Current Affairs 1st January 2018:
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Current Affairs Today: IMPORTANT DAY
Global Family Day:
- Global Family Day is celebrated each year on the 1st of January.
- It is celebrated mainly in the United States but other countries have started to participate in recent years.
- Traditionally, the first day of every year has always been regarded as the beginning of new things.
- It is customary to have New Year’s Resolutions which generally include some modifications in a person’s lifestyle and behaviour for the ultimate goal of leading a better life.
- Some examples are exercising regularly, quitting smoking and cutting down consumption of alcohol.
Current Affairs Today: NATIONAL
India and Pakistan exchange list of nuclear installations:
- India and Pakistan exchanged the list of nuclear installations and facilities covered under the Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear installations between the two countries.
- The exchange took place through diplomatic channels simultaneously at New Delhi and Islamabad.
- The Agreement, which was signed on 31st December 1988 and entered into force on 27th January 1991 provides, inter alia, that the two countries inform each other of nuclear installations and facilities to be covered under the Agreement on the first of January of every calendar year.
- This is the twenty-seventh consecutive exchange of such list between the two countries, the first one having taken place on 1st January, 1992.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Pakistan Capital | Islamabad |
| Pakistan Currency | Pakistani Rupee |
| Pakistan Prime Minister | Shahid Khaqan Abbasi |
14,500 crore generated through BHARAT 22 Exchange Traded Fund:
- An amount of Rs 14,500 crore has been raised through its BHARAT 22 Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), which was created to benefit long-term and retail investors by providing an opportunity to purchase equity stocks of government-run companies and earn stable returns.
- The objective of BHARAT 22 ETF is to invest in constituents (22 companies) of S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index and endeavour to provide returns before expenses, which closely correspond to the total returns of the index.
- The fund comprises of 22 stocks of listed Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), Strategic Holdings of Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SUUTI) and Public Sector Banks (PSBs).
Current Affairs Today: INTERNATIONAL
Saudi Arabia, UAE introduce VAT for first time:
- Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have introduced Value Added Tax (VAT) for the first time.
- The 5 per cent levy is being applied to the majority of goods and services. Petrol and diesel, food, clothes, utility bills and hotel rooms all now have VAT applied.
- But some outgoings have been made exempt from the tax or given a zero-tax rating, including medical treatment, financial services and public transport.
- Gulf States have long attracted foreign workers with the promise of tax-free living. But governments want to increase revenue in the face of lower oil prices.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Saudi Arabia Capital | Riyadh |
| Saudi Arabia Currency | Saudi Riyal |
| Saudi Arabia King | Ali Salman Ahmed Salman |
| UAE Capital | Abu Dhabi |
| UAE Currency | United Arab Emirates dirham |
| UAE President | Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan |
Venezuela raises minimum wage 40 %, stoking world’s fastest inflation:
- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced a 40 percent increase to the minimum wage.
- To counter price increases, Maduro has been raising the minimum wage, but quickening inflation coupled with a depreciating bolivar currency has plunged millions into poverty.
- Venezuelans will now earn some 797,510 bolivars a month, factoring in food tickets, or just over 7 Dollars on the widely used black market index.
- Millions will still be unable to afford three meals a day, while the increase is likely to stoke inflation further.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Venezuela Capital | Caracas |
| Venezuela Currency | Venezuelan Bolívar |
| Venezuela President | Nicolás Maduro |
New world record as Burj Khalifa lights up for 2018:
- The New Year revelers at Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE were enthralled with two spectacular record making events.
- Dubai’s Burj Khalifa did not just beam the highest searchlight but set a new Guinness World record for the largest eco friendly laser light show on a single building.
- Thousands had assembled to witness the five minutes of spectacular laser display which saw the world’s tallest building bathed in colourful lights.
- The dazzling display of the 2018 Ras Al Khaimah (another Emirate in UAE) New Year’s Eve Fireworks by Al Marjan Island – extending over a duration of 10 minutes – was set to action from 120 sites.
- The aerial shell had a diameter of 1,450 mm (145 cm). The shell packed 390 comet stars of size 100 mm each flowering into white, red and green, to recreate the colours of the National Flag.
- The spectacular firework display clinched the Guinness World Record title for the ‘Largest aerial firework shell.’
Germany set to start enforcing hate speech law:
- Germany is set to start enforcing a law that demands social media sites move quickly to remove hate speech, fake news and illegal material.
- Sites that do not remove “obviously illegal” posts could face fines of up to 50 million euros.
- The law gives the networks 24 hours to act after they have been told about law-breaking material.
- Social networks and media sites with more than two million members will fall under the law’s provisions.
- Facebook, Twitter and YouTube will be the law’s main focus but it is also likely to be applied to Reddit, Tumblr and Russian social network VK.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Germany Capital | Berlin |
| Germany Currency | Euro |
| Germany President | Frank-Walter Steinmeier |
Turkey, Russia signs S-400 missile system loan deal:
- Turkey and Russia have inked a loan agreement in Ankara for purchase of the S-400 missile defence system worth $2.5 billion.
- Russia will provide Turkey with four batteries of S-400 surface-to-air missile system under the deal and the latter will pay 45 per cent of the cost up front with Moscow providing loans to cover the remaining 55 per cent.
- The two countries had reached an agreement for the purchase, but have been discussing on a loan provided by Russia.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Turkey Capital | Ankara |
| Turkey Currency | Turkish Lira |
| Turkey President | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan |
| Russia Capital | Moscow |
| Russia Currency | Russian Ruble |
| Russia President | Vladimir Putin |
Current Affairs Today: STATE
Assam recognises 19 million as citizens in first NRC draft:
- The Assam government published its first draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) that includes the names of 1.9 crore people out of the 3.29 crore total applicants, recognising them as legal citizens of India.
- The rest of the names are under various stages of verification. This is a part draft. It contains 1.9 crore persons, who have been verified till now.
- The NRC is being updated in Assam for the first time after 1951 with the aim of identifying those who may have entered the state from Bangladesh after March 25, 1971 — a sensitive issue that led to a movement by the state’s indigenous people in the 1980s.
- Many fear an unabated influx, which has been going on for close to a century, is a threat to Assam’s identity.
- No timeline has been fixed for the release of the complete draft but the process, which is being monitored by the Supreme Court, could take a few more months.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Assam Capital | Dispur |
| Assam Chief Minister | Sarbananda Sonowal |
| Assam Governor | Jagdish Mukhi |
Arunachal Pradesh declared Open Defecation Free:
- Arunachal Pradesh emerged as the second state in the Northeast, after Sikkim, to be declared Open Defecation Free.
- The three remaining districts – Upper Subansiri, Siang and Changlang — were declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) officially.
- Arunachal has 21 districts and the state attained the feat much before the national deadline of October 2, 2019.
- The state government had cut short the ODF target by one year and 10 months ahead of the national target and set December 31 this year as the deadline.
- The project undertaken under Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) SBM (G) saw the light of day only after the state government extended an incentive of Rs 8,000 per toilet.
- This is in addition to the Centre’s support of Rs 12,000, raising the grant for constructing a toilet to Rs 20,000.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Arunachal Pradesh Capital | Itanagar, Guwahati (Judiciary) |
| Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister | Pema Khandu |
| Arunachal Pradesh Governor | BD Mishra |
Telangana government rolls out 24-hour free-electricity supply for farming sector:
- Telangana government rolled out 24-hour free-electricity supply for farming sector.
- About 23 lakh agricultural pumpsets across 31 districts of the state began getting uninterrupted electricity supply from zero hours on January 1 2018.
- With this, one of the assurances, to provide round the clock free electricity to farming sector, given by Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao during last elections has been fulfilled.
- This initiative of the state government has provided an assured source of irrigation to the agriculture land, out of which 84 per cent depend on tube wells and bore wells.
- Earlier, the free power supply to agriculture sector in the state confined to a few hours in a day and now the agricultural pumpsets will operate at the press of the button and also without any interruptions.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Telangana Capital | Hyderabad |
| Telangana Chief Minister | K Chandrasekhar Rao |
| Telangana Governor | E.S Lakshmi Narasimhan |
All police stations to have social media accounts in Telangana:
- All police stations in Telangana will have social media accounts in the New Year for communicating with people on a daily basis.
- All police stations will maintain a Facebook page and a Twitter handle to keep communicating with the community and reporting the activities to the respective community on a daily basis.
- They are declaring 2018 as the year of technology and citizen-friendly initiatives for the Telangana police.
- That means, all police wings in Telangana will implement technology and citizen friendly initiatives in the coming year in a planned way and in a mission-mode.
- The initiatives would be taken to the people and partnerships will be built with them.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Telangana Capital | Hyderabad |
| Telangana Chief Minister | K Chandrasekhar Rao |
| Telangana Governor | E.S Lakshmi Narasimhan |
Uttarakhand madrasas to take up Sanskrit as a subject:
- Madrasas in Uttarakhand are reportedly planning to teach Sanskrit to students, in a bid to make them acquire skills related to Ayurveda and Yoga.
- The Madrasa Welfare Society has written to CM Trivendra Rawat seeking his nod to appoint Sanskrit teachers.
- The base of ayurveda lies in Sanskrit. By learning Sanskrit, Muslim students will be able to compete for medical education.
- Sanskrit is the second official language in Uttarakhand, which has 82.97% Hindu population, as per 2011 census figures, and are followed by Muslims with 13.95%.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Uttarakhand Capital | Dehradun |
| Uttarakhand Chief Minister | Trivendra Singh Rawat |
| Uttarakhand Governor | Krishan Kant Paul |
Tiger census likely in Telangana in January 2018:
- The tiger census is expected to be taken up in Telangana next month. This would be the first census of the striped animals in Telangana after the formation of the state.
- The last such count was carried out in 2013-14 in the undivided Andhra Pradesh.
- (It will be taken up) mostly in third week or fourth of January, the field exercise (of the census) will be (for) five days.
- Tiger population in Telangana is estimated to be around 17. The census needs to be taken up throughout the country in January and February.
- The counting exercise also includes carnivorous animals and mega-herbivores (a large herbivore such as an elephant).
Current Affairs Today: BANKING and ECONOMY
Bandhan Bank to raise over Rs. 2,500 crore via IPO:
- Kolkata-based Bandhan Bank filed draft papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India for its initial public offer (IPO) to raise an estimated amount of over Rs. 2,500 crore.
- The IPO consists of a fresh issue of up to 9,76,63,910 equity shares and an offer for sale of up to 1,40,50,780 shares by International Finance Corporation (IFC) and up to 75,65,804 shares by IFC FIG Investment Company.
- The issue, which is the touted as the biggest banking sector IPO till date, is expected to raise over Rs. 2,500 crore.
- The equity shares are proposed to be listed on the BSE and NSE.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Bandhan Bank Headquarters | Kolkata |
| Bandhan Bank Tagline | Aapka Bhala, Sabki Bhalai |
| Bandhan Bank CEO | Chandra Shekhar Ghosh |
IndusInd Bank raises Rs 3,193 crore from overseas lenders to expand business:
- IndusInd Bank has raised $500 million (about Rs 3,193.75 crore) term loan from overseas lending bodies to expand its business.
- The private sector bank has concluded the syndicated term loan facility from a group of overseas investors.
- The fundraising, along with the funds raised during the ongoing financial year from multilateral institutions ADB and OPIC, will help the bank expand its lending to clients.
- The tenor of the loan is for three years and will be used for general banking purposes.
- Earlier in June, IndusInd Bank had raised $225 million (about Rs 1,445 crore) from the US government funding agency Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) for lending to small and medium enterprises.
- And in September, the bank had raised $200 million (about Rs 1,282 crore) loan from Asian Development Bank (ADB) to serve low-income women borrowers in rural areas.
| USEFUL INFO |
| IndusInd Bank Headquarters | Mumbai |
| IndusInd Bank Tagline | We Make You Feel Richer |
| IndusInd Bank MD and CEO | Ramesh Sobti |
Six public sector banks get ₹7,500 crore capital from government:
- The Centre has pumped in capital of ₹7,577 crore in various weak public sector banks.
- This capital infusion is timely and would help these banks shore up their capital adequacy as they close the books for the December quarter.
- The government has released ₹2,257 crore to Bank of India, which was recently placed under prompt corrective action by the Reserve Bank of India.
- The other big beneficiary of the latest capital infusion round is IDBI Bank, which has received ₹2,729 crore.
- While Central Bank of India has got capital support of ₹323 crore, Dena Bank has got capital support of ₹243 crore from the government.
- UCO Bank, another weak public sector bank, has got capital support of ₹1,375 crore. Bank of Maharashtra has received capital support of ₹650 crore.
Punjab National Bank hikes interest rate on term deposits by up to 1.25%:
- Punjab National Bank has effective January 1 hiked interest rates on domestic term deposits.
- For retail term deposits of less than Rs 1 crore, the interest rate has been revised from 4 per cent to 5.25 per cent in the maturity buckets of 7 to 29 days and 30 to 45 days.
- In the maturity bucket of 46 to 90 days, the interest rate stands revised to 6.25 per cent from 5.50 per cent.
- For the maturity bucket of 91 to 179 days, the interest rate has been revised upward to 6.25 per cent from 6 per cent.
- For domestic bulk term deposits of Rs 1 crore to Rs 10 crore, the interest rate stands hiked to 4.8 per cent from 4 per cent.
- In the case of maturity bucket of 46 days to 179 days, the interest rate has been hiked from 4 per cent to 4.9 per cent. For the maturity bucket of 180 days to less than one year, the interest rate has been hiked to 5 per cent from 4.25 per cent.
- In the maturity bucket of 1 year, interest rate has been hiked from 5 per cent to 5.5 per cent.
- For maturity bucket of above 1 year to 3 years, the interest rate has been hiked from 5 to 5.5 percent. In the maturity bucket of greater than three years to ten years, interest rate has been increased from 5 per cent to 5.25 per cent.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Punjab National Bank Headquarters | New Delhi |
| Punjab National Bank Tagline | The name you can bank upon |
| Punjab National Bank MD and CEO | Sunil Mehta |
Allahabad Bank ties up with NeSL:
- Allahabad Bank entered into an agreement with state-run National e-Governance Services Limited (NeSL) for utilizing the latter’s Information Utility Services envisaged under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
- NeSL, owned by the government, is the first Information Utility entity registered by Insolvency and bankruptcy Board of India under IBBI (IU) Regulations, 2017.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Allahabad Bank Headquarters | Kolkata |
| Allahabad Bank Tagline | A tradition of trust |
| Allahabad Bank MD and CEO | Usha Ananthasubramanian |
KKR gets Reserve Bank of India nod to start India’s 1st Foreign-owned ARC:
- US buyout giant KKR & Co has become the first foreign investor to fully own an asset reconstruction company (ARC) in India as it received approval from the Reserve Bank of India at a time when lenders are fighting with a pile of bad loans that have crippled their businesses.
- KKR, one of the most aggressive investors in financial services, plans to deploy a major chunk from its record Asia fund for buying troubled assets in the country.
- ARC would be a platform that enables us to work with the banks and reach into a resolution through bilateral talks rather than getting into NCLT tribunal and related issues.
- India’s banks are weighed down with $180 billion of stressed assets, acting as a brake on the growth prospects of the world’s fastest-expanding major economy.
Current Affairs Today: APPOINTMENTS
Pankaj Jain assumes charge as IIFCL Managing Director:
- Pankaj Jain, Joint Secretary in the Department of Financial Services (DFS), has assumed charge as the Managing Director of India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL).
- He will be holding additional charge of IIFCL along with his present position as Joint Secretary at DFS.
- IIFCL is a state-owned company focused on infrastructure financing and development.
- The Government had in end December last year assigned the additional charge of the post of Managing Director of IIFCL to Pankaj Jain, a 1990 batch IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre.
Vineet Chowdhary appointed as chief secretary to Himachal government:
- Vineet Chowdhary, a 1982 batch IAS officer of Himachal cadre, was as appointed chief secretary to the Himachal government.
- Chowdhary replaced Vidya Charan Pharka, who was appointed chief secretary on June 1, 2016, superseding six senior IAS officers, including Chowdhary who had proceeded on leave under protest.
- Pharka had superseded Deepak Shanan, Ajay Mittal, Vineet Chowdhary, Upma Chowdhary, Bharti Sihag and A R Sihag.
- Shanan has since retired while others are on central deputation as secretary or equivalent posts.
- Pharka, a 1983 batch officer, has now been posted as principal advisor to government.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Himachal Pradesh Capital | Shimla, Dharamsala(Second Capital in Winter) |
| Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister | Jai Ram Thakur |
| Himachal Pradesh Governor | Acharya Dev Vrat |
O P Singh is Uttar Pradesh’s new DGP:
- Om Prakash Singh will be the new Director General of Police of Uttar Pradesh.
- Om Prakash Singh will succeed incumbent Sulkhan Singh, whose tenure ends recently.
- Till the new appointee takes charge, Anand Kumar, additional director general (Law and Order) will look after the day-to-day affairs.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Uttar Pradesh Capital | Lucknow, Allahabad (Judiciary) |
| Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister | Yogi Adityanath |
| Uttar Pradesh Governor | Ram Naik |
Current Affairs Today: AWARDS
Indian-origin scientist awarded top British royal honour:
- Acclaimed York-based scientist Pratibha Laxman Gai has been named for damehood, the female equivalent of a knighthood, leading a number of people of Indian-origin from various walks of life in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List 2018 released.
- Gai, professor and acclaimed expert on electron microscopy based at the University of York, grew up in India and won the national science talent scholarship before winning another scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge.
- She is the fourth Indian-origin woman conferred with the honour since it was instituted in 1917, following Maharani Lakshmi Devi of Dhar (1931), educationist Asha Khemka (2014) and medicine academic Parveen Kumar (2017).
- She has been honoured for “services to chemical sciences and technology”.
Woman performs 105-hour non-stop yoga, attempts world record:
- Kavitha Bharanidaran, a Chennai resident, has attempted a new Guinness World Record for performing yoga continuously for over 105 hours.
- Kavitha Bharanidaran, who took five-minute breaks after each hour, started doing Yoga continuously from 7 AM on December 23, 2017.
- The 31-year-old, whose husband is her yoga teacher, broke the previous record of 103 hours of non-stop Yoga.
Current Affairs Today: SCIENCE
App to find people in areas without phone signals developed:
- Researchers at Spain’s Universidad de Alicante have developed an app that can find people in areas which do not have mobile signals.
- The app generates WiFi signals, which contain a user’s location, to ask for help within a range of several kilometres.
- Researchers also developed a portable receiver device, for rescue teams, that can detect signals to find the user.
- The system can also be used in emergency situations that arise as a result of earthquakes, floods or forest fires, where mobile phone infrastructure is often rendered useless.
Current Affairs Today: SPORTS
Indian golfer Shiv Kapur wins third Asian Tour title of 2017:
- Indian golfer Shiv Kapur produced a dramatic turnaround in the closing stages to win the Royal Cup and end the year on a high note by claiming his third Asian Tour title of 2017.
- The 35-year-old, who had just one win in almost 11 years till April this year, has now won three times in last eight months.
- Making it a great week for Indian golf was Gaganjeet Bhullar (66) who was sole third at 11-under 273, while Khalin Joshi (67) was sole sixth at 8-under 276.
- Jyoti Randhawa (72) finished tied 41st at one-over 285. Kapur first won on Asian Tour in his debut season in December 2005, but it took more than 11 years and four months for the next Asian Tour win, which came in April 2017.
- Now he has won three times in eight months. This latest win marks Kapur’s fourth Asian Tour win and sixth international title — he won twice on European Challenge Tour, too.
- Kapur, the only multiple winner on Asian Tour this year, is also the only Indian to have won three times on Asian Tour.
Viswanathan Anand wins bronze at World Blitz Chess Championship:
- Indian chess champion Viswanathan Anand clinched a bronze medal at the World Blitz Chess Championship in Riyadh.
- The bronze medal follows Anand’s gold-winning performance in the World Rapid Chess Championship a couple of days back.
- Classical World Champion Magnus Carlsen won the tournament, while Russian grandmaster Sergey Karjakin finished second in the tournament.
Sakshi Malik named in Indian women’s wrestling team:
- Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik was named in the Indian women’s wrestling team for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, after a selection trail held in Lucknow.
- Apart from Sakshi, who is in the 62kg category, other women grapplers who booked their berths for the 2018 Commonwealth Games are: Vinesh Phogat (50kg), Babita Kumari (54kg), Pooja Dhanda (57kg), Divya Karan (68 kg) and Kiran (76kg).
- The selection trial was held in six weight categories at the Sports Authority of India Training Center in Lucknow.
- The six freestyle wrestlers will also represent the country in the 2018 Senior Asian Wrestling Championship to be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Current Affairs Today: OBITUARY
Renowned educationist M V Pylee passes away:
- Renowned educationist M V Pylee passed away. He was 98.
- An authority on the Constitution of India and a pioneer in the field of management education in the country, Pylee had served as Vice Chancellor of Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) from 1977 to 1981.
- He was also a visiting professor at various foreign universities. Pylee was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2006.