DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 13 DEC 2017

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 13 DEC 2017

(DAILY NEWS INDIA)

SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1.      2ND UNWTO/UNESCO WORLD CONFERENCE ON TOURISM AND CULTURE HELD IN MUSCAT

i. The 2nd UN World Tourism Organization/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture was held in Muscat, Capital city of Oman.

ii. The Minister of State for Culture (I/C) and Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr. Mahesh Sharma led the Indian delegation. The conference was focused on sustainable development, culture and tourism as a factor of peace and prosperity; tourism development and protection of cultural heritage.

2.      INDIA TO HOST 3RD ANNUAL MEETING OF BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF AIIB

i. India will host the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank at Mumbai in June 2018.

ii. The Theme of the Annual Meeting, 2018 will be “Mobilizing Finance for Infrastructure: Innovation and Collaboration”.

iii. The Government of India and AIIB Secretariat signed the MoU to delineate the duties and responsibilities of major stakeholders who would be involved in organizing the aforesaid Annual Meeting.

3.      RBI RAISES FPI LIMIT IN G-SECS, STATE DEVELOPMENT LOANS

i. The Reserve Bank of India increased the limits for investment by foreign portfolio investors for the January-March 2018 quarter by Rs 6,400 crore in Central Government Securities and Rs 5,800 cr in State development loans.

ii. With effect from January 1, 2018, the revised investment limit for FPIs in G-Secs will be Rs 2,56,400 cr against the existing limit of Rs 2,50,000 cr.

4.      AIIB GRANTS 1ST LOAN TO CHINA TO REDUCE DEPENDENCE ON COAL

i. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank approved its first loan to China, its largest shareholder, to reduce its dependence on coal by over 600,000 tonnes annually by building a natural gas distribution network for villages.

ii. The USD 250-million-loan will fund a project to connect 216,750 households in approximately 510 villages to the natural gas distribution network. With an authorized capital of USD 100 billion, China is the largest shareholder with 26.06 percent voting shares.

iii. India is the second largest shareholder with 7.5 percent.

5.      ADB LOWERS INDIA’S GDP FORECAST FOR FY18 TO 6.7%

i. The Asian Development Bank lowered India’s GDP forecast for the current fiscal by 0.3% to 6.7 %.

ii. It has also revised downward the gross domestic product outlook for next fiscal beginning from March 2018 to 7.3% from 7.4% mainly due to rising global crude oil prices and soft growth in private sector investment.

6.      HINDI WRITER MAMTA KALIA SELECTED FOR VYAS SAMMAN 2017

i. Renowned Hindi writer Mamta Kalia was selected for the Vyas Samman 2017 for her novel "Dukkham Sukkham" published in 2009.

ii. She was chosen by a selection committee headed by Sahitya Akademi director and author Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari. She will receive Rs 3.5 lakh as the prize money of Vyas Samman.

iii. She is known for her works in Hindi and English including "Beghar", "Janch Abhi Jaari Hai", "Nirmohi", and "Bolne Wali Aurat". She has been conferred with various awards for her work including Yashpal Katha Samman from Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan, Sahitya Bhushan Samman and Ram Manohar Lohia Samman.

7.      RAJASTHAN, FIRST IN INDIA TO OFFER E-MAIL IDS IN HINDI

i. Rajasthan has become the first state in the country to launch free email addresses in Hindi (in Devanagari script) for its residents, as per the state IT department Principal Secretary Akhil Arora.

ii. The initiative aims to ensure maximum participation of people towards e-governance and that maximum facilities are available in the vernacular language. The first e-mail ID was created for CM Vasundhara Raje.

8.      INDIA’S LAKSHMI PURI AMONG SIX DIPLOMATS FELICITATED WITH DIWALI 'POWER OF ONE' AWARD AT UN

i. Six top diplomats including one Indian were felicitated with the inaugural Diwali ‘Power of One’ award at the UN headquarters in New York for their contribution to help form a more perfect, peaceful and secure world.

ii. The awards were presented on 11 December, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the issuance of a ‘forever Diwali stamp’ by the US Postal Services. Lakshmi Puri, the Indian head of the UN Women was one among the top six.

9.      DHAMMAPIYA ELECTED NEW SECRETARY GENERAL OF IBC

i. Buddhist monk Dhammapiya from Tripura has been elected as the new secretary general of the International Buddhist Confederation.

ii. He was elected to the post at the second general assembly of the IBC. The IBC is a global Buddhist forum for preservation and development of heritage sites of the religion in India and other parts of the world.

10.  PRIYANKA CHOPRA CONFERRED MOTHER TERESA MEMORIAL AWARD FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

i. Indian actor, Priyanka Chopra has been bestowed with the 2017 Mother Teresa Memorial award for her contribution towards lending her support to social causes such as her recent visit to Syria where she met and interacted with refugee children.

ii. The 35-year-old is also UNICEF's Goodwill Ambassador and is known for supporting various philanthropic activities. The award was received by her mother Madhu Chopra, on her behalf. The award has been conferred to several famous personalities in the past such as Malala Yousafzai, Anna Hazare, Kiran Bedi, Oscar Fernandes, Sudha Murty, Sushmita Sen and Bilquis Bano Edhi.

11.  INDIA BECOMES 1ST EVER TEAM TO REGISTER HUNDRED 300+ ODI TOTALS

i. India has become the first-ever team to register 300+ totals 100 times in ODIs, after posting 392/4 against Sri Lanka in Mohali.

ii. This was also the 25th instance of India scoring 350+ in an ODI innings, second-most by a team after South Africa (26). India was driven by captain Rohit Sharma's 208*, his third ODI double hundred which is also a record in ODIs.

12.  SHUBHANKAR SHARMA WINS JOBURG OPEN

i. 21-year-old Indian Golfer Shubhankar Sharma claimed his maiden European Tour victory in the Joburg Open, in South Africa. He has defeated South Africa’s Erik Van Rooyen.

ii. This was a maiden European Tour win for Shubhankar Sharma. England’s Marcus Armitage was the top British finisher in Joburg.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. WHICH COUNTRY HOSTED THE 2ND SECOND UNWTO/UNESCO WORLD CONFERENCE ON TOURISM AND CULTURE?

a)  Israel

b)  India

c)  China

d)  Oman

Q2. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING HINDI WRITER HAS BEEN SELECTED FOR THE VYAAS SAMMAN 2017?

a)  Sugandha Seth

b)  Mamta Kalia

c)  Nita Nadia

d)  Srishti Kapoor

Q3. BUDDHIST MONK DHAMMAPIYA HAS ELECTED AS THE NEW SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL BUDDHIST CONFEDERATION. HE IS FROM WHICH INDIAN STATE?

a)  Arunachal Pradesh

b)  Manipur

c)  Tripura

d)  Sikkim

Q4. WHICH STATE HAS BECOME THE INDIA’S FIRST STATE TO OFFER FREE E-MAIL ADDRESS IN HINDI TO ITS RESIDENTS?

a)  Rajasthan

b)  Madhya Pradesh

c)  Jharkhand

d)  Uttar Pradesh

Q5.  WHICH COUNTRY WILL BE HOSTING THE 3RD ANNUAL MEETING OF BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF ASIAN INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT BANK?

a) Japan

b)  India

c)  France

d)  Germany

ANSWERS: 

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