DAILY CURRENT
AFFAIRS: 14 JAN 2018
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN
1. 'IRON FIST'- THE US, JAPAN JOINT MILITARY DRILL BEGINS
i. American and Japanese military
forces have launched joint exercise named Iron Fist. The 13th annual
Iron Fist exercises kicked off in the U.S. western state of California.
ii. More than 500 U.S. Marines and
sailors are partnering with about 350 members of the Japanese Ground
Self-Defense Force to train in fire support operations and amphibious assaults.
2. INDIA SIGNS PACT WITH UK ON ILLEGAL MIGRANTS
i. India has signed an MoU with the
United Kingdom to enable the return of illegal Indian migrants within a month
of their detection by authorities abroad.
ii. Minister of State for Home Kiren
Rijiju confirmed that the pact was signed by him and UK Minister of State for
Immigration Caroline Nokes in Britain during his visit along with an Indian
delegation.
3. INDIA GIVES $45.27 MILLION AID TO DEVELOP KKS HARBOUR IN SRI
LANKA
i. India has extended financial
assistance of USD 45.27 million to Sri Lanka for upgrading Kankesanthurai
Harbour (located in northern Sri Lanka) into a commercial port.
ii. Agreement was signed by Sri Lanka’s
Ministry of Finance and Export and Import Bank of India. This financial
assistance is part of memorandum of understanding between Indian and Sri Lankan
Government for rehabilitation of KKS Harbour.
iii. Four out of the 6 phases of the
rehabilitation of KKS Harbour have already been completed. The financial
assistance of USD 45.27 million will used for executing remaining two phases,
which includes works related to installation of port infrastructure.
iv. KKS port holds lot of significance
as it connects Jaffna peninsula with the rest of Sri Lanka. The port was
destroyed by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelamduring the civil war in Sri Lanka.
4. GAIL TO SET UP INDIA’S 1ST COAL-TO-GAS CONVERSION PLANT IN
ODISHA
i. GAIL India, the largest
government-owned natural gas processing and distribution company in India will
now be setting up ‘coal to synthesis gas’ conversion plants announced by Union
Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan.
ii. GAIL India’s coal to synthesis gas
plants will be set up in Odisha. Steel Authority of India Limited will be a
technology partner in this project. Synthesis gas is expected to be cheaper
than domestic gas.
5. YES BANK ANNOUNCES RS 7.5-CR GRANT FOR NGOS, SOCIAL ENTERPRISES’
i. YES Foundation (social development
arm of YES Bank) launched 5th edition of ‘YES! i am the CHANGE’. YIAC is a
programme to inculcate the spirit of responsible youth citizenship and drive
social impact through the medium of films.
ii. In this edition, Yes foundation has
invited participation in the ‘YIAC Social Filmmaking Challenge’. The challenge
is to depict stories of change in a three-minute film.
iii. The deserving NGOs/social
enterprises which operate in areas of livelihood generation, climate change,
gender equality etc will receive a grant of Rs 7.5 cr, for scaling up and
capacity building and will also receive three-year mentoring for creating
onground tangible social impact.
6. KERALA LAUNCHES ‘KERALA ACCELERATOR PROGRAM’ FOR EARLY-STAGE
STARTUPS
i. Kerala StartUp Mission has
introduced ‘Kerala Accelerator Program’, a virtual accelerator program for 3 months,
to promote startups in the early revenue stage. The Kerala Accelerator Program
has been launched by Kerala StartUp Mission in collaboration with Zone Startups
India. This program will introduce the startups to investors, relevant
customers and industry connects.
ii. This program starts on 5th February
2018. It will provide both live and virtual mentoring sessions. Mentors will
visit Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi to interact with selected startups. It also
provides a one week residential program in Bangalore and Mumbai from 12 to 16
January 2018.
iii. It also provides weekly reviews,
customer interactions and an end-of-programme ‘demo day’ with investors.
7. RETAIL INFLATION RISES TO 5.21% IN DECEMBER
i. Retail inflation crossed the RBI’s
comfort level and rose to 5.21 percent in December on rise in prices of food
items, egg and vegetables, dashing hopes of interest rate cut in the near
future.
ii. The retail inflation, based on
Consumer Price Index, was 4.88 percent in November.
8. INDU MALHOTRA BECOMES 1ST WOMAN LAWYER DIRECTLY APPOINTED FOR SC
JUDGESHIP
i. The Supreme Court collegium has
recommended the name of senior advocate Indu Malhotra as the first woman lawyer
to be directly appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of India.
ii. She will be the seventh woman judge
since independence to make it to the Supreme Court. At present, Justice R
Banumathi is the lone woman judge in the apex court.
9. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ON ART AND ARTIST BEGINS IN ODISHA
i. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik inaugurated
12th International Film Festival on Art and Artist in Bhubaneswar. This 3-day
festival has been organised by Bhubaneswar-based Jatin Das Centre of Art.
ii. Several short, long, narrative,
documentary, animation, and film essays will be showcased during the course of
this festival. Besides, panel discussions, lectures and workshops will also be
conducted.
iii. 12 Odia films,12 films in other
Indian languages and nearly 39 films of 11 countries in 15 foreign languages
will be screened during the festival.
iv. Short film stories written by
eminent writers Manoj Das and Gourahari Das will also be presented by Jatin Das
Centre of Art.
10. ANIL KHANNA TO HEAD IOA FINANCE COMMISSION
i. Senior sports administrator Anil
Khanna was named Chairman of the Finance Commission of the Indian Olympic
Association, which also formed a four-member advisory committee. The advisory
committee comprises Tarlochan Singh, GS Mander, S Regunathan and BS Landge.
ii. The IOA also formed a Medical
Commission and Games Technical Conduct Committee and nominated office bearers
of IOA and National Sports Federations to the Committees.
11. INDIA, TOP BORROWER FROM CHINA-SPONSORED AIIB IN 2017
i. India has emerged as a top borrower
from the China-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank with USD 1.5
billion worth of loans last year and USD three billion more in the pipeline.
ii. India's Ambassador Gautam Bambawale
met AIIB President Jin Liqun in Beijing and held in-depth talks on deepening
India's engagements with the bank. Next to India, Indonesia has emerged as the
second largest borrower with about USD 600 million loans.
OBJECTIVE
QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS
Q1. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING COUNTRY HAS EMERGED AS A TOP BORROWER
FROM THE CHINA-SPONSORED ASIAN
INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT BANK WITH USD 1.5 BILLION WORTH OF LOANS IN 2017?
a)
Oman
b)
India
c) Indonesia
d) Singapore
Q2. WHICH SENIOR SPORTS
ADMINISTRATOR WAS NAMED CHAIRMAN OF THE FINANCE COMMISSION OF THE INDIAN OLYMPIC ASSOCIATION?
a)
Pinkan Hooda
b) Sumit Mahajan
c) Anil Khanna
d)
Pankaj Kumar
Q3. WHO IS THE PRESENT PRESIDENT OF CHINA-HEADQUARTERED AIIB?
a)
Jin Liqun
b)
Yang Shaolin
c)
Takehiko Nakao
d)
Jim Yong Kim
Q4. INDU MALHOTRA HAS RECENTLY BECOME THE 1ST WOMAN LAWYER TO BE
DIRECTLY APPOINTED AS A JUDGE OF THE
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA. WHO WAS THE FIRST WOMAN TO BE APPOINTED AS A JUDGE OF
THE APEX COURT SINCE INDEPENDENCE?
a)
Justice Gyan Sudha Misra
b)
Justice R Banumathi
c)
Justice Ruma Pal
d)
Justice M Fathima Beevi
Q5. AMERICAN AND JAPANESE
MILITARY FORCES HAVE RECENTLY LAUNCHED 13TH EDITION OF THE JOINT EXERCISE NAMED?
a)
Golden Punch
b)
Iron Fist
c)
Extreme Survivals
d)
EKUVERIN-2018
ANSWERS:
1 - B 2 - C 3 - A 4
- D 5 - B
