DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 22 & 23 DEC 2017

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 22 & 23 DEC 2017

(DAILY NEWS INDIA)

SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1.      INDIA'S FIRST DESIGN UNIVERSITY OPENS IN HARYANA

i. India's first and only design university, 'World University of Design' opened its campus at Sonipat, Haryana. The University is promoted by Om Parkash Bansal Educational and Social Welfare Trust of Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab.

ii. The university is currently located in a sprawling lush green picturesque campus with the state-of-the-art infrastructure and world-class facilities. WUD is India's first university dedicated to education in the creative domain.

2.      VIJAY RUPANI REMAINS GUJARAT CHIEF MINISTER, NITIN PATEL HIS DEPUTY

i. Vijay Rupani will continue as chief minister of Gujarat and Nitin Patel as his deputy chief minister, the Bhartiya Janata Party has made the announcement after a meeting of the party's newly-elected legislators in the state's capital Gandhinagar.

ii. The BJP had won 99 seats, only seven more than it needed for a majority to form government and 16 less than it had won last time.

3.      LOAN AGREEMENT SIGNED BETWEEN INDIA & GERMANY FOR PARE HYDROELECTRIC PLANT PROJECT

i. A loan agreement has been signed between India and Germany for providing additional funding of EUR 20 million for the Pare Hydroelectric Plant project under Indo-German Bilateral Development Cooperation.

ii. The objective of the project is the generation of hydroelectric power for the socio-economic development of the North Eastern region. The government of Germany signed a loan agreement with North Eastern Electric Power Corporation for providing EUR 80 million with the government of India’s guarantee for the Pare Hydroelectric Plant project.

4.      INDIA-SWITZERLAND DEAL INKED FOR INFORMATION EXCHANGE

i. In a move aimed at combating black money stashed abroad, India signed an agreement with Switzerland that would allow automatic sharing of tax-related information from January 1, 2018.

ii. The agreement was signed by CBDT chairman Sushil Chandra and Swiss Ambassador to India Andreas Baum at the North Block.

5.      INDIAN NAVY CONDUCTS EXERCISE NASEEM-AL-BAHR WITH OMAN NAVY

i. Indian Naval Ships Trikand and Teg are deployed to Oman for bilateral exercise ‘Naseem Al Bahr’ or ‘Sea Breeze’. This exercise is the 11th edition.

ii. The bilateral relation between Indian and Oman were formally established with the signing of a 1953 Indo-Oman Treaty of friendship, Navigation and Commerce, a first between India and an Arab country. The first exercise of Indian Navy with Royal Navy of Oman was conducted in 1993.

6.      MAMANG DAI AND RAMESH KUNTAL MEGH WIN SAHITYA AKADEMI AWARD 2017

i. Authors Mamang Dai and Ramesh Kuntal Megh have won this year's Sahitya Akademi award for their work The Black Hill, a novel, and Vishw Mithak Sarit Sagar, a literary criticism, in English and Hindi respectively.

ii. The Sahitya Akademi announced its annual Sahitya Akademi Awards 2017 in 24 languages. Seven novels, five collections each of poetry and short stories, five works of literary criticism, a play and a book of essays have won the awards.

iii. The award in the form of a casket containing an engraved copper-plaque, a shawl and a cheque of Rs 1 lakh will be presented to the authors at a special function to be held on February 12, 2018.

7.      RUSSIA TO BUILD NUCLEAR POWER PLANT IN SUDAN

i. Russia signed an agreement with Sudan to build a nuclear power plant in the nation. The deal was signed by Rusatom Overseas, a branch of Rosatom and Sudan's electricity ministry in Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan.

ii. The agreement follows up on the high-level meeting that took place between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir in November 2017. The development of nuclear technology will allow Sudan to deal with its energy security problem.

iii. The agreement also has strategic implications, as it will determine the nature of relations between Russia and Sudan for a long time to come.

8.      CHINA LAUNCHES LAND EXPLORATION SATELLITE

i. China launched a land exploration satellite into a preset orbit for remote sensing operations.

ii. The satellite launch was conducted from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi desert, northwest China's Gansu Province during early morning hours.

iii. The satellite will be mainly used for remote sensing exploration of land resources. It was carried by a long march-2D rocket. The launch was the 259th mission of the Long March rocket series.

9.      NATIONAL MATHEMATICS DAY- 22ND DECEMBER

i. The famed Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan’s birth anniversary on December 22 is celebrated as National Mathematics Day. It was in 2012 that then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared  December 22 as National Mathematics Day.

ii. In 1917, Ramanujan was elected to be a member of the London Mathematical Society. In 1918 he also became a Fellow of the Royal Society, becoming the youngest person to achieve the feat. He passed away on April 6, 1920.

10.  SALMAN KHAN TOPS FORBES INDIA CELEBRITY LIST 2017

i. With earnings of Rs 232.83 cr, actor Salman Khan has topped the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list 2017 for the second consecutive year.

ii. While Shah Rukh Khan featured in the second spot with earnings of Rs170.50 cr, Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli came third with Rs100.72 cr earnings.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. IN WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING STATE, INDIA'S FIRST AND ONLY DESIGN UNIVERSITY, 'WORLD UNIVERSITY OF DESIGN' HAS BEEN OPENED RECENTLY?

a)  Haryana

b)  Himachal Pradesh

c)  Uttarakhand

d)  Maharashtra

Q2. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING AUTHOR HAS WON THIS YEAR'S SAHITYA AKADEMI AWARD FOR HIS WORK THE BLACK HILL, A NOVEL IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE?

a)  Jerry Pinto

b)  Mamang Dai

c)  Ramesh Kuntal Megh

d)  Adil Jussawalla

Q3.  BERN IS THE CAPITAL CITY OF?

a)  Denmark

b)  Sweden

c)  Switzerland

d)  Singapore

Q4. THE 11TH EDITION OF BILATERAL EXERCISE ‘NASEEM AL BAHR’ OR ‘SEA BREEZE’ WAS HELD RECENTLY BETWEEN INDIA AND WHICH COUNTRY?

a)  Azerbaijan

b)  Russia

c)  UAE

d)  oman

Q5. THE NATIONAL MATHEMATICS DAY IS CELEBRATED IN INDIA ON?

a)  22 December

b)  20 December

c)  21 December

d)  23 December

ANSWERS: 

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