DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 17TH FEB 2017

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 17TH FEB 2017
(Daily News India)
Shared By: WWW.DailyGk.IN

1.  CABINET APPROVALS ON FEBRUARY 15
i. The Union Government chaired by PM Shri Narendra Modi approved setting up of Food Legumes Research Platform at Amlaha, Sehore in Madhya Pradesh for meeting the emerging food security challenges.
ii. The Cabinet approved the signing of Air Services Agreement between Rwanda and India which will enable the airlines of the 2 countries to operate services in each others’ territory.
iii. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its approval to award contract in 31 contract areas under Discovered Small Fields Policy 2016.
iv. The Union Cabinet approved the merger of the SBI with its 5 subsidiary banks namely State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Hyderabad and State Bank of Travancore.

2. INDIAN PANAROMA FILM FESTIVAL BEGINS IN PORT BLAIR
i. The Indian Panorama Film Festival started in Port Blair. About 15 films of different languages and different genre will be screened at two different venues.
ii. The 5 day film festival has been organised by the Directorate of Information, Publicity & Tourism, Andaman & Nicobar Administration in association with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and Directorate of Film Festivals/IFFI, New Delhi, Govt of India and inaugurated by the Chief Secretary, Andaman & Nicobar Administration, Shri Anindo Majumdar at DBRAIT Auditorium, Dollygunj, Port Blair.

3. KERALA CABINET GIVES IN-PRINCIPLE APPROVAL FOR GREENFIELD AIRPORT AT SABARIMALA
i. The Kerala cabinet gave its in-principle approval for setting up a Greenfield Airport at pilgrim centre Sabarimala located at the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Western Ghat mountain ranges of Pathanamthitta District, Kerala.
ii. The state government has also directed Kerala State Industrial Development Corp to conduct a study on the proposed airport.
iii. The airport will cater to the needs of lakhs of devotees who visit the famous Lord Ayyappa hill shrine every year by reducing the traffic congestion.

4. INDIA RANKED 143 IN THE 2017 INDEX OF ECONOMIC FREEDOM INDEX
i. India has been ranked 143 out of 186 countries in the annual Index of Economic Freedom 2017 released by top US based Think Tank, The Heritage Foundation.
ii. Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand are the top three nations in the Index respectively.
iii. India has been placed in the category of “Mostly Unfree” Economies.
iv. Among South Asian countries, only Maldives (157) and Afghanistan (163) were ranked below India. Sri Lanka (112), Nepal (125), Pakistan (141), Bangladesh (128) and Bhutan (107) surpassed India in economic freedom.                

5. RBI WILL REIMBURSE BANKS MDR CHARGES EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2017
i. The Reserve Bank of India has decided to reimburse banks Merchant Discount Rate charges on debit cards used by citizens for payment with effect from January 1, 2017.
ii. In December 2016, the government had decided to absorb the merchant discount rate charges in respect of debit card transactions for making payments to it to encourage people to use digital payments.
iii. RBI has directed the banks to forward their claim for reimbursement of MDR along with statutory auditor’s certificate to RBI’s Nagpur office on a quarterly basis.
v. The banks will have to certify that MDR charges for transaction amounts up to Rs 1 lakh have not been collected from the payer.


6. CITI BANK LAUNCHES INSTANT CHAT SERVICE FOR CUSTOMERS
i. Mumbai based Citi Bank has launched instant chat services for customers named Citibank Online. With this India become the 1st country in Asia Pacific within the Citi network to have this kind of service.
ii. CBOL will focuses on resolving queries instantly regarding loans, cards, domestic and non-resident accounts, and online transactions.
iii. It will feature a regular chat facility for generic query resolutions. It does not require additional verification for the customer once logged in and authenticated.

7. RBI DOUBLES GOLD LOAN LIMIT FOR REGIONAL RURAL BANKS TO RS. 2 LAKHS
i. The Reserve Bank of India increased the gold loan limit for RRBs to Rs 2 lakh from the current Rs 1 lakh to help the farmers and artisans have access to credit who are willing to pledge gold as collateral.
ii. The limit has been twice for the loans not exceeding 12 months from the date of sanction.
iii. The facility will be available with bullet repayment scheme. Under the scheme, while interest will be charged on a monthly basis on the total outstanding, it will become due for payment along with principal only at the end of 12 months from the date of sanction.
iv. However, RBI has also directed that the gold loans should not exceed 75% of the value of the gold pledged for taking the loan.

8. EDAPPADI K PALANISWAMI APPOINTED AS THE NEW CM OF TAMIL NADU
i. The TamilNadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao appointed Edappadi K Palaniswami as 13th CM of the state. His appointment is in acceptance of the letter submitted by Palaniswami that he was elected as the leader of the AIADMK legislature party at a meeting of the party MLAs.
ii. O Panneerselvam was appointed as the CM within hours of death of AIDMK supremo and CM J Jayalalithaa. Later Panneerselvam stepped down paving the way for Sasikala to be elected its legislature party leader who was already chosen AIADMK general secretary.

9. VIKAS SWARUP APPOINTED INDIA’S NEXT ENVOY TO CANADA
i. The Indian Foreign Service Vikas Swarup was appointed as India’s High Commissioner to Canada. He will replace Syed Akabarudddin , who is moved as serving as India’s Permanent representative in the UN.
ii. Vikas is currently working as the spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs.
iii. He has penned few books is best known for his novel ‘Q&A’ which was later adopted into a movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. THE 5 DAY INDIAN PANORAMA FILM FESTIVAL 2017 HAS BEEN ORGANIZED IN WHICH STATE/UNION TERRITORY?
a)  Goa
b)  New Delhi
c)  Maharashtra
d)  Andaman & Nicobar Island
Q2. THE UNION CABINET HAS APPROVED TO SET UP FOOD LEGUMES RESEARCH PLATFORM IN WHICH STATE?
a)  West Bengal
b)  Madhya Pradesh
c)  Haryana
d)  Gujarat
Q3. WHAT IS THE RANK OF INDIA IN THE INDEX OF ECONOMIC FREEDOM 2017?
a)  175
b)  127
c)  143
d)  112
Q4. THE STATE GOVERNMENT OF KERALA HAS GIVEN ITS IN-PRINCIPLE APPROVAL FOR SETTING UP A GREENFIELD AIRPORT AT WHICH OF THE GIVEN PLACE PILGRIM SPOTS?
a)  Sri Vallabha Temple
b)  Thirunelly Temple
c)  Mahadeva Temple
d)  Sabarimala
Q5. WHO HAS BEEN APPOINTED AS THE 13TH CHIEF MINISTER OF TAMIL NADU?
a)  Edappadi K Palaniswami
b)  K T Rajenthra Bhalaji
c)  K A Sengottaiyan
d)  P Balakrishna Reddy

ANSWERS: 

1 - D    2 - B    3 - C    4 - D    5 - A