Current Affairs 2017 November

World’s highest motorable road constructed in Ladakh.

• The Border Roads Organization (BRO) has constructed the world’s highest motorable road in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.
• The road which is constructed will pass through Umlingla top at a height of over 19,300 feet.
• The feat was achieved under ‘Project Himank’ of the organization.
• The Project Himank has already constructed roads like Khardangu La at an altitude of 17,900 ft and Changla Pass at 17,695 ft in Leh by connecting Nobra valley and Durbuk valley in the cold desert.CBDT signs 7 more unilateral APAs with taxpayers.

• The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has signed seven more advance pricing agreements (APAs) with Indian taxpayers.
•  It is looking to reduce litigation by providing certainty in transfer pricing.
• The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has entered into seven more Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) during October 2017.
• With the signing of these agreements, the total number of APAs entered into by the CBDT has gone up to 184, which includes 171 unilateral and 13 bilateral APA.

Indian Army launches software to manage logistics.

• The Indian Army launches a software application to manage logistics at the unit level with speed, accuracy and transparency.
• The development of Integrated Quarter Master Package is made by the Army Software Development Centre along with TCS.
• The army said the new application will play an important role in achieving automation of the Indian Army.

Former Trinamool leader Mukul Roy finally joins BJP.

• Mukul Roy the former Trinamool Congress leader joins BJP in Delhi.
• Roy stuck to the script he has been preparing for himself for some time by becoming the senior-most Trinamool politician to join the BJP.
• BJP leaders made it clear that Roy’s induction followed a go-ahead from Amit Shah himself.

RCom to shut voice calls from Dec 1.

• Loss-making telecom operator Reliance Communications will shut down voice call service from December 1.
• The Reliance Communications customers can move to other networks by the end of the year, as per direction issued by telecom regulator Trai.

China made the agreement with Vietnam on managing South China Sea dispute.

• China and Vietnam have reached agreement on managing their dispute in the South China Sea through friendly talks.
• Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Vietnam next week to attend a summit of Asia Pacific leaders.
• China and Vietnam have been at loggerheads over the South China Sea through which more than $3 trillion in cargo passes every year.

MHRD to organize National Workshop on School Education.

• Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) is organizing a two-day National Workshop on School Education.
• It starts from 6th November 2017 to 7th November 2017 to bring together key stakeholders from various NGOs, private sector and individuals to deliberate on key themes in the education sector.
• The workshop will focus on the five themes of Digital Education, Physical Education, Value Education, Life Skills Education and Experiential Learning.

Nepal opens the bridge built with India help near China border – Current Affairs November 2017

• Nepal inaugurated a bridge built with India’s financial assistance of $430,626 on the Kaligandaki river near China border.
• The newly-constructed Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) bridge was inaugurated by Ambassador of India to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri.
• The bridge at Jomsom area in Mustang district not only provides direct motorable connectivity to people of Mustang but also benefits thousands of tourists and pilgrim.

India beat China to win women’s Asia Cup hockey title.

• Indian women’s hockey team defeated China 5-4 in the shoot-out to win women’s Asia Cup hockey title.
• With this win, India booked their ticket to the FIH World Cup in 2018.
• India last won the Asia Cup title in 2004, when they beat Japan 1-0 in Delhi.

November 2017 Current Affairs 

Railways launch the main arch on world’s highest bridge on Chenab.

• The Indian Railways launches the main arch of the world’s highest bridge on the River Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir.
• The iconic bridge will soar 359 metres above the bed of the River Chenab and will be 30 metres higher than the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris.
• The bridge forms the crucial link in the 111-km stretch between Katra and Banihal which is part of the Udhampur- Srinagar-Baramulla section of the Kashmir Railway project.

Revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia takes the appointment as finance secretary – Current Affairs November 2017

• Revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia has been designated as the new finance secretary.
• Hasmukh Adhia is a 1981 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre.
• The vacancy is left After Ashok Lavasa left last month there is a vacancy for that position.

West Ham United sack their manager Slaven Bilic.

• West Ham United have sacked manager Slaven Bilic after they dropped into the relegation zone.
• The Croatian replaced Sam Allardyce in June 2015 and led West Ham to a seventh-place finish in his first season.
• Former Everton, Manchester United and Sunderland manager David Moyes, who is currently out of work, has been strongly linked with the position.

Kamal Hassan enters politics and brands himself as ‘Citizen K’ – Current Affairs November 2017

• Unlike Rajinikanth, actor Kamal Haasan has taken the political plunge.
• On his 63rd birthday, Kamal Haasan said he will undertake a tour of the state to understand people’s problems in the month of January.
• Branding himself as ‘Citizen K’ he said, I will be touring TN, not as an artist, but as citizen K.
• Kamal says he will give the party a name after meeting the people.

Syria joins Paris agreement on climate change.

• Syria made an announcement during the United Nations climate talks that it would sign the Paris agreement on climate change.
• The move came after Nicaragua signing the agreement last month.
• Now it will leave the United States as the only country that has rejected the global pact.

Stephen Hawking says the earth will turn into a fireball by 2600 – Current Affairs November 2017

• British physicist Stephen Hawking has warned that the human race will perish on Earth as growing population and massive power consumption.
• He says the above factor would turn the planet into a sizzling fireball in less than 600 years.

Olympic marathon champion Sumgong gets a four-year ban for EPO.

• Olympic marathon champion Jemima Sumgong of Kenya has been banned four years for using the banned blood-booster EPO.
• Sumgong’s ban was announced by the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya.
• Last year, Sumgong became the first Kenyan woman to win Olympic gold in the marathon.

PM Modi, Sheikh Hasina and Mamata Banerjee flag off Kolkata-Khulna train service.

• A new passenger train service between Kolkata and Bangladesh’s southwestern industrial city of Khulna took start on 10th Nov.
• It was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sheikh Hasina and West Bengal chief minister.
• A fully air-conditioned weekly passenger train service ‘Bandhan Express’ will run every Thursday from both Kolkata and Khulna.
• They also inaugurated two bridges over the rivers Meghna and Titas in Bangladesh.

Virender Sehwag included in NADA’s Anti-Doping Appeal Panel.

• Legendary opener Virender Sehwag and former Delhi player Vinay Lamba have been made members of the Anti-Doping Appeal Panel (ADAP) of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).
• Sehwag and Lamba, who played 76 first-class matches for Delhi between 1967 and 1981, are in the six-member panel headed by retired judge R V Easwar.

Qatar appoints women to Shura Council for the first time.

• Qatar appointed women to one of its most important consultative bodies, the Shura Council, for the first time in the country’s history.
• The announcement comes as Qatar continues to deal with the impact of the worst and most bitter diplomatic crisis in the Gulf for years.
• The women who got the appointment are Hessa al-Jaber, Aisha Yousef al-Mannai, Hind Abdul Rahman al-Muftah and Reem al-Mansoori.
• These four women will sit on the 45-strong council, which is responsible for discussing draft laws approved by the cabinet.

Odisha and West Bengal to organize joint security exercise ‘Sagar Kavach’.

• The governments of Odisha and West Bengal will organize a joint security exercise called ‘Sagar Kavach’ to tighten the coastal security along their 630 km long coastline.
• “Sagar Kavach” exercise is a drill to check the efficiency and preparedness of various security forces like the Indian Navy, Marine police force, Indian Coast Guard (ICG), Forest Department, Fisheries and district administration.
• Personnel from the Indian Navy, Coast Guard at Paradip and Haldia, 18 marine police stations in Odisha and 12 police stations of West Bengal will be participating in the exercise.
• The teams of Customs and port officials, fisheries department officials will also take part in the drill.
• West Bengal Coast Guard Commander MA Warsi said the drill is to re-evaluate the existing Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) mechanisms.

Former French culture minister to head UNESCO.

• UNESCO member states approved the nomination of France’s former culture minister Audrey Azoulay to head the agency.
• Audrey Azoulay, 45, became UNESCO’s second woman director general.
• Azoulay, was the culture minister under former president Francois Hollande, she will succeed Irina Bokova, who was UNESCO’s first woman director and whose second term expires this month.
• Azoulay narrowly defeated Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari of Qatar, also a former culture minister, in last month’s election.