DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 1 JAN 2018

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 1 JAN 2018

(DAILY NEWS INDIA)

SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1.      ASSAM PUBLISHES FIRST DRAFT OF NRC WITH 1.9 CR NAMES

i. Assam State Government has published 1st draft of Supreme Court monitored National Register of Citizens. As per Supreme Court directive, draft NRC for Assam was to be published on or before December 31, 2017.

ii. Registrar General of India, Sailesh has stated that 1st draft of NRC contains names of 1.9 cr applicants. Names of these applicants have been verified out of 3.29 cr population.

iii. NRC application process in Assam started in 2015 with an objective to weed out illegal immigrants from the state. Assam CM, Sarbananda Sonowal has stated that all those individuals whose name did not appear in the draft of the NRC, may submit claims and objections against the same.

2.      NEPAL BANS SOLO CLIMBING ON MOUNT EVEREST

i. Nepal has banned solo climbers from scaling its mountains, including Mount Everest, in a bid to reduce accidents.

ii. The new safety regulations also prohibit double amputee and blind climbers from attempting to reach the summit of the world's highest peak without a valid medical certificate.

3.      JHARKHAND CM LAUNCHES “SAUBHAGYA YOJANA” TO PROVIDE ELECTRICITY TO ALL VILLAGES

i. Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das launched ‘Saubhagya Yojana’, aimed at providing electricity to all the 29376 villages across the state. Currently, 17.64 lakh households in Jharkhand do not have electricity supply. Under ‘Saubhagya Yojana’, all such households will get 24X7 electricity supply by December 2018.

ii. Jharkhand State Government is also putting efforts to provide electricity to cottage industries and agriculture. Under this scheme, above poverty line families would get electricity connection by paying Rs 500 (Rs 50 each month for 10 months).

4.      ISRAEL WITHDRAWS FROM UNESCO

i. Israel has filed notice to withdraw from the UNESCO alongside the United States. Israel has blasted UNESCO in recent years over the organisation's criticism of Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem and its decision to grant full membership to Palestine in 2011.

ii. Israel was the member of UNESCO since 1949. Both Israel and the US have filed its own withdrawal notice in October 2017.

5.      9TH HIGH POWERED REVIEW BOARD MEETING OF BRAHMAPUTRA BOARD HELD IN ASSAM

i. 9th meeting of High Powered Review Board of Brahmaputra Board was held at Kaziranga in Assam. The meeting was chaired by Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Nitin Gadkari.

ii. Assam Chief Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal along with other ministers and senior officers of Assam State Government also attended this meeting. HPRB approved restructuring of Brahmaputra Board.

iii. Rs. 237 cr project for protection of Majuli Island from flood and erosion has been ratified. Approval has been granted for establishment of Brahmaputra Board office complex in Majuli.

iv. HPRB suggested that a Centre for Brahmaputra Studies should be setup in IIT, Guwahati. The centre should cover multi-disciplinary aspects of hydrology, inland waterways, environment, agriculture and sociology.

6.      ARUNACHAL PRADESH DECLARED OPEN DEFECATION FREE

i. Arunachal Pradesh has been declared open defecation free ahead of the national deadline of October 2, 2019. The milestone was achieved after the state announced an incentive of Rs 8,000 in addition to the Rs 12,000-grant provided by the Centre for building toilets.

ii. Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Haryana were declared open defecation free states in October 2017.

7.      SAUDI ARABIA AND UAE INTRODUCE VAT FOR FIRST TIME

i. Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates introduced Value Added Tax for the first time.

ii. The VAT is levied on food, clothes, electronics, gasoline, phone, water, electricity bills, hotel reservations, etc. Most of the goods and services are levied5% tax.

iii. Medical treatment, financial services and public transport also excluded from VAT. This is done in a move to boost income in Saudi Arabia and UAE apart from their oil field earnings. In Saudi Arabia, tobacco and soft drinks have been levied tax. In UAE, road tolls have been increased and a tourism tax has been introduced.

8.      VINAY SAHASRABUDDHE NAMED ICCR CHIEF

i. National vice-president of the BJP, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, who is also the member of Rajya Sabha has been appointed the President of Indian Council of Cultural Relations.

ii. He will replace Lokesh Chandra, who had been appointed by the NDA government in October 2014 and has completed his three-year-term.

9.      VIDARBHA DEFEATS DELHI TO WIN RANJI TROPHY FOR THE FIRST TIME

i. Vidarbha have created history by winning the Ranji Trophy for the first time in history with a thumping nine-wicket win over Delhi at the Holkar stadium in Indore.

ii. Rajneesh Gurbani’s 6/59, including a hat-trick and a century from Akshay Wadkar were the key moments in Vidarbha scripting a fairytale run. For Delhi, Dhruv Shorey was the star with a century.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. WHICH STATE HOSTED THE 9TH MEETING OF HIGH POWERED REVIEW BOARD OF BRAHMAPUTRA BOARD?

a)  Uttarkhand

b)  Himachal Pradesh

c)  Assam

d) Manipur

Q2. WHICH STATE GOVERNMENT HAD LAUNCHED ‘SAUBHAGYA YOJANA’, AIMED AT PROVIDING ELECTRICITY TO ALL THE VILLAGES ACROSS THE STATE?

a)  Jharkhand

b)  Bihar

c)  Odisha

d)  Gujarat

Q3. WHICH STATE GOVERNMENT HAS PUBLISHED FIRST DRAFT OF SUPREME COURT MONITORED NATIONAL REGISTER OF CITIZENS?

a)  Sikkim

b)  Assam

c)  Manipur

d)  Mizoram

Q4. STATE-RUN BANK OF INDIA HAS RECEIVED CAPITAL INFUSION OF RS. 2,257 CR FROM THE GOVERNMENT. THE HEAD OFFICE OF BANK OF INDIA IS IN?

a)  Kolkata

b)  Hyderabad

c)  Chennai

 d)  Mumbai

Q5. WHO OF THE FOLLOWING LEADER HAS BEEN RECENTLY APPOINTED THE PRESIDENT OF INDIAN COUNCIL OF CULTURAL RELATIONS?

a)  Vinay Sahasrabuddhe

b)  Sukesh Kamte

c)  Sameer Srivastava

d)  Arvind De Silva

ANSWERS: 

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