Daily Current affairs - January 8th, 2018 for all competitive exams
All railway stations nearly 8,500 across the country, including those in rural and remote areas will have Wi-Fi facilities at an estimated cost of Rs 700 crore.
- As per the plan at a recent meeting, while 1,200 stations are identified for this facility to primarily cater to rail passengers.
- The Wi-Fi facility at these stations in rural and remote areas will be offered to the local population as part of the digital makeover of rural India to promote e-governance.
Centre gives a nod to construction of 14,000 bunkers along LoC, IB
The union government has sanctioned the construction of 14,460 individual and community bunkers at a cost of Rs 415.73 crore along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB).
- According to officials, a total of 13,029 individual bunkers and 1,431 community bunkers will be constructed in Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Poonch and Rajouri sectors.
India shares a 3,323km long border with Pakistan, of which 221km of the IB and 740km of the LoC fall in Jammu and Kashmir.
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Army decides to fast-track promotions
Faced with long delays in the promotion of officers of the ranks of Major-General and Lieutenant-General, the Army has approved a revised promotion policy. While deciding to fill only 75% of the annual vacancies for the next four years to bring down the average age of the officers.
- The new policy will allow Lieutenant-Generals with just 18 months of residual service to be considered for posting as commanders instead of the existing 24 months.
- The key measures in the revised policy include a clearly defined road map of conducting selection boards in a shorter timeframe for a brief period and calculation of vacancies based on actual exits in a year.
Medaram’s Jatara is likely to be National Festival
Central government is likely to declare Medaram’s Sammakka-Sarakka/Saralamma Jatara a national festival this year.
- Once declared a national festival, Jatara can be considered for ‘intangible cultural heritage of humanity’ tag of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Sammakka-Sarakka Jatara held by forest dwelling Koya tribe of Telangana and surrounding States, is the biggest Tribal festival in Asia which is attended by one crore people on an average.
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3-day annual Flamingo festival held at Pulicat lake
The three-day annual Flamingo Festival is being held at Pulicat lake.
- Flamingo Festival is held every year to promote tourism in Pulicat and Nellapattu. Flamingo Festival is being organised for the past 12 years. Migratory birds from Siberia have been visiting this place for breeding and the colourful birds are a treat to the eye of bird watchers.
Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary is considered one of the biggest habitat for some hundreds of pelicans and other birds. Located about 20 km north of the Pulicat Lake on the Andhra Pradesh-Tamil Nadu border, the sanctuary is spread in about 459 hectares.
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Tourism boost for Meghalaya
Ahead of the announcement of Assembly elections in Meghalaya, Union Minister of State for Tourism K.J. Alphons announced a tourism package of Rs. 70 crore to develop religious and spiritual circuits in the State.
- The Ministry had sanctioned Rs. 61.38 crore for illumination, landscaping and construction of parking lots and toilets and other facilities in 37 churches.
- Another Rs. 8.61 crore will be given for similar projects to 11 other religious groups.
Punjab launches farm debt waiver scheme
Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh launched the farm debt waiver scheme in Mansa.
- A total of 5.63 lakh farmers would benefit in the state during the first phase, which will provide relief to the tune of Rs2,700 crore.
- Farm loan waiver was one of the key promises of the Congress ahead of the February polls in the state.
Haryana Becomes First State to Launch High-Risk Pregnancy Portal
Haryana has become the first state in the country to launch High-Risk Pregnancy (HRP) Portal.
- This portal not only helps in early identification of high-risk pregnant cases up to the grass-roots level but also ensures their timely referral to the civil hospitals for further management and delivery by specialists.
- This innovative web application has been designed to track every high-risk pregnant woman till 42 days after delivery.
India’s second FTII to be set up in Arunachal pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh would get its first Film and Television Institute, being set up by the Union Government as part of tapping the potential of the Northeastern region. This would be the second such one in the country.
- The first Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) was set up in Pune, an autonomous institute operating under the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
FTII Pune Established in - 1960, Current Chairman - Anupam Kher.
FTII is an autonomous institute operating under the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
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Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister announces ‘Gudiya’ helpline to fight crime against women
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur announced setting up of 24×7 ‘Guddia’ helpline for safety of women.
- The helpline will work directly under the supervision of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) and action will have to follow mandatorily within 48 hours.
- The helpline with requisite infrastructure and necessary facilities would become operational soon.
- He also announced ‘Atal Helpline’ for dealing with complaints of corruption.
International Kite festival launched in Gujarat
In Gujarat, a week-long international kite festival has been launched at Sabarmati River Front in Ahmedabad.
- 149 foreign kite fliers from 44 countries are participating in this edition of international kite festival.
The international kite festival is also planned at small towns like Dakor, Gandhidham, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara, Aravali, Dwarka, Amreli, Palanpur, Pavagadh, Valsad and Saputara.
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Mankidia denied habitat in Simlipal
Mankidia, one of the 13 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) in Odisha, have been denied habitat rights inside the Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) under the historic Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, as the State Forest Department has objected on grounds that tribals could be attacked by wild animals, especially tigers.
- “‘Habitat’ as defined under Section 2(h) of the FRA (Forest Rights Act) includes the area comprising the customary habitat and such other habitats in reserved forests and protected forests of primitive tribal groups and pre-agricultural communities and other forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes.
Mankidia is a marginalised group that critically depends on making rope with siali fibre that’s richly available in Similipal.
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Bilateral Annual Haj 2018 Agreement between India and Saudi Arabia Signed
According to the Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Saudi Arabia has given the green signal for India’s decision to revive the option of sending Haj pilgrims through sea route also.
- The practice of ferrying Haj pilgrims between Mumbai and Jeddah by waterways was stopped in 1995.
- For the first time, Muslim women from India will go to Haj without “Mehram” (male companion).
Indian Navy Signs MoU with Cochin Port Trust
The Indian Navy has inked an MoU with the Cochin Port Trust (CPT), Kerala towards leasing of 228 metres of berths at Mattancherry Wharf for a period of five years.
- The MoU has been concluded to cater for the futuristic requirements of the Navy with the sizeable increase in its fleet scheduled in the near future.
- This is the first time such an agreement has been signed between the Navy and CPT.
Chinese city gets face recognition tech for registering marriages
- Chongqing city in southwest China has introduced facial recognition technology for marriage registration.
- The Marriage, Adoption Registration Management Centre of Chongqing says the new system took a launch in January.
- Based on Chinese law, the registrars must check a person’s identity and household registration certificates before awarding them a marriage certificate.
Uber re-launches autorickshaw service in India
Cab-hailing major Uber is relaunching its ‘AUTO’ service in India, almost two years after shutting down the offering in March 2016.
- Uber will allow customers to book autorickshaw rides through the AUTO option on its platform, starting with Bengaluru and Pune.
- Ola, which also allows booking autorickshaw rides under its Auto service, had launched the offering in Bengaluru and Chennai in 2014.
75th Golden Globe Awards 2018 ceromony held in USA
The 75th Golden Globe Award ceremony was held in Los Angeles, the USA.
List of Winners of Golden Globe Awards 2018-
- Best motion picture, drama: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
- Best motion picture, musical or comedy: Lady Bird.
- Best director, motion picture: Guillermo del Toro, “The Shape of Water”.
- Best performance by an actress in a motion picture, drama: Frances McDormand.
- Best performance by an actor in a motion picture, drama: Gary Oldman.
- Best performance by an actress in a motion picture, musical or comedy: Saoirse Ronan.
- Best performance by an actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy: James Franco.
- Best motion picture, animated: Coco
- Best motion picture, foreign language: In the Fade
- Best television series, drama: The Handmaid’s Tale, Hulu
- Best performance by an actress in a television series, drama: Elisabeth Moss.
- Best performance by an actor in a television series, drama: Sterling K. Brown.
First shuttle commander US astronaut John Young passes away
Legendary astronaut John Young, who walked on the moon and flew the first space shuttle mission, has died. He was 87.
- Young flew twice to the Moon, walked on its surface & flew the first Space Shuttle mission.
- He went to space six times in the Gemini, Apollo & Space Shuttle programs.
- In 1965, Young flew on the first manned Gemini mission and commanded another the next year. In 1969, he became the first person to orbit the Moon alone for Apollo 10.
Director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies Baldev Raj passes away
Baldev Raj, Director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), passed away in Pune, Maharashtra. He was 71.
- A recipient of the Padma Shri award, he took over as director of NIAS, Bengaluru, in 2014. He had also served as director of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research in Kalpakkam.
Federer-Bencic Lead Switzerland to Hopman Cup Title
Switzerland won their third Hopman Cup as Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic beat Germany's Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber in the deciding mixed doubles to secure a 2-1 victory in the final at the Perth Arena.
- It was Federer's second Hopman Cup triumph after victory in 2001 alongside then world number one Martina Hingis.
Elina Svitolina Wins Brisbane International
Elina Svitolina secured her first WTA title in Australia with a straight-sets victory in the Brisbane International final. Svitolina beat Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
- Nick Kyrgios moved a step closer to claiming his first ATP title on home soil with a semifinal win over defending champion, Grigor Dimitrov. He will face American Ryan Harrison in finals.
Michael Hussey appointed as batting coach of Chennai Super Kings
Former Australian cricketer Michael Hussey has been appointed as the new batting coach of IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
- Hussey, who had represented CSK for a period of five years as a player, will assume the new responsibility in the 11th edition of the IPL which starts in the month of April.
Makhaya Ntini steps down as Zimbabwe bowling coach
Former South African seamer, Makhaya Ntini has stepped down from his position as Zimbabwe’s bowling coach.
- Ntini had taken over the reigns as a specialist bowling coach in February 2016 on a two-year contract.
- Under his tenure, Zimbabwe had won the ODI series against Sri Lanka in the Island nation which was their first major overseas one-day series win since 2001.
