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International Current Affairs November 2nd Week 2017
Category : International Current Affairs
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 1. India and Bangladesh joint military combat exercise “Sampriti” begins in Meghalaya.

 
Army personnel of India and Bangladesh will take part in a joint training exercise `Sampriti-7` in Meghalaya and Mizorum starting today.
This is the 7th edition of the joint training exercise, which will end on November 18. The 13-day exercise will be conducted at India`s Jungle Warfare School at Vairengte in Mizoram and at the Joint Training Node at Umroi in Meghalaya.
 
The Inter Services Public Relation Directorate-ISPR of Bangladesh said that the main objective of the exercise is to conduct counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations in peace-keeping activities in the United Nations (UN).
 
"There will be 20 officers each from both the nations in the Command Post Exercise (CPX) as part of the brigade and battalion command posts. The Field Training Exercise (FTX) would see participation of one Infantry company each from the Bangladesh Army and elite Red Horns Division of the Indian Army," Bangladeshi News Media quoted an Army official.
 
The joint exercise was first held in Assam in 2011 and since then both the countries have been hosting the exercise alternatively. Last year, the training exercise was conducted in at Bangabandhu Cantonment in Ghatail of Bangladesh.
 
2. Tokyo’s AI ‘boy’ first bot to gain a residency.
 
An AI character was made an official resident of a busy central Tokyo district on Saturday, with the virtual newcomer resembling a chatty seven-year-old boy.
 
The boy named “Shibuya Mirai” does not exist physically, but he can have text conversations with humans on the widely used LINE messaging app.
 
Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward, an area popular with fashion-conscious young people, has given the character his own special residence certificate. This makes him Japan’s first, and maybe the world’s first, artificial intelligence bot to be granted a place on a real-life local registry.
 
Mirai, whose name means “future” in Japanese, is supposed to be a first grader at an elementary school. He can reply to messages and make light-hearted alterations to selfies he is sent.
 
Shibuya said the project aimed to make the district’s local government more familiar to residents and allow officials to hear their opinions.
 
“His hobbies are taking pictures and observing people. And he loves talking with people... Please talk to him about anything,” the ward said in a statement with Microsoft, the joint developer of the AI character.
 
2. Hong Kong is World`s Top City for International Visits.
 
Hong Kong is set to retain its status as the city most visited by international travelers this year in spite of strained relations with mainland China.
 
In a report published Tuesday, market research firm Euromonitor International said it estimates 25.7 million arrivals in Hong Kong this year, down 3.2 percent on 2016.
 
Thai capital Bangkok retains second place but its popularity has grown faster than Hong Kong’s, with arrivals up 9.5 percent at 21.3 million.
 
London is Europe’s top city, in third place with 19.8 million arrivals, but the report suggests it is set to be overtaken in the coming seven years as Asian cities soar in popularity.
 
The Asia Pacific region, according to author Wouter Geerts, Euromonitor’s senior travel analyst, remains the “standout region.”
 
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

3. Radha Mohan Singh inaugurates three-day Organic World Congress 2017 in Greater Noida.

10 November 2017 Current Affairs: Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Radha Mohan Singh inaugurated the three-day Organic World Congress – 2017 at India Expo Centre in Greater Noida.

The Organic World Congress (OWC) is organized once every three years in a different country.

The International Federation of Organic Farming Movements (IFOAM) and Organic Farming Association of India (OFAI) are organizing the event.

One of the highlights of the event is the exhibition of carefully preserved diverse indigenous seed varieties over generations.

55 seeds group from 15 Indian states showcase 4,000 varieties of seeds in the event.

4. Russian government shortens the academic year at some universities which will host the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The Russian government said on Friday that it was shortening the academic year at some universities in cities which will host the 2018 FIFA World Cup to make room in dormitories for police.

The decision drew protests from the country’s largest student union and underscored the concern Russia devotes to security at the marquee competition which will take place from June 14 to July 15.

“We are talking about thousands of students who paid a full year’s tuition and are now being told the semester will end a month early,” Russian Student Union chief Vasily Mikhailov told AFP.

The decision means that end-of-term exams usually taken in June will go ahead a month earlier -- a disruption that Mikhailov said has left both students and professors scrambling for a way to ensure a full-fledged education.

But the most frustrating thing is that we have not yet seen the actual government decree spelling out what is going on,” Mikhailov said in a telephone interview.

News that Russia intended to prematurely empty university dormitories in four host cities was first reported by the Kommersant business daily.

It said the education ministry and the Russian World Cup organising committee had “recommended” students be moved out to make space for the police and the newly-created National Guard.

Kommersant added that a lawmaker in the Urals host city of Yekaterinburg had obtained a copy of a directive saying interior ministry personnel had to be settled at the local dormitory by May 14.

Both the education ministry and the World Cup’s organisers promised to provide AFP with a full explanation of their decision once they had prepared a coordinated response.