Daily Current affairs - January 18th, 2018 for all competitive exams
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and PM Benjamin
Netanyahu inaugurated the 'iCreate Centre' at Deo Dholera in
Ahmedabad.
- iCreate
paves way for the two nations to jointly script new stories of success through
innovation.
- The
two leaders also visited the startup exhibition at the venue and
interacted with entrepreneurs and innovators.
Israel PM Addresses India-Israel Business Summit in
Mumbai
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu visited Mumbai during the final leg of his visit to
India. Mr Netanyahu addressed the India-Israel Business Summit at the
iconic Taj Mahal hotel in south Mumbai.
- Later
in the day, Mr Netanyahu attended the ‘Shalom Bollywood’
event at the Taj hotel. A monthly magazine titled ‘Namaste
Shalom’ will also be launched to mark Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu’s Mumbai visit.
Maharashtra govt signs MoU with Israel firm
The state government signed a MoU with an Israeli
company for its ambitious Marathwada Water Grid project to tackle
problems of drinking water and drought in the region.
- The cabinet gave its nod for the project and
partnership between Maharashtra and an Israeli company to promote the
water grid projects.
- Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is looking
at a long-term partnership between Maharashtra and Israel in agriculture
development.
Israel
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Capital
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Jerusalem
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Currency
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Israeli Shekel
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Prime minister
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Benjamin Netanyahu
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Odisha CM Launches 'Mukhyamantri Kalakar Sahayata
Yojana'
Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik has launched
the ‘Mukhyamantri Kalakar Sahayata Jojana’ (MMKSJ) – an assistance
scheme for Artists in the state.
- The government has decided to give Rs 1,200 per month
as artist assistance.
- The CM confirmed that the government has also changed
the eligibility criteria for availing MMKSJ.
- Under the new scheme, a male artist can avail
assistance after attaining the age of 50 years instead of the existing 60
years. The age criteria for female artists have been reduced to 40 years
from 50 years.
Election Dates in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland
Declared
The Election Commission of India, Achal Kumar
Joti announced dates for elections to the Assemblies of Meghalaya,
Tripura and Nagaland.
- The CEC announced the polling for legislative assembly
elections in Tripura on 18 February, while Meghalaya and
Nagaland will go to vote on 27 February.
- All the three states have 60 seats each in their
assembly. The tenure of the Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland Assemblies
expire on March 6, March 13 and March 14, 2018, respectively.
The Election Commission
of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for
administering election processes in India.
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India Attends its 1st SCO Military Cooperation
Meeting in Beijing
India, for the first time, took part in
a two-day meeting of the international military
cooperation departments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
(SCO) in Beijing, China.
- An Indian delegation was led by Major General Ajay
Seth.
- This is the first meeting attended by India in the
field of defence cooperation under the SCO framework.
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is
a Eurasian political, economic, and security organisation, the
creation of which was announced on 15 June 2001
in Shanghai, China by the leaders
of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan,
and Uzbekistan; the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Charter was
signed in June 2002 and entered into force on 19 September 2003.
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Chinese President Xi joins Mao and Deng as lingxiu
The Communist Party of China (CPC) has named
President Xi Jinping as thelingxiu — a status that has been bestowed only
to iconic leaders Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.
- The People’s Daily , the official newspaper
of the CPC seeking absolute loyalty towards Mr. Xi, posted an article on
Monday, which, for the first time, elevated Mr. Xi as lingxiu —
or “leader”.
- The word lingxiu means
more than just a leader. It is often bestowed to a leader who enjoys the
highest prestige, who is the most capable and who is widely recognised by
the entire Party
China
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Capital
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Beijing
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Currency
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Renminbi
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President
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Xi Jinping
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China planning to send robot submarine to the
sunken ship
China is preparing to send a robot
submarine possibly followed by divers to explore and plug holes in
a sunken Iranian oil tanker.
- It claims that the Sanchi was lying under 115 meters
(377 feet) of water in the East China Sea.
- The cause of the collision remains under investigation.
All 21 crew members of the freighter were reported safe.
India
test-fires nuclear-capable ICBM Agni-V
Agni-5,
India’s nuclear capable missile, was recently successfully test fired.
- Agni- 5 is the intercontinental surface-to-surface
nuclear capable ballistic missile. It is the latest in India’s “Agni”
family of medium to intercontinental range missiles.
- Agni-5 has a range of over 5,000 km and can carry about
a 1,000-kg warhead. It can target almost all of Asia including Pakistan
and China and Europe.
The
surface-to-surface missile is a fire-and-forget system that cannot be easily
detected as it follows a ballistic trajectory. India describes the Agni – 5
missile system as a ‘weapon of peace’.
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Online resource on birds launched
A group of avian experts has recently launched
‘Birds of India’ (www.birdsofindia.org), a peer-reviewed online resource for
nature enthusiasts.
Databases such as orientalbirdimages.org (for
pictures) and ebird.org (for species lists) are often used by avid bird
watchers.
- The new website combines bird images and
species-specific information in an attempt to offer a one-stop resource.
- Users can contribute images of birds by registering on
the website.
Microwaves
could be as bad for the environment as cars, suggests new research
Researchers at
the University of Manchester have carried out the first ever comprehensive
study of the environmental impacts of microwaves, considering their whole life
cycle, from ‘cradle to grave’.
- Microwaves emit 7.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide
equivalent per year in the EU. This is equivalent to the annual emissions
of 6.8 million cars.
- Microwaves across the EU consume an estimated 9.4
terawatts per hour (TWh) of electricity every year. This is equivalent to
the annual electricity generated by three large gas power plants.
- Efforts to reduce consumption should focus on improving
consumer awareness and behaviour to use appliances more efficiently.
- The study used life cycle assessment (LCA) to estimate
the impacts of microwaves, taking into account their manufacture, use and
end-of-life waste management.
HDFC Bank Becomes 1st Indian Bank to Cross Rs5
trillion Market Capitalisation
India’s most-valued lender HDFC Bank
Ltd crossed Rs5 trillion market capitalisation for the first
time, making it only the third Indian company to achieve this milestone.
- In intraday trade, the stock touched a fresh record
high of Rs1,53.75 on the BSE, up 3.31% from its previous close. Tata
Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) are the
other two companies which crossed market capitalisation of Rs5 trillion.
HDFC Bank
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Headquarters
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Mumbai
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Tagline
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We understand your world
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CEO
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Aditya Puri
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10th
Global Forum for Food & Agriculture held in Berlin
The 10th
Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) on the subject “Shaping the Future
of Livestock – sustainably, responsibly, efficiently” is being held in Berlin.
- It is held during International Green Week (IGW).
The Global
Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) is an international conference that
focuses on central questions concerning the future of the global agri-food
industry.
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Sushma Swaraj meets Bangladesh Foreign Minister AH
Mahmood Ali
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met
visiting Bangladesh Foreign Minister A H Mahmood Ali and discussed
various bilateral issues, as well as the Rohingya refugee crisis.
- This comes at a time when Dhaka has counted more than a
million Rohingya refugees living in camps near the border with Myanmar.
Romania
to have first female prime minister
Viorica
Dancila has been named as Romania’s first female PM.
- Ms Dancila is Romania’s third prime minister in seven
months.
Romania
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Capital
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Bucharest
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Currency
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Romanian Leu
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Prime minister
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Viorica Dancila
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Ronaldinho retires from football
Brazilian World Cup
winner Ronaldinho has formally confirmed his retirement from
football.
- The 37-year-old former Paris Saint-Germain and
Barcelona star, a key member of the Brazil side which won the World Cup in
2002.
- For Brazil, Ronaldinho made 97 appearances,
scoring 33 goals, including two in the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South
Korea.
ICC Award 2017- Complete List of Winners
Australia captain Steve Smith has been
crowned the International Cricket Council's Test Player of the
Year for a second time, while Indian captain Virat Kohli has been
honoured twice in the ICC's annual awards.
- It's the first time since 2011 that the winner of the
Test Player of the Year Award was not also crowned the Cricketer of the
Year. Kohli was the fourth-highest run-scorer's in Tests in
2017.
Here is the Complete list of Winners
of ICC Award 2017-
- Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Men’s Cricketer of
the Year - Virat Kohli (India)
- ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year - Steve Smith
(Australia)
- ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year - Virat Kohli
(India)
- ICC Men’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year - Hasan
Ali (Pakistan)
- ICC Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Year - Rashid
Khan (Afghanistan)
- ICC Men’s T20I Performance of the Year - Yuzvendra
Chahal (6-25 v England) (India)
- David Shepherd Trophy for ICC Umpire of the Year
– Marais Erasmus
- ICC Spirit of Cricket - Anya Shrubsole (England)
India enters final of Blind Cricket World Cup
India beat Bangladesh by seven wickets to set up
a title clash with arch-rivals Pakistan in theBlind Cricket World Cup, in
Ajman.
- Defending champions India will take on Pakistan on
January 20 at Sharjah.
