Daily Current affairs - December 14th, 2017 for all competitive exams
The National Energy Conservation Day is being celebrated every year on December 14 since 1991.
- The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), under Ministry of Power spearheads the celebrations every year.
- The objective to celebrate the National Energy Conservation Day is to drive mass awareness about the importance of energy efficiency and conservation.
BEE recognizes and encourages endeavours of industries in reducing energy consumption by felicitating them with National Energy Conservation Awards.
BEE also awards prizes to the national winners of the annual National Painting Competition on Energy Conservation.
|
Centre extends the deadline for linking Aadhaar with bank accounts to March 31
The government extended until March 31, 2018, the deadline for linking Aadhaar to bank accounts.
- The government announcement came a day after the Prevention of Money-laundering Rules, 2005 to put off the earlier deadline, December 31.
- An official statement said the new date was fixed after considering various representations received and inputs received from banks.
- Besides other schemes, the government has also mandated a February 6, 2018, deadline for linking mobile numbers with Aadhaar.
Scorpene-class submarine Kalvari commissioned into Indian Navy
India’s first modern conventional submarine, INS Kalvari, has been commissioned into Navy’s fleet.
- The diesel-electric submarine is designed by French naval defence and energy company DCNS. The submarine is named after the dreaded tiger shark, a deadly deep sea predator of the Indian Ocean.
- The submarine boasts of superior stealth features such as advanced acoustic silencing techniques, low radiated noise levels, hydro-dynamically optimised shape and the ability to launch a crippling attack on the enemy using precision-guided weapons.
- The submarine, which has a speed of 20 knots, is equipped with sea-skimming SM-39 Exocet missiles and heavy-weight wire-guided surface and underwater target torpedoes.
Government to regulate ads on pre-natal sex
Nine years after it took upon itself the task of regulating ads and content relating to sex-determination tests banned under local law, the Supreme Court has now washed its hands of the matter and left it to the government to take care of such issues in consultation with the search engines. The court cited lack of expertise as a reason for this.
- The case had begun in 2008, when an activist filed a public interest litigation (PIL) to get the search engines to abide by local law which bans such tests to arrest the falling sex ratio in the country. The government had then set up a nodal body to act as the interface with the search engines on such complaints. The court had passed umpteen orders in which the court warned the engines that they should either follow local law or shut shop.
The Pre-conception & Pre-natal Diagnostics Techniques (PC & PNDT) Act, 1994 was enacted in response to the decline in Sex ratio in India, which deteriorated from 972 in 1901 to 927 in 1991. The main purpose of enacting the act is to ban the use of sex selection techniques before or after conception and prevent the misuse of prenatal diagnostic technique for sex selective abortion.
|
Government signed with IBRD for SANKALP Project
The government has signed a Financing Agreement for IBRD loan of USD 250 million (equivalent) for the “Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) Project” with the World Bank.
SANKALP is a Centrally sponsored scheme. It is an outcome focused scheme marking shift in government’s implementation strategy in vocational education and training from inputs to results. SANKALP will provide market relevant training to 3.5 crore youth.
|
U.P. Governor launches Kumbh 2019 logo
Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik has unveiled a new multi-coloured logo for the Kumbh Mela, scheduled to be held in Allahabad in January 2019.
- The logo, which comprises temples, seers, a kalash (pitcher) and a ‘Swastika’, was launched by Mr. Naik
- The unveiling comes close on the heels of the Kumbh Mela this month being recognised by the UNESCO as an “intangible cultural heritage of humanity” and held up as the world’s largest peaceful gathering of pilgrims.
- Mr. Naik also launched the Kumbh’s tagline “Chalo Kumbh Chalo-Chalo, Kumbh Chalo”, Uttar Pradesh Tourism’s slogan “U.P. Nahin Dekha to India Nahin Dekha” and a one-stop travel solution portal.
U.P. plans tough law to tackle crime
The Yogi Adityanath government has given its nod to a new law against organised crime in Uttar Pradesh along the lines of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
- The State cabinet approved the Uttar Pradesh Control of Organised Crime Act, 2017.
- The UPCOCA was brought to check and curb acts of oganised crime and mafia, including land grabs, illegal mining, sale of illegal medicine and illicit liquor, wildlife smuggling, extortion, abduction syndicates as well as white-collared criminals.
A similar law was passed by the Uttar Pradesh government in 2007-08 when Mayawati was in power but it had to be withdrawn after then President Pratibha Patil refused to give it assent.
|
Rajasthan becomes first in country to offer e-mail IDs in Hindi
Rajasthan has become the first state in the country to offer free e-mail address in Hindi to its residents.
- The facility —name@rajasthan.bharat (in Devanagari script) — will lead to millions of new users who are not comfortable with English e-mail ids.
- The initiative will ensure maximum participation of people towards e-governance and also that maximum facilities are available in vernacular language.
Maharashtra Government increases non-creamy layer limit for backward classes to Rs 8 lakh
Maharashtra Government has followed in the footsteps of Central Government and enhanced non-creamy layer limit for backward classes in State to Rs eight lakh per annum.
- Earlier, the cut off limit for getting reservation for forward among the backward classes was Rs 6 lakh.
Central Government through a notification in September this year had Accepted the demands for raising the non-creamy layer limit and that was Subsequently increased to Rs eight lakh
|
Amarnath cave declared a ‘silent zone’
In a bid to preserve the eco- sensitive Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, the National Green Tribunal has declared it a “silence zone” and prohibited religious offerings beyond the entry point.
- Declaring the area around the Amarnat cave shrine a “silence zone” would be helpful in preventing avalanches and maintaining its pristine nature.
The Amarnath cave shrine is considered to be one of the holiest in Hinduism. The cave itself is covered with snow most of the year except for a short period of time in summer when it is open for pilgrims. The Amarnath cave is located in a delicate ecosystem. The directions would make the Amarnath Yatra safe and convenient for the devotees. This would protect the shrine from degradation and ensure it is protected for the coming generations.
|
Ola partners Hyderabad Metro Rail to offer last-mile linkage
Ola has announced its partnership with L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Ltd to offer metro consumers last-mile connectivity.
- Another agreement was entered into recently by Uber with the metro rail to provide connectivity.
- Under the partnership, TSavaari, the official Hyderabad Metro Rail app has integrated Ola’s services, including Ola Money.
- The integration allows metro commuters to recharge their metro smart cards directly from the Ola Money app.
- Commuters will also have an option to pay from their Ola Money wallet on the TSavaari app. Additionally, users will be able to book an Ola cab or Ola auto directly from their TSavaari apps.
SC stays order on Unitech takeover
The Supreme Court stayed the National Company Law Tribunal order allowing the Centre to take over the management of embattled realty firm Unitech Ltd, while acknowledging Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal’s statesmanship in admitting that the government should not have approached the Tribunal while the case was pending before the court.
- The NCLT had on December 8 suspended all the eight directors of the realty firm over allegations of mismanagement and siphoning off funds and had authorised the Centre to appoint its 10 nominees on the board. The order came after the Centre had moved it to protect the interest of nearly 20,000 home buyers.
Legatum Prosperity Index
‘The Legatum Prosperity Index 2017’, an annual ranking developed by the London-based Legatum Institute, has been released.
- The Legatum Prosperity Index is the world’s leading global measure of economic and social wellbeing that studies 104 indicators under these categories: Economic Quality, Business Environment, Governance, Personal Freedom, Social Capital, Safety and Security, Education, Health and Natural Environment. The Index offers a unique insight into how prosperity is forming and changing across the world.
- World prosperity increased in 2017 and now sits at its highest level in the last decade. It is now 2.6% higher than in 2007. Furthermore, prosperity growth has been faster from 2012 to 2017 than it was from 2007 to 2012.
- While prosperity improved around the world in 2017, no region grew as fast as Asia-Pacific. Gains came through a fast-improving Business Environment, especially in the population centers of India (100th), China (90th), Pakistan (137th) and Indonesia (59th). It is now easier to access credit, and intellectual property rights have improved.
The Legatum Prosperity Index is an annual ranking developed by the Legatum Institute, a division of the private investment firm Legatum. The ranking is based on a variety of factors including wealth, economic growth, education, health, personal well-being, and quality of life. In the 2017 rankings, there were 149 countries ranked, and Norway topped the list, followed by New Zealand and Finland. In 2013, twenty-seven of the top 30 countries were democracie
|
Electronic/electrical waste in India
The UN, in its latest report- Global E-waste Monitor 2017, has warned about the health and environmental dangers from the processing of e-waste — the discarded electronic and electrical material — by the informal sector in India without proper safeguards.
- Over 1 million poor people in India are involved in manual recycling operations, but “most of these people have very low literacy levels with little awareness of the dangers of the operations.
- Severe health impacts and environmental damage are widespread in India, due to the final step of the e-waste processing by the informal sector. The dangers come from “improper and unsafe treatment and disposal through open burning or in dumpsites.
- The value of recoverable precious materials like gold, silver, copper, platinum and palladium contained in last year’s e-waste was $55 billion and much of it was going to waste.
Buenos Aires Declaration on Women and Trade
For the first time in the history of the World Trade Organization, WTO members and observers have endorsed a collective initiative to increase the participation of women in trade. In order to help women reach their full potential in the world economy, 118 WTO members and observers agreed to support the Buenos Aires Declaration on Women and Trade, which seeks to remove barriers to, and foster, women’s economic empowerment.
- Supporting WTO members and observers have specifically agreed to explore and find ways to best tackle barriers to trade, lack of access to trade financing and sub-optimal participation of women in public procurement markets.
- India, an influential WTO member, was among the minority group that chose not to endorse the move saying while it stoutly supports gender equality, it cannot concur with the view that gender is a trade-related issue.
- India also observed that gender-related discussions should take place at appropriate fora and not at the WTO, which is purely a trade-related body.
- Otherwise, it will set a precedent to bring in other non-trade issues such as labour and environment standards into the WTO’s ambit.
- Currently, many women worldwide stand on the sidelines of the economy. While women comprise about half of the global population, they generate only 37% of gross domestic product (GDP) and run only about a third of small and medium-sized enterprises. In some developing countries, female business ownership can dip as low as 3-6%. An International Trade Centre survey in 20 countries found that just one in five exporting companies is owned by women.
Electric car sharing launched in Singapore
Singapore launched an electric car-sharing service, the latest transport innovation aimed at encouraging people away from owning vehicles and keeping gridlock at bay in the space-starved city-state.
- BlueSG, a subsidiary of France’s Bollore Group, rolled out the scheme with 80 cars and 32 charging stations — which serve as drop-off and pick-up points — and plans to expand its fleet more than 10-fold in coming years.
- It is the latest effort by authorities in the tightly-controlled financial hub of 5.6 million to prevent the sort of gridlock that has blighted other fast-developing Asian cities.
Singapore
| |
Capital
|
Singapore city
|
Currency
|
Singapore dollar
|
President
|
Halimah Yacob
|
East Jerusalem is Palestine’s capital: OIC
Islamic leaders urged the world to recognise occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned that the U.S. no longer had any role to play in the peace process.
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan convened in Istanbul an emergency summit of the world’s main pan-Islamic body, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), seeking a coordinated response to the recognition by U.S. President Donald Trump of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
- They declared Mr. Trump’s decision “null and void legally” and “a deliberate undermining of all peace efforts” that would give impetus to “extremism and terrorism”.
- Israel sees the entire city as its undivided capital, while the Palestinians want the eastern sector, which the international community regards as annexed by Israel, as the capital of their future state.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation is an international organization founded in 1969, consisting of 57 member states, with a collective population of over 1.6 billion as of 2008. The organisation states that it is "the collective voice of the Muslim world" and works to "safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony".
|
India is the first country where AIIB has committed over $1-b of financing’
India is the first country where the Bank has committed more than $1 billion of financing,” Vice-President and Corporate Secretary of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Danny Alexander stated in a statement
- The third annual meeting of the Board of Governors of AIIB will be held in Mumbai in June next year.
- India is the largest borrower of the AIIB. They have just announced that they will finance Part 6 of the Bangalore Metro project.
- India is the first country where they have committed to more than $1 billion of financing. They are also looking at the Mumbai metro project, which they will look at next year.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank that aims to support the building of infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region. The bank currently has 56 member states while another 24 are prospective members for a total of 80 approved members and was proposed as an initiative by the government of China.
|
Pakistan to reveal CPEC plan on December 18
Pakistan’s Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said the long-term plan for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will be public on December 18.
- The CPEC is a flagship project of China’s Belt and Road initiative.
- The 3,000 km, over $50 billion corridor stretches from Kashgar in western China to Gwadar port in Pakistan on the Arabian Sea.
China–Pakistan Economic Corridor is a collection of infrastructure projects that are currently under construction throughout Pakistan.
|
Bermuda to end gay marriage, just months after legalising it
Senators in socially conservative Bermuda voted to restore a ban on gay marriage, overturning a right granted by its top court earlier this year.
- The Senate approved the Domestic Partnership Act, which replaces the right to marriage with the ability to form same-sex partnerships, by a vote of 8-3
- Government Senate leader Kathy Simmons said the bill reflected the majority sentiment.
Bermuda
| |
Capital
|
Hamilton
|
Currency
|
Bermudian dollar
|
President
|
Carol Bassett
|
India, Japan and Australia agree to greater collaboration on maritime security
India, Japan and Australia have “growing convergences” in the Indo-Pacific region, stated by the officials of the three countries after meeting for a trilateral in New Delhi.
- The three sides stressed the need for greater collaboration on maritime security and domain awareness and disaster response capabilities.
- They also renewed their resolve to fight the scourge of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and stressed the need for enhanced cooperation on counter-terrorism.
- India is hosting a commemorative ASEAN-India summit in Delhi on January 25, while all 10 ASEAN-nation leaders will be the chief guests at the coming Republic Day parade.
Japan
|
Australia
| |
Capital
|
Tokyo
|
Canberra
|
Currency
|
Japanese Yen
|
Australian dollar
|
Shinzo Abe(PM)
|
Malcolm Turnbull
(President)
| |
Sri Lanka becomes 163rd nation to accede to landmine ban treaty
Sri Lanka has become the 163rd nation to accede to the anti-personnel mine ban convention, fulfilling the pledge it made last year to join the international community in supporting the ongoing landmine clearance programme.
- Sri Lanka’s Permanent Mission to the UN Rohan Perera deposited the Instrument of Accession to the Convention of the Prohibition of the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and on their destruction.
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, known informally as the Ottawa Treaty, the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, or often simply the Mine Ban Treaty, aims at eliminating anti-personnel landmines (AP-mines) around the world.
|
Wholesale inflation jumps 3.93% in November
Inflation based on the wholesale price index rose to 3.93 per cent in November this year. This was due to an increase in the prices of onions and seasonal vegetables.
- Wholesale inflation had stood at 3.59 per cent in October this year, and 1.82 percent in November last year.
- According to Commerce Ministry data, wholesale inflation in food articles increased to 6.06 per cent in November, from 4.3 per cent in October.
- Wholesale inflation in onions surged to 178.19 per cent in November, and in seasonal vegetables, it jumped to 59.8 per cent.
- But inflation in eggs, meat and fish as a category dropped to 4.73 per cent during the month.
- Inflation in manufactured goods stood at 2.61 per cent in November, almost unchanged from 2.62 in October.
RBI imposes Rs 3 crore penalty on IndusInd Bank
The Reserve Bank has imposed a penalty of Rs 3 crore on IndusInd Bank for deficiencies in regulatory compliance.
- A notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why the penalty should not be imposed on it for non- compliance with directions issued by RBI.
IndusInd Bank
| |
Headquarters
|
Mumbai
|
Tagline
|
We care Dil se,We make you feel richer
|
CEO
|
Romesh Sobti
|
Reserve Bank of India places Corporation Bank under ‘prompt corrective action’ framework
State-run Corporation Bank stated that the Reserve Bank of India has initiated ‘prompt corrective action’ for the lender over high bad loans and the need to raise capital.
- The bank had a net non-performing assets ratio of 10.24 percent as of end-September.
- The central bank has this year put several other state-run lenders under its corrective action plan, mainly due to their high bad loans.
Bank of India
| |
Headquarters
|
Mumbai
|
Tagline
|
Relationships behind banking
|
CEO
|
Dinabandhu Mahopatra
|
VoLTE services
Telecom major Bharti Airtel, as part of expanding its services, has launched Voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE) facility for its customers in Chennai. Airtel VoLTE works over 4G services that will enable customers across the city to enjoy HD quality voice calls with faster call set up time.
- Indian telecom players are battling tooth and nail to retain their competitive position in the market and VoLTE (Voice over Long Term Evolution) is their new mantra. It promises faster, better and wider data connectivity. India is witnessing a VoLTE revolution thanks to the competition stirred up by Reliance Jio.
VoLTE stands for voice over Long Term Evolution. VoLTE is an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) specification which enables a variety of services to operate seamlessly on the network rather than having to switch to different applications for voice or video.
|
Actor-director Neeraj Vora passes away
Bollywood actor, writer and filmmaker Neeraj Vora passed away in Mumbai. He was 54.
- His initial work as a writer includes superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s TV show Circus.
- Neeraj made his acting debut with Ketan Mehta’s Holi (1984), which also starred Aamir Khan.
- He also starred in films like ‘Baadshah’ and ‘Hello Brother’
Industrialist Karthik Narayanan passes away
Chennai-based industrialist C.V. Karthik Narayanan died in Chennai. He was 79.
Narayanan was chairman of UCAL Products Pvt. Ltd, UCAL Auto Pvt. Ltd, director at UCAL Travels Pvt. Ltd and an independent director at Sundram Fasteners Ltd (SFL).
- He also spearheaded Standard Motor Products of India Ltd, which was an iconic brand in the 1980s and 1990s.
- Narayanan served as president of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (earlier called the Indian Automobile Manufacturers and Automotive Research Association of India) in 1980.
- He also played a key role at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). He is known for translating Kalki’s epic Ponniyin Selvan into English.
Sachin named Asian Boxing Confederation’s youth boxer of the year
World youth champion Sachin Siwach was named the Asian Boxing Confederation’s best youth boxer of the year.
- Siwach, who won the world title last year, claimed the Asian youth championships silver this year besides a gold at the Youth Commonwealth Games.
