DAILY CURRENT
AFFAIRS: 12 JAN 2018
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN
1. UIDAI INTRODUCES ‘VIRTUAL ID’ TO STRENGTHEN PRIVACY AND SECURITY
OF AADHAAR DATA
i. The Unique Identification Authority of India has introduced a
concept of 'Virtual ID' to further strengthen privacy and security of Aadhaar
number holders. The Aadhaar number holder can use 'Virtual ID' in place of an
Aadhaar number whenever authentication or KYC services are performed.
ii. Aadhaar card holder can generate the Virtual ID from UIDAI
website and give for various purposes, including SIM card verification, instead
of sharing the actual 12-digit biometric ID.
2. PRESIDENT RAM NATH KOVIND INAUGURATED 4TH INTERNATIONAL DHARMA
DHAMMA CONFERENCE
i. President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated a 3-day International
Dharma-Dhamma conference at Rajgir in Bihar.
ii. The inaugural session was chaired by Mr Kovind. The conference
was attended by Sri Lanka’s foreign Minister Tilak Marapana.
3. JEFF BEZOS BECOMES RICHEST PERSON SURPASSING BILL GATES:
BLOOMBERG REPORT
i. Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon has become the richest
man in the history, overtaking the wealth Bill Gates ever had to his name,
according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The Index showed that Bezos' net
worth had hit USD 105.1 billion.
ii. According to Forbes' tracker, most of Bezos' wealth comes from
his 78.9 million shares of Amazon stock. According to Bloomberg Billionaires
Index, the top 3 richest people in the world are Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and
Warren Buffett.
4. MINISTRY OF RAILWAY LAUNCHES SFOORTI APPLICATION
i. The Ministry of Railways has launched Smart Freight Operation
Optimisation & Real Time Information App for Freight Managers which
provides features for monitoring and managing freight business using Geographic
Information System Views and Dashboard.
ii. The major digital initiative is to help plan the traffic flows
and optimize freight operations.
iii. Salient features of SFOORTI Application are as below: With
this application, movement of freight trains on Geographic Information System
view can be tracked.
iv. Both passenger and freight trains can be tracked over
Zones/Divisions/ Sections in single GIS View. Comparative Analysis of
Zonal/Divisional Traffic. This app provides a Bird’s eye view of all Freight
Assets in a single window.
5. INDIA, INDONESIA HOLD 1ST SECURITY DIALOGUE, VOW TO COMBAT
TERRORISM
i. India and Indonesia held their 1st bilateral security dialogue
in New Delhi. During the dialogue, India and Indonesia agreed on operational
cooperation in security and counter-terrorism.
ii. Indian side was led by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval
while Indonesian side was led by H Wiranto, Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister
for Political, Legal and Security Affairs.
iii. At the 5th Indonesia-India joint commission
meeting in Jakarta, held in first week of January 2018 during Union External
Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s Indonesia visit, both countries had agreed to
strengthen strategic partnerships across various key areas, including defence,
security, maritime and economy.
6. SOUTH KOREA, GCCI SIGN MOU FOR BUSINESS COOPERATION
i. An official delegation from South Korea and the Gujarat Chamber
of Commerce and Industry signed a MoU for co-operation between industries in
Gujarat and the East Asian country, with a focus on automobile, defence and
textiles sectors.
ii. The main objective of the MoU is to help Gujarat-based small
and medium enterprises to explore opportunities through joint ventures with
South Korean firms, especially in areas of automobile, defence and textiles.
7. 3RD MEETING OF COUNCIL OF TRADE DEVELOPMENT AND PROMOTION HELD
IN NEW DELHI
i. The 3rd meeting of Council of Trade Development and Promotion
was held at Vigyan Bhavan, in New Delhi. The 3rd Meeting of Council
of Trade Development and Promotion was chaired by Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister
for Commerce & Industry.
ii. Suresh Prabhu unveiled a study named “LEADS-Logistics Ease
Across Different States”. This is the first ever sub-national logistics
performance index.
iii. He also unveiled a compendium named the “State Exports
Booklet”. This compendium is on the status of exports from the states in the
past 10 years. He expressed the need for a new agricultural exports policy
focussed on increasing exports of value-added agricultural products.
8. IOA APPOINTS HARJINDER SINGH AS 'CHEF DE MISSION' FOR WINTER
OLYMPICS 2018
i. The Indian Olympic Association appointed Harjinder Singh as the
Chef De Mission for the 23rd Winter Olympic Games to be held in Pyeongchang,
South Korea in February 2018.
ii. Harjinder Singh is at present the General Secretary in the Ice
Hockey Association of India.
9. DR SIVAN K APPOINTED NEW ISRO CHAIRMAN
i. Noted rocket scientist Sivan K was appointed as the 9th
chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation. He has replaced A.S. Kiran
Kumar.
ii. The appointment has been made for the tenure of three years.
Sivan was the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Kerala. Sivan joined
the ISRO in 1982 in Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle project.
10. INDIAN-ORIGIN BUSINESSMAN SUNNY VERGHESE APPOINTED WBCSD
CHAIRMAN
i. Singapore-based Indian-origin businessman Sunny Verghese has
been appointed as the Chairman of the Geneva-based World Business Council for
Sustainable Development.
ii. He succeeded Paul Polman. Verghese, Co-Founder and the CEO of
Singapore's agri-business group Olam International Limited, is the first WBCSD
Chair from the agri-sector.
OBJECTIVE
QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS
Q1. WITH WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING COUNTRY, THE GUJARAT CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY SIGNED AN MOU FOR
CO-OPERATION BETWEEN INDUSTRIES IN GUJARAT AND THE EAST ASIAN COUNTRY?
a) South Korea
b) Oman
c) Indonesia
d) Japan
Q2. THE INDIAN OLYMPIC ASSOCIATION APPOINTED _________AS THE
‘CHEF DE MISSION’ FOR THE 23RD WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES TO BE HELD IN PYEONGCHANG, SOUTH KOREA?
a) T. Venkates
b) Manisder Kumar
c) Kalpak Jian
d) Harjinder Singh
Q3. SIVAN K WAS APPOINTED AS THE 9TH CHAIRMAN OF INDIAN SPACE
RESEARCH ORGANIZATION. HE HAS REPLACED?
a) Krishnaswamy
Kasturirangan
b) G.Madhavan
c) A.S. Kiran Kumar
d) bK. Radhakrishnan
Q4. THE WORLD BUSINESS COUNCIL FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
HEADQUARTERS IN?
a) Beijing, China
b) Geneva, Switzerland
c) Jakarta, Indonesia
d) Paris, France
Q5. PRESIDENT RAM NATH KOVIND HAS RECENTLY INAUGURATED THE
THREE-DAY INTERNATIONAL DHARMA-DHAMMA CONFERENCE IN?
a) Kathmandu
b) Uttar Pradesh
c) New Delhi
d) Bihar
ANSWERS:
1 - A 2 - D 3 - C 4
- B 5 - D
