07th Jan 2018 - Current Affairs Today

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National Current Affairs

India’s second FTII to be set up in Arunachal

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 North eastern 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.
Objective behind setting up FTII in Arunachal Pradesh is to tap the potential of India’s North Eastern region.

Centre sanctions construction of 14,000 bunkers along LoC, International Border

Over 14,000 community and individual bunkers would be constructed along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB) for border residents facing Pakistani shelling.

While 7298 bunkers would be constructed along the LoC in the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri, 7162 underground bunkers would be constructed along the IB in Jammu, Kathua and Samba districts.
The Centre recently sanctioned the construction of 14,460 individual and community bunkers at a cost of Rs 415.73 crore for people living along the LoC and IB.
A total of 13,029 individual bunkers and 1431 community bunkers were being constructed, adding that the capacity of the 160 square feet individual bunker was eight people, and that of the 800 square feet community bunker was 40 people.

Govt announces ‘Muhafiz’ for workers in unorganized sector

A day after The Kashmir Monitor reported about the plight of workers in the state’s unorganized sectors, the J&K Government, said it was all set to launch a major welfare initiative for such workers to provide them institutionalized socio-economic security.

Under the scheme named “Muhafiz” (Guardian), around 3 lakh workers registered with Jammu and Kashmir Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board (JKBOCWWB), will be covered under accidental, life and disability insurance besides providing educational scholarships to their children.
The scheme also envisages extending micro credit facility to such workers and facilitating their registration through online and other modes.
JKBOCWWB will cover more than 3 lakh registered workers under accidental, life and disability insurance for which the premium @ Rs 171/annum/BOC Worker will be borne by the Board. He said the total premium involved for these workers in the first instance would be about Rs 5 crore.
The Board will also provide educational scholarships to the wards of the Building & Other Construction workers under “Muhafiz”.
The JKBOCWWB will be also commencing Micro Credit facility for the registered workers with a credit limit of Rs 10000 and the amount involved for the counter guarantee to be deposited by the Board with the J&K Bank would be about Rs 30 crore.

Navy signs MoU with Cochin Port Trust

In a major step towards increasing the berthing capacity of naval ships in Kochi, the Navy has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) towards leasing of 228 metres of berths, Q2 and Q3 at Mattancherry Wharf for a period of five years.

The MoU was signed between the Chief Staff Officer (Operations) of Southern Naval Command Commodore Deepak Kumar and Gautam Gupta, Traffic manager of the Port Trust, at the Naval Base
The lease, at an approximate cost of ₹10 crore a year, would not only enhance the growing partnership between the Navy and CPT, but will also provide the Navy with larger berthing space, thereby enabling the presence of naval ships in Kochi, both at naval as well as commercial jetties.
The expanded berthing space would also provide the much needed operational flexibility to naval ships based in Kochi.

India’s first National Park for differently abled people inaugurated in Hyderabad

The state government inaugurated country’s first National Park for people with special needs.

Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister K.T. Rama Rao inaugurated the park, which has speech therapist, physiotherapist, vocational training instructors for the differently-abled children.
The park will benefit those differently-abled children, who want to move forward and thrive in life. An IT park on similar lines was also coming up in the state.

International Current Affairs

China to build second foreign naval base near Gwadar in Pakistan

After Djibouti, China is planning to build its second foreign naval base in Pakistan. The base is most likely to come up near Gwadar.

According to Beijing-based military analyst Zhou Chenming, China’s naval base in Pakistan will most likely come up in Gwadar on the south western coast of Balochistan, Pakistan.
From Indian perspective, this news holds strategic significance, as Gwadar is located at a short distance from Chabahar port in Iran, which is being jointly developed by Iran, India and Afghanistan. Chabahar port is to be utilised as trade corridor for Indian exports to Afghanistan, bypassing Pakistan.
US Army Reserve colonel Lawrence Sellin (retired) had stated that a consensus was reached in one of the meetings between Chinese and Pakistani military officers that a military base would come up on the Jiwani peninsula near Gwadar and close to the Iranian border.

Banking & Finance

RBI to issue new Rs 10 notes soon

The Reserve Bank, in a notification, said that it will shortly issue Rs 10 denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series, bearing signature of Dr. Urjit R. Patel.

RBI added that all the banknotes in the denomination of Rs 10 issued in the earlier series will continue to be legal tender.
The major difference is that the new Rs 10 note will be in chocolate brown in colour instead of the previous combination of orange and pink.
On the reverse, the new note will carry a motif of the Konark Sun Temple. The existing Rs 10-note carries the image of Indian fauna – rhinoceros, elephant and tiger.

Paytm Payments Bank, IndusInd tie-up for fixed deposit facility

Paytm Payments Bank said it has partnered Induslnd Bank to introduce a facility to create a fixed deposit when the customer balance exceeds Rs 1 lakh at the end of the day.

Paytm Payments Bank customers can redeem their deposits instantly, anytime without paying any pre-closure or miscellaneous charges and can earn up to 6.85 percent annual interest.
Additionally, if a customer becomes a senior citizen before the maturity period, the account will be auto-renewed under the senior citizen scheme, thus earning higher interest.

Science & Technology

Haryana becomes first state to launch portal for managing high risk pregnancies

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 pregnancy cases up to the grass-roots level but also ensures their timely referral to the civil hospitals for further management and delivery by specialists.

The initiative had been lauded by the Niti Ayog and the Union ministry of health and family welfare. The High Risk Pregnancy Policy has been implemented across the state since November 2017, for identifying 100% name-based high-risk pregnancy cases and ensuring their delivery by specialists at civil hospitals.
As morbidity and mortality is quite high in high risk pregnant cases, HRP initiative will lead to a decline in Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Still Birth Incidence.
The High Risk Pregnancy (HRP) Portal will track every high risk pregnant woman till 42 days after delivery, in order to provide adequate treatment.

Sports

Khelo India logo launched

The Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore, launched the simple yet vibrant Khelo India logo at the Nehru Stadium.

He stated that Khelo India would go a long way in achieving the twin objectives of mass participation and promotion of excellence in sports.
The three-stroke Khelo India logo was designed by Ogilvy India, and offers flexibility in adapting to numerous pictorial forms.
The logo design has been crowd sourced. It bears the colours of the national flag.
The inaugural Khelo India School Games under the revamped Khelo India Programme will begin on January 31, 2018.
Khelo India School Games is being held in collaboration with the School Games Federation of India and National Sports Federation.

Roger Federer & Belinda Bencic win Hopman Cup for Switzerland

Switzerland’s Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic beat Germany’s Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber to win the Hopman Cup for the first time since 2001.

Federer went a set down to Zverev in the opener, but the 19-time Grand Slam champion recovered to win 6-7 (4-7) 6-0 6-2 and give Switzerland a 1-0 lead.
Kerber then beat Bencic 6-4 6-1 to level the tie, before the Swiss team took the doubles match 4-3 (5-3) 4-2.

Philippe Coutinho joins Barcelona to become second most expensive transfer

Philippe Coutinho joins Barcelona to become second most expensive transfer in the world soccer history

Philippe Coutinho has moved from Liverpool to Barcelona team for 160 million Euros ($192 million) making this the second most expensive transfer in the world soccer history.
Team Liverpool sold Brazilian football player Philippe Coutinho to Team Barcelona for 160 million Euros ($192 million).
World’s most expensive transfer is Brazilian football player Neymar’s transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint Germain team in 2017.

Obituary

Former Toyota President Tatsuro Toyoda dies at 88

Tatsuro Toyoda, former president of Toyota died due to pneumonia at 88 years.

Tatsuro Toyoda joined Toyota in 1953. Toyota was founded by Tatsuro Toyoda’s father Kiichiro Toyoda.
In 1984 he took charge as the president of a new firm ventured by Toyota and General Motors. He was president of Toyota from 1992 to 1995.