Daily important current affairs of 17 November 2018

This post contains important current affairs (National, International, Business and Sports) of 17 November 2018.

• IndusInd Bank has announced the launch of IndusInd Bank Nexxt Credit Card, which empowers customers with a choice of payment options such as EMI, Reward Points or Credit at the push of a button, on the card, at the point of sale (POS). The bank claims it to be the nation's first interactive credit card with buttons. According to the bank, this card provides customers with the flexibility of 3 payment options at a POS terminal - Credit, Converting Transactions into EMIs with 4 tenure options (6, 12, 18 & 24 months) or using accumulated Reward Points, by simply pushing a button on the card.
• The Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a historic support and outreach programme for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector. As part of this programme, the Prime Minister unveiled12 key initiatives which will help the growth, expansion and facilitation of MSMEs across the country. There are five key aspects for facilitating the MSME sector. These include 1. access to credit, 2. access to market, 3. technology upgradation, 4. ease of doing business, and 5. a sense of security for employees.
• Myntra CEO Ananth Narayanan has said all of Jabong's functions will be integrated with the company and about 10% of the combined workforce would be cut.
• Vodafone Group appointed Sanjiv Ahuja as a non-executive director with immediate effect. Sanjiv Ahuja is the Chairman of Tillman Global Holdings, which was founded by him in 2013. He was Chief Operating Officer and President of Telcordia Technologies. He held various roles in Orange Telecommunications namely Chief Operating Officer, Chief Executive and Chairman. He was CEO and Chairman of wireless broadband companies LightSquared and Augere. He also founded and chaired Eaton Towers, a telecom infrastructure company, in Africa.

• Popular ad filmmaker and theatre personality Alyque Padamsee passed away in Mumbai. 90-year-old Padamsee was reportedly in bad health and had been ailing for quite some time. Padamsee played the role of Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Richard Attenborough's Oscar winner Gandhi. A veteran in the theatre and advertising world, Padamsee was known as the brains behind several iconic Indian ad campaigns including Lalitaji for Surf, the Liril girl under the waterfall, Hamara Bajaj and the MRF muscle man.
• Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched the 'Cow Samridhi Plus Scheme' to provide insurance coverage to dairy farmers in the state. The government subsidized scheme, as proposed, will give insurance coverage to dairy farmers at low premium rates. Moreover, farmers belonging to the general category will be getting 50% subsidy on premiums while those belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) category would get 70% subsidy on the premium.
• ndia and ADB have signed 3 important loan agreements in various fields/projects in New Delhi. The 3 Loan Agreements Signed between India and ADB are: A $300 million Loan Agreement to support lending by India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL). A $169 million loan as the First Tranche of a $500 million multi-tranche financing to develop climate-resilient water supply, sewerage, and drainage infrastructure in at least 10 cities in the State of Tamil Nadu. A $105 million loan to continue financing the transmission system upgrades in Himachal Pradesh for increased supply of hydropower to the state and the national grid.
• The 9th Session of the India-Kyrgyz Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation (IK-IGC) was held in New Delhi. The IK-IGC was co-chaired by The Union Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, and Mr. Kosmosbek Cholponbaev, Minister of Health, Government of the Kyrgyz Republic. India and Kyrgyzstan have identified potential sectors where both sides may engage in areas like healthcare and pharmaceutical, environmental and technical safety, agriculture, information, tourism and culture, textiles and clothing, banking, labor and social development, mines and standards, metrology and certification sector.
• South African president Cyril Ramaphosa will be chief guest at the 2019 Republic Day parade of India. With this, Ramaphosa would become 2nd leader from his country to attend the event. Former president Nelson Mandela was the chief guest at the 1995 parade. An anti-apatheid activist and a Mahatma Gandhi follower, Ramaphosa became the 5th president of South Africa after the resignation of Jacob Zuma in December 2017. In April 2018, he led around 5,000 people at the annual 'Gandhi Walk' event in Lenasia near Johannesburg, to promote community awareness and fitness. Hence, the move to invite Ramaphosa also coincides with Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary. South Africa is also a key BRICS association partner for India. Generally, chief guests of the parade are heads of states of countries that are strategically important to India, or heads of neighbouring countries.
• Union minister of state for Ayush Shripad Naik laid the foundation stone for the All India Institute of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy at Dhargal, North Goa. The project will be a medical hub and will contribute to research due to its proximity to the biodiverse Western Ghats and the sea. The institute will house a 100-bed hospital, outpatient department and a research centre; and offer postgraduate and PhD courses. It will also boost tourism in Goa by offering various short-term courses on yoga and naturopathy.
• India's first specialised hospital for elephants was inaugurated by Agra Divisional Commissioner Anil Kumar in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura district - Churmura village. It offers laser therapy, hydrotherapy, quarantine facilities and has a medical hoist to lift elephants. It also has an observation deck that allows veterinary students and interns to observe elephants' behaviour.
• The 26th edition of Central and State Statistical Organizations(COCSSO) Conference was organized by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in collaboration with Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Government of Himachal Pradesh at Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh. The theme of the 26th Conference was "Quality Assurance in Official Statistics". COCSSO is an annual conference which provides a platform for the Central and State statisticians to exchange views and discuss common issues relating to statistical activities.

• International day of tolerance is observed of 16th November every year to educate people about the negative effects of intolerance and make people aware about the need of tolerance in society. It is an annual observance declared by UNESCO in 1995. The First ever World Tolerance Summit held in Dubai on November 15-16. It was organized by International Institute of Tolerance. Leaders from all over the world had visited the summit. The Theme of the Summit was 'prospering from Pluralism: Embracing Diversity through Innovation and Collaboration'. The aim of the summit was to discuss the importance of tolerance, equality and peace among the people of different religion, Color and race.
• The 5-Day long India- Taiwan SME Development Forum was held at Taipei, Taiwan. The Indian Delegation was led by Secretary MSME Dr. Arun Kumar Panda. Currently, there are over 63 million MSMEs across various industries that employ more than 111 million persons and produce more than 8,000 products, ranging from traditional to high-tech precision items. MSME is the second largest employment generating sector after agriculture.
• Oxford Dictionaries said it chose the word "toxic" after seeing a 45 per cent rise in the number of times it had been looked up on its website, adding that it was selected for capturing the ethos, mood and preoccupations of 2018. With the #MeToo movement putting a cross-industry spotlight on toxic masculinity, and watershed political events like the Brett Kavanaugh Senate judiciary committee hearing sparking international debate, the term toxic masculinity has well and truly taken root in the public consciousness and got people talking in 2018. In 2017, its Word of the Year was "youthquake", defined as "a significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people".
• French President Emmanuel Macron and Morocco's King Mohammed VI have inaugurated Morocco's first high-speed rail line, the first ever such line in Africa. Known as the LGV, it will connect the economic hubs of Tangier and Casablanca in 2 hours 10 minutes at a speed of up to 320 kph (199 mph) instead of almost 5 hours on a regular train. The $2 billion project was launched in September 2011 by the king and Nicolas Sarkozy, then president of France. France financed 51 percent of the project, Morocco 28 percent and the remaining 21 percent was provided by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Morocco bought 12 high speed trains from French train manufacturer Alstom

• Second seed Dhruv Sachdeva defeated the top seed Siddhant Kishore Sharma and secured 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 in the boys' final of the IOCL All India Tennis Association (AITA) Championship 2018 series junior tennis tournament held in New Delhi organized by Grand Slam Tennis Foundation.
• India is hosting the 2018 Women's Boxing World Championships in New Delhi from November 15-24. This 10th edition of the tournament is set to be the biggest ever as more than 300 boxers from 72 countries will be taking part. This time, the 10-member Indian team, led by Mary Kom, is a mix of seasoned and young boxers. Earlier, the tournament was held in India in 2006 and remains the best for the country in terms of performance. India had topped the table with four gold, three silver and one silver and three bronze medals.

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