DAILY CURRENT
AFFAIRS: 8 DEC 2017
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN
1. PM MODI INAUGURATED B R AMBEDKAR INTERNATIONAL CENTRE
i. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the BR Ambedkar International
Centre in New Delhi. The PM also unveiled two statues of the Dalit icon at the
center in Janpath.
ii. Union Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Vijay Goel was also
present at the event. The center was a fusion of Buddhist and modern
architecture. He had laid the foundation stone of the center in 2015.
2. GOVT SETS UP PANEL TO ADDRESS NPAS IN POWER SECTOR
i. The government has set up a high-level committee headed by NITI
Aayog chief executive Amitabh Kant to address the problem of stressed assets in
India's power sector.
ii. Non-performing assets in power generation accounted for around
5.9% of the banking sector’s total outstanding advances of Rs4.73 trillion,
according to the second volume of the Economic Survey 2016-17.
3. INDIAN AND ITALY SIGN MOU FOR COOPERATION IN AGRICULTURE AND
PHYTOSANITARY ISSUES
i. Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister, Shri Radha
Mohan Singh with H.E Maurizio Martina, Italian Minister for Agriculture Food
and Forestry Policies have signed a new MoU for cooperation in Agriculture and
Phytosanitary issues that will replace the one signed in 2008.
ii. The MOU provides a good framework for cooperation in this
field. India has contributed 37 million USD in the 10th replenishment of IFAD
for the period 2016-2018. Mr. Singh with the Italian Minister participated in
the AGRIMACH India, 2017.
4. INDIA AND CUBA SIGN MOU FOR ENHANCED COOPERATION IN HEALTH
SECTOR
i. India and Cuba signed a Memorandum of Understanding for
enhanced cooperation in the health sector.
ii. The objective of this MoU is to establish comprehensive
inter-ministerial and inter-institutional cooperation between the two countries
in the field of health by pooling technical, scientific, financial and human
resources in both countries.
5. UNESCO INSCRIBES 'KUMBH MELA' ON THE REPRESENTATIVE LIST OF
INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF HUMANITY
i. UNESCO has inscribed 'Kumbh Mela' on the Representative List of
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The decision was taken during the
12th session of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intangible Cultural Heritage
at Jeju in South Korea.
ii. This inscription is the third in two years following the
inscriptions of 'Yoga' and 'Nouroz' on 1st December 2016. The 'Kumbh Mela' is
the largest peaceful congregation of pilgrims on the earth.
6. PAYTM UNVEILS 'PAYTM KA ATM' PARTNER OUTLET FOR BANKING
OPERATIONS
i. India's largest digital bank Paytm Payments Bank is the only
bank providing zero balance accounts and zero charges on digital transactions.
The bank has unveiled 'Paytm Ka ATM' outlets that allows customers to open
Saving Accounts and deposit/withdraw money from their bank accounts.
ii. In the first phase, Paytm has started with 3,000 'Paytm Ka
ATM' points in select cities including Delhi NCR, Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad,
Varanasi, and Aligarh.
iii. These outlets feature local banking correspondents who help
customers in depositing and withdrawing money from their Paytm Payments Bank
account, making banking simpler and more accessible for one and all.
7. AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT PASSES MARRIAGE EQUALITY LAW
i. Australia’s parliament has legislated for marriage equality,
passing a bill almost unanimously to allow two people, regardless of sex, to
marry.
ii. The House of Representatives passed a cross-party bill after
an unprecedented national postal survey gave unstoppable momentum to legislate
the historic social reform. Australia, which changed the law in 2004 to say
that marriage is only between a man and a woman, now becomes the 25th country
to recognize same-sex marriage.
8. SWIGGY APPOINTS VISHAL BHATIA AS CEO OF NEW SUPPLY BUSINESS
i. Online food delivery start-up Swiggy (Bundl Technologies Pvt.
Ltd) has appointed Vishal Bhatia as the chief executive officer for its new
supply business.
ii. Bhatia comes with 19 years of experience in consumer goods
firms like Reckitt Benckiser Group, PepsiCo and Britannia.
9. CENTER ENHANCES MONETARY ALLOWANCES FOR GALLANTRY AWARD WINNERS
i. The Government has enhanced the monetary allowances for the
Gallantry Award winners.
ii. The enhancement is for the recipients of post-independence
Gallantry Award, pre-independence Gallantry Award and the monetary allowance
attached to 'Jangi Inam', a pre-independence Gallantry Award. The allowances
have been doubled in most of the cases and in a few cases have been increased by
more than 100%.
10. INDIA WINS FIRST-EVER SOUTH ASIAN REGIONAL BADMINTON TEAM
CHAMPIONSHIP
i. India has won the first-ever South Asian Regional Badminton
Team Championship. In the title clash played in Guwahati, India defeated Nepal,
3-0.
ii. In the boys’ singles competition Aryaman Tandon defeated
Dipesh Dhami while Ashmita Chaliha defeated Rashila Maharjan in the Girls’
singles event.
iii. In Boys’ Doubles, the pair of Arintap Dasgupta and Krishna
Prasad came back from a game behind to beat the duo of Dipesh Dhami and Nabin
Shrestha.
11. JOHNNY HALLYDAY, FRANCE'S 'ELVIS PRESLEY' PASSES AWAY'
i. France's biggest rock star Johnny Hallyday has died after a
battle with lung cancer. He was 74. The singer sold about 100 million records
and starred in a number of films in a career that began in 1960.
ii. He was made a Chevalier of the Legion D'Honneur by President
Jacques Chirac in 1997.
12. ARMED FORCES FLAG DAY- 07 DECEMBER
i. Armed Forces Flag Day is being observed throughout the country
on 7 December to honor the martyrs and the men in uniform who valiantly fought
on our borders to safeguard the country's honor.
ii. The day marks the annual Armed Forces Flag day in India since
1949.
OBJECTIVE
QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS
Q1. INDIA AND WHICH COUNTRY HAS RECENTLY SIGNED MOU FOR
COOPERATION IN AGRICULTURE AND PHYTOSANITARY ISSUES?
a) Australia
b) Japan
c) Italy
d) Malaysia
Q2. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED BY UNESCO AS
INDIA’S INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF HUMANITY IN 2017?
a) Kumbh Mela
b) Ramman
c) Mudiyettu
d) Sankirtana
Q3. INDIA AND WHICH COUNTRY HAS RECENTLY SIGNED MOU FOR ENHANCED
COOPERATION IN THE HEALTH SECTOR?
a) Mauritius
b) South Africa
c) Seychelles
d) Cuba
Q4. THE 2017 ARMED FORCES FLAG DAY IS CELEBRATED ON WHICH DATE
IN INDIA?
a) December 8
b) December 6
c) December 9
d) December 7
Q5. THE BR AMBEDKAR
INTERNATIONAL CENTRE HAS RECENTLY LAUNCHED IN WHICH CITY?
a) Lucknow
b) New Delhi
c) Indore
d) Pune
ANSWERS:
1 - C 2 - A 3 - D 4
- D 5 - B
