Daily Current Affairs, 05th November 2018

1) National Ayurveda Day: 5 November

•Ministry of AYUSH observes Ayurveda Day every year on Dhanawantari Jayanti (Dhanteras). This year Ayurveda Day is being observed on 5th November 2018. On this occasion, Ministry has organized a “National Seminar on Entrepreneurship and Business Development in Ayurveda” in association with NITI Aayog at Dr. Ambedkar International centre, Janapth, New Delhi, with the intention to encourage entrepreneurs and Ayurveda stakeholders towards businesses opportunities in the sector.

2) 18th Indian Ocean Rim Association Council of Ministers Meeting Held in Durban

•The 18th Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Council of Ministers Meeting was held in Durban, South Africa. Gen.(Dr.) VK Singh (Retd.), Minister of State for External Affairs, attended the IORA Council of Ministers Meeting.

•This meeting took place during the on-going celebrations of the 150th year of the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and the 100th birth anniversary of Nelson Mandela.

3) India, Zimbabwe Sign 6 Agreements In Various Fields

•During the visit of Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu, India has agreed for the deputation of experts in five fields to assist Zimbabwe. Around 6 agreements in various fields were signed in areas including Mining, Visa waiver, Broadcasting and Culture. India will extend Line of credits of more than 350 million US Dollars to Zimbabwe for two power projects and a drinking water project.

•India will give about 3 million US dollar grant for upgradation of Indo-Zim Technology centre. Assistance for construction of Mahatma Gandhi Convention Centre in Zimbabwe will also be granted by India. The Vice President is on a visit to 3 African nations namely Botswana, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

4) RBI Allows Banks To Provide Partial Credit Enhancement of NBFC Bonds

•The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed banks to provide partial credit enhancement (PCE) to bonds issued by systemically important non-deposit taking non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) registered with the RBI and housing finance companies (HFCs) registered with the National Housing Bank.

•The move is aimed at enhancing the credit rating of the bonds and enabling these NBFCs to access funds from the bond market on better terms. PCE, which was introduced in 2015, will help NBFCs and HFCs raise money from insurance and provident or pension funds who invest only in highly-rated instruments.

5) Reliance receives India’s 1st LC Payment via Blockchain

•In a first for India, HSBC Holdings Plc has executed a trade finance transaction using blockchain for an export by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to US-based Tricon Energy. The blockchain-enabled letter of credit (LC) transaction substantially reduced the time taken for such deals.

•The use of blockchain offers significant potential to reduce the timelines involved in the exchange of export documentation from the extant 7-10 days to less than a day. The transaction allowed a digital transfer of the title of goods from the seller to the buyer.

6) Subhankar Dey Wins SaarLorLux Open Badminton Tournament

•In Badminton, Subhankar Dey has won the SaarLorLux Open at Saarbrucken in Germany. In the summit clash, the unseeded Indian defeated fifth-placed Rajiv Ouseph of Britain, in straight games, in what was the first encounter between the two shuttlers.

•This is Subhankar’s first title of 2018. Earlier, he had finished runner-up in the Kabal International tournament at the Czech Republic.