the company’s current Managing Director & CEO Praveen P Kadle. Mr Kandle will be assuming other responsibilities in the Tata Group effective April 1, 2018. Sabharwal is currently a partner at True North Managers LLP, formerly India Value Fund Advisors. He was an Executive Director on ICICI Bank’s board before joining True North.