DAILY CURRENT
AFFAIRS: 13 DEC 2017
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN
1. 2ND UNWTO/UNESCO WORLD CONFERENCE ON TOURISM AND CULTURE HELD IN
MUSCAT
i. The 2nd UN World Tourism Organization/UNESCO World Conference on
Tourism and Culture was held in Muscat, Capital city of Oman.
ii. The Minister of State for Culture (I/C) and Environment,
Forest & Climate Change, Dr. Mahesh Sharma led the Indian delegation. The
conference was focused on sustainable development, culture and tourism as a
factor of peace and prosperity; tourism development and protection of cultural
heritage.
2. INDIA TO HOST 3RD ANNUAL MEETING OF BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF AIIB
i. India will host the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Board of
Governors of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank at Mumbai in June 2018.
ii. The Theme of the Annual Meeting, 2018 will be “Mobilizing
Finance for Infrastructure: Innovation and Collaboration”.
iii. The Government of India and AIIB Secretariat signed the MoU
to delineate the duties and responsibilities of major stakeholders who would be
involved in organizing the aforesaid Annual Meeting.
3. RBI RAISES FPI LIMIT IN G-SECS, STATE DEVELOPMENT LOANS
i. The Reserve Bank of India increased the limits for investment
by foreign portfolio investors for the January-March 2018 quarter by Rs 6,400
crore in Central Government Securities and Rs 5,800 cr in State development
loans.
ii. With effect from January 1, 2018, the revised investment limit
for FPIs in G-Secs will be Rs 2,56,400 cr against the existing limit of Rs
2,50,000 cr.
4. AIIB GRANTS 1ST LOAN TO CHINA TO REDUCE DEPENDENCE ON COAL
i. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank approved its first
loan to China, its largest shareholder, to reduce its dependence on coal by
over 600,000 tonnes annually by building a natural gas distribution network for
villages.
ii. The USD 250-million-loan will fund a project to connect
216,750 households in approximately 510 villages to the natural gas
distribution network. With an authorized capital of USD 100 billion, China is
the largest shareholder with 26.06 percent voting shares.
iii. India is the second largest shareholder with 7.5 percent.
5. ADB LOWERS INDIA’S GDP FORECAST FOR FY18 TO 6.7%
i. The Asian Development Bank lowered India’s GDP forecast for the
current fiscal by 0.3% to 6.7 %.
ii. It has also revised downward the gross domestic product
outlook for next fiscal beginning from March 2018 to 7.3% from 7.4% mainly due
to rising global crude oil prices and soft growth in private sector investment.
6. HINDI WRITER MAMTA KALIA SELECTED FOR VYAS SAMMAN 2017
i. Renowned Hindi writer Mamta Kalia was selected for the Vyas
Samman 2017 for her novel "Dukkham Sukkham" published in 2009.
ii. She was chosen by a selection committee headed by Sahitya
Akademi director and author Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari. She will receive Rs 3.5
lakh as the prize money of Vyas Samman.
iii. She is known for her works in Hindi and English including
"Beghar", "Janch Abhi Jaari Hai", "Nirmohi", and
"Bolne Wali Aurat". She has been conferred with various awards for
her work including Yashpal Katha Samman from Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan,
Sahitya Bhushan Samman and Ram Manohar Lohia Samman.
7. RAJASTHAN, FIRST IN INDIA TO OFFER E-MAIL IDS IN HINDI
i. Rajasthan has become the first state in the country to launch
free email addresses in Hindi (in Devanagari script) for its residents, as per
the state IT department Principal Secretary Akhil Arora.
ii. The initiative aims to ensure maximum participation of people
towards e-governance and that maximum facilities are available in the
vernacular language. The first e-mail ID was created for CM Vasundhara Raje.
8. INDIA’S LAKSHMI PURI AMONG SIX DIPLOMATS FELICITATED WITH DIWALI
'POWER OF ONE' AWARD AT UN
i. Six top diplomats including one Indian were felicitated with
the inaugural Diwali ‘Power of One’ award at the UN headquarters in New York
for their contribution to help form a more perfect, peaceful and secure world.
ii. The awards were presented on 11 December, on the occasion of
the first anniversary of the issuance of a ‘forever Diwali stamp’ by the US
Postal Services. Lakshmi Puri, the Indian head of the UN Women was one among
the top six.
9. DHAMMAPIYA ELECTED NEW SECRETARY GENERAL OF IBC
i. Buddhist monk Dhammapiya from Tripura has been elected as the
new secretary general of the International Buddhist Confederation.
ii. He was elected to the post at the second general assembly of
the IBC. The IBC is a global Buddhist forum for preservation and development of
heritage sites of the religion in India and other parts of the world.
10. PRIYANKA CHOPRA CONFERRED MOTHER TERESA MEMORIAL AWARD FOR
SOCIAL JUSTICE
i. Indian actor, Priyanka Chopra has been bestowed with the 2017
Mother Teresa Memorial award for her contribution towards lending her support
to social causes such as her recent visit to Syria where she met and interacted
with refugee children.
ii. The 35-year-old is also UNICEF's Goodwill Ambassador and is
known for supporting various philanthropic activities. The award was received
by her mother Madhu Chopra, on her behalf. The award has been conferred to
several famous personalities in the past such as Malala Yousafzai, Anna Hazare,
Kiran Bedi, Oscar Fernandes, Sudha Murty, Sushmita Sen and Bilquis Bano Edhi.
11. INDIA BECOMES 1ST EVER TEAM TO REGISTER HUNDRED 300+ ODI TOTALS
i. India has become the first-ever team to register 300+ totals
100 times in ODIs, after posting 392/4 against Sri Lanka in Mohali.
ii. This was also the 25th instance of India scoring 350+ in an ODI
innings, second-most by a team after South Africa (26). India was driven by
captain Rohit Sharma's 208*, his third ODI double hundred which is also a
record in ODIs.
12. SHUBHANKAR SHARMA WINS JOBURG OPEN
i. 21-year-old Indian Golfer Shubhankar Sharma claimed his maiden
European Tour victory in the Joburg Open, in South Africa. He has defeated
South Africa’s Erik Van Rooyen.
ii. This was a maiden European Tour win for Shubhankar Sharma.
England’s Marcus Armitage was the top British finisher in Joburg.
OBJECTIVE
QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS
Q1. WHICH COUNTRY HOSTED THE 2ND SECOND UNWTO/UNESCO WORLD
CONFERENCE ON TOURISM AND CULTURE?
a) Israel
b) India
c) China
d) Oman
Q2. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING HINDI WRITER HAS BEEN SELECTED FOR
THE VYAAS SAMMAN 2017?
a) Sugandha Seth
b) Mamta Kalia
c) Nita Nadia
d) Srishti Kapoor
Q3. BUDDHIST MONK DHAMMAPIYA HAS ELECTED AS THE NEW SECRETARY
GENERAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL BUDDHIST CONFEDERATION. HE IS FROM WHICH INDIAN STATE?
a) Arunachal Pradesh
b) Manipur
c) Tripura
d) Sikkim
Q4. WHICH STATE HAS BECOME THE INDIA’S FIRST STATE TO OFFER FREE
E-MAIL ADDRESS IN HINDI TO ITS RESIDENTS?
a) Rajasthan
b) Madhya Pradesh
c) Jharkhand
d) Uttar Pradesh
Q5. WHICH COUNTRY WILL BE
HOSTING THE 3RD ANNUAL MEETING OF BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF ASIAN INFRASTRUCTURE
INVESTMENT BANK?
a) Japan
b) India
c) France
d) Germany
ANSWERS:
1 - D 2 - B 3 - C 4
- A 5 - B
