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CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL
100% Houses in 25 States Electrified under Saubhagya Yojana
- The country achieved yet another milestone in the power sector with completion of electrification in 100% households in 25 states at year end.
- Only about 10.48 lakh households are left to be electrified in 4 states – Assam, Rajasthan, Meghalaya and Chhattisgarh.
- The central government launched ‘Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana’ (Saubhagya) in September 2017 to achieve the goal of universal household electrification in the country by 31 March, 2019
Veer Savarkar International Airport in Port Blair declared as an authorized Immigration Check post
- Veer Savarkar International Airport in Port Blair has been declared as an authorized Immigration Check post for entry into/exit from India with valid travel documents for all classes of passengers.
- This decision of the Union Government will open up the Port Blair Airport for direct international flight and immigration facilities.
- The announcement was made by Information, Public Relations and Tourism Division of Andaman and Nicobar Administration.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL
Jair Bolsonaro is the new President of Brazil:
- Jair Bolsonaro was sworn in as Brazil’s President in a ceremony at Brazil’s National Congress Building
- Bolsonaro, a former Army captain and admirer of the country’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship
- Bolsonaro, 63, was a seven-term fringe congressman who rode a wave of anti-establishment anger to became Brazil’s first far-right president since a military dictatorship gave way to civilian rule three decades ago.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE
West Bengal Government Announced two Initiatives for Farmers
- The West Bengal government announced two welfare initiatives for farmers,Both initiatives, which are part of the ‘Krishi Krishak Bondhu’ scheme.
- The first of the two initiatives will provide Rs 2 lakh to the family of a deceased farmer,
- Under the second initiative, farmers would get Rs 2,500 twice a year for growing a single crop on one acre of land,
| USEFUL INFO |
| West Bengal Capital | Kolkata |
| CM | Mamata Banerjee |
| Governor | Keshari Nath Tripathi |
Madhya Pradesh Government bans purchase of new vehicles, ACs
- Chief Minister Kamal has put a ban on the purchase new vehicles and air conditioners (ACs) by the government departments along with a slew of other items.
- Also, the expenditure incurred on office furniture, books, magazines, stationery, guest expenses, press and publication, consultancy, sanitation, security, and other such heads has been limited.
- Hospitals, hostels, Anganwadis, shelter homes have been kept out of the purview of the latest directive of the Finance Department.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Madhya Pradesh Capital | Bhopal |
| CM | Kamal Nath |
| Governor | Anandiben patel |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE
RBI constitutes Expert Committee on Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) set up an expert committee under former Sebi chairman U.K. Sinha to suggest long-term solutions for the economic and financial sustainability of the MSME sector.
- The eight-member committee under former Sebi chairman U.K. Sinha will examine the factors affecting the timely and adequate availability of finance to the MSME sector.
- The eight-member committee will also examine the factors affecting the timely and adequate availability of finance to the sector.
- The expert committee will submit its report by the end of June 2019.
RBI released December 2018 Financial Stability Report
Overall assessment of systemic risks
- India’s financial system remains stable, and the banking sector shows signs of improvement, even though the global economic environment and the emerging trends in financial sector pose challenges.
Financial Institutions: Performance and risks
- Credit growth of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) has improved between March 2018 and September 2018, driven largely by private sector banks (PVBs).
- The asset quality of banks showed an improvement with the gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio of SCBs declining from 11.5 per cent in March 2018 to 10.8 per cent in September 2018.
- Under the baseline scenario, GNPA ratio may decline from 10.8 per cent in September 2018 to 10.3 per cent in March 2019.
- Analysis of the financial network structure for the period September 2017 – September 2018 reveals a shrinking inter-bank market and increasing bank linkages with asset management companies-mutual funds (AMC-MFs) for raising funds and with NBFCs/Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) for lending.
Global and domestic macro-financial risks
- The global growth outlook for 2018 and 2019 remains steady although the underlying downside risks have risen.
- Spill-over risk to emerging economies engendered by tightening of financial conditions in Advanced Economies, protectionist trade policies and global geopolitical tension has significantly increased.
- The gradual monetary policy normalisation in advanced economies (AEs) as also the uncertainty in global trade regime may adversely affect capital flows to emerging markets (EMs) and exert upward pressure on EM interest rates and corporate spreads.
- On the domestic front, growth of gross domestic product (GDP) showed slight moderation in Q2:2018-19 while inflation remains contained.
- In domestic financial markets, structural shifts in credit intermediation and the evolving interconnectivity between banks and the non-banks call for greater vigilance.
Complaints registered at Banking Ombudsman surge 25% in FY18
- The number of complaints registered at banking ombudsman offices have seen a 25% increase in the fiscal year 2018.
- The banking ombudsman offices in tier-1 cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad accounted for more than 57% of the total complaints received.
- 97% of the Complaints were resolved in 2017-18, up from 92% a year earlier.
- Most complaints received against public sector banks were pension-related while most complaints received against private banks were for credit cards discrepancies.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION
Saurabh Kumar Appointed As Chairman of Ordnance Factory Board
- Saurabh Kumar took over as the Director General of Ordnance Factories (DGOF) and chairman of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) in Kolkata.
- Kumar, a 1982-batch Indian Ordnance Factory Service officer, is an M-Tech in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur.
- Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) headquarter: Kolkata
Government appointed Hemant Bhargava as interim chairman of LIC
- The government appointed Life Insurance Corporation’s (LIC) senior-most Managing Director Hemant Bhargava as the insurer’s interim chairman.
- Bhargava was appointed as the managing director (MD) of LIC in February 2017, Apart from Bhargava, there are two more MDs of LIC currently.
- Life Insurance Corporation Headquarters– Mumbai
RBL Bank Appointed Pankaj Sharma as Chief Operations Officer
- Private sector lender RBL Bank has appointed Pankaj Sharma as its chief operations officer to mainly overlook the corporate services function and the bank’s overall operations.
- Sharma who was previously with Axis Bank where he was heading retail operations.
- He previously worked with GE Countrywide, ICICI Bank and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance.
Justice TBN Radhakrishnan sworn in as First Chief Justice of Telangana High Court
- Justice Thottathil Bhaskaran Nair Radhakrishnan was sworn in as the first Chief justice of Telangana High Court.
- Justice Radhakrishnan had been serving as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad for both the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh since July last year.
- As per the notification, 12 judges, over 360 district and civil judges have been allotted to the new Telangana state.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SUMMIT AND CONFERENCE
PM Modi to inaugurate 106thIndian Science Congress in Jalandhar
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 106th Indian Science Congress at Lovely Professional University in Phagwara near Jalandhar,Punjab.
- The theme of this five-day mega event is ‘Future India: Science and Technology’.
- Three Nobel laureates will participate in this conference. Students will showcase their projects to scientists around the world.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS
IIT Professor Awarded For Contribution towardsDevelopment of Geo-Spatial Science
- The Indian Society for Remote Sensing conferred the National Geospatial Award for Excellence to IIT professor Jayanta Kumar Ghosh for his contribution towards the development of geospatial science and applications.
- Mr Ghosh, a professor at the civil engineering department of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Roorkee, He was conferred the National Geospatial Award for Excellence-2017 (Life Time Achievement Award) at the Space Application Centre in Ahmedabad. The award comprised a citation, a medal and Rs. 1 lakh.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS
French World Cup champions awarded Legion of Honour
- The players in France’s football team which last year won the World Cup have been awarded the Legion of Honour in the New Year’s honours list.
- The 23 players, including star strikers Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann, each received France’s top medal for their part in beating Croatia in the World Cup final in Moscow.
- The French team that won the 1998 World Cup also received the Legion of Honour.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARIES
Kannada Actor C H Loknath Passed Away
- Veteran Kannada actor C H Loknath passed away
- Lokanath was in the Kannada film industry for nearly six decades and was affectionately addressed as ‘Uncle Lokanath’ by his fans.
Sachin Tendulkar’s coach Ramakant Achrekar passed away
- Veteran cricket coach Ramakant Achrekar,who trained BharatRatnaSachinTendulkar and VinodKambli, among others, passed away.
- Achrekar, honoured with PadmaShriin2010 and DronacharyaAwardin1990.