DAILY CURRENT
AFFAIRS: 14TH MAY 2017
1.
RAJNATH SINGH CHAIRS NORTHERN ZONAL COUNCIL MEETING IN CHANDIGARH
i.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will chair the 28th meeting of the Northern
Zonal Council on 11th of May in Chandigarh. The 27th meeting of the Northern
Zonal Council was held at New Delhi.
ii.
North Zonal Council comprises the Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal
Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Rajasthan.
iii.
5 Zonal Councils – Central, Northern, Western, Southern and Eastern—have been
established under the State Reorganisation Act, 1956.
iv.
A zonal council will be the matter of common interest in economic and social
planning border disputes, linguistic minorities or inter-state transport.
2. NAGPUR
WILL BE THE 1ST INDIAN CITY TO GET ELECTRIC RADIO CABS
i.
Nagpur will be the 1st Indian city to get electric radio cabs. It will be
started from 24th of May. It will be launched by Union transport minister Nitin
Gadkari.
ii.
The Project will be undertaken by Nagpur Municipal Corporation.and is the 1st
project of its kind in the country. It is a method to tackle increasing
pollution in the country.
iii.
The pilot project will see around 200 e-cabs in Nagpur with the local body to
provide for the charging stations across the city. It will promote the usage of
electric and hybrid vehicles in India as the country is moving towards its goal
of going all electric by 2030.
3. PM NARENDRA
MODI’S TWO DAY VISIT TO SRI LANKA
i.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a 2-day visit to Sri Lanka. During this
visit, he participated in the International Vesak Day celebrations, the biggest
festival of Buddhists and attended several other programmes.
ii.
The theme of this year’s celebration was “Buddhist Teachings for Social Justice
and Sustainable World Peace”.
iii.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a multi-specialty hospital at Dickoya
in Nuwara Eliya district of Sri Lanka.
4. 19TH
SESSION OF INDIA-ITALY JOINT COMMISSION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION HELD IN ROME
i.
19th Session of India-Italy Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation held in
Rome.
ii.
The Joint Commission was co-chaired by the Indian Minister of Commerce and
Industry Nirmala Sitharaman by the Italian Minister of Economic Development
Carlo Calenda.
iii.
India’s bilateral trade with Italy during 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 was US
$9.32 billion, US $8.28 billion and US $8.80 billion respectively.
5. DISHA
MICROFIN GETS FINAL NOD FROM RBI FOR SMALL FINANCE BANK
i.
Disha Microfin has received the final license from Reserve Bank to operate as a
small finance bank. The Bank will start operations from July this year. The
bank will be called Fincare Small Finance Bank.
ii.
Its main focus will be on the priority sector and retail segments, and will
additionally offer products such as gold loans and affordable housing loans.
i.
State Bank of India the country’s largest public sector lender has announced
that it will start levying charges of Rs 25 for every withdrawal done at its
automated teller machine or ATM kiosks.
ii.
The bank has also mentioned that it will also charge the amount for exchange of
“sullied” notes worth and above Rs 5,000.
iii.
The recent move comes weeks after SBI made maintenance of monthly minimum
balance compulsory in savings accounts under metro, urban, semi-urban and rural
categories. All categories require Rs 5,000, Rs 3,000, Rs 2,000 and Rs 1,000
minimum balance to be maintained to avoid suspension of the accounts.
7. NEW
IIP, WPI SERIES INTRODUCED, SHOW OVERALL BENIGN MACRONUMBERS
i.
New-look Index of Industrial Production and the Wholesale Price Index were
unveiled. It has been built on the new series of data and is thereby reflecting
a healthier picture of the Indian economy in 2016-17 as compared to the old
series.
ii.
The new series of the IIP has 809 items as compared to 620 items in old series.
Items such as cement clinkers, prefabricated concrete blocks, steroids and
refined palm oil have been added in the new series, whereas items like
calculators colour TV picture tubes, and gutka have been removed.
ii.
The new series of the WPI has 697 items as compared to 676 items in old series.
New vegetables and fruits such as radish, carrot, cucumber, bitter gourd,
mosambi, pomegranate, jackfruit, and pear have been added to the list of
primary articles.
8. ANDHRA
PRADESH INKS DEAL WITH HCL TECH TO SET UP RS 500 CR RESEARCH FACILITIES
i.
Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh signed a deal with HCL Technologies. To
set up of Rs 500-cr IT research facility in Vijayawada.
ii.
The company will invest Rs 500 cr in ten years, for a development centre,
training facility and other ancillary facilities.
iii.
HCL will aim to hire, employ and train 5,000 local residents in the region in
two phases. The company will develop its first centre at Kesarapalle village in
Gannavarammandal of Krishna district.
9. R K
MAHAJAN, MAHENDER SINGH APPOINTED CBEC MEMBERS
i.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved appointment of senior
bureaucrats R K Mahajan and Mahender Singh as members in the Central Board of
Excise and Customs.
ii.
Mahajan is the director general of Central Excise Intelligence and Singh is the
director general (audit). Both of them are Indian Revenue Service officers.
10.
AMITABH BACHCHAN APPOINTED WHO GOODWILL AMBASSADOR FOR HEPATITIS
i.
The World Health Organisation appointed Amitabh Bachchan as its goodwill
ambassador for hepatitis in South-East Asia region.
ii.
It aims to boost awareness and intensify action to arrest the epidemic. This is
the 1st formal association between WHO and Mr. Bachchan.
iii.
He had also served as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Polio in India.
iv.
According to the WHO estimates nearly 90 million people suffer from chronic
liver diseases, which are driving rates of liver cancer and cirrhosis in the
region.
11. V K
SARASWAT APPOINTED NEW JNU CHANCELLOR
i.
V K Saraswat, Scientist and former Director General of Defence Research and
Development Organisation was appointed as Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru
University for a 5-year term. V K Saraswat succeeds former Indian Space
Research Organisation Chairman, K Kasturirangan, who completed his term on
March 30, 2017.
ii.
Saraswat has a PhD in combustion engineering and played a very significant role
in the development of the country’s first liquid propulsion engine. He is
credited with the development of other rocket engines such as Prithvi,Dhanush
and Prahaar.
OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED
ON TODAY’S NEWS
Q1. UNION
HOME MINISTER RAJNATH SINGH, CHAIRED THE NORTHERN ZONAL COUNCIL MEETING HELD
IN?
a)
Chandigarh
b) Amritsar
c) New Delhi
d) Shimla
Q2. DISHA
MICROFIN, HAS RECEIVED FINAL LICENSE FROM THE RESERVE BANK OF INDIA TO SET UP A
SMALL FINANCE BANK. IT WILL COMMENCE OPERATION FROM JULY 2017 UNDER THE NAME
OF?
a) Micro Nivesh Small Finance Bank
b) Pragati Small Finance Bank
c) Fincare Small Finance Bank
d) Unnati Small Finance Bank
Q3. WHICH
AMONG THE FOLLOWING WILL BE THE FIRST INDIAN CITY TO GET ELECTRIC RADIO CABS?
a) Bengaluru
b) Kolkata
c) Hyderabad
d) Nagpur
Q4. THE
APPOINTMENTS COMMITTEE OF THE CABINET HAS APPROVED APPOINTMENT OF SENIOR
BUREAUCRATS ________AND _______AS MEMBERS IN THE CENTRAL BOARD OF EXCISE AND
CUSTOMS?
a) R K Mahajan and Sudhir Krishnan
b) R K Mahajan and Mahender Singh
c) Lokesh Reddy and Mahender Singh
d) Mahender Singh and Sudhir Krishnan
Q5. WHO
AMONG THE FOLLOWING HAS BEEN APPOINTED AS CHANCELLOR OF JAWAHARLAL NEHRU
UNIVERSITY FOR A FIVE-YEAR TERM?
a) Arjun Nehwal
b) Pravin Mehta
c) V K Saraswat
d) Pramit Joshi
ANSWERS:
1 - A 2 - C 3
- D 4 - B 5 - C
