1) National Press Day: 16 November
•National Press Day is celebrated on November 16 to commemorate the establishment of the Press Council of India.
•Formed in 1966, the Press Council keeps a check on the quality of reportage provided by the Indian press. It also ensures that journalistic objectivity is not compromised due to "influence or threats of any extraneous factors."
2) Government Launched Bharat 22 ETF
•The government launched the ‘Bharat 22’ exchange traded fund (ETF) managed by ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, targeting an initial amount of about Rs8,000 crore.
•The ETF is part of the government’s overall disinvestment programme and mirrors the S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index, which comprises select companies from the CPSE (central public sector enterprises) universe, stakes held under the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI), and state-run banks.
3) R.K. Singh Launches ‘Saubhagya’ Web-Portal
•Shri R.K. Singh, Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, launched the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – ‘Saubhagya’ Web Portal.
•The portal can be accessed at http://saubhagya.gov.in.
4) UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Conference 2017 Held in Canada
•Canada hosted the 2017 UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Conference in Vancouver, Canada. This conference is the largest gathering of Defence ministers dedicated to UN Peacekeeping.
5) Indians Second-Highest Public Bingers in the World: Study
•Binge watching in public is the new trend in India, and Indians are the second-highest public bingers in the world (88 percent), just behind Mexico (89 percent), according to a survey released by online streaming platform Netflix.
•The survey was conducted by SurveyMonkey from August 24 – September 7, 2017, and based on 37,056 responses.
6) RBI Rejects HDFC Bank's Request to Declassify HDFC as FII
•The Reserve Bank of India has reportedly rejected HDFC Bank's plea to declassify its parent Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC) as a foreign institutional investor (FII).
•The RBI has rejected the request citing current rules which require HDFC to be classified as FII. The move will have an impact on HDFC Bank's fundraising program from qualified institutional placement (QIP). FIIs being barred from investing in the bank will limit the fundraising options as it can only be raised from domestic investors.
7) BSE Appoints S Ravi as its New Chairman
•Eminent chartered accountant Sethurathnam Ravi has been appointed as the chairman of the leading Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
•Ravi, who was a public interest director at the BSE, replaced Dhirendra Swarup. The appointment has been approved by Market regulator SEBI.
8) Paes and Raja Lifts Knoxville Challenger Title
•Indian tennis duo of Leander Paes and Purav Raja lifted the Knoxville Challenger title after clinching a fighting win in the finals of the men's doubles event in Tennessee.
•The top-seeded pair fought hard in two consecutive tie-breakers to defeat the American-Australian duo of James Cerretani and John Patrick Smith 7-6, 7-6 in the summit showdown of the USD 75,000 hard-court event. It is the first-ever title of Paes and Raja after they joined forces earlier this year in August.
