DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 14 FEB 2018

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 14 FEB 2018

(DAILY NEWS INDIA)

SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1.      INDIA-RUSSIA AGRICULTURE BUSINESS SUMMIT HELD IN NEW DELHI

i. India-Russia Agriculture Business Summit 2018 was held in New Delhi. The two countries discussed trade relations in the agricultural sector. The summit was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.

ii. Gajender Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Sergey Beletskiy, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Agriculture, Russia addressed the India-Russia Agriculture Business Summit.

2.      GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MAKES AMENDMENTS IN SMALL SAVINGS ACT

i. In order to remove existing ambiguities due to multiple Acts and rules for Small Saving Schemes, the Government of India has proposed merger of Government Savings Certificates Act, 1959 and Public Provident Fund Act, 1968 with the Government Savings Banks Act, 1873.

ii. With a single act, relevant provisions of the Government Savings Certificates Act, 1959 and the Public Provident Fund Act, 1968 would stand subsumed in the new amended Act without compromising on any of the functional provision of the existing Act.

3.      ALL VILLAGES TO BE LINKED BY ROADS BY 2019 UNDER ‘PRADHAN MANTRI GRAM SADAK YOJNA’

i. Union Minister of State for Rural Development, Ram Kripal Yadav has stated that Central Government is working towards connecting all villages through a road network by next year as part of the ‘Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna’. Plan to link all villages by roads by 2019:

ii. ‘Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna’ is a centrally sponsored scheme launched in December 2000.

iii. Ultimate goal of this scheme is to provide all-weather road connectivity to unconnected villages all over India.

4.      RADIO UMANG: INDIA'S 1ST ONLINE RADIO STATION LAUNCHED

i. India's 1st Online Radio Station 'Radio Umang' was launched recently in India. Listeners can tune in to this online radio station through web streaming or download the app.

ii. With 24 hours programming, it has found listeners in Hindi speaking regions of India and in over 60 countries worldwide.

5.      WEST BENGAL BECOMES FIRST STATE TO OPT OUT OF ‘MODICARE’

i. Claiming that the Bengal government had already enrolled 50 lakh people under its own Swasthya Sathi programme, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced the decision to opt out of Centre’s ‘Modicare’ scheme.

ii. This makes West Bengal the first state to withdraw from the ambitious programme. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced the NHPS on February 1, making it the biggest global plan to provide quality health cover to a population larger than the combined citizenry of the US, UK, Germany and France.

6.      DAC APPROVES PROPOSALS WORTH RS. 15,935 CR

i. The defence ministry of India approved capital acquisition proposals worth Rs.15,935 cr which included the purchase of 7.40 lakh assault rifles, 5,719 sniper rifles and light machine guns to bolster the strength of the armed forces.

ii. The long-pending proposals were cleared at a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council, the defence ministry's highest decision-making body on procurement. The meeting was chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

iii. For the Indian Navy, the DAC also approved the procurement of Advanced Torpedo Decoy Systems  at a cost of Rs. 850 cr.

7.      RBI ROLLS OUT NEW STRESSED ASSETS FRAMEWORK TO TACKLE BAD LOAN PROBLEM

i. The Reserve Bank of India scrapped numerous loan restructuring programmes, asking banks to immediately identify defaults and make disclosures every Friday to the RBI credit registry, starting from February 23.

ii. The apex bank has also warned banks of monetary penalties and higher provisions if they are found to have violated the stringent new norms.

8.      RBI RELAXES PRIORITY SECTOR LENDING RULE FOR BANKS

i. Reserve Bank of India has made banks' priority sector norms lenient by saying that all loans to micro small and medium enterprises will henceforth qualify as priority sector lending. This was a long time demand from banks.

ii. Till date, loans up to Rs 10 cr per MSME borrower was considered for priority sector calculation. The sub-target for bank lending to the micro enterprises has been 7.50 percent of adjusted net bank credit or credit equivalent amount of off-balance sheet exposure, whichever is higher. Foreign banks will also have to follow 8% sub-target for lending to the small and marginal farmers.

9.      BANK OF BARODA TO EXIT SOUTH AFRICA BY MARCH-END

i. State-owned Bank of Baroda has decided to exit by March-end its South Africa operations after 21 years amid a probe into alleged compliance lapses by the bank there.

ii. The bank stated that it is exiting operations in South Africa as part of its strategic plan for rationalisation of overseas branches.

10.  CHANDRASHEKHARA KAMBARA ELECTED NEW PRESIDENT OF SAHITYA AKADEMI

i. Kannada litterateur Chandrashekar Kambar has been elected as president of the Sahitya Akademi in the election held for the post. He has replaced Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari. Hindi poet Madhav Koushik has been elected as vice-president.

ii. This is the second time election was held in the history of Sahitya Akademi, after Ananthamurthy’s election to the post.

11.  WORLD RADIO DAY- 13 FEBRUARY

i. World Radio Day is observed annually on 13 February.

ii. The theme for WRD 2018 is "Radio and Sports". The Day is organised globally by the UNESCO.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. WHICH BANK RECENTLY ISSUED REVISED GUIDELINES FOR EXPEDITIOUS RESOLUTION OF BAD LOANS?

a)  Reserve Bank of India

b)  State Bank of India

c)  Union Bank of India

d)  Central Bank of India

Q2. WHO HAS BEEN ELECTED AS THE NEW PRESIDENT OF SAHITYA AKADEMI?

a)  Afsar Ahmed

b)  Chandrashekhara Kambara

c)  Urmi Ghanshyam Desai

d)  Vyakaranna Baso Varsh

Q3. WHAT IS THE THEME OF THE 2018 WORLD RADIO DAY?

a)  Radio and World

b)  Radio is You

c)  Radio and Sports

d)  Radio and Peace

Q4. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING IS THE INDIA’S FIRST ONLINE RADIO STATION?

a)  Radio Aadhaar

b)  Radio Sansar

c)  Radio Teacap

 d)  Radio Umang

ANSWERS: 

1 - A    2 - B    3 - C    4 - D