Current Affairs 30th November 2017

Current Affairs 30th November 2017 - Important Points

• Oxford honour stripped off by - Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi
• PM Narendra Modi launches Hyderabad Metro Rail Project on - 28th November 2017
• US-India Business Council launched WISE Initiative in India on - 27th November 2017
• Gold medal won by Mirabai Chanu at -  World Weightlifting Championship
•  Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched Paytm Payments Bank on - 29th November 2017
•  Defense Ministry approves procurement of 260 naval communication sets on - 29th November 2017
• Top awards at Indian Sports Honours 2017 were awarded to - Srikanth, Sindhu

Current Affairs 30th November 2017 - Details

Oxford honour stripped off by - Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi 

Nobel Peace laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been stripped of the ‘Freedom of Oxford award’ due to her inaction in the escalating Rohingya issue.
The Oxford City Council voted unanimously on 27th November 2017 to forever revoke the ‘ Freedom of the City’ honor awarded to Suu Kyi in 1997, which she herself collected in 2012, after going for 15 years house arrest.

Important Highlights

• In an official release, Councilor Mary Clarkson said that when Sung San Suu Kyi was presented the ‘Freedom of the City’ in 1997, it was due to her reflected Oxford’s values of tolerance and internationalism and as a celebration of her resistance to oppression and military rules in Burma.
• However, the councilor told that the council has now resolute to strip her of the city’s highest honor due to her inaction in the face of oppression of the minority Rohingya population.
• The councilor told that this was their way of addition of their voice to that of others calling for human rights and justice for the Rohingyas.
• The councilor further summed saying that Oxford has a vast tradition of being a diverse and humane city and their status would be tarnished by honoring those who turn a blind eye against violence.
• Suu Kyi, the 72-year-old Burmese State Counselor, at a position same as that of the Prime Minister, has been widely criticized for turning a blind eye for the violence and military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine state that pushed more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims to looking for refuge in Bangladesh, creating one of the world's largest refugee crisis.
• While the UN has explained the violence and mass migration as 'a textbook example of ethnic cleansing', Suu Kyi has denied all the claims.
• It was only last week that Myanmar signed a memorandum with Bangladesh to allow the refugees to return home.

 PM Narendra Modi launches Hyderabad Metro Rail Project on - 28th November 2017

Prime Minister Modi  inaugurated the 1st phase of the 72-km Hyderabad Metro Rail project on 28th November 2017 . PM Modi also took a ride on the train on its initial run from Miyapur station to Kukatpally metro station.
The 30-km distance between Miyapur and Nagole in the 1st phase is the longest for any metro in the Nation at the time of inauguration. Moreover, PM Modi also initiated the mobile app named 'T Savari' for Metro passengers.

Highlights of Hyderabad Metro Rail project-

• The 1st phase of Hyderabad Metro Rail project has 24 stations in 30-km distance between Miyapur and Nagole.
• Hyderabad metro train is the largest project of its kind in the world in the public-private-partnership.
• The rails will run from 6 am to 10 pm initially and later it will be planned again to 5:30 am to 11 pm depending on the traffic and needs.
• Developed by L&T Metro Rail-Hyderabad Ltd, Hyderabad Metro Rail will have a least fare of Rs 10 for a distance of 2 km while the maximum fare is Rs 60 for travelling more than 26 kilometers.
• In the begining, each train will have 3 coaches and 330 people can travel in each. The number of coaches will be raised to 6 in future, depending on traffic.
• Around 546 security guards from private agencies will handle the stations on the Miyapur-Nagole area.
• The L&T Metro Rail-Hyderabad has positioned sophisticated CCTV cameras at all the stations and inside trains.
• The Hyderabad Metro Rail project was scheduled to be finished by June 2017 but land acquisition and other issues caused in its delay. The project began in July 2012.

US-India Business Council launched WISE Initiative in India on - 27th November 2017

The US-India Business Council on 27th November 2017 initiated a collaborative initiative for Women Entrepreneurs titled 'Women for Women Innovators, Social Leaders & Entrepreneurs'-WISE.
The program was initiated during USIBC’s Road to GES event 'Creating the Foundations of Innovation'.

Highlights of 'Women for Women Innovators, Social Leaders & Entrepreneurs' (WISE)

• WISE will be headed by Country Head of Intel India Nivruti Rai, Chairman of IBM India of Vanitha Narayanan, CMD of Biocon Limited of Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, MD of Kalaari Capital of Vani Kola, and Producer of Girl Rising Amita Vyas.
• The idea of the WISE initiative is 'women supporting women to participate in building the future of India'.
• WISE will going to work with crucial women leaders to offer mentoring, and development opportunities for women entrepreneurs to expand women’s participation in growing India’s economy.
• It will contribute a platform to engage multiple stakeholders to conceptualize and roll out programs to motivate women professionals, innovators and entrepreneurs.
• It will motivate a policy environment to grow the number of women innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders.
• It will offer training options and career assistance for women to help them advance appropriate skills.

More about US-India Business Council (USIBC)

• Started in 1975, the US-India Business Council is the leading business advocacy organization including 350 top-tier US and Indian organizations.
• USIBC is the huge bilateral trade association in the USA with liaison presence in New York, Silicon Valley, and New Delhi.
• It works as a direct link between businesses and government leaders to strengthen ties between the two countries.

Gold medal won by Mirabai Chanu at -  World Weightlifting Championship

Saikhom Mirabai Chanu became the 1st Indian in last two decades to win a gold medal at the World Weightlifting Championship in Anaheim, USA. With her medal she closed the page of her forgettable outing at the Rio Olympics.
Sukcharoen Thunya from Thailand with a total lift of 193 kg won the silver medal, while Segura Ana Iris with 182kg won the bronze.
Chanu came with the flying tri-color in Anaheim which was very different from the way things criticized in the Rio Olympics last year. She could not get an all-inclusive total in women’s 48kg after failing to lift the weight in any of her 3 attempts in clean & jerk section. Among the 12 lifters at the Rio Olympics Games, she was one of two lifters who did not finish her event.
Prior to her, only Karnam Malleshwari, Olympic bronze medalist, had won the peak prize in world's Championship 2-times in 1994 and 1995.
Few of the world’s top weightlifting Countries like  Kazakhstan, China, Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan could not take part in the competition due to doping issues.

More about Mirabai Chanu

• Saikhom Mirabai Chanu belongs to the Manipur, secured Gold medal in the 48 kg category at World Weightlifting Championship 2017 organized in Ahaheim, USA.
• In the past she had secured medals in Commonwealth games and silver medal in the women's 48 kg weight championship at the 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow. In the same fights the gold medal was secured by other Indian Weightlifter Khumukcham Sanjita.
• She is working with the Indian Railways also raised 85kg in snatch and 109kg in clean and jerk to total a magnificent 194kg in the women’s 48kg, in the process making a new national record.

 Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched Paytm Payments Bank on - 29th November 2017

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley officially inaugurated the 'Paytm Payments Bank', India's largest digital wallet organization on 29th November 2017.
Paytm Payments Bank focuses to bring Indians into 'digital economy'. With the inauguration of the Bank, Paytm account holders can enjoy the benefits including zero-balance account, free IMPS, NEFT, RTGS, UPI transactions and a complimentary virtual Rupay cards for online business.

Paytm Payments Bank
Paytm Payments Bank is India's 1st only mobile bank that offers zero balance accounts, zero digital transaction charges and free personalized RuPay digital debit card.
Paytm Payments Bank has a yearly subscription cost of Rs 100 excluding delivery charges for RuPay digital debit card.
Every online transaction (such as IMPS, NEFT, RTGS, and UPI) through the bank is free of any charge.
The bank also allows customers to take out cash from their RuPay digital debit card from any ATM.
Paytm Payments Bank account users will get an interest of 4% on their savings every month.
The account owners will also be provided a free insurance cover of up to Rs 2 lakh in case of death or permanent disability as per the terms and conditions.

Concept of Payment Banks-

• Payment Banks is new type of banks launched by the RBI to enlarge deposit and payments services to millions of non-banked Indians.
• A user can open a savings bank account in Payments Banks and have highest deposits of up to Rs 1 lakh. However, these banks do not lend money.
• On 19th August 2015, RBI gave in-principle licenses to 11 entities to launch payments banks.
  Presently, India has 4 operating Payments Bank including Paytm Payments Bank. The other 3 are Airtel Payments Bank, India Post Payments Bank and Fino Payments Bank.

 Defense Ministry approves procurement of 260 naval communication sets on - 29th November 2017

The Union Ministry of Defense on 29th November 2017 allowed procurement of 260 Software Defined Radios for the Indian Navy. The decision was made at a meeting of the Defense Acquisition Council led by Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The DAC is defense ministry’s high-level decision making body on procurement.
Key Highlights

• The naval communication sets have been obtained to scale up surveillance on the large seas.
• They will be the 1st batch of indigenously fabricated and developed ‘software defined’ radio sets.
• They will be replacing the present old systems on-board warships.
• The technology will upgrade information sharing through secure voice communications and data sharing capabilities on board the naval ships.
• The cost of the 260 communication sets is believed to be around Rs 490 crore.
• SDR technology is a radio communication gadget where components that have been traditionally executed in hardware are instead executed by means of software on a personal computer or implant system.
• The development of the communication gadgets was done out by Defense Electronics & Applications Laboratory of Defense Research and Development Organization.
• Bharat Electronics Limited will be the manufacturing agency.

Top awards at Indian Sports Honours 2017 were awarded to - Srikanth, Sindhu

The Inaugural edition of the Indian Sports Honors, which was held in Mumbai, witnessed Kidambi Srikanth and P V Sindhu hold the top honors.
While  Srikanth grabbed the Sportsman of the Year award, Rio Olympics silver medallist Sindhu grab the Sportswoman of the Year award in the individual sport section.

Important Points

• In the team sport, Ravichandran Ashwin, who just achieved the feat of becoming the fastest bowler to reach 'Club 300' in Test cricket, was honored Sportsman of the Year award, while women's cricket team captain Mithali Raj was honored Sportswoman of the Year award.
• The Indian Women's Cricket Team, who was the runners-up in the ICC Women's World Cup 2017, was tagged the ‘Team of the Year’.
• Other awards contained ’Coach of the year’, which was presented to Bisveshwar Nandi, the coach of gymnast Dipa Karmakar. The ‘Emerging Sportswoman of the year’ was given to golfer Aditi Ashok and the ‘Emerging Sportsman of the year’ given to athlete Neeraj Chopra.
• In the differently disabled category, the ‘Differently disabled Sportsman of the year’ award was given to Indian Paralympic javelin thrower Devendra Jhajaria and ‘Differently disabled Sportswoman of the year’ presented to Paralympic athlete Deepa Malik.
• While star tennis player Sania Mirza was honored the Inspirational Honor by the jury, country's 1st Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra was honored with the Transformational Contribution to Sport award.
• The Indian Sports Honors is a combine initiative by Indian Cricket captain Virat Kohli and Sanjiv Goenka to assist the development of Indian sports.