Download : 19th January, 2017 – Current Affairs PDF
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National Current Affairs
Cabinet Approvals – January 18, 2017
- Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between India and Serbia for promoting cooperation in the field of Information Technology and Electronics
- Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for cooperation in the field of outer space.
- Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in the field of Small and Medium Enterprises and Innovation between India and UAE.
- Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and the United Arab Emirates for Institutional Cooperation in Maritime Transport for bilateral and multi-lateral benefit in sustainable trading activities.
- Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and the United Arab Emirates on the Mutual Recognition of Certificates of Competency.
- Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between India and Vietnam in the field of Cyber Security
- MoU signed between India and Russia for cooperation in the field of Youth Affairs
- Approval of the 12th Plan Proposal of the DARE/ICAR Plan Scheme for the ‘Establishment of Indian Agricultural Research Institute (lARI)
- Approval for the Augmentation of the Corpus of Credit Guarantee Trust Fund for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE),a package set up for supporting Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs).
- Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme(M-SIPS) to attract investment in electronics manufacturing.
Anandam Scheme Launched in Madhya Pradesh to Help Poor
- Aim : To help the poor and the needy person.
- Aanandam scheme will help the poor people to get the daily needs like like jackets, sarees, blankets, utensils, school bags from the wealthy people.
- The people who wishes to help others can visit website anandsansthanmp.in to become Anandak under Anandam Scheme.
Asia’s cleanest village Mawlynnong in Meghalaya becomes role model for cleanliness
- Mawlynnong village in the East Khasi Hills district of the Meghalaya state has become a role model for cleanliness.
- Mawlynnong was awarded the prestigious tag of ‘Cleanest Village in Asia‘ in
- Every family in this village have constructed toilets in 1989 and 3 public toilets have been constructed under Swachh Bharat Mission.
- To maintain its cleanliness, all villagers carry cleanliness drive on every Saturday. Now it have created opportunities to become tourists’ prime destination in North East.
Kangra first ever district to geo-tag all assets under MGNREGA
- Kangra village in Himachal Pradesh achieved the geo-tag 100 per cent of the assets generated under the MGNREGA scheme.
- Kangra was the first district in India to achieved this target. It would help people in integrated development of all sectors like agriculture, irrigation, education, health etc.
IIMC Launches Full-Fledged Diploma Course in Urdu Journalism
- Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) has launched a full-fledged postgraduate diploma course in the Urdu language journalism to promote the language.
- The institute offered a five-month journalism course in the Urdu language before launching the full-version.
International Current Affairs
Ukraine Gets its First Baby Girl Born Using New ‘Three-Person’ IVF Technique
- The infant is being considered as the world’s second baby to be developed using three-person IVF technique.
- Three-person IVF was legalized in the UK in 2015. The objective of three-person IVF is to create a child free of mitochondrial disease in cases where parents had one such disease.
‘One China’ policy is ‘non-negotiable’ is China’s response to Trump
- One China Policy means that there exists only one “China”irrespective of the fact that two government claim to be the real China . The two are People’s Republic of China (PRC, Mainland China) and Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan).
- And as per “One-China” policy Chinese government has made it clear that they will not have diplomatic relation with the countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
- US accepted the “One-China” policy in 1979when it established diplomatic ties with China. But still The US has unofficial ties with Taiwan. This has created a situation of tension between China and The US.
Bengaluru Ranked Most Dynamic City in the World in WEF Report
- Bengaluru has been ranked at the top position in the 2017 City Momentum Index released by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting being held in Davos.
- The index identifies the most dynamic cities of the world.
- From India six cities have find place in top 30 most dynamic cities. Besides Bengaluru other Indian cities in the list includes Hyderabad (5), Pune (13), Chennai (17), Delhi (23) and Mumbai (25).
- Top 5 cities in 2017 City Momentum Index
| 1 | Bangalore (India) |
| 2 | Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) |
| 3 | Silicon Valley (USA) |
| 4 | Shanghai (China) |
| 5 | Hyderabad (India) |
India Ranks 78th in the Passport Index 2017
- India has been placed at 78th position in the Passport Index 2017 with a visa-free score of 46.
- Germany was placed at the top with a visa-free score of 157, Singapore and Sweden both stood second with a visa-free score of 156. Singapore overtook South Korea to become the highest ranked Asian passport.
- India’s Counterparts China ranked at 58th while Pakistan ranked 94th in the index. Afghanistan had the least powerful passport with a visa-free score of just 23.
- For the first time the index also added a new World Openness Score which tracks the progression of freedom of mobility across the globe. It showed that the world openness score rose to 17,948 in the first few days of 2017 from 17,925 in 2016.
Business & Economy
Karang Island in Manipur Becomes India’s First Cashless Island
- A small lake island Karang in Manipur has been declared as the country’s first cashless island by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
- The island fulfilled the Centre’s necessary criteria to be named as the cashless island. A campaign was organized from January 9 to 12 by the Karang Island Boat Association and Panthoibi Khoyol Standard Association in the island to promote cashless transactions.
- The island would also install a card swipe machine so that the island families can become 100% cashless society.
30 More Countries to Join Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank
- The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is an international financial institution that aims to support the building of infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region.
- It was officially established with 57 founding members and authorized capital of USD 100 billion.
- China is the largest shareholder of the bank having 26.6 percent voting shares.
- India is the second largest shareholder with 7.5 percent followed by Russia 5.93 percent and Germany with 4.5 percent.
- In June 2016 the bank approved its first four loans, totalling USD 509 million to fund power, housing and transportation projects in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Tajikistan.
UN Report Estimates India’s GDP to grow by 7.7% in 2017
- India’s economy is projected to grow by 7 percent in the fiscal 2017 because of being the fastest growing large developing economy.
- UN report projected that India is going to be benefited due to its strong private consumption and gradual introduction of significant domestic reforms.
- The growth estimate for 2018 has been projected at 6 percent.
- Low capacity utilization and stressed balance sheets of banks and businesses will have negative effect on strong investment revival in the short term.
- The report estimated the growth prospect of China to remain stable at 5 percent for fiscal years 2017 and 2018 due to favorable domestic demand and accommodative fiscal measures.
- Earlier the International Monetary Fund cut India’s growth rate for the current fiscal year to 6 percent from its previous estimate of 7.6 percent.
- The World Bank too lowered India’s GDP growth for 2016-17 fiscal to 7 percent from its previous estimate of 7.6 percent.
Awards
2016 National Bravery Awards Conferred upon 25 Children including 12 Girls
- National Bravery Awards 2016 has been conferred upon 25 children that include13 boys and 12 girls.
- Among the 25 awards, four awards have been given posthumously.
- Bharat Award Winners: Late Km. Tarh Peeju
2.Geeta Chopra Award Winners: Tejasweeta Pradhan and Shivani Gond
3.Sanjay Chopra Award Winners: Master Sumit Mamgain
4.Bapu Gaidhani Award Winners: Late Km. Roluahpuii, Late Km. H Lalhriatpuii, Master Tushar Verma
Antonio Tajani Elected New President of European Parliament
- Italian Political Leader Antonio Tajani has been elected as the new president of the European parliament. He will replace Germany’s Martin Schulz.
- Tajani won 351 votes to defeat his Italian counterpart Gianni Pitella against 282 votes in four rounds of voting.
- The European Parliament has the control over the EU laws and has the power to amend or block EU laws. It will also has the final say on whether to approve a Brexit deal with the UK.
Bharti AXA General appoints Sanjeev Srinivasan as CEO, MD
- Sanjeev Srinivasan has been appointed as CEO and Managing Director of Bharti AXA General Insurance
- He will focus to create a balanced portfolio, driving new distribution tie—ups and creating a customer centric brand to drive profitable growth.
Science & Technology
NASA Set to Explore Iron-Rich Asteroid “16 Psyche”
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has given its approval to explore an iron-rich asteroid “16 Psyche”as a part of its mission to learn more about the history and composition of the celestial body.
- 16 Psyche is one of the most mysterious objects in the solar system at a distance of about 230 million miles (370 million km) away from Earth and located in the large asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
- The space agency will explore the asteroid to understand how planets separated into layers in their early histories.
- The mission is targeted to be launched in October 2023 and reaching the asteroid in 2030 through Mars in 2025.
- Psyche is an asteroid which is entirely composed of iron and nickel and the NASA scientist has calculated that the iron content alone in Psyche would be worth over 100-thousand times ($10,000 quadrillion)the value of the entire world economy.
- This value is large enough to destroy commodity prices and finally collapse the world’s economy that is worth $73.7 trillion (£59.5 trillion).
Environment and Ecology
West Bengal Set to Give Legal Protection to Hilsa Fish
- West Bengal State Department of Fisheries has announced to protect the endangered Hisla Fish from getting extinct and thus has proposed to introduce law to arrest anyone found in illegal catching, buying or selling of Hilsa fish weighing less than 500 grams.
- With the introduction of the proposed provision, Hilsa Fish would become the first fish to get legal protection.
- West Bengal’s famous Hilsa Fish, known as the kings of fishes, is on the verge of getting extinct because of over-fishing, pollution and migration barrier.
- The Central Inland Fisheries research Institute (CIFRI) did an assessment of the production trends of Hilsa from 1961 to 2013, which showed a significant decline in the annual production from 36 tonnes to 0.9 tonnes.