DAILY CURRENT
AFFAIRS: 26 DEC 2017
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN
1. ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY LAUNCHES PILOT PROJECT 'BLUE FLAG' FOR
BEACH CLEAN-UP
i. To enhance standards of cleanliness on beaches, the environment
ministry has launched a pilot project 'Blue Flag' for its clean-up and
development.
ii. With the prime objective of enhancing standards of
cleanliness, upkeep and basic amenities at beaches, the ministry has launched a
pilot project, also striving for the 'Blue Flag' certification for such
identified beaches.
iii. The 'Blue Flag' is a certification by the Foundation for
Environmental Education that a beach, Marina or sustainable boating tourism
operator, meets its stringent standards.
2. STATE-RUN BANKS' NPAS TOUCHED RS 7.34 LAKH CR- RBI DATA
i. Bad loans of Public sector banks stood at Rs 7.34 lakh cr by
the end of second quarter this fiscal, a bulk of which came from corporate
defaulters, private sector banks' NPAs were considerably low. Moreover, for the
recovery of the bad loans, the network of Debt Recovery Tribunals have been
expanded to 39 at present, as compared to 33 in 2016-17, according to data
furnished by the RBI and the government.
ii. The gross non-performing assets of the public sector and
private sector banks as on September 30, 2017, were Rs 7,33,974 cr and Rs
1,02,808 cr, respectively. Among the major government-owned banks, State Bank
of India had the highest level of NPAs at over Rs 1.86 lakh cr, followed by
Punjab National Bank (Rs 57,630 cr) and Bank of India (Rs 49,307 cr).
iii. Up to end-September, among private banks, ICICI Bank had the
most amounts of NPAs at Rs 44,237 cr, followed by Axis Bank (Rs 22,136 cr) and
HDFC Bank (Rs 7,644 cr).
3. UP GOVERNMENT SIGNS MOU WITH SOUTH KOREA
i. The Uttar Pradesh government signed an MoU with South Korea to
enhance cooperation in the field of tourism, skill development, culture and
farming.
ii. An agreement was signed in 2000 to develop Ayodhya and Gimhae
as sister cities, following which a memorial was constructed in Ayodhya which
is visited by a large number of tourists from South Korea every year.
4. MUMBAI GETS INDIA'S FIRST EVER AC LOCAL TRAIN
i. Mumbai has got India's 1st ever AC suburban local train as
Christmas gift. The first service of the 12-coach EMU will commence between
Borivali and Churchgate. The first and 12th coaches from Churchgate end are
earmarked as ladies coaches.
ii. This will be the first train with automatic doors in the
suburban system. Out of 12 services of AC Local train, 8 will run fast and will
only halt at major stations. The services of AC local train will replace
existing 12 Non AC services.
5. WORLD’S LONGEST GLASS BRIDGE OPENS IN CHINA
i. The world’s longest glass bridge has been opened in China to
the public. Though it has a capacity to hold 2000 people, only 500 would be
allowed at a time. Located in Shijiazhuang, the magnificent bridge lies 218
meters above hanging between the two cliffs in Hongyagu Scenic Area in Pingshan
county.
ii. The bridge is 488 meters long and two meters wide, with two
dragon statues on top that could produce smoke.
6. INDIA'S FIRST RUNWAY ON 'SEA BRIDGE' IN LAKSHADWEEP
i. India is all set to get its first runway on a ‘sea bridge’, as
the Airports Authority of India has been given a nod to extend Lakshadweep’s
Agatti Airport.
ii. The task will be carried out by building an RCC platform on
the beach and shallow area which will allow bigger ATRs to operate on the
island. The Project is likely to cost about Rs 1,500 cr.
7. ATAL INNOVATION MISSION SELECTS ADDITIONAL 1500 SCHOOLS FOR
SETTING UP OF ATLS
i. NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission, the Union government’s
flagship program to promote innovation and entrepreneurship nationwide in
schools, universities and industry, has selected additional 1500 Schools for
the establishment of Atal Tinkering Labs.
ii. With the announcement, the total number of schools selected
under the mission equals to 2441 across India. The AIM began its operations
over a year ago. The addition of these schools will give a major boost to
realize the vision of the mission to ‘Cultivate One Million children in India
as the Innovators of tomorrow’.
iii. The labs aims to be innovative play workspaces for students
between Grade VI to Grade XII, which stimulate innovations combining science
& technology. These open-ended innovation workspaces would be equipped with
state of the art technologies such as 3D printers, Robotics, Sensor Technology
Kits, Internet of Things and miniaturized Electronics, which enable the students
to learn and solve local community problems using emerging Technologies.
8. BENGALURU BECOMES FIRST INDIAN CITY TO HAVE ITS OWN LOGO
i. Karnataka's capital city Bengaluru has become the 1st Indian
city to have its own logo after the state government launched it. The logo was
designed by a design start-up and uses both English and Kannada alphabets.
ii. The red and black logo is part English and part Kannada. With
this, Bengaluru joins a select group of global cities like New York City,
Melbourne and Singapore to have a tourism logo of its own.
9. BOOK ON GAURI LANKESH’S WRITINGS LAUNCHED
i. A book containing selected writings by late journalist Gauri
Lankesh was launched at the Mumbai Press Club, three months after she was
gunned down.
ii. The book, The Way I See It - a Gauri Lankesh Reader, has been
edited by writer and sociologist Chandan Gowda.
10. GOOD GOVERNANCE DAY- 25TH DECEMBER
i. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birthday is being
celebrated as Good Governance Day across the country on 25th December.
ii. Good Governance Day was established in 2014 to honour Mr
Vajpayee by fostering awareness among the people of accountability in
government.
OBJECTIVE
QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS
Q1. THE GROSS NON-PERFORMING ASSETS OF PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS AS ON
SEPTEMBER 2017 WERE RS 7,33,974 CR. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING PSBS HAD THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF NPAS?
a) Bank of India
b) Punjab National Bank
c) State Bank of India
d) United Bank of India
Q2. AS PER THE DATA FURNISHED BY RBI, BAD LOANS OF PUBLIC SECTOR
BANKS STOOD AT ____ BY THE END OF SECOND
QUARTER THIS FISCAL.
a) Rs 7.34 lakh cr
b) Rs 4.65 lakh cr
c) Rs 8.03 lakh cr
d) Rs 5.75 lakh cr
Q3. WHICH STATE/UT IS ALL SET TO GET INDIA'S FIRST RUNWAY ON A
‘SEA BRIDGE’ AS AIRPORTS AUTHORITY OF INDIA HAS BEEN GIVEN A NOD TO EXTEND ONE OF ITS AIRPORTS?
a) Kerala
b) Chandigarh
c) New Delhi
d) Lakshadweep
Q4. THE GOOD GOVERNANCE DAY WAS ESTABLISHED IN 2014 TO MARK THE
BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF?
a) Mahatma Gandhi
b) Atal Bihari Vajpayee
c) Dr. Rajendra Prasad
d) Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru
Q5. THE GROSS NON-PERFORMING ASSETS OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR BANKS
AS ON SEPTEMBER 2017 WERE RS 1,02,808
CR. WHICH AMONG THE FOLLOWING PRIVATE SECTOR BANKS HAD THE MOST AMOUNT OF NPAS?
a) ICICI Bank
b) Axis Bank
c) HDFC Bank
d) Federal Bank
ANSWERS:
1 - C 2 - A 3 - D 4
- B 5 - A
