DAILY CURRENT
AFFAIRS: 18 SEP 2017
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
1.
PM MODI DEDICATES SARDAR SAROVAR NARMADA DAM TO THE NATION
i.
PM Narendra Modi dedicated the Sardar Sarovar dam built on the Narmada river to
the nation at Kevadia in the Narmada district, Gujarat. The project was
accomplished by Gujarat government’s Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd.
ii.
This project is called as “Gujarat’s lifeline”. This project is a boon to the
country’s worst dry areas like Saurashtra, Kutch and North Gujarat and even few
districts of Rajasthan.
iii.
Four Indian states Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will
receive water and electricity supplied from the dam. About 57% of electricity
produced from dam goes to Maharashtra, while Madhya Pradesh gets 27% and
Gujarat gets 16%.
iv.
The height of the dam was recently raised to 138.68 metres, which will allow
maximum ‘usable storage’ of 4.73 million acre feet of water and will greatly
benefit the participating States.
2.
INDIA & US ARMIES BEGIN ‘YUDH ABHYAS 2017’ MILITARY EXERCISE
IN JOINT BASE LEWIS MCCHORD, WASHINGTON
i.
The Indian and U.S. armies started the 13th edition of their ‘Yudh Abhyas’ series
of joint military exercises at Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington, United
States.
ii.
The exercise will focus on the counter-terrorism, counter-insurgency actions
and strategic consultations between senior armed forces officers on both sides.
Yudh Abhyas 2016 was held in India, in the Chaubatia foothills in Uttarakhand.
iii.
Last year’s exercise involved simulation of troop drops into hostile territory.
It used a lot of Indian Army helicopters. The first version of Yudh Abhyas was
carried out in 2004.
3.
HDFC BANK RETAINS ITS NO. 1 POSITION IN BRANDZ INDIA TOP 50 FOR
THE FOURTH TIME
i.
HDFC Bank has retained its No.1 position in the BrandZ India Top 50 report of
the year 2017. According to the reports, the bank is stated to have doubled its
brand value from $9.4 billion to $18 billion since 2014.
ii.
The report stated that Airtel, Asian Paints, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank,
Kotak Mahindra Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp and Axis Bank
comprise the rest of the top 10 brands report.
iii.
The 2017 Best Countries Report states that India stands out for its history,
cultural influence, distinction and reputation for entrepreneurship. The
valuation behind the BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Indian Brands was conducted by
Kantar Millward Brown which specialized in brand equity research and brand valuation.
iv.
Since 2007 the ranking has been combined analyzed financial data from Bloomberg
and Kantar World panel with the opinions of over a 100,000 Indian consumers. The
eligibility criteria for each brand in the categories met the following:
a)They
are consumer facing, the brand is owned by an enterprise listed on a stock
exchange in India.
b)
Bank brands derived at least 25% of the revenue from retail businesses.
4.
AIRTEL LAUNCHES ‘OFFICE-IN-A-BOX’ CONNECTIVITY SOLUTIONS FOR
KARNATAKA START-UPS
i.
Airtel has launched ‘Office-In-a-Box’ for start-ups which are registered under
the Karnataka government’s Start-Up Cell initiative.
ii.
Airtel has been included in top priority as the preferred partner for the state
government’s initiative. Airtel’s Office-In-a-Box offers a range of services to
support the business requirements of start-ups.
iii.
It is also available on a scale-as-you-grow model with easy payment options. The
services include various facilities like voice and data solutions; audio and
web collaboration; go-to-market support across SMS, MMS, cloud services; payments bank services;
e-mail, voice, IVR and USSD; GPS and RFID-based tracking of assets.
5.
ABANTI SANKARANARAYANAN ELECTED AS CHAIRPERSON OF ASCI
i.
Ms. Abanti Sankaranarayanan, Chief Strategy and Corporate Affairs Officer,
Diageo India, has been elected as the chairperson of the board of The
Advertising Standards Council of India.
ii.
Ms. Abanti Sankaranarayanan was unanimously elected as the chairperson. She was
a member of the ASCI board of governors for 4 years.
iii.
She is also the Chief Strategy and Corporate Affairs Officer at Diageo India.
She is also a member of its executive committee.
iv.
Mr. D. Shivakumar, Chairman & CEO of PepsiCo India Holdings was elected as
the Vice-Chairman. Mr. Shashidhar Sinha, CEO of Media Brands was re-appointed
as the honorary treasurer.
6.
SALMAN KHAN HONOURED WITH GLOBAL DIVERSITY AWARD IN LONDON
i.
Salman Khan was awarded Global Diversity Award at Britain’s House of Commons,
in London.
ii.
The award was given to Salman Khan by Keith Vaz, the longest serving
Indian-origin MP in British Parliament. The award was given for his
contribution to the Indian film industry as an actor, producer, television
personality, singer and philanthropist.
iii.
Other recipients who received this award previously are Indian actors Amitabh
Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Chinese actor Jackie Chan, Bangladesh
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, American Civil Rights leader Jesse Jackson and
Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton.
7.
PV SINDHU BEATS JAPAN’S OKUHARA TO CLINCH KOREA OPEN TITLE
i.
Indian badminton player PV Sindhu won the women’s singles title at the Korean
Open Super Series 2017 by defeating Japanese player Nozomi Okuhara, in Seoul,
South Korea.
ii.
She had earlier lost to Okuhara in the BWF World Championship finals at Glasgow
in August 2017. Sindhu has become the first Indian to win the Korea Open Super
Series title.
iv.
This is her 3rd International success after winning silver medal in the Summer
Olympics 2016 and silver medal at 2017 BWF World Championships. She is also the
first Indian woman to win an Olympic silver medal.
8.
MARSHAL OF THE IAF AND 1965 WAR HERO ARJAN SINGH DIED
i.
Marshal Arjan Singh, who led the Indian Air Force during the 1965
India-Pakistan war, died.
ii.
Arjan Singh was the IAF chief from 1964-1969. The former IAF chief had an
important role in India’s victory in the 1965 war against Pakistan.
iii.
He was the first IAF Chief to be elevated to the rank of Air Chief Marshal on
January 16, 1966. The Indian Government promoted him to the rank of “Marshal of
the Indian Air Force” on January 28, 2002 in recognition of his life-long
services.
iv.
He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan for his contribution to the 1965 war. After
retirement, he was appointed as India’s Ambassador to Switzerland in 1971. He
also served as the Ambassador to the Vatican.
v.
He also served as High Commissioner to Kenya in 1974. He was also a member of
the National Commission for Minorities and was also the Lieutenant Governor of
Delhi.
OBJECTIVE
QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS
Q1.
PM MODI DEDICATES SARDARSAROVAR DAM TO THE NATION. SARDARSAROVAR DAM BUILT ON
WHICH RIVER?
a) Kosi River
b) Narmada River
c) Hooghly River
d) Yamuna River
Q2.
WHICH TWO COUNTRIES ARE INVOLVING IN MILITARY EXERCISE ‘YUDH ABHYAS 2017’
RECENTLY HELD IN JOINT BASE LEWIS MCCHORD?
a) India-France
b)
India-Nepal
c) India-Germany
d) India-U.S.
Q3.
WHICH COMPANY HAS LAUNCHED ‘OFFICE-IN-A-BOX’ CONNECTIVITY SOLUTIONS FOR
KARNATAKA START-UPS?
a) Airtel
b) BSNL
c) Vodafone
d) Idea
Q4.
WHICH INDIAN BADMINTON PLAYER BEATS JAPAN’S OKUHARA TO CLINCH KOREA OPEN TITLE?
a) Jwala Gutta
b) P.V. Sindhu
c) Carolina Marin
d)
Sania Nehwal
Q5.
NAME THE MARSHAL OF THE IAF AND 1965 WAR HERO WHO DIED RECENTLY?
a) Marshal Pyush Goel
b)
Marshal Devandra singh
c)
Marshal Amith patel
d)
Marshal Arjan Singh
ANSWERS:
1
- C 2 - D 3 - A 4 - B 5 - D
