DAILY CURRENT
AFFAIRS: 2 JAN 2018
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN
1. SBI REDUCES BASE RATE AND BENCHMARK PRIME LENDING RATES EACH BY
30 BPS
i. The State Bank of India reduced the base rate and benchmark prime
lending rates by 30 basis points each, which will benefit nearly 80 lakh
customers on the old pricing regime.
ii. SBI revised down the base rate to 8.65% for existing customers
from 8.95%, while the benchmark prime lending rates are down from 13.7 percent,
to 13.4%. The one-year MCLR of the bank stands unchanged at 7.95 percent.
2. KARNATAKA GOVT TO OBTAIN ELECTRIC VEHICLES UNDER FAME-INDIA
SCHEME
i. Karnataka State Government announced that it would be obtaining
electric vehicles under the Central Government’s Faster Adoption and
Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India Scheme.
ii. Under FAME-India Scheme, Karnataka State Government will
procure 40 electric buses, 100 four
wheelers and 500 three wheelers. It will also set up charging infrastructure
for these vehicles in Bengaluru.
ii. FAME India scheme was announced in Union Budget 2015-16 with
an initial allocation of Rs. 75 cr. It is being administered by Union Ministry
of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises.
iii. Under this scheme, Govt. encourages buyers to purchase hybrid
and electric vehicles by providing monetary subsidy. For purchase of electric
buses, the subsidy component is up to 60 per cent of purchase cost. For
electric four wheelers and electric three-wheeler subsidy is Rs. 1.24 lakh and
Rs 61000 respectively.
3. WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT MINISTRY INAUGURATED ONLINE PORTAL
NARI
i. Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi inaugurated
an online portal NARI in New Delhi for the empowerment of women.
ii. The portal will provide women with easy access to information
on government schemes and initiatives for women. The portal summarises over 350
government schemes and other important information.
4. 171ST ARAADHANAI MUSIC FESTIVAL BEGINS IN TAMIL NADU
i. The 171st Araadhanai Music Festival started in
Thiruvaiyaru, Tamil Nadu. The Araadhanai Music Festival of musician Thyagaraja
was inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit. Thyagaraja is one of
the Trinities of Carnatic music.
ii. The highlight of the festival is choral singing of
Thyagaraja’s 5 kritis in Ghana ragas. Around 1000 musicians from various
countries are participating in this festival to pay homage to the music saint
Thyagaraja.
5. UNESCO ENTERS TURKEY’S ENDANGERED ‘BIRD LANGUAGE’ IN INTANGIBLE
CULTURAL HERITAGE LIST
i. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization has entered the “bird language” of Black Sea villagers (in
northern Turkey) in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
ii. The highly developed and high pitch system of whistling to
communicate in the rugged terrain in Black Sea Regions dates back to some 500
years ago. This whistle language has been traditionally passed on through
generations – from grandparent to parent, from parent to child.
iii. However, this system is now under threat due to advent of
technology and increasing usage of cellular mobile systems.
iv. Practices, expressions,
representations, as well as skills and knowledge that communities, groups and,
in some cases, individuals recognise as part of their cultural heritage are
defined as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO’s Convention for Safeguarding
the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
6. ASSAMESE AND MANIPURI VERSIONS OF PM MODI’S OFFICIAL WEBSITE
LAUNCHED
i. The Assamese and Manipuri language versions of Prime Minister’s
Official website- ww.pmindia.gov.in were launched.
ii. Now the PM INDIA website is available in 11 regional languages
namely Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi,
Odia, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu in addition to English and Hindi.
7. FINANCE MINISTRY TO RELAUNCH GOI BONDS WITH 7.75% RATE
i. Subhash Chandra, Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs
under Ministry of Finance, has tweeted that new subscription to GoI Savings
(Taxable) Bonds, 2003 would now bear 7.75% interest rate as compared to 8%
earlier.
ii. Central Government notified that 8% GoI Savings (Taxable)
Bonds, 2003 shall be closed for subscription from the close of business on
January 2, 2018. Since April 2016, this instrument had become a preferred
choice amongst fixed income investors as the interest rates on fixed deposits
and small savings instruments dropped below 8% mark.
iii. However, Mr. Garg has clarified that this scheme is not being
closed rather it is being replaced by 7.75 per cent Savings Bonds Scheme.
iv. Even at 7.75 per cent interest, these bonds will fetch highest
returns as compared to other fixed-income products.
8. VIJAY KESHAV GOKHALE APPOINTED FOREIGN SECRETARY
i. Senior diplomat Vijay Keshav Gokhale has been appointed the
foreign secretary of India. He has succeeded S Jaishankar.
ii. Mr Gokhale served as Indian Ambassador to China, Germany and
as Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia in the past. He is at present secretary
(economic relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs.
9. PANKAJ JAIN ASSUMES CHARGE AS IIFCL MANAGING DIRECTOR
i. Pankaj Jain, Joint Secretary in the Department of Financial
Services, has assumed charge as the Managing Director of India Infrastructure
Finance Company Ltd.
ii. He will be holding additional charge of IIFCL along with his
present position as Joint Secretary at DFS.
10. INDIAN GOLFER SHIV KAPUR WINS ROYAL CUP AT PATTAYA
i. Indian golfer Shiv Kapur won the Royal Cup at Pattaya, which is
his third Asian Tour title of 2017. The 35-year-old, who had just one win in
almost 11 years till April 2017, has now won three times in last eight months.
ii. This latest win marks Kapur’s fourth Asian Tour win and sixth
international title as he won twice on European Challenge Tour also.
11. VETERAN POET ANWAR JALALPURI PASSES AWAY
i. Noted Urdu poet Anwar Jalalpuri passed away at the age of 71 in
Lucknow. He suffered a brain stroke.
ii. Anwar Jalalpuri is best known for his translation of shloks of
Bhagavad Gita into Urdu verses.
OBJECTIVE
QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS
Q1. SBI HAS RECENTLY REVISED DOWN THE BENCHMARK PRIME LENDING
RATES FROM 13.7 PERCENT TO?
a) 13.3 percent
b) 12.8 percent
c) 13.6 percent
d) 13.4 percent
Q2. WHAT IS/ARE THE NEW LANGUAGE/LANGUAGES THAT HAVE BEEN
RECENTLY INCLUDED IN THE PM’S OFFICIAL WEBSITE?
a) Manipuri
b) Assamese
c) both (a) and (b)
d) Gujarati
Q3. THE STATE BANK OF INDIA HAS RECENTLY REDUCED THE BASE RATE
BY ________, WHICH WILL BENEFIT CUSTOMERS
ON THE OLD PRICING REGIME?
a) 20 basis points
b) 30 basis points
c) 10 basis points
d) 15 basis points
Q4. WOMEN AND CHILD
DEVELOPMENT MINISTER MANEKA GANDHI INAUGURATED AN ONLINE PORTAL NAMED
_________ IN NEW DELHI FOR THE
EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN?
a) NARI
b) Suraksha
c) Jagriti
d) Shakti
Q5. WHO OF THE FOLLOWING SENIOR DIPLOMAT HAS BEEN APPOINTED
FOREIGN SECRETARY OF INDIA?
a) Unmukt Roshan
b) Sameer Bhandari
c) Vijay Keshav Gokhale
d) Rupesh Goyal
ANSWERS:
1 - D 2 - C 3 - B 4
- A 5 - C
