Daily Current affairs - January 27 and 28, 2018 for all competitive exams
International
Holocaust Remembrance Day is an international memorial day on 27 January
commemorating the tragedy of the Holocaust that occurred during the Second
World War.
- It commemorates the genocide that resulted in the death of an
estimated 6 million Jewish people, 200,000 Romani people, 250,000 mentally
and physically disabled people, and 9,000 homosexual men by the Nazi
regime and its collaborators.
- It was designated by the United Nations General Assembly
resolution 60/7 on 1 November 2005 during the 42nd plenary session.
January 28 - Data Privacy Day
Data Privacy Day
is celebrated every year on 28th January.
- The purpose of Data Privacy Day is to raise awareness and
promote privacy and data protection best practices. It is currently
observed in the United
States, Canada, India and 47 European countries.
Data Privacy Day's
educational initiative originally focused on raising
awareness among businesses as well as users about the importance of
protecting the privacy of their personal information online, particularly in
the context of social networking.
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Government allows Small Finance
Banks & Payments Banks to offer Atal Pension Yojana
The Union Finance
Ministry relaxed norms of Atal Pension Yojana (APY) to allow small finance
banks and payment banks to offer APY distribution. The move is expected to
help expand coverage of the scheme and strengthen existing channels of APY
distribution.
- 10 Small Finance Banks and 11 Payment Banks have got license
from Reserve Bank of India to start banking operations in the country.
- The Banks include Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, Janalakshmi
Small Finance Bank, Suryoday Small Finance Bank, India Post Payment Bank
and Paytm Payment Bank.
- Given the strength, expertise and reach of these new age
banks, they can play a pivotal role in outreach of subscribers under APY.
The government had launched
this social security scheme- APY in 2015 and dedicated the first ever
Guaranteed Pension Product to the people of the country.
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Armed forces
set to be reduced in northeast
The Home Ministry will
conduct a “security audit” in the Northeast and chalk out a plan to reduce the
number of Central armed police force personnel deployed there.
- In a recent meeting chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh,
it was decided that certain “tweaking” was required as far as the
deployment of the Central forces was concerned.
There was no final decision
to repeal AFSPA as of now but the Jeevan Reddy Committee report that
recommended it was discussed from time to time. The Central government
appointed a five member committee headed by Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy in
November 2004 to review AFSPA.
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Punjab
Government launches Mahatma Gandhi Sarbat Vikas Yojana
Punjab Government
launched Mahatma Gandhi Sarbat Vikas Yojna (MGSVY) for the welfare of the
downtrodden citizen across the state.
- This scheme is aimed at the inclusive growth of the
distressed sections of the society.
- It will be on the line of Antyodaya principles (Antyodaya’
means the rise of the of the last person) and will be implemented in
the state’s rural areas.
- The objective of the scheme is to identify poor and
distressed households which have been deprived of the benefits of the
various welfare schemes launched.
India’s first floating market in Kolkata
India’s first floating market is now open in Kolkata’s Patuli
area in West Bengal.
- It is set up by the Kolkata Metropolitan Development
Authority (KMDA), the market functions solely on boats at the lake in
Patuli, where shopkeepers sell fruits, vegetables, fish among other
produce.
U.P. Governor
nod for abattoir shift
Uttar Pradesh
Governor Ram Naik has given approval to the Yogi Adityanath government’s
proposal to shift abattoirs outside city limits, a move that will effectively
ban slaughtering of animals in city shops.
- The municipal corporations (Nagar Nigams) and municipal
boards (Nagar Palikas) were stripped of powers to construct and run
slaughterhouses and will now merely “regulate” them.
- The government said the slaughterhouses were being shifted
out of cities from the viewpoint of environment and hygiene.
Himachal CM
Launches ‘Shakti’ App
Himachal Pradesh
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur launched ‘Shakthi’ app. The app
has been launched for a quick police response cases of crimes against
women.
- The mobile app is linked to police
control rooms for ensuring the safety of women in the state.
- He also launched
the ‘GUDDIYA’ helpline number 1515 and the ‘Hoshiyar Singh’
helpline number 1090.
- It was designed by
the National Informatics Centre (NIC), Himachal Pradesh.
India, Cambodia ink four pacts
to strengthen bilateral ties
India and
Cambodia signed four agreements, including one to improve cooperation in prevention,
investigation of crimes and legal assistance in criminal matters, besides a
line of credit from India to fund Cambodia’s Stung Sva Hab water resources
development project for USD 36.92 million.
- India and Cambodia also signed an
MoU on the prevention of human trafficking under which the two countries
will see increase bilateral cooperation on the issues of prevention rescue
and repatriation related to human trafficking.
- They also inked a pact for
cultural exchanges through 2018-2020. The agreement seeks to promote
cultural exchange and strengthen the friendly relations between the two
nations.
The pacts were signed after
comprehensive talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Cambodian
counterpart Samdech Hun Sen, who agreed to further enhance bilateral defence
ties, including through exchanges of senior-level defence personnel and capacity-building
projects.
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Cambodia
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Capital
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Phnom
Penh
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Currency
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Cambodian
riel
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Prime
Minister
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Samdech
Hun Sen
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India, the US to hold first 2-by-2 dialogue of defence in
April
India and
the United States are expected to hold the inaugural edition of their
defence and external affairs ministers called two-by-two here in
Washington DC in April.
- The announcement issued after a
phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump
on the eve of the Indian Republic Day.
China proposes building a road
across the Arctic
China outlined
its ambitions to extend President Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and
Road Initiative to the Arctic by developing shipping lanes opened up by global
warming.
- Releasing its first official
Arctic policy white paper, China said it would encourage enterprises to
build infrastructure and conduct commercial trial voyages.
- China hopes to work with all
parties to build a ‘Polar Silk Road’ through developing the Arctic
shipping routes. This comes after China invited Latin American and
Caribbean nations to join the BRI.
- China is an important stakeholder
in Arctic affairs. Geographically, China is a ‘Near-Arctic State’, one of
the continental States that are closest to the Arctic Circle.
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 to
establish international courts to deal with BRI cases
China has decided
to set up three international courts to deal with disputes related to its
multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
- The Chinese Supreme People’s
Court will set up international courts in Beijing, Xi’an, the capital of
Shaanxi Province and Shenzhen.
- Proposed by Chinese
President Xi Jinping, the BRI focuses on connectivity and cooperation
between Eurasian countries, primarily with China.
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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U.S. proposes
to end visa lottery system
U.S. President
Donald Trump has proposed to end the visa lottery system in favour of reducing
backlogs of highly-skilled workers, a plan which may benefit thousands of
Indian IT professionals.
- If passed signed into law, such a
move is expected to significantly reduce the green card backlogs.
USA
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Capital
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Washington DC
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Currency
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US
Dollar
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President
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Donald
Trump
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RemoveDebris is ready for launch
RemoveDebris, a mission that will test different methods to
clean up space junk is getting ready for launch.
- RemoveDEBRIS is aimed at
performing key Active Debris Removal (ADR) technology demonstrations (e.g
capture, deorbiting) representative of an operational scenario during a
low-cost mission using novel key technologies for ADR.
- The project is co-ordinated by
the Surrey Space Centre at the University of Surrey, UK, and involves the
collaboration of a number of mission partners.
- The mission will comprise of a
main satellite platform that once in orbit will deploy two CubeSats as
artificial debris targets to demonstrate some of the technologies (net
capture, harpoon capture, vision-based navigation, dragsail
de-orbitation).
Scientists clone monkeys
Shanghai scientists have created two genetically identical
long-tailed macaques.
The monkeys are named Hua Hua and Zhong Zhong, a version of
the Chinese adjective Zhonghua which means the “Chinese nation” or “people.”
- This could be an important tool
in medical research for understanding disease in a species genetically
more comparable to humans.
This is for the first time that scientists have created
cloned primates using the same complicated cloning technique that made Dolly
the sheep in 1996. The technique is called somatic cell transfer, or SCNT.
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GST on houses under Pradhan
Mantri Awas Yojna reduced to 8%
The government
has cut GST rate from 12% to 8% on houses purchased using the credit-linked
subsidy scheme (CLSS) under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna.
- However, people who are not
eligible for CLSS will continue to pay GST at 12%.
- The tax benefit will also be
extended to an affordable housing project, which has been given
infrastructure status.
Paytm to invest Rs.500 crore to
create digital awareness
Mobile wallet
Paytm platform would invest ₹500 crore in 2018 to conduct merchant training
and awareness initiatives to scale up its operations across the country.
- Paytm is hoping to cover one
crore merchants across the country in the next 3-6 months from the
existing 60 lakh merchant partners for the Quick Response (QR) code-based
payments
Xiaomi replaces
Samsung as the top smartphone seller in India
Research firms
Canalys and Counterpoint said Xiaomi has
replaced Samsung as the top smartphone manufacturer in India, ending
the years-long streak.
- According to Canalys, Xiaomi
shipped 8.2 million smartphones in India during the period between October
and December last year.
- In comparison, Samsung, Canalys
said, shipped slightly over 7.3 million units. Xiaomi, with 25% market
share, was the top smartphone seller in the nation, ahead of Samsung.
Intel, Huawei achieve world’s first 5G NR Interoperability
Deutsche Telekom
(DT), Intel and Huawei announced achieving the world’s first 5G
interoperability and development testing (IODT) with a commercial base
station.
- The test, based on Huawei’s 5G
commercial base station and Intel’s third generation 5G New Radio(NR)
Mobile Trial Platform (MTP).
- Deutsche Telekom and Huawei began
cooperation on 5G-network research in 2015.
India, Second
Cheapest Country to Live In the World
India has
ranked second after South Africa as the cheapest country to
live or retire, according to a recent survey of 112 countries.
- The survey was taken
by GoBankingRates on the bases of four key affordability
metrics, provided by online pricing database Numbeo.
- The metrics are local
purchasing power index, rent index, Groceries index, and Consumer
price index.
- Among the most expensive
countries in the survey are Bermuda (ranked 112), Bahamas (111), Hong
Kong (110), Switzerland (109) and Ghana (108).
India to host informal WTO
Ministerial gathering in March
Trade ministers
from various countries including Australia, Japan and Switzerland met today for
an informal WTO ministerial gathering in Davos to discuss the way forward for
the global trade organisation, with India offering to host another such meeting
in March.
- The meeting, also attended by the
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, was held on the sidelines of
the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual summit.
- India was represented by Deepak
Jagdish Saksena, ambassador and permanent representative to the WTO.
- India announced that it will host
an informal WTO Ministerial gathering in March. The meeting would be held
in New Delhi on March 19-20.
Closing ceremony of Maitreyi Yatra’ recently
held
The closing ceremony of Jammu
and Kashmir Student Exchange programme 'Maitreyi yatra' was held at National
Bal Bhawan
- The Maitreyi Yatra is an exchange
programme for schoolchildren as part of a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) between the J&K government and the Ministry of Human Resource
Development.
- The objective of this programme
is to integrate the youth of Jammu and Kashmir to the rest of the country
and to promote brotherhood and harmony. It provides a good opportunity for
the youth of J&K to be acquainted with culture, language and
development story of different parts of the country.
- The Student Exchange Programme is
organized by Ministry of Human Resource development.
India
International Seafood Show (IISS) 2018
The 21st
edition of India International Seafood Show begins in Goa.
India’s best
marine products will be showcased for buyers from around the world.
- Industry leaders and experts will
focus on policies, market trends, technology and roadmaps to achieve
an export target of US$10 billion by 2022.
- Theme: Safe and Sustainable
Seafood from India
Kerala Literature Festival from
February 8
The third edition
of Kerala Literature Festival (KLF) will get under way in Kozhikode on February
8.
- The KLF has emerged as the second
biggest after the Jaipur Literature Festival, and is being organised by
the DC Kizhakemuri Foundation.
- More than 450 writers and
thinkers from India and from countries including Austria, Germany, Latvia,
Russia, Spain, France, Sri Lanka, and Ireland will participate in over 250
brainstorming sessions spread over four days in five venues.
- The central theme will be
‘dissent’. ‘No Democracy without Dissent’ will be theme of the third
edition of the KLF.
Chhau dance show at Taipei City
A traditional Indian Chhau dance show will be staged at
National Palace Museum in Taipei City as part of efforts to strengthen cultural
exchanges between Taiwan and the South Asian nation.
- Jointly organized by NPM and
India-Taipei Association, “Chhau Nritya: Dancing Tales from India” will be
presented by Sarberiya Milan Sangha Chhau Nritya Party—a troupe sponsored
by New Delhi-headquartered India Council for Cultural Relations.
Chhau dance originating in eastern India, Chhau features dancers in colorful
masks and costumes performing movements inspired by animals, birds, martial
arts and tribal and folk customs. The practice was added to UNESCO’s
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010.
Chhau shows typically depict episodes from classic Hindu epics.
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AP Hota on Federal Bank board
Federal Bank
stated that Abhaya Prasad Hota has joined its board as an independent director.
- Hota, who served in the Reserve
Bank of India from 1982 to 2009, was the first MD and CEO of National
Payments Corporation of India from 2009 to 2017.
- He also served as RBI Nominee
Director on the boards of Vijaya Bank and Andhra Bank in the past.
- Hota is also Director on the boards
of IDBI Intech, Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company and Transaction
Analyst Pvt Ltd.
Federal Bank
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Headquarters
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Aluva, Kochi, Kerala
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Tagline
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Your Perfect Banking Partner
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CEO
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Shyam Srinivasan
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Indian-origin
boy sets new Mensa record
A 10-year-old
Indian-origin boy in the U.K. has become the youngest applicant in a decade to
achieve the highest score in the Mensa IQ test, beating geniuses like Albert
Einstein and Stephen Hawking.
- Mehul Garg from the Reading Boys
Grammar School in Reading, southern England, scored the maximum score of
162 to become a member of Mensa, the High IQ Society. His score is two
points higher than Einstein and Mr. Hawking.
Vice President
Releases the Book ‘Staniya Svasasan Mei Addhi Aabadhi’
Vice
President releases the book ‘Staniya Svasasan Mei Addhi
Aabadhi’ has been authored by Dr. Sadhana Pandey in New Delhi..
- It is a study that captures the
voices of the rural women who are occupying positions of authority at the
local level.
A Book By
Sheila Dixit “Dilli Meri Dilli: Before And After 1998”
The former Chief
Minister of Delhi, Sheila Dixit’s pictorial book framed a book named “Dilli
Meri Dilli: Before and After 1998”.
- The book beautifully traces the
evolution of the Indian capital over the centuries.
- The book is published by
Palimpsest Publishers.
- It focuses various subjects like
heritage, culture, law, gender equality, urban environment, education,
sports and transport.
Delhi lift
maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
Delhi lifted its
maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after trouncing Rajasthan by 41 runs.
- It was held at Eden Gardens
stadium, Kolkata.
- The 2017–18 Syed Mushtaq Ali
Trophy is the ninth edition of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, a Twenty20
competition in India.
Australian Open
Singles Winners
Caroline
Wozniacki clinched her 1st grand slam title in Women Singles category in
Australian open.
- She hails
from Denmark and currently in Second Rank in World. She
defeated Simona Halep in the final,who is currently ranked world
No. 1 in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association.
- Roger Federer became the first
man to win 20 grand slam titles after beating Marim Cilic in Australian
Open Finals.
Roger Federer Title List-
- Australian Open: 6; French Open:
8; Wimbledon: 1; US Open: 5
