DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 18 DEC 2017

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 18 DEC 2017

(DAILY NEWS INDIA)

SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1.      DHARMENDRA PRADHAN INAUGURATES EASTERN INDIA’S FIRST CNG STATIONS

i. Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated eastern India’s first compressed natural gas stations for scooters in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

ii. Pradhan inaugurated two CNG stations for scooters and three-wheelers at Chandrasekharpur and Patia area in Bhubaneswar. The CNG stations were part of GAIL’s Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga and City Gas Distribution projects in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

2.      ED FREEZES ASSETS WORTH RS 245 CR IN STC FRAUD CASE

i. The Enforcement Directorate has frozen assets worth Rs 245 cr in connection with its money laundering probe in the alleged fraud of Rs 2,200 crore with the State Trading Corporation.

ii. The agency had early this year registered a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against Ms Global Steel Holding Limited, its chairman Pramod Kumar Mittal and others based on an FIR by the CBI.

3.      RBI IMPOSES RS 5 CR PENALTY ON SYNDICATE BANK

i. The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty of Rs 5 cr on Syndicate Bank for non-compliance with its directions on "Cheque Purchase or Discounting, Bill Discounting, and Know Your Customer" norms.

ii. According to the RBI, the penalty was imposed after "considering the bank's reply and oral submissions made in the personal hearing".

4.      UNION CABINET APPROVES AGREEMENT WITH UNESCO FOR ESTABLISHING ITCOOCEAN CENTRE

i. The Union Cabinet approved the agreement with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for establishing International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography in Hyderabad.

ii. The International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography will be established as a Category-2 Centre at the ESSO-INCOIS (ESSO-Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services) campus.

iii. The field of operational oceanography involves systematic ocean studies aimed at supporting day-to-day operations and  providing information services to  various sectors like fishing, disaster management, shipping, coastal management, environmental management, offshore industries and defence forces.

5.      NASA SPOTS 8TH PLANET KEPLER-90I IN SOLAR SYSTEM

i. NASA has recently discovered an 8th planet circling Kepler-90, a Sun-like star which is 2545 light-years far from Earth. The announcement of the discovery was made by NASA on 14 December 2017.

ii. Kepler-90i is a hot rocky planet that orbits its star once every 14.4 days. Around 30 per cent larger than Earth, Kepler-90i is so close to its star that its average surface temperature exceeds 800 degrees Fahrenheit, on par with Mercury.

6.      GOVERNMENT APPROVES DISH TV MERGER WITH VIDEOCOND2H

i. Dish TV India Limited, Asia Pacific’s largest direct-to-home company and part of the Essel Group has received the final approval for closing of the merger of Videocon d2h with DishTV.

ii. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had approved the requests made by the company for completion of the transaction for the creation of the largest listed media company in India. Following the amalgamation, the combined entity will be renamed as DishTV Videocon Limited.

7.      PV SINDHU WINS SILVER AT DUBAI WORLD BADMINTON SUPERSERIES FINALS

i. Top Indian shuttler P V Sindhu won the Silver medal in women’s singles summit clash of the Dubai World Super Series Final in Dubai. She went down fighting against World No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.

ii. In the prestigious season-ending tournament finale, Sindhu lost in three games, to Yamaguchi in the final.

8.      MO FARAH WINS BBC'S SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR AWARD

i. World 10,000m champion Sir Mo Farah has been voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2017. The 34-year-old, a four-time Olympic champion, won his third successive world 10,000m gold medal in London in August.

ii. He becomes the first long-distance runner to win the Sports Personality award since Paula Radcliffe in 2002.

9.      INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS DAY 2017 OBSERVED GLOBALLY

i. The International Migrants Day was observed across the world on 18 December 2017 with the theme 'Safe Migration in a World on the Move'.

ii. Migration has always been a way-out for individuals to overcome the hitches and snags and to live a better life. In this new era of crisis and complexity, challenges and difficulties, international migration requires enhanced cooperation and collective action among countries and regions.

iii. The total number of international migrants has increased from an estimated 175 million in 2000 to 244 million in 2015. Nearly two thirds of all international migrants, that is 76 million people, live in Europe or Asia. One in every ten migrants is below 15 years of age.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. ON WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING BANK THE RESERVE BANK OF INDIA HAS IMPOSED A PENALTY OF RS 5 CR FOR NON-COMPLIANCE WITH ITS DIRECTIONS ON "CHEQUE PURCHASE OR DISCOUNTING, BILL DISCOUNTING, AND KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER" NORMS?

a)  Dena Bank

b)  Corporation Bank

c)  Syndicate Bank

d)  Vijaya Bank         

Q2. EASTERN INDIA’S FIRST COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS STATIONS FOR SCOOTERS HAS LAUNCHED IN WHICH STATE?

a)  Odisha

b)  Assam

c)  Manipur

d)  Nagaland

Q3. WHAT IS THE THEME OF THE 2017 INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS DAY?

a)  Migrants contribute

b)  Co-operate with your Co-workers

c)  Together with Migration

d)  Safe Migration in a World on the Move

Q4. WHICH INDIAN SHUTTLER HAS WON SILVER AT THE 2017 WOMEN’S SINGLES DUBAI WORLD BADMINTON Superseries tournament?

a)  Saili Rane

b)  P.V. Sindhu

c)  Saina Nehwal

d)  Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli

Q5. UNION CABINET RECENTLY APPROVED AGREEMENT WITH UNESCO FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERNATIONAL TRAINING CENTRE FOR OPERATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHY IN WHICH CITY?

a)  Hyderabad

b)  Chennai

c)  New Delhi

d)  Lucknow

ANSWERS: 

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