Daily Current affairs - January 1st, 2018 for all competitive exams
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.
Govt. stopped free conversion of PIO cards to OCI
The Govt. has stopped the scheme of free conversion of PIO cards to OCI.
The scheme of converting the Person of Indian Origin (PIO) cards to OCI cards
free of cost comes to an end as a decision has been taken not to give any more
extension beyond December 31.
- However, the change of PIO cards to OCI cards would
continue on payment of fees.
Non-Resident Indians (NRI), Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas
Citizen of India (OCI) are the three major categories in which the people
from India go and live abroad can be categorised.
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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.
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).
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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.
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Arunachal declared open defecation-free State
Arunachal Pradesh has emerged as the second State in the Northeast, after
Sikkim, to be declared Open Defecation Free.
- 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 national ODF
target by one year and ten months ahead of the national target and set 31
December, 2017, as the final target to achieve ODF status in Arunachal
Pradesh.
Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) aims to eliminate open defecation by 2019. The
goal also includes conversion of insanitary toilets to pour flush toilets,
eradicating of manual scavenging and Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM).
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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.
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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.
- The initiatives would be taken to the people and
partnerships will be built with them.
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%.
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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.
Country
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Saudi Arabia
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UAE
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Capital
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Riyadh
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Abhu dhabi
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Currency
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Saudi riyal
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UAE Dirham
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King
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Salman
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Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed
Al Nahyan
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Nepal Bans Solo Climbing on
Mount Everest
Nepal has banned solo
climbers from scaling its mountains, including Mount Everest, in a bid to
reduce accidents.
- The new safety regulations also prohibit double
amputee and blind climbers from attempting to reach the summit of the
world's highest peak without a valid medical certificate.
Country
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Nepal
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Capital
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Kathmandu
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Currency
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Nepalese rupee
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PM
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Sher Bahadur Deuba
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President
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Bidya Devi Bhnadari
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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.
Country
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Venezuela
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Capital
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Caracus
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Currency
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Venezuelan bolÃvar
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President
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Nicolas Maduro
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Israel Withdraws from UNESCO
Israel has filed notice
to withdraw from the UNESCO alongside the United States.
Israel has blasted UNESCO in
recent years over the organisation's criticism of Israel's occupation of East
Jerusalem and its decision to grant full membership to Palestine in 2011.
- Israel was the member of UNESCO since 1949. Both
Israel and the US have filed its own withdrawal notice in October 2017.
Country
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Israel
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Capital
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Jerusalem
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Currency
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Israeli new shekel
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PM
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Benjamin Netanyahu
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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.
The S-400 Triumf,
previously known as the S-300PMU-3,[4] is an anti-aircraft weapon
system developed in the 1990s by Russia's Almaz Central Design
Bureau as an upgrade of the S-300 family. It has been in
service with the Russian Armed Forces since 2007.
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Country
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Russia
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Turkey
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Capital
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Moscow
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Ankara
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Currency
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Russian ruble
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Turkish Lira
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President
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Vladimir Putin
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Recip Tayyip Erdogan
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New night frog species
Scientists have discovered a new frog species from Kozhikode’s Malabar
Wildlife Sanctuary.
- The frog species, named Mewa Singh’s Night
frog, belongs to a genus endemic to the Western Ghats.
- The frog has been named after wildlife scientist
Mewa Singh, in honour of his contributions to behavioural ecology and
primate studies.
It belongs to genus Nyctibatrachus (commonly known as night frogs)
endemic only to Western Ghats mountain range. The frog’s genetically closest
relatives are the Athirappilly night frog (found south of the Palakkad Gap in
Thrissur and Idukki) and the Kempholey night frog (found in the northern
Western Ghats of Kerala and Karnataka).
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Two new Ginger species found in the northeast
Scientists have discovered two new species of Ginger in easternmost
districts, Ukhrul in Manipur and Tuensang in Nagaland, both bordering Myanmar.
- About the new species: Hedychium chingmeianum,
the species discovered in Tuensang district, is an epiphytic plant and
grows on tall trees, while Caulokaempferia dinabandhuensis was
found growing in rock crevices, boulders and humus rich soil in the Shirui
Hills, where the highest peak stands at an elevation of 2,938 metres. Both
the plants are from the family of Zingiberaceae, to which the commonly
found Ginger (Zingiber officinale) belongs.
Cryptocurrencies are a Ponzi scheme, warns FinMin
The spurt in the prices of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies seems to have
rung an alarm bell, with the Finance Ministry expressing concern and
likening them to Ponzi schemes.
- Virtual currency (VC) transactions are encrypted and
are likely being used for terror-funding, smuggling, drug trafficking and
money laundering. Besides, VCs are not reliable as they are stored in
digital/electronic format, making them vulnerable to hacking and malware
attack.
A Ponzi can be any scheme in which the returns to promised to older
investors are paid from the money collected from new investors, and not
actual profits from the investments. Ponzi schemes were named after Charles
Ponzi, a clerk in Boston who, almost a century ago, duped thousands of
investors into speculating on phenomenal returns from the humble postage
stamp.
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Six public sector banks get
Rs.7,500 crore capital from government
The Centre has pumped in
capital of Rs.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 Rs.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 Rs.2,729 crore.
- While Central Bank of India has got capital support
of Rs.323 crore, Dena Bank has got capital support of Rs.243 crore from
the government.
- UCO Bank, another weak public sector bank, has got
capital support of Rs.1,375 crore. Bank of Maharashtra has received
capital support of Rs.650 crore.
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.
Bank
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Allahabad Bank
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Headquarters
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Kolkata
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Tagline
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A tradition of trust
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CEO
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Usha Anantha subramnian
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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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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”.
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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.
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.
Vidarbha Defeats Delhi to win
Ranji Trophy for the First Time
Vidarbha have created
history by winning the Ranji Trophy for the first time in history with a
thumping nine-wicket win over Delhi at the Holkar stadium in Indore.
- Rajneesh Gurbani’s 6/59, including a hat-trick
and a century from Akshay Wadkar were
the key moments in Vidarbha scripting a fairytale run. For Delhi, Dhruv
Shorey was the star with a century.
The Ranji Trophy is a
domestic first-class cricket championship played
in India between teams representing regional and state cricket
associations. The competition currently consists of 28 teams, with 21 of the
29 states in India and Delhi having at least one
representation.
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